This year has seen a variety of c-dramas dominating the ratings game but fantasy romance Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms made the biggest splash, skyrocketing in fame to become a certified hit. If you had told me that another drama would take its place so quickly and so soon with only veteran actors playing politicians and not a single young idol, I wouldn’t have believed it then.
Ever since the anti-corruption drama In the Name of People 人民的名义 took over Because of Meeting You on Hunan TV, the show has managed to retain its predecessor’s number one slot and more, leaping in ratings with each passing day.
It is only a little over halfway through its 55-episode run but it has already garnered CM52 ratings of 4.2 as of April 16, a number that hasn’t been seen in years. The historical epic Empress of China managed to break past 4.0 in 2015 but that was during the last few days of a 96-episode series.
According to VLinkage, In the Name of People also leads in terms of web broadcasts and a couple of its cast members that include the 55-year-old Wu Gang and 41-year-old Lu Yi have made the top ten celeb list.
Dubbed as the Chinese version of House of Cards, it’s a show that has no qualms about exposing the good, the bad and the ugly plaguing the country’s political system and its bold attempt at realism certainly seems to have been received with open arms.
Source: Official Weibo, Ent163
Anonymous
At least Ten Miles is reigning in the international aspect.
Sunny
Wow. Those numbers are amazing. Must be wonderful news for everyone involved especially as it's an original story and not full of pretty faced 'fresh meat' actors
Anne J
Are you watching this? I tried but couldn't get into it haha I feel ridiculously shallow now but I think I need my fresh meat, though it does give me some comfort that I actually like House of Cards.
Sunny
No, I'm not watching. Don't feel bad as I've heard from other watchers on other sites that it's quite preachy/black and white and not as riveting as House of Cards. I think a lot of people watch dramas as a form of escapism (myself included) and I wonder if this might resonate more with the domestic audience as it's apparently based on real life events.
Anne J
ooh i see that makes a lot of sense actually, coz the parts that I saw certainly didn't seem romanticized in any way and I'm with you on escapism.. i've escaped to another fantasy drama now:)