1990My Entertainment System

Chapter 143 Got it!

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was broadcast on CCTV during prime time.

The station originally planned to follow the old procedure, conduct a trial broadcast, see the effect, and then make adjustments.

Summer was dumbfounded: What's the point of even trying? The whole nation is eagerly awaiting this, and you're just standing here hesitant and timid. How can you face them? Go for it!
Besides, with a budget of over 100 million yuan and more than 80 episodes filmed, what could they possibly do but not air it?!

Station leaders: Your relationship is no longer your responsibility!
However, after discussion, it was decided to adopt Xia Tian's suggestion—to broadcast it directly, two episodes a day, which would last for more than a month and a half!
Because it had been filmed for several years, and with the promotion on the Spring Festival Gala, the TV series became a huge hit as soon as it aired!

It's said that the first episode's viewership rating exceeded 70%!

Of course, it could also be because everyone is on holiday, but this viewership rating is terrifying.

The opening theme song is "The Mighty Yangtze River Flows Eastward," and the closing theme song is "The Sky of History."

Interlude songs: "This Bow" by Liu Huan, "The Song of the Crouching Dragon," and "Dreams Are Burning" by Xia Tian...

Thirty years later, the scene in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" where Zhuge Liang verbally abuses Wang Lang to death has become a treasure trove of material in the parody video community.

It's clear this film has a lasting impact.
This film can basically be considered the pinnacle of Chinese TV dramas!
The level of skill, quality, production, scale, classical charm, popularity... it's impossible to find something of this caliber again.

This film started being sold overseas less than ten days after it was broadcast domestically!
For example, the kind of people who come directly to your door.

The station directly recruited Xia Tian and put him in charge of selling the show!
Summer: No, I've already taken unpaid leave?

Boss: I was so smart! I made the right choice keeping him!
We have to give CCTV face, so let's just consider it a contribution to the country.

In the summer, I asked Director Wang to edit a "trailer," featuring classic lines, classic music, and performances by classic actors.
This looks even more amazing than what's shown on TV!

In the 70s, director Wang Fulin led a team to receive Tanaka XX, and had connections with NHK, which was known for its small-scale operations.

The original version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was sold to Japan, but at a lower price—$1 per episode.

In the summer, they doubled the price—$2 per episode, with only one run of the rights.

Although life isn't as lavish as it used to be, after all, his American father burst the economic bubble, he's still a big fish in the ocean.

Plus, since Xia Sang's image over there was unknown, the other party was even hesitant to bargain.

After two days of negotiations, we signed the contract right away.

Xia Tian felt a bit cheated because the other party agreed so readily!
Summer: Life is so cunning! Even after a successful transaction, I'm still unhappy!

Their lives are different from ours. The history of the Three Kingdoms that they are familiar with basically ends with Zhuge Liang's death at Wuzhang Plains.

The Three Kingdoms period, as is familiar to the Chinese, only ended when the three kingdoms were unified under the Jin Dynasty.

From the time the star fell at Wuzhangyuan to the time the three families returned to Jin, there were still 46 years left.

From the beginning of Dong Zhuo's usurpation of power to Zhuge Liang's death at Wuzhang Plains, only 44 years had passed.

In other words, the Japanese only have a partial understanding of the Three Kingdoms period.

Many stories unfolded after Zhuge Liang's death, though not as exciting as the first half.

The most typical characteristic of this stage is that it transforms from a constellation of stars into utter devastation.
The first half features numerous outstanding figures, while the second half is filled with useless members of the Sima family indulging in pleasure, and the cowards of Eastern Wu are no less so.

Let alone powerful rulers like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, even figures like Yuan Shu (Yuan Gonglu), the "Skeleton King," are no longer around.

The entire upper class began to indulge in rampant hedonism and decadence.

It's hard to imagine that the once powerful family that produced figures like Chen Qun, Xun Yu, Lu Xun, and Lu Su has now lost all talent and is filled only with greed.

It took less than 50 years for the country to go from producing a wealth of talent to becoming corrupt and decadent.

The speed of this change is truly perplexing.

In the summer, Xia Tian also took the opportunity to discuss the possibility of distributing the card game "Three Kingdoms Kill" with this guy.

Summer pulled out a copy of "Three Kingdoms Kill" from home and played a few rounds with Xiao Rizi's team, showing them what a "traitor" really is!
The other party was extremely satisfied, feeling as if they had found money.

This stuff can't be sold in China; pirated versions can easily beat the legitimate ones. But it works in Japan, so consider it earning foreign exchange.
……

What happened next was something Xia Tian never expected—after watching "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" once, the audience was still not satisfied?
They wrote to the television station, requesting a rebroadcast.

But the broadcasting rights were sold once in the summer, right?
The story gets even more interesting: it turns out the Japanese Emperor is also a fan of the Three Kingdoms drama and wanted to watch it too. The TV station had to buy the broadcast rights a second time, paying another $1.3 per episode.
However, the general consensus in Japan is that things lost their appeal after Zhuge Liang's death.

Later, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" swept across East Asia and Southeast Asia, and basically sold out throughout the entire Chinese cultural sphere!
Even people on the island come to buy the show, which can be considered a reverse export.

Some viewers on the island even called the TV station – "Wasn't it supposed to be in the summer? Why haven't I seen it?"

Little did they know, Xia Tian only appeared in a few episodes before her character was killed off.
However, viewers on Xiao Rizi's side generally commented: Xia Sang's portrayal of Sun Bofu is exactly the image of a military general in my mind! Even his way of dying is so different!

—Because he was disfigured, he died from a flare-up of his arrow wound in a fit of rage. This way of dying might be very much to Xiao Rizi's liking, considering how much he praised Xia Tian!
What a life, as brilliant as summer flowers, and as desolate as autumn leaves!
Summer: Is this talking about Sun Ce? Or Oda Nobunaga?

At the end of February, Marvin also began to take action, starting to assemble the crew for the film "In the Heat of the Sun".

He plans to start filming in July, catching the sunny season, when there's still plenty of time.

The main task now is still finding actors!

……

On March 3, another film starring Li Lianjie, "The New Legend of Shaolin," was released in Hong Kong.

This film was also directed by Wong Jing, with Li Lianjie and Xie Miao playing the father and son of Hong Xiguan, so it has a pretty high-class feel.

In this film, Chief Chen becomes one of the very few men who die to his own background music.
It's said that Li Lianjie's schedule was too full, and he was delayed for a few days while filming "The Cult Master," which caused Chief Chen's schedule to be unavailable, so he had to die early.
The villain Ma Ning'er in the drama is played by Ji Chunhua, who played Bald Eagle in "Shaolin Temple".

This invulnerability setting was originally Fang Shiyu's!

Legend has it that when he was just a month old, his mother, Miao Cuihua, washed his body with iron vinegar solution and wrapped him in layers of iron plates, bamboo branches, and firewood... eventually making him invulnerable to swords and spears. His only weakness was his chrysanthemum—somewhat like Achilles' heel, this is Fang's chrysanthemum!

In the storybook "The Holy Dynasty's Flourishing Evergreen", he was kicked in the chrysanthemum by the Fifth Master and died from anal sphincter injury!

The nun has amazing internal strength!
The film's box office revenue was still less than 20 million, but it performed well in other regions.

……

In early March, a notice was issued regarding the prohibition of supporting or assisting Zhang Yuan and others in filming and post-production.

Tian Zhuangzhuang, Zhang Yuan, Wang Xiaoshuai, and others were all punished, bringing the total number of punished individuals to seven, known as the "Seven Gentlemen."
At this time, Zhang Yimou's "To Live" had been edited and completed, but there were some negative opinions during the review process.

Zhang Yimou still wants to make movies, but he doesn't want to become one of the "gentlemen" (those who are considered politically corrupt), so he decided not to participate in the Cannes Film Festival.

But the production company did not grant his request and sent the film to Cannes anyway.

They were very confident in the film, believing it would definitely win an award, and even invited actors Ge You and Gong Li to the event.

Zhang Yimou, being cautious, felt it was inappropriate for him to go, so he didn't.

Cannes even reserved a chair for him with a sign that read "Director Zhang Yimou".

……

I was originally watching Zhang Yimou's "To Live" in the summer, thinking that if things didn't go well, I would put in a good word for him, just in case he really wouldn't let me participate in the exhibition.

Then something happened that left him no time to think about anything else.

Last night, Milan once again enjoyed the essence all to herself before going to sleep.

She, who never dreams, suddenly had a dream today. Of course, while in the dream, she didn't realize it was a dream.

She sat on a chair at the front door of her house, in the bright sunshine and gentle breeze.

Just then, a little girl of about five or six years old ran over and asked, "Are you my mom?"

Milan found her incredibly cute and delicate, so she took her hand and jokingly teased her, "Yes, I'm your mother!"

Then the little girl happily jumped into her arms and called her "Mommy," which made her so happy!
She only realized it was a dream when she woke up in the morning, but the more she thought about it, the more vivid the dream seemed.

It was almost ten o'clock. Xia Tian had gone out, and Zhang Li had already gone to the company. Only Xiao Xu was still dawdling at home.

Milan found it increasingly strange, so she took a test strip and then quickly called Summer...

Summer was so excited that she went home and took her to the hospital for a check-up!
Got it!

(End of this chapter)