"Friends" and "Half the Sky(Weekend)", two weekly programs inviting VIP to chat with the audience, will soon disappear from the screen on CCTV channel because of their repetition with other programs and too restricted topics, director of the chief editors' room of the China Central TV Station annouced recently.
"Friends" is blamed for its puffy of renowned people. Originally, the program is designed for the public, giving them a chance to come to the screen and tell stories about their friends, all common people. But today, guests invited to the screen are mainly famous ones and guests don't tell true stories, but are flattering each other.
Programs inviting VIP for chatting are common and many on CCTV. The cancellation is devised to avoid repetition.
"Half the Sky (Weekend)" is the weekend version of the daily program "Half the Sky". It's devoted wholly to the women. The title refers to women in a metaphor: men and women prop up the whole sky. The weekend version is blamed for its too targeted topic: only about triangle love and out-of-marriage affairs.
CCTV says it scraps the two programs after careful meditation. It hopes to better position and categorize programs now broadcasting.
"Each program should have its characteristics, or personality, and repetition is unbearable," Wang, the director of the chief editor's room of CCTV said.
Before the announcement of the decision, experts inside and outside the TV station carried on a wide investigation into the talk show programs broadcast on CCTV during the past five weeks. They find great repetition in many programs on different channels. The repetition between the social/education channel and the Art/Humanity channel is most distinguished.
"Friends" belong to the latter and "Half the Sky" belongs to the former. The two channels both have got down on reforms in the two programs at the announcement.
(eastday.com July 1, 2002)
