The fifth season of "Talk Show Conference" will start the championship competition on the 16th. After two rounds of competition, the "Talk Show King" of this season will be determined. All of a sudden, looking inside and outside the screen, there was a lot of excitement: the cheers celebrating Hu Lan's victory and the lamentation of "Niao Niao is the uncrowned king" flew together, and the "hot searches on Weibo that were slaughtered" fell below 6 for the first time in five seasons. Douban rating "Isshiki. So far, this comedy variety show that has stood firm for five years has once again come to an end.

Player Hu Lan wins the moment. Screenshot of the program

In the first half of the final night, Da Zhangwei and Wang Mian brought a duo to sing. Their self-deprecating "this season is really angry" reflects the tone of this season's program evaluation. From the beginning to the end of the broadcast, the "not funny" and "looking angry" of netizens put a full stop to the ending of this variety show. For a talk show that focuses on "five minutes of happiness", such an evaluation is undoubtedly fatal.

So, "not funny", whose fault is it?

The fault of the program group?

"Program crew, let me ask you, where is your conscience?"

In the real-time barrage of this season's program, apart from "not funny", the content with the highest content is "why this is not filmed" and "why did you find TA to be the laugher".

The position of the laugh leader in the show is between "mentor" and "guest". They can shoot lights for their favorite performances or comment on contestants. In the early stage of the breakout competition, the laughers had the right to directly eliminate the contestants, while in the later stage they mastered the function of "leading the rhythm" of the scene-leading the audience to follow and run tickets.

This season's lineup of comedians is star-studded, Zhou Xun, Na Ying, Zhang Jie, Liu Zhenyun, Lu Yu, Xie Nan, Zheng Jun, Song Jia, Lu Han... The program team may not have expected that all elites from all walks of life will be gathered, but everyone will be criticized Very average - "Shooting lights indiscriminately, commenting blindly, knowing nothing, being out of place."

Douban screenshot

"Guests should measure their own positions and not shoot lights casually." "Talk Show Conference" "Iron Fan" Rosen said to reporters, "The laughers can directly affect whether the contestants can advance. They are not pure audiences, but A light shooter who can influence the fate of the players."

In the eyes of many viewers, apart from the two EQ MAX hosts Lu Yu and Xie Nan and down-to-earth Wang Meng and Phoenix Legend who received unanimous praise, Lu Han is "a social fear who mispronounces the award speeches", Liu Zhenyun is " The Chinese teacher who dropped the book bag", Su Xing is "the earthy brother with too strong self-awareness". Na Ying was criticized for "only being able to understand mother-in-law and mother-in-law". Back then when Zhang Ziyi was a music program instructor, Naying's phrase "every row is like a mountain, this is my advice to her" became a boomerang stuck in her body.

Zhou Xun, on the other hand, was commented by many netizens on his strenuous, often mind-wandering, and incomprehensible life stalks. He also accidentally eliminated the contestant Xiaolu because he forgot to shoot the lights, which once damaged the popularity of the audience.

Zhou Xun forgot to shoot the lights. Screenshot of the program

"I don't understand why the program group chooses certain guests. It may be to try to break the circle, but the effect is really not good." Pan Jiangduan, a loyal viewer of the program and a college student, told reporters, "The candidates need to be considered. Some leaders Comedians don’t understand stand-up, and they can’t catch memes.”

In Pan Jiangduan's view, apart from the laughing staff, the other settings of this season's program group are also dissatisfied. "The schedule is complicated and the editing problems are very big."

There are two points that this season's program has been widely criticized by the outside world. One is that the insertion of commercial advertisements is too blunt and frequent. Arranging for the contestants to advertise in the middle of the performance is like a movie that is about to reach its climax, and the staff suddenly pauses the picture and starts changing the film-it's so choking that people can't catch their breath. Rosen complained, "The most ugly part of this season is the placement of the ad. You are a comedy show. You don't want to change the oral broadcast into jokes, but you want to turn the jokes into oral broadcasts. Isn't it putting the cart before the horse?"

Second, the competition system is unreasonable in many places. For example, in the initial stage, the laughers were given too much power, which resulted in the accidental elimination of powerful players; the excessively cruel promotion method made some players passively play frequently; on the final night, eight to four, four to one in two rounds to determine the champion Runner-up. However, the result of "one final decision" is too random, so it is not as good as the steady and steady points competition system. This is also the focus of many netizens' doubts after Hulan won the championship.

Player's fault?

"Everywhere is a king, short and brilliant"

The law of "content is king" applies to all language programs. Just as the interviewees agreed that the show is "not funny", the contestants are the biggest blamers.

"The new players are not strong enough, and the old players have nothing left." ——Admittedly, compared with the previous seasons where the newcomers got together and exploded, there are very few new faces in this season. However, veteran figures such as Wang Jianguo, Cheng Lu, and Siwen performed mediocrely and were eliminated early—"There are kings everywhere, short and brilliant."

"It's still the same few points, over and over again, there will be no novelty after watching too much." ——Yes, it's 2022, and He Guangzhi and Xu Zhisheng, who once rose to prominence, are still "poor, Jay Chou, wanting to fall in love" Going around in the three major topics, one is inseparable from the ridicule of his own accent and appearance.

"There are too many internal stalks, it's really boring."—Yes, when the stage is full of a company's internal wine table culture and personnel gossip, it will only confuse new audiences and keep old audiences silent. Wang Jianguo, who is proficient in human nature, only used eight short words "the first six didn't come, but the ex-wife came" to gather the most disliked "homophonic stalks" and "divorce stalks" by the audience. From this point of view, his 128-vote bottom-out result in the semifinals is well-deserved.

Wang Jianguo is performing a talk show. Screenshot of the program

Content is linked to creation, and "creation exhaustion" is an unavoidable problem for every writer. Tong Monan, who became famous in the first battle with the joke of "Northern Xiaguan Primary School", mentioned in the show that everyone didn't think it was funny because the contestants rolled too hard, and this anxiety would be passed on to the audience.

Whether the audience will follow the anxiety is not mentioned for the time being, but the fierce competition and the intense recording rhythm will inevitably overdraw the creative ability of the contestants. "Once a talk show actor is concerned about gains and losses, he can't relax on stage." As a "ghost" in the minds of many viewers, talk show actor Zhang Boyang once said, "I think the competition system of this show is to bring everyone together. If you drive me crazy, I won't be crazy, I'll piss you off."

In addition to the arrangement of the competition system, some netizens pointed out that many veteran players of this season have become "Internet topic pickers", frequently talking about Internet topics that have been over and over again, lacking fresh perspectives and angles.

Pangbo talked about the chaos of short videos. Screenshot of the program

"No life" is a taboo of creation. Take stock of the highlight moments of previous contestants, from Zhou Qimo joking about ordering food in fast food restaurants, to Yang Mengen complaining about Party B, from He Guangzhi teasing subway seats, to Meng Chuan sharing interview experiences, only topics that are life-oriented and empathetic can win a lot of applause.

Previously, talk show actor Ke Yang said in an interview with the media, "Many actors have no time to produce so much good content. An actor like Zhou Qimo who has accumulated a lot of money can't stand the show every year." And this year's performance The eye-catching House turned down the invitation to perform for the whole month, just because "the jokes are used up on the show, and it takes time to rewrite."

"Contestant Liang Haiyuan is quite right, 'Anyway, sooner or later, inspiration will run out'. I am also a literary worker, and your experience is so much, and inspiration has a limit." Mu Ji, a media person, believes that popular contestants It is difficult to pay the cost of fine-tuning. "In the past, all contestants would spend a long time polishing a book by opening the mic. Now they have countless things to do, such as talk show competitions, derivative variety shows, and other platforms. Variety shows, the energy is involved, and the things that make people's eyes shine are gone."

"Many actors fall into a closed circle. They understand the rules of the game more and more, and make some points to adapt to the audience and the laughers. After finding a shortcut to get high scores, the content of the manuscript will become more and more divorced from the public. .”

Audience fault?

"I don't laugh, is it because of aesthetic fatigue?"

Hu Lan, the champion of the fifth season of "Talk Show Conference", was once accused of connoting the audience-"I admit, it is indeed not as funny as before, but isn't it true that we don't laugh as much as before?"

In the era of pan-entertainment, the "imported product" of talk show has gradually entered the public's field of vision from minority culture in just a few years. After savage growth, mud and sand, after several rounds of baptism, from the text to the performance, from the depth of the manuscript to the emotional value, the audience has its own set of judgment dimensions for "funny", and the threshold continues to increase.

Xu Zhisheng teased his appearance. Screenshot of the program

That is to say, the audience will gradually feel tired of the homogeneous, repetitive, and uninspiring things. This is not limited to the talk show industry, but a problem faced by all creators. Take talk show actor Yang Bo as an example. He plays one-liner, that is, one sentence and one stalk, relying on dense jokes and reversals to attract the audience.

Yang Bo once contributed such a joke: He said that once he went to an interview, the interviewer was chirping and he couldn’t understand, so he interrupted the interviewer and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand Shanghainese.”

The interviewer said, "Sorry, we speak English."

"But this is China," Yang Bo said.

The interviewer replied: "But you are interviewing an interpreter."

One joke and three reversals gradually pushed the atmosphere to a climax. It's a pity that one-liner has not been popular all over the world. Compared with other styles, the routine and structure of one-liner are easier for everyone to figure out. After the audience became tired of this form, Yang Bo became a "reader who reads a complete collection of jokes on stage".

Yang Bo is performing a talk show. Screenshot of the program

"It's hard to make a fuss about the same topic. I've been chasing after the first season, whether it's the competition system, players or the theme, I feel tired." Pan Jiangduan said, "So I would like to watch it more. Newcomers, it can relieve fatigue."

Objectively speaking, both dramas and variety shows have their life cycles, and the market feedback of sequels shows a diminishing marginal effect, which is almost a law. In vertical comparison, this season's "Talk Show Conference" has broadened the track in the selection of contestants, the invitation of laughers, and the reform of the competition system. It seems to be trying to turn the tide through "innovation" and is unwilling to be photographed on the beach. Qianlang.

"The program planning has fallen into a vicious cycle of changing for the sake of change. Whether it is the competition system or the laughing staff, all changes are to highlight the 'new ideas'." In the view of media person Mu Ji, "new ideas" does not mean "intentional". ", the essence of the show has not changed, "The low rating is because the audience's taste is getting more and more tricky, and you have not come up with something more in line with expectations."

Aesthetic fatigue exists objectively, and we can't wait to seek innovation and change. Take Hu Lan, who won the championship this season, as an example. He can always guarantee the lower limit of his works and stable output. When the competition was approaching and there was a lack of material, he chose to spare time to go to the market, watch the sea, visit the flower and bird market, and obtain new secrets of happiness from "life".

Champion Hu Lan talks about creation. Screenshot of the program

However, after the show ended, public opinion began to show a trend of "ups and downs", and many netizens commented that "the later program groups have regained their original intentions". And when the group mood returned to stability, the audience began to become tolerant:

Some people recalled the highlight moments of this season, Niao Niao Maodou's brilliant performance, Qiu Rui's "hole shoe stem", Tong Monan chatting about "Beishiaguan Primary School", Meng Chuan teasing American Ivy, these clips are vivid;

Some people were moved by the warm moments in the show: on the night of the finals, Xiaojia, a contestant who suffered from mental illness and laughed at herself for not being able to receive commercials, came to represent the program team and read out the names of the businessmen, while Li Dan smiled at the side.

Contestants Xiao Jia and Li Dan. Screenshot of the program

Some people think that the IP of "Talk Show Conference" leads the changes in the industry and gives many unknown actors the chance to change their lives;

Some people affirm the structure of the program group, and they dare to laugh at themselves, their courage is commendable. Because humor can dissolve authority, and comedy is the art of taking offense.

Douban screenshot

Interestingly, since the finale of the fifth season of "Talk Show Conference" was launched to the time of writing this article, the Douban score of the show has risen from 4.9 to 5.5, and it may be possible to hand in a "passing" test paper soon. Looking through the comments, there are many encouragement points of "I hope China's talk show industry will get better and better".

See, the audience is always the most difficult to deceive, but also the most lovable people.