Although Chinese dramas vary in length, there’s no question that they can be on the longer side. Among the recent ones, Love and Destiny had 60 episodes while The King’s Avatar had 40 episodes. In some instances, there are also behemoths like Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace which had 87 episodes!
According to recent reports, China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is thinking of capping episode count at 40 to address a quality problem known in C-ent as Zhu Shui Ju (注水剧). It translates to dramas full of water which has become a term for dramas filled with unnecessary content to kill time. Nothing is set in stone as the NRTA are still deliberating and getting input from industry experts.
I don’t think I’m alone in acknowledging that the problem of draggy storylines is all too real. Some dramas just shouldn’t have been made to be so long, but then a part of me always appreciated that c-dramas were longer and could fully satisfy all my cravings as a fan. Is capping it at 40 really the solution? I don’t know, but I hope they find a good fix.
Anonymous
AGREE! It's about time already for cdramas to stop with its unnecessarily lengthy episodes. I actually don't really mind long historicals but I really think modern dramas with 40+ are ridiculous because the plot are mostly simple but has so many useless filler scenes. Modern drama should be limit to 30 eps and below.
Lady Jaye
40 episodes is still quite a lot. And the episode cap could help eliminate a lot of the nonsense plot lines that go into padding C-dramas.
Nano13
For once I agreed with this overseer ….cap it so we don’t get ridiculous fillers and nonsense repeat flashback over and over that just drag and increase episode count b/c production want more money….maybe will get tighter script and weed out the low quality productions there just too many
Anonymous
I agree with the capping, nothing drag down a series like filler episodes.
Anonymous
I feel like they would just split a show into seasons to get around it. End result would still be the same.
Anonymous
I don't mind long series as long as these episodes are relevant and not just the fillers to fit in more ads. I wish L&D was longer.
ivelissenolberto0546@gmail.com
no, no quiero que limiten a Amor y Destino, ahora mismo es mi favorito de entre todos, lo ame
Anonymous
L&D is funny how the fillers are the leads, but still boring. NRTA needs to monitor every episode, an episode where people do nothing and move the plot to nowhere should be eliminated.
Melodysweetmusic177
it really depends! Some drama really don't even deserve 40 episodes while others do need 40+ episodes to tell a story with a good pacing. I think there shouldn't be a limit to historical drama, but modern drama has to be limited because in modern drama there is only that much to tell about
Anonymous
To anonymous 6.A I guess subtle acting is not something everyone enjoys. L&D is the type of series where you can't forward some scenes and still be able to follow. It's a series that you need to pay attention to micro-expression, especially Chang Chen. I do enjoy the subtle acting from the leads in L&D. They're what make the whole series great and by the end of it; I do wish that it was longer like what anonymous 6 said.
Anonymous
Fifty is a good number but you see some drama like phenix & tribes where destroyed by such policy…. That drama was even better than the lord of the ring scale… It was magnificent yet ended abruptly with no second season ahead…. No excuses… It brok the heart of many high quality drama fans… I mean every character deserved a whole drama on its own….
ivelissenolberto0546@gmail.com
que vas a pasar con Love and Destiny????
Anonymous
Do you have any idea what this really means? Drama are going to be even further controlled. So what if some drama's are dragged out? Be thankful they at least have the freedom to do so. Having this kinda of 'cap' is overly controlling. Can you imagine if the U.S had that kind of law? It's ridiculous.
Anonymous
Sure there are some ridiculously long draggy shows that were drawn out just to make more money. HOWEVER, there are some shows that really needed the extra episodes. The Story of Ming Lan was 73 episodes and it didn't have any bullshit filler. Every episode was meaningful. If it had been cut down to 40 episodes, the quality would have gone down the drain and would have been rushed. I think there needs to be some kind of quality control, but I don't think this is the way to do it. Capping at 40 would stop a lot of money hungry producers but it would also greatly stifle creativity.
I'm against it. Consumers need to vote with their time. Don't watch the long shitty shows. Don't give them good ratings. That is a far better way of stopping this trend of low quality dramas rather than to further censor the already super constrained media.
Anonymous
Wow good lord! The Story of Ming Lan 10? episodes straight, the mother took forever in the world to die and that is not draggy and bullshit??? What kind of logic is that? In The Legend of Haolan, it only took 5 minutes to show that the mother and daughter got in trouble and the mother died. That is the most meaningful and most perfect way to do dramas. The story needs to move move move! Stop these water injections, they are BORING! Every episode needs to be monitored and be meaningful, there should never be any episode where people talk for 40min straight and nothing happen at all. Worse is when that even get dragged for 10 episodes straight until 1 thing finally happened, after that 1 thing happen then another 10 draggy episodes. Some crazy fans can endure it for their idols but if people are not watching dramas for an idol, then they cannot endure the low quality of "nothing happening"
Anonymous
I completely agree with Anonymous 12. A government body capping dramas and doing a quality check is outrageous as it is, and I can't believe some viewers are okay with this veiled censorship. People having dialogues for 40 mins is not "boring", it's called world building, character development. Minglan was the best example of a drama using its allotted time wisely. There was no dialogue ever wasted, it all came to add to the character progression. You could actually feel the characters growing and everything made sense. If people can't appreciate that so be it, go watch other shows. Vote with your time and money, but don't support nonsensical censors at this time and age, it's unbecoming.
Anonymous
Dialogues in Minglan that slowy slowy slowly going in circles around and around with no progress? And it needs 40mins for every conversations? No thanks!
What they are suppose to do is, make the uneccessary dialogues 1-5 minutes.
And some people can rewind every boring dialogues 1000 times until every dialogues reach 1 hour every time, for themselves.
It only makes sense for those who wants to rewind to rewind things at their own sake, but those who don't want to rewind should not be forced to watch rewindings.
Dramas that you cannot watch without fast fowarding are huge wastes.
ivelissenolberto0546@gmail.com
lo único que no me gustas de algunos dramas es de ver actores demasiados jóvenes en roles de tan importantes ruol, como generales y demás cargos grandes en personas tan jóvenes, se necesitan actores de una cierta edad, para darles mayor credibilidad a su personajes
Anonymous
@12.a and 12.c I don't even know where to start. The mom died within the first 5 episodes and she was only in labor for what one? Maybe one and half of those episodes. Maybe you didn't pay attention and that's why you feel like the conversations weren't meaningful. The Story of Ming Lan is recognized by critics and fans for its quality. It wasn't an idol drama made purely for money. The quality of the writing, the acting, the sets, music, everything was kept so tightly in check. Every conversation and the nuances the actors displayed in their expressions mattered for the story.
I don't even know how you've come to the conclusion you've come to other than you must have been fast forwarding and not paying attention at all. The dialogue was the drama. If you are someone who needs crazy action scenes, super quick transitions, and nonsense plot devices, go watch Princess Wei Young or The Legends. This was clearly not a drama made for you and not your tastes, but your statements are just so blatantly wrong and misleading.
ELISANGELA
It depends on the drama. “Love and Redemption (2020)”, for example should have kept the 70 episodes (and not just the 59 that will be released). This series is wonderful, no speech, no character, no scene is expendable.