When the two episodes of "Friends" in which Li Zhibai made a guest appearance were broadcast, the average ratings exceeded 3%, which attracted the attention of the entire , everyone thought that this record might not be broken until the last episode of this season.
After all, in this era, it is simply unthinkable for the average ratings to exceed 3% per episode.
The startup rate is too low.
To achieve such a result, we can only let those viewers who do not watch TV turn on their TVs at home again.
Looking back over the past decade, the peak ratings were during a phenomenal anti-corruption drama six or seven years ago, which soared to over 5%. That was a miracle that has never been replicated.
With a score of 3%, we can say that we have been invincible in the past five years.
why?
Why are the ratings of "Friends" so high?
Such a simple sitcom has no depth and no artistic value. Even the actors' performances are very simple, the kind that do not require any acting skills at all.
But it has such a terrifying viewership rating.
The fact that Lu Yanhe would attend the Blue Ribbon Awards ceremony shocked the industry, but it was not as great as the 3% viewership ratings.
It's really an exaggeration.
At this rate, is it possible for the final episode of "Friends" to hit a 4% viewership rating?
Exclusive broadcast.
The ratings success of "Friends" has once again made TV stations realize that in this era, it is still possible to create ratings miracles as long as you can get the audience back in front of the TV.
This is different from a magazine.
Some people may want to read magazines, but they can’t buy them. Compared with the newsstands and bookstores that were everywhere before, if they want to buy a magazine now, they may need to go to a specific place to buy it, which directly cuts off the revival of the paper media era from the channel.
The success of "Jump Up" is due to its sales channel following the path of physical books rather than magazines.
Television still has a basic base now.
Basically, everyone still has a TV at home, but they don’t use it very often or turn it on very often.
If one day, when everyone is decorating their new homes, televisions are phased out on a large scale, that will be the end of television stations.
The success of "Friends" brought silent, yet more tangible, humiliation to Beijing and Taiwan.
The series that they messed up was revived by Bai Jingnian and Lu Yanhe.
The value of this drama is far more than what has been shown before. Judging from the current audience's enthusiasm for the drama, it is entirely foreseeable that this series can continue to be filmed for several years.
The advertising fees that Yuehu TV earned in the two months when "Friends" was broadcast alone were enough to cover the revenue of the past quarter - it sounds exaggerated, but in this era, for a TV series with an average viewership rate of more than 2% per episode, and it is a phenomenal hit, the advertising fees are so exaggerated.
The most obvious sign is that "Friends" is broadcast every Friday and Saturday night at 8 o'clock and ends in half an hour. The ratings of variety shows that air after 8:30 have all risen. Even the host of the show jokingly said on the show that thanks to "Friends", their bonuses for the past two months have increased.
Yuehutai is also very strong and reacts very quickly.
They bought the drama starring Lu Yanhe, Yan Liang, Wen Minglan, Yin Xincheng, Zhan Yun, and Bai Jin, and broadcast it during the daytime or late at night on Fridays and Saturdays.
The irony is that the ratings were pretty good, with some even getting close to in the middle of the night.
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"The ratings are so good that I feel a lot of pressure for the next season. It will be really difficult to surpass such good results in the future," said Lu Yanhe.
"You should say that Friends has achieved such great results that as long as we don't shoot nonsense in the future, the results will not be bad." Chen Ziyan laughed, "Do you know how many people have approached me and said they are willing to play a guest role in the next season? Everyone wants to show up in Friends."
Lu Yanhe: "But I found that inviting big stars to guest star can really help increase the ratings."
He was not in these two episodes, so Li Zhibai came to guest-star in these two episodes. Both the topic and popularity were very high, and Li Zhibai's appearance set off another wave of heated discussion on the Internet.
Chen Ziyan: "Many people say that the actual appeal of stars is not that great. That's because many people now don't know how to use stars. It's really hard to say how much appeal a name or a person can have. Those who can sell tens of millions of box office with just a name are top stars. However, if a star is put in the right project, the effect of one plus one being greater than two or even four, five, or six will burst out. Li Zhibai's guest appearance is itself a very popular topic. His age and image are not inconsistent with "Friends". Moreover, everyone has long known his relationship with you and Yan Liang. If you can't perform due to something, his guest appearance actually means filling in for you. Your fans will support him, and his fans will also support him."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"The most important thing is that everyone has been calling for Li Zhibai to guest star in the "Friends" series for a long time, which also satisfies the wishes of many viewers." Chen Ziyan said, "We can indeed make a good plan later to see which roles can be guest starred by some big names, so that there will be some fresh topics from time to time on the basic plate to help "Friends" continue to break the circle. You know that many popular American TV series not only invite big stars to guest star, but also sports stars, popular writers, top supermodels, famous public figures...you can consider it."
"Okay." Lu Yanhe nodded and then smiled. "Next season, I plan to arrange for Li Lili to work in the fashion section of Jump Up magazine."
Chen Ziyan looked at him in surprise and laughed, "You are carrying something private."
"Can't I bring some of this private stuff?" Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "Besides, why not? Well, when the time comes, please ask Siqi and the others to come and make a guest appearance."
"That topic is going to explode." Chen Ziyan judged firmly.
In the original version of "Friends", Rachel went to a company to do clothing-related work.
Lu Yanhe simply replaced this company with the fashion section of "Jump Up".
"Friends" has become a must-watch TV series for many young people today, and has even become a guide to urban life for many people.
Lu Yanhe feels that the sales of "Jump Up" have been stagnant for a long time without any growth - although in this era, it is a miraculous achievement that the sales have not declined, he still hopes that "Jump Up" can go further.
Can't be satisfied with the status quo.
Once you start to feel satisfied and get used to something, things will start to go downhill.
Let's use "Friends" to boost "Jump Up".
"For the Blue Ribbon tribute to veteran artists segment, which young actors are you going to select to represent them?"
Chen Ziyan asked about this matter.
This is also something they need to confirm as soon as possible.
The award ceremony is in ten days.
Lu Yanhe said: "Dashan must be one of them."
Wang Dashan, who was spotted by him and starred in "Lost on Journey", agreed without hesitation when Lu Yanhe invited him to participate in the recording of "The Birth of an Actor". He didn't care at all that this was a variety show. As the leading actor of a movie with a box office of over 700 million yuan, he had to compete with others without even asking for the remuneration.
This touched Lu Yanhe deeply.
Again, apart from himself who knew that the show "The Birth of the Actors" could actually be very popular, everyone else was seeing this type of program format for the first time and it was an unknown, so they were taking a big risk.
Even if the show is very popular, no one knows whether they are liked or hated in the show.
There are many celebrities who have failed in popular shows.
In addition to Wang Dashan, the other contestants participating in the show "The Birth of the Actors" include Cheng Hai and Liu Zhiyin, and Lu Yanhe will definitely choose these two people.
In addition to these three people, he discussed with Chen Ziyan and quickly chose the fourth one.
When it came to the last choice, I was in a dilemma.
Because there are too many options.
Chen Ziyan said, "Well, let's do a priority ranking. I'll randomly pick two people to compete with each other, and you pick one of them. You'll choose the one who stays until the end."
Lu Yanhe nodded, "Okay."
"Besides, this is just our initial idea. They may not be able to attend." Chen Ziyan said, "Wang Dashan and Liu Zhiyin are both quite popular. Especially Liu Zhiyin, she is a popular idol star, and her schedule is not as relaxed as yours. She may not be able to attend."
Lu Yanhe said: "Well, I know, let's ask first."
Of course it would be best if Liu Zhiyin could participate.
Although she is not a serious actor, she has not yet started acting seriously.
But she is obviously interested in acting and may continue to pursue this path in the future.
Of course, in recent years, Liu Zhiyin will definitely continue to focus on being an idol, and acting is just a side job.
Just try.
Then, when I called one after another, no one directly said that they couldn't do it. They all said that they would coordinate the time immediately and would give a reply today.
Chen Ziyan laughed and said, "Don't you admit your current appeal?"
Lu Yanhe: "Please give me some face."
Chen Ziyan: "Excessive modesty is a form of arrogance." Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan helplessly.
At this moment, both of their cell phones rang at the same time.
This coincidence made their first reaction was to look at each other in bewilderment.
Lu Yanhe originally thought that something bad had happened, which led to this situation.
Who would have thought that as soon as the call was connected, Lu Yanhe heard the person on the other end of the phone excitedly say: "Teacher Jiang Jun won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series!"
Lu Yanhe was stunned at that moment.
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Whether it's the Emmy Awards or the Golden Globe Awards, because of streaming media and the trend of diversity in Hollywood, in recent years, Asian actors have won these awards almost every year, including the Oscars.
This would have been almost unimaginable ten years ago.
However, it has never happened before for an actor in a Chinese drama to win an award.
If we look into the reasons behind this, there is actually one crucial thing, that is, Chinese-language dramas have not yet been integrated into the global streaming matrix.
Therefore, the influence of Chinese-language dramas is always limited.
This time, thanks to Maxine's strong push and the support of its parent company, "Squidward Fever" entered the Golden Globe Awards' field of vision.
However, no one thought that they would actually win the award.
Even the original lead actor Lee Jung-jae won the Emmy Award for Best Actor, not the Golden Globe Award.
The Golden Globe Awards still prefer to give to familiar faces.
Lu Yanhe: "Great! Congratulations, Teacher Jiang!"
The person who called was Yao Yuanzhi, the director of "Squid Game".
Yao Yuanzhi was there.
He was very emotional.
"Teacher Jiang is on stage. He's going to give his acceptance speech!"
Yao Yuanzhi didn't hang up the phone.
Due to some sensitive reasons, there is no channel in China to watch the live broadcast of this year's Golden Globe Awards.
At this moment, Lu Yanhe calmed down.
On the other side, he saw that Chen Ziyan had hung up the phone.
So, Lu Yanhe said, "Director, I'm with Sister Zi Yan, I'm going to open it."
He turned on his cell phone.
"...Thank you, thank you! Sorry, my English is limited. I can only say thank you, hello, and I am Jiang Jun."
Jiang Jun said this in English.
You can tell as soon as you listen that it's been practiced for a long time.
"Fortunately, Yuqian came with me. Yuqian, please be my translator."
Jiang Jun invited Jiang Yuqian.
Jiang Yuqian showed a surprised expression.
Jiang Jun waved his hand, motioning Jiang Yuqian to come on stage.
Everyone looked at Jiang Yuqian.
At this moment, the camera was also aimed at Jiang Yuqian.
Jiang Yuqian laughed, stood up, and walked slowly toward the stage.
Five minutes before that, she had just lost in her own category and did not win the Best Actress award.
Many people did not understand what Jiang Jun said in Chinese just now and didn’t know what was going on now.
Jiang Yuqian went on stage and stood next to Jiang Jun. She explained in English: "Jiang Jun asked me to be his interpreter. I don't know if he wanted to comfort me. After all, I didn't go on stage to receive the award. He is really a very good man, right? Unfortunately, he is married. He and his wife have a very happy marriage."
The whole audience laughed and applauded.
Jiang Jun didn't know what Jiang Yuqian said, but when he saw the reaction from the audience, he knew that Jiang Yuqian was right.
Jiang Yuqian signaled Jiang Jun that he could speak.
Jiang Jun: "If I say at my age that I feel like I'm dreaming, will people laugh at me?"
Translated by Jiang Yuqian.
The laughter sounded again.
"But I really feel this way, because this is the first Best Actor trophy I have ever won in my acting career, right here, at the Golden Globe Awards."
Jiang Jun's tone was somewhat excited and his voice was loud and clear.
This time, what we received were applause of congratulations and encouragement.
"There are so many people I want to thank, both on and off the stage. Really, only after participating in the production of a good play, we know that the industry we are in is not an industry where one person fights alone, but an industry where everyone achieves success together."
After Jiang Yuqian translated this passage, the expressions of many people in the audience became serious.
Of course, those who are serious about filming and love this industry can relate to these words.
"Sometimes, I really thought that my career as an actor would end in obscurity. I had an illness, and although I recovered, not many people wanted me to act in movies. After that, it got even worse. At the age of 40, I ushered in the cold winter of my acting career."
Tears gradually welled up in his eyes, and he didn't know what he was thinking about.
"But I never thought of giving up, and some people didn't give up on me. A young man named Lu Yanhe, who had worked with me on "The Seventeenth Floor", told me that after I recovered from my illness, there would be a script that wanted me to play the leading role. I was shocked. I thought he was joking. I even thought he was invited by my wife to tell a white lie to encourage me to overcome the disease."
Jiang Yuqian was standing nearby, feeling sad after hearing this.
As an actor herself, she understands Jiang Jun's feelings very well.
"As a result, he actually came to me with this script, and this script was Squidward Gaming."
At this moment, the applause was extremely warm.
Jiang Jun took a deep breath and raised the trophy in his hand.
"He has a movie called The Mist that will be released in the US soon. He was supposed to attend tonight's awards ceremony with us, but he couldn't come because he was still filming a movie that many of you like, Friends. I hope he knows that I am very grateful to him. When many people questioned whether I would play the leading role, he never wavered in his idea."
"Finally, thank you to the Golden Globe Awards for giving me a glorious night. I will take this award and continue to act firmly. Thank you!"
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China's first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
Who would have thought.
Three years ago, he was still considered the uncrowned king by industry insiders. He had superb acting skills but had never had the opportunity to play the leading role.
Three years later, he experienced a serious illness and went through the trough of his acting career. Then, this summer, he became a global star with "Squid!" and won the Golden Globe Award on this winter night.
Lu Yanhe immediately posted on Weibo:
——Thank you Director Yao Yuanzhi for calling me on the spot, so I heard Teacher Jiang’s acceptance speech the first time. I was proud and excited for him even though I was thousands of miles away. It was great. Finally, the uncrowned king wore the crown that should have belonged to him a long time ago. Thank you Teacher Jiang for believing in me from beginning to end. This must be a good script, a good drama, and a masterpiece. I did it, and Teacher Jiang did it too. Congratulations to the crew of "Squid Game", see you in the second season! (Sister Yuqian, you are the best actress in my heart forever! Hurry up and finish filming "The Phone", the other script I wrote for you will be finished soon!)
That night, Director Shen Tailin of Beijing TV Station was silent for a long, long time after reading Lu Yanhe's Weibo post congratulating Jiang Jun.
He suddenly remembered what Hu Siwei had said before at the station:
Originally, this all belonged to us.
Why did they all end up going to someone else? (End of this chapter)
