Taiwan Today

Following the recent craze for the local TV series You Are My Destiny, 's idol dramas are going from strength to strength.

On May 25, 2008 local broadcaster Sanlih E-Television's (SET) production You Are My Destiny broke the viewer ratings record for an idol drama--a type of show starring TV idols and played out against the backdrop of contemporary society. In the following two months, You Are My Destiny (aka Fated to Love You) kept breaking its own records, finally setting an all-time high with its 20th episode, in which the hero makes a proclamation of love to the heroine via an iPod. That episode's rating of 13.64 represents 13.64 percent of 's population above the age of 4 tuning in to watch, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. It is a record high for an idol drama and a figure that few TV programs of any kind could surpass. It translates to nearly 3 million Taiwanese glued to their televisions on that particular Sunday night for the first airing of the episode.

The Wall Street Journal called the drama "an obsession in ," with references to the show finding their way into everyday life locally. A comic gesture from the series and catchphrases spread quickly among young people. A business consulting company in Kaohsiung City looking for an administrative assistant advertised for a "Post-it girl"--a term used to describe the show's leading female character--and surprisingly received hundreds of applications in less than a week for a position that typically pays as little as NT$20,000 (US$625) per month.

The branch of STAR TV, a major satellite TV provider based in Hong Kong, first came up with the term "idol drama" in 1992 when it repackaged a Japanese show, Tokyo Love Story, previously known as a "trendy drama" in , for local viewers. As the new name implied, the drama starred young Japanese television idols, in this case, actor Oda Yuji and actress Suzuki Honami. Such dramas emphasize the characters' struggles in their family and work lives, as well as their friendships, loves and personal growth as they go through various hardships against the backdrop of urban life. The subject matter distinguishes the genre from traditional soap operas, which often focus on sensational and complicated love triangles and deceit among the members of a few families. Instead, the new-style dramas reflect modern lifestyles, even including current social issues at times.

Inspired by these Japanese dramas, 's Chinese Television System (CTS) released in April 2001, a close adaptation of the popular Japanese graphic novel Hana Yori Dango, but also the first locally produced idol drama. The show tells the story of a poor, but hard-working female university student named Shan Cai, who stands up to the richest and most powerful student clique, four young men called the F4. Friendship gradually develops between Shan Cai and her fellow students, including an eventual romance between the young woman and the leader of the F4 group.

The series was such a hit that CTS shifted it to the prime time spot of 8 p.m. from Monday to Friday, a time slot that had long been occupied by conventional soap operas. became the most popular drama of 2001, scoring a high of the ratings.

Daniel Ting-huei Chao, an assistant professor at Fu Jen Catholic University's Department of Communication Arts in , considers the rapid rise of idol dramas a sign that young people wanted television entertainment they could relate to. "The scripts appropriated common phrases young people used in their daily life, along with modern elements that interest them, such as the Internet, cell phones, cuisine and travel. Together, those elements have taken a strong hold on younger audience members," Chao says.

Princes and Frogs

A wave of idol dramas quickly followed, mostly adapted from Japanese graphic novels just as Meteor Garden had been, including Meteor Rain (2001), as well as The Poor Prince (2001), which starred F4 member Vic Zhou.

By the end of 2001, however, SET had premiered Lavender, which featured an original script by local writers and since then, locally created works have found a niche in the market and in some cases have become much more popular than the Japanese adaptations. The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog from 2005, which broke the previous ratings record set by , was created by a local writer, as was 2008's You Are My Destiny, which subsequently broke the record set by The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog.

Fu Jen's Chao regards Lavender, together with another original screenplay Toast Man's Kiss (2001), produced by Eastern Television, as influential works in the development of the genre's narrative formula. Starting from those two series, Chao says, 's idol dramas gradually shrugged off their focus on family and workplace relationships, and now center on relationships among young adults. In , the hero's interfering mother, who tries to spoil the relationship between the lead characters, was a crucial and recurring element of the story. For both Lavender and the Toast Man series though, parents are either mentioned only in passing or are completely absent, Chao points out.

In focusing solely on the loves and friendships among a group of young adults, however, idol dramas therefore strike some critics as unrealistic and lacking a connection to real life. "Characters in idol dramas often appear to live in a vacuum or places beyond our reach," Chao says. Yet it is just this dream-like fantasy world that pulls in young audiences, especially students, he says. "This approach of separating the story and the characters from real life echoes a common wish among Taiwanese young people to cut out their parents' interference in their lives," he explains. The audience feels the idol drama is actually telling the story of a group of individuals, instead of telling a story about them and their parents, Chao adds.

The new style of dramas has also set the standard for locally made television shows. In contrast to traditional Taiwanese TV dramas, which are shot in the studio, idol dramas usually include plenty of outdoor scenes. "They apply an approach similar to filmmaking; the visual aesthetics presented in idol dramas and all the photography techniques employed to create those scenes are quite impressive," says Chao, adding that the considerable cost and effort that is spent creating idol dramas sets a fine example for other local TV productions.

In the recent wave of idol dramas, however, not every series has been successful, with a few coming to an abrupt end when their ratings dropped too low.  Chao says with more types of media available to the average viewer, especially via the Internet, people now have many more entertainment options, other than television, to fill their spare time. Moreover, Chao notes that audiences could tire of the romantic drama formula that has been used to excess in these programs. "New ideas and variations to the formula will be the key to continuing the genre's popularity," Chao says.

Real Fantasy

SET's Programming Department Director Frankie Chen has created several of the most successful idol dramas in including both You Are My Destiny and The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog. She believes the key to a successful idol drama, or any kind of drama for that matter, is for the story to have the power to touch its viewers. "To make an idol drama is to create a fantasy. If we can bring out those everyday experiences that audiences have in common with the characters in the show, then leading them into this dream-like realm is not that difficult," she says.

In 2004, after spending a few months in , Chen returned to , only to decide that most of the TV series aired locally were too gloomy and sorrowful, so she determined to challenge that formula. "Many idol dramas were full of tears and sadness, which I didn't think we needed any more of in this city. [So], I decided to do a comedy for audiences," Chen says.

Her first attempt at adding laughter to the idol drama format was The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog in 2005, which featured a poor girl who dreams of marrying a rich man, as well as a handsome but cold-hearted hotel heir who is thrown into poverty after losing his memory. Chen says she didn't want to invent a female lead that was too perfect or delicate as was typical of most idol dramas at the time. Instead, she created the character of Yeh Tian-yu, who has a warm and caring nature, but is also quite flawed in that she is something of a golddigger. "This kind of love relationship--Mr. Right is right beside the girl without her knowing about it--seems impossible at first, but can be quite engaging," Chen explains.

The series was a smash hit and Chen went on to use her experience to create You Are My Destiny. The show touched the hearts of even more viewers with the story of Chen Xin-yi, "a girl who suffers all the misfortune, but never gets any attention."

The character of Chen Xin-yi is an ordinary, plain, but good-hearted girl, who stumbles into the wrong room on a cruise, sleeps with a total stranger, finds herself pregnant and the two are forced to marry. The new husband turns out to be a rich, handsome man, who had been about to propose to his girlfriend, a famous ballerina. As it plays out, that one night on a cruise changes the destiny of everyone involved.

Stephanie Lin, 30, who is a fan of the show, says she was not very interested in idol dramas in the past, but became "addicted" to this series. "I thought I was a little too old for this kind of TV program, but surprisingly I can really relate to how Chen Xin-yi is feeling in the story," Lin says. "It's not just a fantasy, it could happen to any one of us. I believe many girls at one time of their lives have tried to work as hard as Chen to pursue happiness and the man they love."

Frankie Chen's character, Chen Xin-yi, dubbed the "Post-it girl," is one whom people like to take advantage of, but always get rid of when they no longer need her. "You can always find one or two characters like this around, those who always choose to give applause instead of standing in the spotlight. We all can be like Chen Xin-yi sometimes, as we all have moments when we find it hard to say no to others," Frankie Chen says.

The programming director says that over time she has learned that great idol dramas should not rely too much on the leads, especially as young or relatively inexperienced performers are often cast in the roles. On the Destiny series, Chen cast many experienced comedy actors in supporting roles to strengthen the overall quality of acting in the program, and the approach paid off.

She says that the show's engaging supporting characters, including the role of the hero's grandmother and members of the heroine's family, who live on the fictional , flesh out the main characters, which in turn helped in developing each character's lines and personality. The result is that audiences can identify with the protagonists and even find similarities between the character's situations and their own lives.

In addition, Destiny director Chen Ming-zhang allowed the crew to brainstorm ideas and even add impromptu lines to the script during shooting to heighten the comedy. Audiences were especially surprised to see actor Ethan Ruan, who had been known for melancholy roles, overturn this image to put in quite a comedic performance as the male lead in the series.

Popular online entertainment critic Steven Tu has praised the show on his blog, including the use of comedy in general and the supporting performances in particular, saying they add a lot to the show. "I really enjoyed watching all the scenes about what happens on Ginger Island in the drama's early episodes. I laughed so hard and felt an excitement for comedy rarely found in TV dramas ... if You Are My Destiny didn't have those comic characters, its rating would likely not be as good as it is," he says.

Next Destiny

The series that has continued Destiny's successful streak is SET's and Frankie Chen's latest idol drama, Woody Shan-Bao-Mei. With the two main characters from You are My Destiny making cameo appearances in the first episode of Woody, the new show scored the ratings, a record for the premiere of an idol drama. As of November 2008 it was the top idol drama on television.

The nostalgic tone of the show and its old-time feel is a deliberate effort by Frankie Chen to create an idol drama "unlike anything else on the market." Meanwhile, the series creator persists in her efforts to write a leading character that is closer to a regular person from everyday life, while keeping the romantic relationship funny and sweet.

In Woody Shan-Bao-Mei, the heroine, Hu Shan-bao, works in her father's Cantonese-style barbecue restaurant. Given Shan-bao's tomboy look, flat-chested figure, muscular biceps from hard work and the greasy smell she has from always being in the kitchen, she lacks confidence about her appearance. Then she meets narcissistic and flirtatious cooking show host Woody Sun and the show centers on the relationship between them.

Surprising, creative touches are found throughout the show, such as the theme music, the old Chinese song Love Flower Blossoms. The song has been used in several films by renowned Hong Kong comic actor and director Stephen Chow in which it is played at a slow tempo, giving it a sad, melancholy feel. In the Woody series, however, it is remixed to sound like upbeat dance music. The end of each episode is a cartoon drawn by the well-known local illustrator Cola King and the dialogue is even contributed by bloggers. Frankie Chen insists on including original elements in the series and says local audiences have always responded well whenever something new is added. The smashing success of both You Are My Destiny and Woody Shan-Bao-Mei seems to have proven the point made by Fu Jen professor Daniel Chao that new ideas are key to sustaining interest in idol dramas.

In fact, the impact of the genre has gone well beyond creating idol dramas to being "idol makers" as Chao terms it--turning young actors and actresses into celebrities overnight. There is also considerable cross-promotion with the music industry, and producers capitalize on the popularity of lead actors by casting them in successive shows.

Barbie Hsu was a singer and variety show hostess before her role in Meteor Garden, but the series quickly turned her and the four male leads who also made up the boy band F4, Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu, into superstars. All five stars have appeared in a number of television series since then. The band associated with the show, F4, now named JVKV, has gained a huge following, held sold-out concerts in Taiwan and throughout Asia, and released a number of albums, with each of the band members subsequently releasing solo albums.

Actress Joe Chen starred in The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog and several other idol dramas before her role as the female lead in You Are My Destiny cemented her place in the idol drama firmament. Ethan Ruan, the male lead in Destiny, considered quitting the entertainment industry after five years of struggling as an actor and model, before shooting to fame with the series. He is now one of the hottest celebrities in Taiwan.

Nicholas Teo and Amber Kuo, the stars of Woody Shan-Bao-Mei, have both moved into acting from singing careers. In particular, Malaysia-born Teo's role in his first idol drama, Smiling Pasta (2006), won him recognition both as a singer and actor as he performed several songs for the series' soundtrack. His solo album, Prince, released in 2007 after the series ended, played on the image of his character in the television drama, a young singer who appears aristocratic and stand-offish.

The idol drama genre has also started to gain recognition at the Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan's highest honor for television programs organized by the Government Information Office. While the cast and crew of only a few idol dramas have made it onto the awards' nomination list in the past, 2008 was a fruitful year for many of the shows. You Are My Destiny alone was nominated in six categories, eventually taking home two prizes for best drama and best marketing. In the best actress category, four of the five nominees were the female leads from idol drama series, with the award going to Ariel Lin for the idol drama They Kiss Again.

Frankie Chen sees this unique style of storytelling as among the most influential international exports that Taiwan's cultural creative industry has produced. "Just as for our pop music, our TV dramas are in the leading position in the Mandarin-speaking world," Chen says. According to SET, the majority of their self-produced series have been aired overseas. You Are My Destiny has been sold for broadcast in more than 10 countries, with royalties valued at some US$2.5 million. Many of the idol dramas are also available by mail order or Internet order.

Fu Jen's Daniel Chao also believes Taiwan's idol drama genre has brought about a remarkably positive impact on the way television dramas are produced. He says the influence might prove to be profound, as current idol drama viewers will demand more of such offerings from other television series in the future.

The emergence of idol drama was an important turning point for Taiwan's television industry, Chao says. It represents a different approach to the production of popular drama and new possibilities for the genre. More importantly, it is realizing these possibilities, he says.

In the bigger picture, the international success of these locally produced idol dramas is showing the strength of Taiwan's cultural creative industry, and entertaining new fans around the world.

Write to Audrey Wang at tr.audrey@gmail.com