Once upon a time, people watched "Family with Children" and "Wulin Biography" on time every night in front of the TV, and they could finish hundreds of episodes of TV series.
In 1993, my country's first sitcom "I Love My Home" was broadcast. After 30 years, some people still remember its plot.
Even the controversial "Love Apartment" has become the memory of a generation, and has become popular with almost all the leading actors.
However, it has become the last sitcom that audiences will remember in recent years.
In more than ten years, we have hardly seen a high-quality sitcom anymore. Even Sha Yi, who played Bai Zhantang in "Wulin Biography", said with emotion: It seems that no one can patiently write a script for a sitcom anymore...
Why did sitcoms get this far?
What is the current state of the domestic sitcom market?
The country's first sitcom variety show "Starting!
Situation Comedy" aired a few days ago, and the reporter interviewed people in the industry to try to discuss this issue.
From glory to decline
Why do sitcoms "die"?
Situation comedies first originated abroad. After being introduced into China, they have bloomed very beautiful flowers.
"The Story of the Editorial Department" broadcast in 1992, although the concept of "situation comedy" has not been officially introduced, but it already has all the elements of a sitcom. After it was broadcast, it caused widespread heated discussion and became a classic.
Especially the humorous and ironic lines in it, which integrate social hot topics into the story, and gain a large audience.
In 1993, with the official name of "Sitcom", "I Love My Home" was born with the joint efforts of a large number of powerful actors.
Actors such as Song Dandan and Ge You have also become brothers and sisters in the comedy world.
After that, the sitcoms ushered in excellent works such as "Sister Idleman Ma" and "Family in the Northeast".
"Sister Ma" was all the rage at the time, and its ratings were second only to "Weather Forecast". Every family, from the elderly to children, chased Miss Ma.
Then there was "Family with Children", which made Yang Zi, Zhang Yishan and other child stars widely known and became a childhood memory of the post-90s generation.
And in 2006, the sitcom "Wulin Biography" with the theme of Jianghu, became a phenomenon-level production.
None of the actors in the play were well-known actors at the time, but in the more than ten years after the broadcast, they were repeatedly broadcast on various David TVs, which made Yan Ni, Yao Chen, and Sha Yi popular. Wait for today's first-line actors.
The final highlight of the sitcom comes from the controversial Love Apartment.
After that, it has been a long time since there was a sitcom that could arouse the enthusiasm of the whole people.
Some commenters even believe that post-00s no longer know what sitcoms are.
The general manager of Xingwen Investment Company of Chengdu Cultural Tourism Group, and also the director of "Start Broadcasting!
Zhao Bin, the chief producer of Situation Comedy, said that sitcoms have been quiet for a long time, and many viewers now watch sitcoms with a "nostalgic" mood.
The classic sitcoms such as "Wulin Gaiden" and "I Love My Home" are now "Dinning Dramas" by many people. "Ge Youlie" has even been made into an emoji package and spread widely on WeChat, indicating that the audience has not forgotten the sitcoms .
Zhao Bin believes that the decline of sitcoms in recent years is worthy of deep reflection in the industry.
"Of course, on the one hand, it is indeed because the needs of the audience are diversifying, and there are more and more types of film and television works, and the creation of film and television dramas is in a state of blooming, which to a certain extent has a certain impact on the development of sitcoms. But More importantly, film and television creators still lack special research on sitcoms, especially ignoring the social background of the new era, the audience's demand for sitcoms is undergoing new changes. Especially the emergence of mobile phones, small screen viewing And fragmented time, both put new demands on traditional sitcoms.”
Da Yuan, an industry insider who has been engaged in comedy film and television screenwriting for a long time, told reporters that in the era of the popularity of sitcoms, smartphones were not yet popular, and the only way for people to watch film and television programs was TV.
"The big screen is more conducive to the collective viewing of families, but nowadays is the era of small screens, and everyone from the elderly to children are used to holding mobile phones to meet their entertainment needs." Most sitcoms are family dramas, Japanese and Japanese dramas, and there are hundreds of episodes, indeed Can't adapt to the era of smart phones.
How to achieve the "revival" of sitcoms?
It has become a topic of frequent discussion in the industry in recent years.
No need for sitcoms anymore?
need to be displayed in a new way
The good news is that although sitcoms seem to be in a state of stagnation, the big category "comedy" has always had a strong vitality.
In recent years, comedy has appeared in various forms such as variety shows, talk shows, jokes, and Internet "hot stalks".
Therefore, there is also a view that sitcoms are no longer needed in the current era, and any form can be used as long as it can amuse the audience.
But Zhao Bin doesn't think so, "Nowadays, sitcoms are still needed, but they need to be presented in a new form, and they can no longer be used in the same way." After all, sitcoms also contain other discussions on social issues. form unattainable.
Because of this, many people in the industry believe that there must be a "renaissance" for sitcoms.
At a time when various industries began to explore the innovation and creation of sitcoms, Chengdu Cultural Tourism participated in the production of "Start Broadcasting!
"Sitcom" is exploring a new field - "drama comprehensive linkage".
Zhao Bin explained that the so-called "integrated drama" is no longer a traditional stage performance form, nor is it simply putting the content of sitcoms on the stage, but using "film and television" to show the incubation process of sitcoms from multiple perspectives and dimensions.
It is reported that the program has opened the largest 12,000-square-meter recording venue and 6 mobile stations in China, striving to fully restore the production scene and workflow of the sitcom.
"At present, our program has eight crews, and the sitcom projects we shoot will go through stages such as 'internal testing', 'public testing' and 'online', and finally select an 'annual champion play'. In addition, the champion play will be officially launched. The filming and distribution will be followed up with the filming of other plays." Zhao Bin said.
Chengdu has natural comedy genes
Comedy talent emerges
As a local cultural tourism, why does Chengdu want to bring forth new ideas in sitcoms, and what does it have to do with Chengdu's cultural creativity and tourism?
Zhao Bin explained that, first of all, in the film and television industry, many types have entered a bottleneck period.
This kind of "card" feeling is not only reflected in the current saturation and even fullness of the market, but the most worrying thing is that too homogenization and "swarming" have led to the audience's aesthetic fatigue, and losing the audience is the biggest blow to the creation.
"But how to break through? Everyone is trying to figure it out. Our idea is to launch 'new species'. Sitcoms are the breakthrough we are more willing to try."
Another more important reason is that Chengdu is a city with natural comedy genes.
The "rap and singing figurines" unearthed in Sichuan have long proved that the people of Shu are naturally witty and humorous.
"Chengdu is a very inclusive city. Chengdu people are born with a strong sense of humor, they are more optimistic, and they are easy to resolve some conflicts by themselves. Therefore, Li Boqing and other Bashu comedians were born, and a large number of comedy talents have been long-term to major comedies. Variety show delivery." Zhao Bin mentioned that Chengdu Cultural Tourism has recently deployed a new track of "cultural tourism + film and television", not only to become a producer of high-quality film and television production and creation, but also to use high-quality film and television projects to improve "Made in Chengdu". ability to enhance the influence of "Chengdu Lifestyle".
"The cultural tourism industry and the film and television industry are both important components of the cultural and creative industry, and they both have the characteristics of long chains and long layouts. What we need to do is to continuously create one after another high-quality projects, land in Chengdu together, take root in Chengdu, and create a film and game ecosystem that can support each other." Zhao Bin said that after that, there may be Creative China (Chengdu) Comedy Festival, China Story Village. Coming soon to Chengdu.
Cover reporter Xu Yuyang