Industry insiders call for classic realistic TV dramas

Some entertainment-industry insiders in China have expressed concern that there are only a few classic realistic space movies and TV dramas that deserve a re-watch despite an increasing popularity of this genre.

Meanwhile, they've also made suggestions for screenwriters on how they can create excellent scripts.

The cast of a new TV drama 'The Qin Empire' celebrates after finishing shooting earlier this year.[Photo provided to China Plus]

Zhou Hai is the Director of Chief Editor's Office with the Hunan Satellite TV. He said there are various topics in focus in realistic TV dramas, however there's only a small number of classic works out of about 300 to 400 TV dramas that get appraised each year by a third-party company hired by his TV station.

"For example, if a TV drama dedicated to the medical care issue becomes a hit, there would be a lot of similar TV dramas instantly coming thereafter. Following suit is a lazy trend in TV drama-production field," said Leng Song, a renowned scholar with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Leng Song further pointed out that nowadays there are also some dramas with only the first few episodes looking interestingly attractive but boring in the middle part and couldn't even end properly.

Zhou Hai and Leng Song were part of a panel of six experts that discussed the present realistic space TV dramas and movies in China at the just-concluded China International Film and TV Program Exhibition in Beijing.

Zhou said script writers need to be brave enough to step out of their comfort zone, adding previous experiences are important, but what's more important is breaking away from the conventional topics and techniques.

"China has undergone more rapid development in its society than other nations, which offers a source of inspirations. The key, I think, is screenwriters need to have enough acumen to discover new social trends and make them the element of their own drama creation", added Zhou.

Statistics show in a list of 431 Chinese TV dramas to undergo appraisal there are 328 dramas that reflect realism or naturalism, accounting for 76 percent of the total, higher than 66% in 2017 and 64% in 2018.

Under the guidance of the relevant authorities, the proportion of realistic dramas in the market for TV dramas is constantly increasing.