Insights into the 2017 China TV Market from Magnolia Awards Submission (Part I)

2017 is a year that China\'s TV drama industry has been down to earth and returned its focus on creation. Recently, the application for the Magnolia Awards of the 24th Shanghai TV Festival has come to an end. From the list that has gathered almost all domestic popular TV dramas in the past year, it is not difficult to find out that realism works occupy a half. Compared with the same period of last year, the realistic genre has maintained a strong momentum of growth in terms of quantity, and also delivered certain progress concerning breadth of topics, depth of content, and humanistic connotation.

Focus on multiple realism themes

Among the 2017 realism television dramas, a number of high-quality dramas with focus on different industries and multiple perspectives have emerged. From Surgeons and Emergency Department Doctors telling stories about front-line medical workers to Game of Hunting on “headhunters”, Heirs that vividly publicizes the Inheritance Law and Blue Sea Ambition with attention to traffic rescue workers, domestic profession dramas are no longer confined to traditional occupations, but have found more moving stories in more fields and jobs. On the other hand, with the combination of more sophisticated professional systems, more reasonable storylines and more realistic scenes, props, and performances, this round of drama boom has hit deeper into the core of each industry.

Surgeons

Game of Hunting

The developing China has provided a lot of material for TV makers. TV dramas such as The Love of Courtyard, A Splendid Life in Beijing, Ordinary Years are based on the Chinese families, leading the audience to re-experience the wave of reform through the depiction of the growth of characters, thereby inspiring people with the power of the times to bravely struggle and strive; due to its loyal reproduction of history and respect for the original book, White Deer Plain has brought the audience the soul and temperature of an era and won good reputation.

A Splendid Life in Beijing

White Deer Plain

Dig deep into urban romance

Urban romance and family have always been the advantageous themes of domestic TV series. In 2017, such category gave play to its traditional merits and continued to march further, with works reflecting the gaps and emotional resonance of the old, middle, and young generations of contemporary families emerging one after another. In hit dramas such as Dear My Friends, Wonderful Life, Gentlemen, the elderly are no longer the “conflict makers” who keep chattering in front of young people; instead, their lifestyles, emotions, and life choices that were often neglected by people before, have been presented by TV makers, which not only triggered viewers’ emotional resonance, but also played a positive role in promoting the harmony of the society and the family.

Gentlemen

Old Boy and My! Physical Education Teacher, among others, have put the emotional collision between the post-70s and 80s generation, and the post-90s and 00s in spotlight. Either the uncles with midlife crisis or the “old boys who can never grow up, the plots of family members growing together have touched and warmed numerous audience. With such beautiful and true emotions, the works have given off a bright light of humanistic care.

Old Boy

Create superior realism works

The TV drama competition of Magnolia Awards at the 24th Shanghai TV Festival coincides with the 60th anniversary of the birth of Chinese TV dramas. The TV drama industry shares a common fate with the nation, the times, and the people, and to create a never-closing Chinese theater has become the consensus of all Chinese television makers.

Recently, it has become a heated topic in the TV drama circle about how realistic themes could avoid becoming “floating dramas” that are far from true life. Judging from the submission list of the Magnolia Awards – TV series category, “persisting in people-orientation and reflecting the spirit of the times” is the cornerstone of excellent TV dramas. With the times “setting up the staging” and life “adding more flavor”, the Chinese TV series makers expand themes, forms, and techniques on one hand, and go deep into the streets, households, and people on the other hand. In the new era when all flowers bloom together, they have created a number of remarkable works that reflect the social features of the new era and loved by the masses with passionate and vivid strokes, and prepared philosophical, artistic, and well-made spiritual food for the people with moving characters and sincere performances.