Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 472, "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner," creates a miracle! Bingbing finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Shocking! A TV series' ratings have surpassed those of a news broadcast?"

"The ratings prove that the audience loves it!"

"More TV series like 'The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner' should be made!"

"Our era needs 'The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner'!"

It's certain that no one expected this, not even the leaders of CCTV.

This TV series, "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner," actually surpassed the ratings of the news broadcast!

It's not that news broadcasts can't be surpassed, but not many people were optimistic about this kind of TV series beforehand. In fact, some people even gave it negative reviews because of the cast.

Teacher Guo and Teacher He are certainly not bad, but the problem is that their contribution to the ratings is debatable.

After all, Guo Degang mainly worked in sketch comedy, while He Jiong hadn't really carried a drama series much.

What drew the most criticism from netizens, and was also the most surprising, was the female lead!
Baizhi appears!

This was truly unexpected, considering that Baizhi is now very famous and has a brilliant track record.

She's beautiful, and a Hong Kong star.

Her appearance in such a traditional period drama should enhance the show.

Why is it sprayed on?
Actually, the reasons for criticizing her online are quite interesting.

"Lowering your standards?! How could you take on a role in this kind of TV series?"

"Is Bai Zhi out of acting roles?"

"I don't think she'll succeed in this endeavor!"

It should be said that these posts criticizing him are probably actually from Baizhi's fans.

It's obvious that it's for her own good.

Well, it's also possible that a lot of haters are stirring up trouble.

Bai Zhi's style doesn't seem to fit well with this kind of more orthodox TV series.

After all, she is a Hong Kong actress, and her debut film was a comedy.

but!

How about we take a look now?
Is there something wrong with this show?!
Hei Zi is speaking... cough cough.

Those who were skeptical before have all changed their minds now.

What else could happen?
Of course, the main reason this show is so popular is the rivalry between the two male leads.

This struggle wasn't even a personal one between them.

To put it simply, it's about resonating with the audience.

In other words, it resonates with people even more than watching a news broadcast.

Yes, its viewership has surpassed that of the news broadcast.

That speaks volumes.

This TV series, "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner," is a huge hit!
Moreover, can this fire... continue?
If it only exceeds the number of consecutive news broadcasts for one day, then it seems like that's all there is to it, right?
So, after the news broke that the viewership had surpassed that of the evening news broadcast.

The online discussion quickly took a completely new turn.

"Can we go over it one more time?"

"That's hard to say, that's called a continuous news broadcast."

"That's right, it's the program with the highest viewership ratings outside of the Spring Festival Gala and other large-scale gala programs."

"Actually, some dramas have been longer than news broadcasts before, but they were not very long."

"Yes! Sometimes it's just for a day or two."

Believe it or not, netizens do have some knowledge; they know that there have been times when TV dramas had higher ratings than news broadcasts.

However, that was just a fleeting moment.

Then the problem is coming.

Will "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" also be a flash in the pan?
Soon, netizens began to look forward to the next episode.

In this way... the Wang brothers were actually the ones who suffered the most.

……

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!!! Why?"

"This...this is indeed unexpected."

"No! This is definitely not simple!"

"But they even surpassed that news broadcast, this..."

There must be something there!

Huayi Brothers and the Wang brothers were devastated this time.

I really didn't expect this. I originally thought my version of "The Children of the Red Flag Canal" could hold its own, but who would have thought...

The show "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" has chosen to compete with CCTV's news broadcast!
Who would have thought of this?
Moreover, this did indeed cause them both great harm.

So, it's already this difficult to be someone's opponent?

Well... actually, the ratings for "Children of the Red Flag Canal" are really terrible right now.

CCTV-8, that's quite an impressive channel.

But now this show... seems to be about to break 1!
It has fallen below 1!

That would be incredibly embarrassing.

how so?

"Are those tweets completely useless?"

"It was rejected, and the story of the Red Flag Canal was emphasized."

"Has the world gone to the dogs and people lost their traditional values?"

"Maybe so. The spirit of the Red Flag Canal back then is not well known now."

Is it really so?

After the conversation between the eldest and second sons of the Wang family, I couldn't help but look for comments online.

Hey! They actually found a highly-rated comment.

Moreover, it was only recently released.

When I clicked on it...

"The Children of the Red Flag Canal" sounds like a masterpiece that inherits the spirit of the Red Flag Canal, but after watching it, you will find that the TV series is really hard to be satisfied with.

Moreover, there are only a few words about the spirit of the Red Flag Canal, with no interpretation or inheritance of the spirit.

After some investigation, I discovered that the original title of this TV series was "Brothers, Oh Brothers," and apart from the location of the brothers, it had nothing to do with the Red Flag Canal.

Isn't this just a forced attempt to connect with the spirit of the Red Flag Canal?

Absolutely despicable! ..."

This……

The eldest and second eldest sons of the Wang family exchanged a glance.

"Is this a film review written by Ma Xun?"

"That bastard went too far!"

People hate this, but after cursing for a while and thinking about it carefully, they can't say anything more.

Because this comment is correct!

Originally, apart from the place names, this TV series had nothing to do with the Red Flag Canal.

The name was changed to make it easier to pass the review, and... probably also to piggyback on the spirit of the Red Flag Canal.

Now that they've been exposed, the Wang brothers are like a pair of thieves caught red-handed.

I feel really bad.

So, is there absolutely no chance of fighting back?

"Talented Women and Handsome Men" was cancelled, and now "Children of the Red Flag Canal" has been cancelled as well. Even someone as handsome as Xiaoming can't save him.

Even someone as ugly as Sha Gen is no longer effective?

The Wang brothers have truly suffered a heavy blow this time, and most importantly, they no longer know how to arrange their next project.

What kind of market does it actually prefer?
Actually, if they could truly understand that film review, there might still be hope for them.

Unfortunately, they could never truly understand.

Can "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" continue its miracle today?

……

Changsha.

Ma Xun was still in no hurry to return to Beijing.

Because the drama "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" was decided on a long time ago, and it was a collaboration with CCTV.

Even if he were in the capital, there's nothing he could do.

Those in the know understand that if we interfere too much at this time, CCTV will definitely be unhappy.

Although he and that Vice President Gao have become like brothers, if he keeps bossing them around, they might just become fake brothers.

Moreover, Ma Xun originally had great confidence in "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner".

This show was already famous in its original timeline for its viewership ratings surpassing those of CCTV's news broadcasts.

Well, Ma Xun didn't remember how many consecutive days it had been.

It's probably about setting a record.

Forget it, who cares how many days it takes?

Ma Xun simply does what he's supposed to do, like writing movie reviews.

Well, that was really just something I did on a whim.

The key point is that Ma Xun didn't write anything carelessly.

This TV series, "The Children of the Red Flag Canal," is a complete blatant attempt to piggyback on the mainstream ideology.

It originally had little to do with the spirit of the Red Flag Canal. It was just the place depicted in the TV series, but they all went out to work.

In short, the two are not really related; they are only connected because of a name change.

As for the Wang brothers... Ma Xun could probably guess that they might have been fooled.

They invest in many projects, and with so many projects, they naturally can't attend to too many others.

This show was filmed by Sha Gen'er before he became famous, so some of the jokes about Sha Gen'er are not actually there.

The main actor in this play is Chen Sicheng, who is the one who truly plays the lead role, and Duan Yihong is also in the lead role.

Sha Gen is really just a minor supporting character. If you're watching this show because of him, you'll definitely be disappointed.

The female character is Tang Wei.

Unfortunately, Tang Wei was not famous at this time, but her temperament was consistent with that of a female college student.

But it couldn't turn the tide.

Such a drama is not worthy of being a match for "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner".

When Ma Xun received Li Xue's message, he wondered if the Wang brothers had gone mad.

Hmm, it doesn't seem so. It's probably just that they have more projects.

Also, the Wang brothers definitely pay more attention to "The Banquet".

This film, "The Banquet," is truly extraordinary. Although many people have criticized it since, none of them have hit the mark.

Moreover, the production team behind this show is very strong.

The dance scenes in the film were created by the same stage design team that later worked on the Beijing Olympics.

From a production standpoint, "The Banquet" is a masterpiece.

Unfortunately……

Never mind, we'll talk about it later.

Since "The Promise" is no longer being shown this year, although I've heard that Chen Kaige is still editing it, hoping for a re-release.

However, this film will definitely not be made this year.

In the original timeline, "The Promise" was released during the 2005 Lunar New Year holiday season, so this year's Lunar New Year holiday season is now empty.

In other words, "The Banquet" filled the gap.

Ma Xun plans to launch a surprise attack during this Lunar New Year holiday season!

Yuanyuan's film, "Yesterday's Me and Tomorrow's You," was released around that time.

However, in terms of box office revenue, this film is unlikely to beat "The Banquet".

Ma Xun still needs to deal some additional damage.

So, how exactly should we do it?

Never mind, I'll think about it some more.

Let's take a look at today's episode of "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner".

The result...it surpassed the live news broadcast once again!
……

"Unbelievable! I really can't believe it!"

"It's been two days, so, could there be a third day?"

"Doesn't this show that the people are supportive of the anti-corruption campaign...?"

"Just watch TV dramas, why say so much?"

Netizens witnessed this miracle, but did it end after only two days?
No, for the next week, "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" surpassed the weekly news broadcasts!

He set a new record!

At this point, it can be said that the popularity of this show has reached its peak.

Ma Xun also realized that the show needed to cool down its popularity.

How to lower it?
Insert more ads!

Goodness, that's a really simple and brutal method.

Actually, this is a form of protection for the film.

I won’t say much more.

Anyway, Ma Xun made a killing.

Although this is a production made in collaboration with CCTV, CCTV is happy now, and so is he.

On this day, Ma Xun was resting in the hotel's coffee shop.

But then a tall, beautiful woman walked gracefully towards them.

"Brother Ma~"

"Bingbing, why are you so late?"

"Brother Ma, that's a strange question."

"Is it strange? I have to give you a compliment. You've grown. At least you're more tolerant than before."

The visitor was Bingbing, but Ma Xun's "welcome" was definitely loaded with hidden meaning.

Bingbing was helpless, because Ma Xun's predictions were all correct!
She had indeed endured for many days before coming to find Ma Xun.

I can't let my jealous thoughts show so obviously.

"Brother Ma, let me be frank, I'm not convinced. I don't think I lost to Yuanyuan by much! She, she also wants a movie."

Hey, she didn't care at all and reached out her delicate hand to gently place it on Ma Xun's thigh.

A little provocative...

(End of this chapter)