I didn't want to be an actor

Chapter 101 The Dark Ages (12)

In fact, when it comes to variety shows that invite people from different countries to discuss a topic, the one that everyone may be most familiar with is Taiwan’s variety show, GTV’s “WTO Sisterhood”.

It started airing in 2009 and continues to air till now.

Then Japan's NTV "World Series" began broadcasting in 2011.

Hubei TV also broadcast "The World is Different" in 09...

The format of the program is to invite a group of people from different countries to discuss a topic.

You're talking about plagiarism...

Those are all plagiarized from the "Foreigners' Group" hosted by Wu Zongxian in 04, a program produced by Shen Yulin!
It's a pity that the program "Foreigners' Group" was discontinued, because in terms of the format, it was quite profound.

Wu Zongxian was at the peak of his career back then, and he wanted to do this well, but unfortunately, the Taiwanese market does not accept this kind of formal variety show!

To be honest, the Korean JTBC "Non-Summit" was broadcast in 2014...

Plagiarism?

That one isn’t original!
However, Jiangsu Satellite TV bought the copyright of "Non-Summit Talks" and produced "World Youth Talks"...

"Informal Talks" is a program of Hubei Satellite TV!
The strength of the two platforms is not equal.

Jiangsu TV is a first-tier TV station, while Hubei TV is at best a second-tier TV station...

It’s not that we haven’t tried. Hubei Satellite TV once produced "30 Crazy for Comedy", the first comedy variety show in China.

Unfortunately, the next year, Dragon TV produced "Swordsman" and "Happy Comedian"...

Plus, Hunan TV is right next door, so it’s a talent siphoning…

Yang Di had hinted that Shen Liang should go to the "Informal Talks"...

But Shen Liang didn't have time...

On the one hand, he doesn’t have time, and on the other hand... the “Informal Talks” production team can’t afford his appearance fee!

Shen Liang is very expensive, even after a discount it would cost at least several hundred thousand.

The main reason is that I don’t have time, and Yang Di only mentioned it verbally without making a formal invitation.

"I heard there's a guest this episode, guess who it is?"

Shen Liang thought for a moment, then asked: "...Zhang Yishan?"

“…No, it’s Jin Xin!”

"Jin Xin? She's coming to Mars?"

"What's wrong? Are you not welcome?"

"No, I just feel it's not suitable... She was also invited to the second season of "U Can U Bibi", and her performance... was only mediocre!"

"Uh...but Jin Xin is still very brave to say it!"

“…That’s true…”

In fact, if you have watched "Jin Xin Show", you will know that Jin Xin is not good at conversation - the interview segment is so boring that it makes people want to vomit!

Even scripted talk shows are so boring... not to mention debate shows that all require rigorous training.

Her selling point is her sharp tongue, her courage to speak, and her fearlessness of offending others. However, in a show like "The Debaters" where there is no script and no one to support her, she instantly became weak.
The response is not fast enough, the logic is not rigorous enough, and it is not persuasive enough.

However, Shen Liang still likes some of Jin Xin's remarks, and feels that she is just a generous lady from Northeast China.

Of course, she definitely has her limitations. She casually said, "Ultraman is not nutritious, children shouldn't watch it!"...

As I said, even if it’s not something I’m professional about, I like to express my opinions... After all, I’m a public figure!
Jin Xin’s first profession is definitely a dancer. She has made outstanding achievements in dancing. She was a judge on “Dancing with the Stars” and her opinions were very accurate. But non-professional matters should be viewed dialectically…

However, Shen Liang was still looking forward to what Jin Xin would say!

After all, this guy's selling point... is similar to Shen Liang in a sense...

……

Uncle Da is very popular on Wanwan!
In the early days, he became famous for his role as Hu Tiehua in "Chu Liuxiang"...

"Chu Liuxiang" itself is Gu Long's representative work. After it was broadcast, "Chu Liuxiang" became much more popular in Taiwan than in Hong Kong. It was so popular that the theme song of "Chu Liuxiang" "I walk alone through thousands of mountains, no need to see you off" was used at the funeral of Taiwanese people.

The result is that not only the leading male and female actors Zheng Shaoqiu and Zhao Yazhi, but also supporting actors such as Ng Mang-tat and Xia Yu, are also very popular on Wanwan.

The crew of "Chu Liuxiang" went to Wanwan to promote the show. Uncle Da stayed in Wanwan for more than a year and earned more than 100,000 US dollars just by being on the stage and appearing on variety shows!

Why does promotional TV take so long?

The main reason is that Wanwan wants to retain some of the talent, such as the male lead Zheng Shaoqiu, who was almost signed by Wanwan Company that year.

Wu Mengda is from Xiamen, Fujian, which is across the sea from Wanwan. He went to Hong Kong when he was 7 years old and can speak some Minnan dialect. Wanwan has a natural affinity for him.

In short, this experience in Taiwan was an important episode in Wu Mengda's life. It made him fall into despair for a time, but he did not gain nothing - he gained the vast Taiwan market and resources.

This is real!

In Wu Mengda's nearly 50-year film and television career, at least one-third of the more than 250 film and television works he starred in were produced by Taiwan.

During the period when he was banned by TVB, he participated in the filming of a martial arts movie "Finger of Magic" with the original crew of "Chu Liuxiang". Uncle Da continued to play Hu Tiehua, and later continued to star in a Taiwanese movie "The Flower Destroyer Dies".

Including the long-term cooperation with Zhu Yanping, becoming his favorite supporting actor, the cooperation time is longer than that of Stephen Chow. From "Fight School" in 92 to "Slam Dunk", Wu Mengda appeared in almost every movie of Zhu Yanping!

"Mars Intelligence Agency", Wang Han solemnly introduced Wu Mengda and talked about the filming of "New Shaolin Temple"...

Wu Mengda talked about director Zhu Yanping: "My biggest impression of Zhu Yanping is that she shoots very quickly, really quickly. The first movie we shot, "Truant School", took only four and a half days to finish all my scenes... I was shocked myself, but the result was still quite good..."

"But most of Zhu Yanping's films are bad..."

“…But he’s a big hit. Zhu Yanping actually has something to pursue…He made a movie called “Alien Land”, which is a very good movie, but it’s a pity that it didn’t do well, and then he got beaten…”

"Beaten?"

"At that time, Taiwanese movies were all controlled by the Black Society!"

Yang Di interjected, "You're not controlling it now?"

"I can answer this question," Shen Liang waved his hand, and then said, "Now that making movies is losing money, the mafia will definitely flock to high-profit industries. I heard that they have teamed up to commit fraud!"

"I want to tell you something," Wu Mengda continued the previous topic: "I have never talked about this before. Xiao Shen told me, 'When you go on "Mars Intelligence Agency", you have to talk about things you have never talked about before!'... It was Zhu Yanping who told me..."

"Zhu Yanping directed his first film, The Joker, in 1980. At that time, he hoped to invite the very popular comedy king Xu Guanwen to play the leading actor. Xu Guanwen was too expensive and he could not afford it. Then Zhu Yanping used an actor named Xu Bu Le, who became very popular. What I want to talk about is Xu Bu Le's story..."

"After "Joker", Xu Le Bu became very popular, and then was hired by the gang. Under their threat, Xu Le Bu made 1979 movies between 1985 and 64 without stopping... They first controlled him with money, and then used drugs..."

“How to control money?”

Wu Mengda smiled and said: "Gambling, the gang leader just generously gave Xu Bu to pay for the film, and before he could collect the money, he forced him to participate in gambling, the kind of card game where you can't leave if you win. The key is not to win, after all, the other people are carrying dangerous weapons... The gangs are very good at dealing with this kind of thing. I got addicted to gambling back then, and a big part of the reason was their temptation... Actors participating in gambling activities can increase the popularity of the casino.

If gambling leads to the accumulation of debts, it will be easier for gangs to manipulate them, and even turn them into exploitable "money tools", forcing them to keep filming to make a living."

"In the second year after Xu Bule became famous, he was forced by the gang to perform in a movie, and all the money he earned went into the pocket of the boss. Xu Bule couldn't stand it and wanted to run away, but the gang was not so easy to mess with. The boss was so angry that he injected Xu Bule with morphine..."

(End of this chapter)