The King of Variety Entertainment Chapter 1 part3

Chapter 1: The Program Group to be Disbanded (part 3 out of 3)

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　60-year-old Duan Haishan was not as domineering as Director Li. He had long lost his desire to win as he approached retirement. Unfortunately, the “Jianghu Talk Show” slipped down faster and faster, and he certainly would not be able to retire with a successful legacy.

　　Duan Haishan looked at his team and sighed: “Director Li spoke with anger. Don't worry about it”

　　Writer Li Yang asked: “Director Duan, do we really only have one last chance?”

　　Duan Haishan said: “Yes, there is a lot of controversy in the broadcasting station saying that we are standing at the pit refusing to shit[1]. The leaders of the platform, the local station, and even who came to power are all targeting us. If we follow the rules of the broadcasting station, our group would have disbanded today. Director Li has been under tremendous pressure. He took a shot at the table in the conference room to win an opportunity for us. He is actually treating you very well.”

　　Cameraman Gu Yunfeng usually has a good relationship with Duan Haishan. He frowned and asked: ” Director Duan, if the audience rating is still not over 0.3% and the program is cut, what do you do?”

　　Duan Haishan smiled bitterly: “What can I do, retire early, pack up and leave!”

　　Everyone was silent. Everyone felt uncomfortable that Duan Haishan who worked hard all his life was going to end up with not a good ending. They thought that they owed Duan Haishan.

　　Duan Haishan said: “In this episode, we are ruined. Now we must go all out to fight the battle. I, Old Duan, will ask you to please work hard for another two months to let me retire like a hurricane, how about that?”

　　”Brothers, let restore our spirits and get to work! Can't lose Direct Duan's face[2]!”

　　"Director Duan can be assured that we will never slacken and guarantee that this episode's ratings will exceed 0.3%!"

　　”Everyone work together to think about how to improve the ratings, and how to make the program more attractive to viewers. We can't lose Director Duan's face!”

　　The atmosphere of the “Jianghu Talk Show” program group finally became active. People who were thinking about being lazy and pass away the time were too embarrassed to continue muddling along. Everyone all use their brains to brainstorm ideas for Duan Haishan of how to improve the ratings. 

　　Yang An blinked and thought about how to take advantage of this opportunity.

　　In his original world, there were numerous variety shows with high ratings. It would not be difficult to revise the “Jianghu Talk Show”, but he was only a contract worker without even a formal job, much less as a stagehand. Unqualified and inexperienced, Without experience, what should he do to get Duan Haishan to believe in him and how to get the most benefits for himself?

　　The program staff regained their past enthusiasm and discussed how to improve the ratings.

　　”Director Duan, I think the problem is related to the guests. We need to find a bigger star for this episode.”

　　”But our program has exhausted our money, so there is no money to invite big stars.”

　　”I don't think the guests are the focus. Many of the guests don't produce good feelings and can't open up on the show. We should work harder on the scripts and to create more laughter.”

　　”But we don't have enough scriptwriters. Can we borrow people from the other department?”

　　”Music and post-production should also be improved. It's not that I am targeting you, Xiao Zhang, but do you see what your post-production is like? The audience can't see the scene because so many jokes were made in post-production!”

　　”…”

　　Regardless of whether these ideas are useful or not or whether they could solve the practical difficulties, this is a good start. The program group regained their long-lost vitality. Duan Haishan finally smiled.

　　Yang An did not say anything. After work hours were over when the whole team stayed to work overtime, he found the opportunity to talk to Duan Haishan alone: ​​”Director Duan, I have an idea.”

[1] Idiom means taking up space and not using it (aka waste of space)

[2] Face meaning reputation

Chapter end