Jiuzhuan Dachang is popular, and the old variety show sheds tears of the times

During the Spring Festival, a Shandong specialty, Jiuzhuan Dachang, appeared in the public eye, opening the traffic code for the New Year, and unexpectedly made the variety show "Top Chef" popular. In fact, this is not an isolated case, there are many such examples, let's take a look at them together in this article.

During the Spring Festival, a famous scene in a variety show where the judges tasted "dabian" (homonymous with feces) ignited the creative enthusiasm of netizens, and the famous Shandong dish Jiuzhuan Large Intestine opened the new year's traffic code. Netizens joined the "Jiuzhuan Large Intestine Whole Live Competition" one after another, and unexpectedly brought the variety show "Top Chef" back into the public eye.

With the rise of the Internet archaeology craze, can old variety shows become popular again with the help of these highlight clips?

"Did you taste it yourself?"

"I tried a piece."

"How does it feel?"

"I removed most of the fishy smell from the intestines, but I kept a portion of it because I think keeping a portion of it will let you know that you are eating large intestines."

"Did you keep it on purpose?"

"I left some of it behind during the cleansing process."

"Was it intentional or accidental?"

"It was intentional."

This conversation comes from "Top Chef", a food competition reality show created by Dragon TV in 2012 with foreign copyright. After finishing the whole conversation, the judge Cao Kefan cut off a part of the large intestine with elegant movements, and then left the classic emoticon "I hate it·JPG". The 17-year-old chubby chef Yu Tao used his strength to explain to Cao Kefan what "life is unpredictable, and the large intestine wraps the small intestine" means.

Since Cao Kefan commented that the previous contestant's large intestine was over-processed, causing it to lose its original flavor, Xiaopang let him get what he wanted. Combined with his expression after eating, netizens imagined a conspiracy, namely that Xiaopang used the large intestine to preserve its original flavor as a ruse to let the three judges eat the "defense", which can be summarized as "one scheme to harm three sages."

What an exciting plot! Isn’t it more exciting than watching variety shows amidst a bunch of commercials?

So far, the original clip "Top Chefs Preserve the Original Taste of Large Intestines" has attracted more than 20 million views on Bilibili. It is worth noting that the hot comments on this video are words to justify Xiaopang, that is, what Cao Kefan ate was most likely not "defense".

But in the imagination of countless netizens, it was the "defense", and even only the "defense" could make this carnival seem reasonable.

The production team of "Top Chef" probably never thought that in an era when variety shows are booming, a work from 11 years ago could still make waves on the Internet.

In fact, this is not an isolated case. You never know why an old variety show will become popular again.

1. Archaeological Era

The popularity of the Nine-Turn Large Intestine has brought "Top Chef" a highlight moment on the Internet. When it comes to comedy and humor, variety shows, TV series, movies, interviews, advertisements, etc. from many years ago are a treasure trove.

The trendy and retro Taiwanese idol show "Top of the Forbidden City", which has been "awkwardly dancing" on the Internet for many years and contributed the famous line "Stop fighting", comes from the distant 2004.

Yue Yunpeng's famous work "Swallow, how can I live without you" comes from the movie "Passing by Your World" (2016).

The hot meme of 2022, "Ou Hao, you are my God", was Hai Qing's affectionate confession while kneeling on one knee when she was a judge on "Happy Boy" (2013).

Actress Yuan Li’s famous remark, “Teacher Siqin Gaowa recently took sheep placenta injections. Is it okay to say that?” came from the press conference for the TV series Mother Mother (2011).

Yang Mi’s classic slogan when she was the spokesperson for Lycoris Radiata (2013), “Are you okay?” has become a catchphrase for netizens when they are speechless about other people’s behavior as the online context changes.

There are also the classic dialogue between Lin Yongjian and his son in "Where Are We Going, Dad 3" (2015), "Are you a devil? I am your father", the classic game of "Last season's happiness VS this season's happiness" in "Flowers and Youth 2" (2015), and Xu Qing's statement "Everyone in last season is normal", which made the Mango TV post-production editing, which has always been criticized for "loving to stir up trouble", pale in comparison.

Exactly the same as the Nine-Turn Large Intestine Stroke is what happened to Han Hong in "The Voice of China" (2013): a male contestant claimed that "my high notes are higher than anyone else's", and the judge Han Hong asked him to "give me a high note that can destroy the world", so "for three days and three nights, in the middle of the night" the devilish sound filled his ears, and this program was also jokingly called "The Adventures of Han Hong".

This program, which was originally intended to test the students, unexpectedly frustrated the mentors. For a moment, it was unclear whether it was torturing the students or the mentors. However, it was this unrehearsed interaction and jokes outside the script that made it different from the formulaic jokes created by the script and full of "realism."

People said "this old joke that has been dead for ten years suddenly hit me" while laughing out loud during the "archaeology" and even listed "Internet classics".

These ancient clips are widely circulated on the Internet. With the help of countless netizens' "archaeology + secondary creation", people can always watch them again and again. This kind of "Renaissance" has become a new trend. Under the trend of revival, the exposure of old variety shows has been improved. Variety shows such as "Variety Show", "Flowers and Youth" and "Dancing Forest Conference" have been restarted after being suspended, and this trend has also spawned some new programs.

2. Renaissance: revitalizing the old

In 2022, thanks to the various activities of B station up masters and Douyin bloggers, the old variety show "Boys and Girls Rush Forward" became popular again on the Internet. Many people said, "I'm sorry, I have to do this shameless thing," and turned around to sign up for their friends and even company chairmen to participate in the show, looking forward to seeing them rush through the levels and fall into the water happily.

Old variety shows such as "If You Are the One", "The Brain" and "The Voice of China" have also become beneficiaries of this trend. A large number of "unethical" netizens have flooded into the registration channel. With the subjective efforts of netizens and the help of the Internet, these old variety shows that were once "out of reach" only on TV have become popular again in a very new way.

Bilibili even took advantage of the opportunity to cooperate with Anhui Satellite TV to launch a program on the same theme full of Bilibili's characteristics, "Bilibili Forward".

The program constructs a middle school "dragon slaying" worldview, that is, "the sleeping dragon awakens, trying to push the world into the abyss of destruction, and Bilibili TV needs to gather dragon slayers, raise the sword of happiness, defeat the dragon, and save the world."

In each episode, there are twelve warriors competing to pass the levels. The warriors who successfully pass the levels can successfully rescue the "Wandering Merchant" waiting at the end.

In addition to the two-dimensional world, B Station also fully utilized UP hosts, allowing UP hosts with a certain degree of popularity on the site (Ama Zong, Lahong Sang, Dongni Ookii), Internet celebrities (Yamashiro Oguri Shun, Yongqi Ma, Wang Jingze), and stars (Yammy, Duan Aojuan, Lu Keran, Sun Rui) to participate. This group of people can rely on their own traffic to edit and share related clips to form a secondary dissemination boom. The sword of happiness raised by the warriors finally won the program 270 million views and a good score of 9.2 (10 points).

The alternative revival of "Boys and Girls Go Forward" on the Internet is still a case of "making a new life out of an old thing", but some "Tears of the Times" are not just about nostalgia, but are moving towards "rebirth".

In 2007, when Hunan TV's classic talent show "Happy Boy" was still at its peak, Chen Chusheng became the champion that year. His song "Has Anyone Ever Told You" spread throughout the streets and alleys, and he was the talk of the town. However, due to his absence from a New Year's Eve party, he was banned by Tianyu.

The runner-up Su Xing was also hidden because of a fight with the 2010 Super Boy champion Li Wei. The rest of the contestants have their own ups and downs, so I won’t go into details, but overall they are not popular.

When they reappeared in the public eye, they were already a group of unknown celebrities. However, the "re-employed men's group" formed by them was loved by the public because of their "unreliable behavior" (too much indifference to their celebrity status) in "Welcome to the Mushroom House". The program caused countless netizens to urge for more episodes, and many people even subscribed to VIP, only to find out that there were only one or two episodes.

After many considerations, "Happy Start Again" was born. Who would have thought that the God of Variety would focus on a group of unknown celebrities in the entertainment industry who have a clear understanding of themselves? This variety show created the highest score and the record of the most number of people who rated it among domestic variety shows, and they also became popular again.

This wave of "Renaissance" picked up the tears of the times. However, the key to their popularity is not the special tolerance of the audience due to the nostalgic psychology, but precisely because the "core" under their ancient shell is not old. Their "Internet sense DNA" is hard to come by and it immediately danced into the "hearts" of the audience.

Looking at the above-mentioned clips, the variety shows that have become popular again, and the new programs that have been derived from them, they all show a state of "no jokes, no survival". Because of the "jokes", they are able to be seen by the public, and because they can create jokes, they have the opportunity to be empowered again.

The drama and sense of loss of control of the scene became the most intuitive expression of reality and grounding. After all, the script could not plan such outrageous scenes. Mel Hellizer said in "Laughing Points: A Humor Expression Lesson for Everyone Written by a Talk Show Instructor": "Comedy is the currency of the entertainment kingdom."

The above examples, showing comedic elements in a given context, are an intuitive reflection of the sense of variety and can provide core value to users, so they can run smoothly in the entertainment-oriented variety show kingdom.

We seem to be living in an "archaeological age". Whether people spontaneously check in at Na Ying's classic Weibo post "MD, I hate people who pretend to be cool the most" or indulge in secondary creations of famous scenes from the past, it all shows our expectations for "domestic entertainment living people" and "domestic entertainment variety shows" . The embarrassment and joy of others' past have become a kind of "emotional value nutrient reservoir" and a source of happiness for us in the established Internet context.

This is an era where audiences love "archaeology" and secondary creation. It is also an era that particularly needs "comedians". It can even give birth to a new type of industry occupation - variety show stars. Performers with a strong sense of variety shows such as Yang Di, Shen Teng, Sha Yi, Jia Ling, etc. frequently participate in the recording of variety shows because in the eyes of the audience, they have been equated with "funny".

But what is most needed is "comedy" beyond the expectations, something natural yet wild, just like the grandfather leading the children to eat "bitter rice" (wild vegetables) in the TV series "Home with Kids". This wildness becomes more precious when we are used to watching exquisite but homogenized, advertising-filled variety shows that are precisely calculated.

Under this "archaeological" trend, we are witnessing more and more "wild" old variety show clips becoming popular on the Internet. However, although the wildness of the old variety shows can always be watched fresh, their popularity will inevitably gradually dissipate.

The question before us is, as audiences increasingly like to shop around in old variety shows, can this enthusiasm, in addition to generating certain exposure for the parties involved and the programs, be converted into real money, or even "stand higher" and bring added value to the current variety show market?

3. After Archaeology

Popular memes such as "You are my God" and "Nine Turns of Large Intestine" have caused countless imitations and re-creations on Bilibili, Douyin, and Kuaishou. This kind of secondary video traffic usually bursts out on short video platforms. The conversion rate obtained by TV media and long video platforms is actually still unknown. Those who want to take advantage of the "archaeology" craze to find profit points from old variety shows may need to change their thinking.

For variety shows that have already been aired, the usual profit-making projects such as selling copyrights and advertising investment have already been completed.

As long as netizens' crazy secondary creations are within the scope of "fair use" stipulated in the Copyright Law, it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. Although there are numerous related copyright disputes, a complete authorization mechanism for netizens' spontaneous secondary creations and commercial re-creations in film and television dramas and variety shows has not been formed, and there is still a long way to go.

If producers and platforms want to use the popularity to further develop the commercial value of "old" variety shows and make them replicable, they need to break the established model and instead innovate content based on C-end demand. Simply put, it means "listen to advice."

The aforementioned shows "Bilibili Go Forward" and "Happy Start Again" are all works that understand audience needs, and their creation is a direct example of C-end users driving B-end innovation. Judging from the market response, another variety show best illustrates the consumption potential of C-end users.

In 2022, Tencent Video took the lead in testing the waters and launched a revenue-sharing variety show "Shining Days" exclusively for VIP members, which records the living conditions of single artists. Each additional valid viewing will earn an extra dollar in revenue.

According to the "2022 Annual Summary of Tencent Video Creation Platform Revenue Sharing Cooperation" released by Tencent Video on February 6, the variety show series' revenue sharing exceeded 11 million, winning the top spot in the variety show revenue sharing category.

At present, the C-end has released certain consumption signals, which is a good start, but the overall paid market is in the process of accumulating strength, and the situation where variety shows rely entirely on C-end users to achieve profitability has not yet been formed, and there is still a long way to go.

However, it is undeniable that C-end users are using their own power to promote B-end innovation. This also provides an idea for variety show production, that is, to tap into the existing content that is popular with the audience and has great market expressiveness.

In the long run, we need to think about whether we can build a content matrix library around these "classics" to effectively align it with the development trend of the variety show industry, and form a closed loop of program copyright, commercial value and healthy industry development.

It is bound to be the general trend to extend the industrial chain and increase the added value of programs through effective operations rather than just doing a one-time deal.

Conclusion

When we frequently look at old variety shows, and even "revive old things" after observing the psychology of users, the audience can make their own judgment on whether it is "fashion is a cycle" or a complaint from netizens that current variety shows are too homogeneous and boring.

If the end of fashion is retro, then it is foreseeable that the variety shows that we now dislike as boring may also usher in their era at some point in the future. After all, "Nine Turns of Large Intestines" also faced the embarrassing situation of poor ratings and then being suspended, but it ushered in its spring at the beginning of 2023.

Author: Hu Jinyun, cultural industry critic, researcher at Sanchuanhui Cultural Tourism and Sports Research Institute; Editor: Shi Guang; Editor: Bandao

Source public account: Cultural Industry Review (ID: whcypl), China’s top new media for cultural industry.