Chapter 227: The Pioneer of Talk Shows in this World!
Evening.
Outside the hospital specified by the office.
As time passed, male and female staff members of Weiwo company’s gradually left the hospital. Thirty minutes after the female staff had departed, the male comrades were ushered onto a bus to be sent in for their medical checkup. Even Zhang Ye, who had only started work that day, was no exception. The medical examination for the female comrades was probably more complex and had a couple additional tests, so everyone exited around the same time.
Once outside, Zhang Ye ran into Dong Shanshan again. The Red String of Fate was still connected to their ankles; it had yet to break. However, when he recalled the incident in the restroom earlier that afternoon, Zhang Ye was too embarrassed to attempt to create conversation with her.
“Teacher Dong.” A colleague walked out of the hospital. It was Ah Qian, the colleague who didn’t sit too far from Zhang Ye.
Dong Shanshan turned around with a smile, “Ah Qian.”
Ah Qian asked, “Have you completed your medical checkup?”
“Yes, I just finished.” Dong Shanshan said.
“Then let’s go. I will take you to search for an apartment.” Ah Qian said.
“Sure, then I’ll treat you to dinner.” Dong Shanshan said.
Ah Qian anxiously replied, “Ah, but you arrived just yesterday, it should be my treat instead. You can treat me next time. Hur hur.”
Dong Shanshan then walked off with Ah Qian, but the school belle saw Zhang Han as Ah Qian hailed a taxi. She immediately greeted her and the three of them burst into conversation. Probably by Dong Shanshan’s invitation, Zhang Han entered the taxi with them.
Shortly after, the taxi disappeared around a corner.
Seeing that none of his colleagues around him spoke to him, he too hailed a taxi and went home.
……
Near the Bund.
In an upscale district.
As he walked past a fountain and some rock features, Zhang Ye was busy admiring the view. It felt as though the tiredness from his day had dissipated. Living in this sort of environment, Zhang Ye could only think that his status had changed to that of a high status hoolig … high status person!
At home.
The temperature was a little chilly.
There was no central heating in Shanghai, so you could only turn the air-conditioner on manually. Zhang Ye turned on the heater and went to shower. He then went to the master bedroom and sat at the writing desk and went online. This was his usual routine each day, to check the internet for news each day. Now that he was a WebTV host, he would have to pay even more attention to the current events.
Weiwo Video.
On the ‘WebTV Videos’ page.
There was a banner ad, which had Zhang Ye photo on it. The words — “Congratulations Teacher Zhang Ye on joining WEBTV Channel” was emblazoned on it. This ad was most likely put up just today. Yesterday’s was probably news of Dong Shanshan joining, probably lasting just for the day. If it was the publicity about anyone else’s recruitment, it might not have attracted much attention. After all, those who became WebTV hosts were usually not very famous, as a television station would still be the choice destination for most hosts, but Zhang Ye was different; he had been on Central TV news two days ago. That publicity still had not died down yet; therefore, this small banner was noticed by many people!
On discussion forums, Tieba and Weibo, every platform had people uploading the banner.
“The latest news has confirmed that Teacher Zhang Ye has gone to work at an online TV channel!” a Weibo account named “20 Years of Professional Newsleaks” posted.
“Wow, there’s finally some news of Teacher Zhang? Great, we can watch his programs again!”
“I’ve been waiting for such a long time, too. Now, I’m really looking forward to seeing what type of program Teacher Zhang will come up with this time. Will it be another historical program? A copy of ‘Lecture Room’?”
“That can’t be; this is online TV we’re talking about.”
“Right. Historical programs are not suitable here.”
“I was guessing that Zhang Ye went to work for Shanghai Television Station. How did it become online television? Even though such kinds of fixed broadcast methods on such a medium is very popular these days, does it suit Zhang Ye? Anyway, I don’t expect much from him. He’s someone who spoke about history and it’s even serious history. If he were to be an online broadcaster, isn’t that forcing himself to death? It’s all about youngsters in this medium. Even if you can present history very well and in an intriguing way, the other programs are all still entertainment programs. How can you fight on even ground with them? Sure, even if you were to host an entertainment program, too, your field of expertise would have changed; that’s even worse!”
“Right. I’m also a little worried.”
“Just what sort of program will he come up with?”
“We will know in a few days.”
A lot of the fans began to worry, as they could see the difficulties that Zhang Ye would soon face.
Of course, there were also those who discredited Zhang Ye.
“Zhang Ye can’t make it anymore. His talent has run out and he won’t be able to produce any good programs anymore!”
“Right. He was only okay speaking when he talked about the Three Kingdoms, but he can’t do well for other topics. Let’s wait for him to make a fool of himself. At present, Weiwo Video can be considered to be a big player in this industry, why would they bring Zhang Ye in? This move was really too lousy! Zhang Ye doesn’t have the looks and he can only depend on that mouth of his; what use is that? With just his mouth, how could he be suitable for the WebTV environment? The other newly joined host though is rather nice. She looks good and she has a sexy figure. This is what I’d call a good move. Any program hosted by her would gain attention, but what does that Zhang Ye have?”
“Why are you discrediting Teacher Zhang so badly?” a Zhang Ye fan asked.
Another fan from his Tieba said, “Since when has Teacher Zhang Ye been logically understood! You are too naive. I very much look forward to Teacher Zhang’s new program, I’m pretty sure I won’t be disappointed!”
Another female Tieba fan angrily said, “Can only depend on his mouth? Yes, Teacher Zhang Ye is not handsome, nor does he have a good body, but so what? Teacher Zhang Ye has depended on that mouth of his ever since his debut. In the past, it was like this. In the future, it will still be like this, too! All of you, just wait! Watch and see how Teacher Zhang Ye uses his mouth to become famous throughout the country! When that happens, which one of you will still dare let out a fart!”
The person who discredited Zhang Ye earlier said, “There’s a brainless fan upstairs!”
The girl replied, “Indeed, I am Teacher Zhang’s brainless fan! Bite me!”
……
There were also some news reports of Zhang Ye’s career move. There was no lack of local Shanghai news reporting on this.
“Zhang Ye joins Weiwo Video. Will the ratings legend continue?” — The report was written this way: In Beijing, Zhang Ye had created a listenership legend at the radio station. He had broken the midnight segment’s historical ratings and then he jumped ship to work at Beijing Television Station, where his new historical segment broke local television ratings for similar historical segments. The ratings far exceeded the other historical segments. It was worth noting that they were not even worthy of competing with his results, as the disparity of the gap was just too much. This time, him moving to Weiwo Video would likely see him take up a role as a WebTV host. I can’t help but ask… Will his legend continue?
Some felt it would.
But a majority of people did not feel so.
Several news posts were now intensely being discussed.
……
After reading for over an hour, Zhang Ye lit a cigarette and started smoking. The fans’ expectations and encouragement put him under a lot of pressure. For those who doubted and denied him, Zhang Ye could actually understand why they would act that way. He was after all inexperienced and didn’t have outstanding results. “Late-night Ghost Stories” dazzled? “Lecture Room” was outstanding? It was not wrong, but when compared to those famous veteran hosts, he was not even close. Those famous hosts, at the very least, had already done 6 to 7 programs and their ratings were all improvements compared to the last. They also broadcast on satellite TV and reached the whole country. Zhang Ye’s achievements could not even compare. His previous two programs even had a great deal of limitations. Whether it was ghost stories or historical lectures, they basically did not have big audiences.
What should he choose for his new program?
This was a problem that constantly vexed Zhang Ye.
The program had to meet the need of catering to the younger audience of WebTV, but also had to have substantial entertainment value. It had to cater to the masses even more. There had to be a guarantee that many episodes could be broadcast over a long period of time.
No matter how he thought about it, the only program that seemed to meet these requirements was — a Talk Show!
This was an entertainment culture that came from foreign countries. Late night Talk Shows had more than six decades of history. Overseas, the format of Talk Shows typically had interviews and individual stand-up comedy segments. It discussed politics or sex, so it was not appropriate for the People’s Republic of China. Hence, the Chinese Talk Shows in Zhang Ye’s world had their own flavor. They formed a new format that matched the country’s conditions and ideology. However, the core was not much different from Western style Talk Shows.
They were all Talk Shows.
A host with just his mouth!
However, Zhang Ye had never made the decision to do a Talk Show. It was not that he lacked the ability, but he believed that he was not as good as the Talk Show masters of this world. If he used the segments from his world, many of them had to deal with real-life current events or movies or novels. For example, if he used “Whatever you believe or not, I trust in it”, how many people here would understand it? He definitely needed to delete and revise portions of it as this world did not have such works or origin stories. The segment would naturally not be funny. so it was a bit more trouble to produce it. Besides, this world also had its jokes and segments. He believed that he was unable to compete with those Talk Show hosts who had already honed their trade over time. After all, Zhang Ye was still unfamiliar with many things of this world.
Let’s check it first.
He first wanted to see the programs of the Talk Show masters of this world.
Zhang Ye began searching the words “Talk Show” in Chinese with a learning attitude, and then… then he was stunned. There was no such word in the search results! He refused to have his beliefs shaken and searched in English, only to find a translation of the words. It was even translated individually, “talk” and “show”!
After more than ten minutes of searching, Zhang Ye was surprised to realize the reality. Be it foreign or domestic, this world didn’t f**king have a program that was similar to Talk Shows. There was no such term on the internet, nor did anyone know what Talk Shows were!
Zhang Ye was overjoyed!
Great! He had picked a bargain!
Previously, he was afraid to compete with the many masters of Talk Shows , but now, from the looks of it, there was no need to worry about this anymore. If he pioneered a new art form, then he would be China’s… No… The pioneer of Talk Shows in this world!
It’s settled!
This shall be it!
*Talk Shows in the Chinese setting are somewhat similar to their foreign counterparts. One of the Talk Shows that will be mentioned in upcoming chapters can be watched here. It began airing in 2012. The earlier part of the series began with the host, Wang Zijian only doing comedy monologues or stand-up comedy throughout the whole show. It was only later did they begin inviting guests.