At the end of 2009, four years after TV dating shows had been silent, Hunan Satellite TV once again launched a new dating reality show "Let's Date". At this time, "leftover men" and "leftover women" were words that people often talked about. Urban life was stressful, interpersonal communication space was squeezed, work took up too much time, and marriage problems became a problem that the new generation of young people needed to solve urgently.
"Let's Date" captured the "pain points" of young men and women at the time, based on the friendship needs of the "single group", encouraged people to show their true selves and bravely pursue love, and catered to the needs of "single aristocrats".
As a result, marriage and dating shows have once again revived.
However, the momentum of "Let's Date" was soon overshadowed by another program that suddenly emerged, that is, "If You Are the One" on Jiangsu Satellite TV. It is an avant-garde way of dating with "1 male suitor vs. 24 female guests". A group of handsome men and beautiful women spoke sharply about real topics in contemporary society, and money, house, and work were directly brought to the table.
"If You Are the One" appears in front of the audience in a novel and bold manner, and a sentence or an opinion in the program may cause widespread controversy.
In particular, the words of a female guest on the show, "I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle," are still regarded as the golden rule by money worshippers. The host's words, "Men grow up in the process of being abandoned by others and abandoning others," are also considered classic quotes about marriage.
"If You Are the One" effectively scratched the itch of the times, like a dark horse galloping in the wind, and once won the title of No. 1 in weekly ratings for satellite TV programs.
Then, major satellite TV stations heard the news and started to show an increasingly fierce trend of dating and blind dating on the screen, trying to get a piece of the pie, such as "One in a Hundred", "Who Can Pick One in a Hundred", "Love Comes Knocking", "Love Conveyor Belt", "Love Connect", "Turn Around and Meet Him", etc.
Whether it is new wine in old bottles or old wine in new bottles, it has brought an unprecedented "show" feast to my country's TV viewers.
After trying almost all possible program formats such as "mutual selection of men and women", "blind selection on a swivel chair", and "selection by mother", dating shows have once again slipped into the quagmire. The flood of programs has made the audience feel exhausted. A number of blind date shows have seen weak ratings and have been suspended one after another.
Even the ace show "If You Are the One" seems to be on the decline. Even if it was suspended and revised, it could not stop the decline in popularity.
There is nothing we can do about it. Every program has its life cycle, and no program can maintain its peak appeal forever.
However, "If You Are the One" has been on the air for more than ten years. The production crew, who have spent countless efforts on this show, obviously do not want to give up easily and feel that it can still be rescued.
On this day, the program team held a meeting to see if there was any way to extend the life of the program. They did not seek to increase the ratings, but at least to maintain the current ratings and prevent them from continuing to decline.
In the conference room, the chief producer said in a heavy tone: "Everyone, after experiencing the glory of the past few years, our If You Are the One has been going downhill in the past few years. If it continues like this, it won't be long before our program has to be permanently suspended!
The main purpose of this meeting is to gather ideas and see if there is any way to save our program. We don't ask for a return to the peak, but just to maintain the current ratings. Everyone, please express your opinions!"
In addition to the chief producer, the program team of "If You Are the One" also has three other producers, one man and two women.
One of the female producers said, "After the struggles we've had over the past few years, the reputation of our show is not very good anymore. If we want to maintain or even increase the current ratings, we have to completely change the current blind date model.
But if we completely change the current blind date model, it would be better to plan a new program, so that the program will be more dynamic. But if we don’t completely change it, under the current blind date model, no matter how many revisions we make, it will be old wine in a new bottle and it will be difficult to attract audiences. "
Another female producer said, "Our show has been on the air for more than ten years. Not to mention the audience, even our hosts and regular guests have become tired and no longer have the energy and spirit they had at their peak. It's really hard to come up with something new with the current blind date model."
The male producer said: "The audience is always tired of the old and love the new. Nowadays, new dating shows emerge in an endless stream, and the audience is under wave after wave of shock. The appeal of our old dating show is indeed getting lower and lower.
During this period of time, I have been thinking about the future of our program. I think there is only one way to innovate under the existing model and attract viewers to watch it. "
The chief producer looked at him and asked, "What's the solution?"
The two female producers and the director also looked at the male producer.
The male producer did not answer but asked, "Everyone should know Master Jiang from the Happy Marriage Agency, right?"
Everyone present had been engaged in marriage and love programs for more than ten years, so they were naturally familiar with Master Jiang, the number one matchmaker. Even if they had never met this nationally renowned matchmaker, they had all learned about Master Jiang's matchmaking experience in detail.
Therefore, when they heard the male producer's question, everyone nodded to show that they understood.
The male producer said, "I'm sure everyone is familiar with Master Jiang's matchmaking experience, so I won't go into detail here. What do you think? If our program team can invite Master Jiang to be a guest commentator on the show, will our show be revitalized with the addition of Master Jiang?"
The director was a little excited when he heard this and said, "Hey, this is a really good idea. I also know that Master Jiang. He has tens of millions of fans on various platforms. Even superstars cannot match his influence in the marriage market. Inviting him to be a guest commentator on the show may really bring our show back to life."
The two female producers' eyes lit up when they heard this. Although they all knew Master Jiang, they had never thought of inviting Master Jiang to their show as a guest commentator.
After hearing what the male producer said, they suddenly felt that this idea was really good. Perhaps Master Jiang was the savior of their old program.
The chief producer pondered, "Our show's previous male and female guests were all carefully selected from other dating websites, and many of them were hired by our production team. This is also the main reason why our show's reputation is getting worse year by year.
We can have in-depth cooperation with Master Jiang. Whether it is a male or female guest, we will let the Happy Matchmaking Agency under Master Jiang's name provide the candidates, and the main focus is authenticity.
To put it bluntly, it is to bring the real blind date process to the screen after appropriate packaging. I wonder if it can attract the audience? "
"It's doable, but without a script, it's probably not easy to record the effect we want. Many male and female guests will even be so nervous that they can't finish their sentences."
"This is indeed a problem, but it will seem more real this way. We have been playing scripted blind dates for more than a decade, and the audience is probably tired of it. Perhaps without a script, without setting up characters, and letting everyone play freely, the effect will attract more audiences than with a script."
"I feel like...blah blah..."
Next, seeing hope, everyone began brainstorming and decided to build this old-fashioned blind date show with Master Jiang as the core. Ideas popped up one after another, constantly perfecting this new plan.
Three hours later.
The chief producer looked at the perfect plan and made the decision, "Let's do it. Xiao Xu, ask the logistics department to book a plane ticket for me and prepare the gifts. I will personally fly to the capital of Guangxi Province to invite Master Jiang."
Xiao Xu: “Okay!”
Executive Producer: “Meeting adjourned!”
…
The chief producer of If You Are the One is named Wang. He is also an impatient person. After he and the production team finalized the plan to invite Master Jiang to join If You Are the One that day, he boarded a plane to the provincial capital of Guangxi Province the next day, carrying the gifts prepared by the logistics department.
At 12:13 noon, Producer Wang arrived safely at Wuxu Airport in Guangxi Province.
By the time we took a taxi to the train station, it was already a little after 1:00 p.m.
Producer Wang found a place to eat something, then rested for half an hour before coming to the Happy Marriage Agency with gifts.
"Hello sir, welcome to the Happy Matchmaking Agency." As soon as Producer Wang entered the matchmaking agency, a sweet-looking young lady came up to him and greeted him.
Producer Wang also greeted, "Hello, Miss, is Master Jiang here?"
As soon as the receptionist saw the gift in Producer Wang's hand, she knew that he was here to see his boss. She smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, please wait a moment. I'll go and let him know."
Producer Wang said politely, "Then I'll trouble you, young lady!"
"You're welcome, sir. I'll be right back."
"OK."
…
In less than three minutes, Producer Wang, led by the receptionist, entered the boss' office and met Jiang Feng, the nationally renowned matchmaker.
Looking at Master Jiang, who looked as good as a celebrity, Producer Wang handed over the gift and introduced himself, "Hello, Master Jiang. My last name is Wang, and I'm the chief producer of the dating show If You Are the One."
Jiang Feng was a little surprised when he heard this. He took the gift and greeted with a smile, "Hello, Producer Wang. I have watched many episodes of If You Are the One produced by you. My parents have been watching it for several years. It is indeed a very exciting program."
Producer Wang said with a smile on his face: "It is our honor to receive a compliment from Master Jiang on our program."
Jiang Feng placed the gift on the table next to him, poured a cup of tea for Producer Wang, and then sat down opposite him and said, "I am just speaking the truth. Your If You Are the One is indeed the best among similar programs. You can imagine how popular a program is that has lasted for more than ten years."
Producer Wang took a sip of tea and sighed, "It's a pity that in recent years, the ratings of our program have been declining. Although our program team has been working hard to revise the program, the effect is still minimal."
Even without looking at the matching information, Jiang Feng could already guess the purpose of the other party's visit. He consoled her, "It can't be helped. No show can always stay at its peak. If You Are the One has been on the air for more than a decade. This is already a miracle."
Having said that, Producer Wang no longer tried to hide his intentions and came straight to the point: "Master Jiang, to be honest, I came to visit you this time mainly to invite you to join our If You Are the One program. I wonder if you are willing to do so?"
Jiang Feng was not surprised to hear this. He looked at the other party calmly and said, "Producer Wang, do you want to invite me to be a guest commentator on your show?"
Producer Wang nodded and said, "Yes, Master Jiang, our program would like to cooperate with you in an all-round way. In addition to inviting you to be the guest commentator of our program, we also hope that your matchmaking agency can provide male and female guests for the show."
Jiang Feng said with great interest: "Producer Wang, please tell me about your plan!" While speaking, he had an idea and quickly looked at the other party's matching information.
Producer Wang heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this, and then he told Jiang Feng all about their new plan. Finally, he said, "This is our complete plan. As long as Master Jiang is willing to cooperate with us, our program team will not treat you unfairly. We can slowly discuss the specific profit sharing. Do you think this is okay?"
At this time, Jiang Feng had already roughly gone through Producer Wang's matching information. He knew exactly where the bottom line of their cooperation was, and he also felt the other party's sincerity.
It is no exaggeration to say that in order to revive the dating show "If You Are the One", the production team really spent a lot of money!
To be honest, Jiang Feng doesn't really care about money. With such a magical golden finger, if he was determined to make money, his net worth would have exceeded 10 billion long ago.
He chose the matchmaking profession because he hoped that lovers would eventually get married. He felt that this was a good deed. Seeing couples after couples living a happy and fulfilling life with his help, he had an indescribable sense of pride.
In many dating shows, including If You Are the One, those couples who successfully hold hands, I can’t say that they are 100% fake, but it is certain that most of them are fake and are just for the show effect.
As the undisputed number one in the matchmaking world today, Jiang Feng feels it is necessary to lead the trend and let the audience see what a real blind date is.
So Jiang Feng nodded readily and said, "Okay, since Producer Wang thinks highly of me, I'm willing to try to cooperate with you, but there is one thing I want to make clear in advance."
Producer Wang said excitedly: "Master Jiang, if you tell me what I can do, I will do it without hesitation!"
Jiang Feng said: "I will select all the male and female guests. After I have selected the candidates, your production team will go out and persuade them to participate in the show."
"No problem!" Producer Wang agreed without hesitation.