Chapter 888: Zhang Ye takes over for the skit!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
In the waiting room.
A group of people were staring straight at Zhang Ye.
Chang Xiaoliang said in a serious tone, "Teacher Little Zhang, we can only rely on you now!"
Zhang Ye was nearly vomiting blood at this. "Director Chang, I really cannot do it!"
"Little Zhang!" Hu Fei chipped in, "We all know how capable you are!"
Zhang Ye smiled wryly and said, "If you want me to do a crosstalk, I won't hesitate to agree. Old Yao and I will march up onstage to do another crosstalk for you guys. But it's a skit we're talking about, I've never done one before! I really can't pull it off. Why don't you ask someone else instead? See if there's anyone else who has prepared a skit."
Hu Fei said, "If you can't do it, then nobody can!"
Zhang Ye kept waving his hands around. "You're thinking too highly of me, please don't say that!"
After Yao Jiancai heard everything, he helped Zhang Ye by stating, "We crosstalk comedians and skit actors may look like we're both in the line of comedy, appearing to tickle the audience with our language acts. But realistically, we are two very different occupations and are clearly different things!"
The deputy station head hurriedly said, "But the issue now is that there is no one else!"
Zhang Ye added, "There's not much time left either." He looked at his watch. "There's just a little over an hour left now!"
One of the staff on the Spring Festival Gala production team immediately said, "Didn't you completely make up 'Everything is Great' at the last minute with just an hour to go before the routine? There was even music added and a rearrangement of the bits too!"
Zhang Ye: "…But I haven't properly thought out the skit yet and it's still only a general concept for now. It doesn't even have a script!"
Yet another female staffer quickly responded, "When you did Zhang Ye's Talk Show, you attempted a live broadcast without the aid of a script. Then, while you were still at Beijing TV's Arts Channel, your Analysis of the Three Kingdoms show did not require a script either, isn't that so? When have you ever prepared a script in advance? Haven't you always just gone out and done your thing? Who in the industry has not heard of those deeds of yours before? Most of us in this room are your former coworkers and have worked with you before, so you can ask around and see if any of us have seen you getting on stage with a script."
Hou Ge: "That's right!"
Dafei: "Yep, yep!"
Zhang Ye: "…But we don't even have the props prepared!"
Chang Xiaoliang immediately said, "As long as they are simple props, just tell us how you want it and it will be done. The entire Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala production team is yours to command!"
Zhang Ye: "…But Dong Shanshan still has to host the gala, I won't have enough people to do the skit!"
The deputy station head promptly decided there and then, "We have a backup host who can immediately take over her duties. I just need to make a call and Dong Shanshan will be here to help you with the finale skit!"
Zhang Ye was going crazy!
Your sister!
Why do you guys have something to rebuke me with no matter what I say!
You even have an answer for every issue that I've raised?
Chang Xiaoliang said earnestly, "Teacher Little Zhang, our Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala is, for the first time, in the running to win the Spring Festival Gala viewership ratings and also the closest we are to getting first. Right in front of us is that result, yet something like this has cropped up at the eleventh hour. Do you think we can just take it lying down like that? I can't!"
An assistant director said, "I can't either!"
Hu Fei said, "I can't accept it!"
Another female director sighed, "Yeah. This is too hard to stomach!"
Xiao Lu said, "We're just a step away! Teacher Zhang!"
Hou Di said hopefully, "Teacher Zhang!"
Dafei said loudly, "Teacher Zhang, please do it for us!"
A female assistant director said, "Yeah, Teacher Zhang, we're all depending on you now!"
"Teacher Zhang!"
"Teacher Zhang! Please do it!"
"You can do it!"
The group of people stood there and repeated his name!
Zhang Ye's ears were aching from this constant chanting of his name. He forced a smile. "You guys are totally bullying me with your numbers." Then he looked at Yao Jiancai.
Yao Jiancai didn't whether to laugh or cry as he shrugged and indicated that he couldn't do anything about it either.
The waiting room door opened again and another group of people came in!
"Director Chang, how are we going to proceed?"
"The station head was just pressuring us!"
"Yeah, how should the props be prepared?"
"There isn't much time left, Director Chang. The entire production team has been plunged into chaos!"
However, Chang Xiaoliang did not say anything and just kept blinking as he looked at Zhang Ye, waiting for him to give his answer.
Zhang Ye was unsure of what to do at this moment. He was a born and bred Beijinger who grew up watching the channels on Beijing Television. He had worked here, fought here, and also gotten into trouble here. But even after all that, Beijing Television still held a special place in his heart. Seeing such a huge problem take place at their Spring Festival Gala, he did not feel good about it. As a result, he was at odds with himself as to what he should do!
"Director Zhang!"
"Teacher Zhang, there's no time anymore!"
The production team was getting more and more flustered.
Zhang Ye suddenly heaved a sigh of resignation and looked at them. "Is there really no one else?"
One of the female assistant directors was nearly crying from worry. "There's really no one else!"
Zhang Ye hesitated for a moment before saying, "But I've never performed a skit before, so even I can't guarantee how it'll turn out. Are you guys sure that you want me to take over even if the results are not guaranteed?"
Chang Xiaoliang joyfully declared, "Whatever will be will be!"
That deputy station head added, "As long as you can make it in time for the live broadcast and save the showlist, any performance is fine!"
Zhang Ye shrugged his shoulders at Yao Jiancai and then looked at everyone. "Alright then, I'll agree to it!"
"That's great!" Xiao Lu screamed.
Dafei cheered and exclaimed, "Teacher Zhang is awesome!"
Hu Fei regained his confidence with that. "With you stepping up, there won't be a problem for sure!"
Speaking of Zhang Ye's character, everyone had to worry about it. This fellow was too hot-headed and would often go around stirring up trouble or scolding people. Everyone would choose to avoid him as he was a well-known hooligan of the entertainment circle! But when it came to Zhang Ye's reputation and capabilities in the artistic field, he was known to be more than dependable. Everyone could rest assured as long as he was handling it! Even though Zhang Ye had never made or performed in a skit before, when everyone learned he was going to step in, they unconsciously sighed with relief!
Chang Xiaoliang grabbed Zhang Ye's hands and said sincerely, "Thank you so much!"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "I'm just blindly going in to turn things around, so don't thank me first. You may thank me after everything is done and the routine is performed on time."
Chang Xiaoliang asked, "What do you need now?"
"I need a little time to give some thought to the script," Zhang Ye replied.
"Alright!"
"Oh yes, I have to discuss things with Shanshan as well."
"No problem!"
...
The Spring Festival Gala was still going on!
Every provincial station's Spring Festival Gala show was still fighting it out for the viewership ratings!
The industry watched every single move, wanting to know which provincial station's Spring Festival Gala would become the ultimate winner. Last year, it was Hunan Television's Spring Festival Gala that achieved the highest overall viewership rating, and the year before that, Liaoning Television won it, while another year before that, it was Dragon Television that led the way!
Who would it be this year?
Could it be Beijing Television?
Some industry insiders started to discuss this topic.
"I initially felt that it would be Liaoning TV's Spring Festival Gala."
"Yeah, they kicked it off with great momentum!"
"But I'm not too sure now. Beijing TV's Spring Festival Gala had Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai help them turn the tide! That seasoned duo's crosstalk was incredibly enjoyable to listen to!"
"A crosstalk routine has saved the entire station's gala!"
"But we still have to watch on until the other shows are done. Nothing is confirmed as of yet."
"If Beijing TV's Spring Festival Gala wins, then it would truly be a miraculous night tonight!"
"But no matter how it turns out, Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai will definitely experience a popularity growth after tonight with their crosstalk routine! After all, this is a provincial station's Spring Festival Gala broadcast on their satellite channel with so many sets of eyes watching! That incident with the table tennis national team from earlier should not affect Zhang Ye much either!"
"After being held down for so many years, Beijing TV is finally set for a breakthrough!"
"They've totally made the right move by inviting Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai to perform on their show! Using the popularity of this year's Spring Festival Gala, Beijing TV should be able to increase their overall ratings for this coming year. Why do the provincial stations place so much importance on their Spring Festival Gala shows even if it means pulling out all stops? Because it's a plan for the long term! It's a key step in a television station's development!"
But it was at this moment that several startling news headlines appeared!
Entertainment Report: "Major crisis at Beijing Television's Spring Festival Gala!"
Online Tracer: "Qu Haiying rushed to Fuwai Hospital after collapsing from heart attack!"
Beijing Daily News Online Edition: "Beijing Television's Spring Festival Gala finale act left hanging! Soon to be a major live broadcast incident!"
What happened to Qu Haiying was too major to cover up, especially since it happened in conjunction with the critical juncture of the Spring Festival Gala live broadcast!
Instantly, everyone was stunned!
"Heavens!"
"How could that happen!"
"How is Teacher Qu now? How is he?"
"I heard that he's already out of danger!"
"I'm glad to hear that! I'm really glad to hear that! But then what's going to happen to Beijing TV's Spring Festival Gala now?"
"Beijing TV has met with big trouble again! This is a live broadcast for the Spring Festival Gala. If there isn't an act to fill the gap, wouldn't it cause a huge problem? Nothing like this has ever happened before!"
"How unlucky!"
"Yeah, I thought Beijing TV would do well this year!"
"Fuck, this is bad!"
"Something big has happened at Beijing TV again!"
"They're done for! They certainly won't be getting number one! They've messed it up right at the final stretch!"
"They won't be fighting to be the viewership rating champion anymore, I guess? That's secondary. They'll need to deal this glaring issue first. There's about an hour left until Qu Haiying's act is supposed to come on, right? How are they going fill this gap?"
"The advantage that Zhang Ye and Teacher Yao Jiancai have fought so hard to gain has gone down the drain!"
The netizens were in full gossip mode!
Many of those netizens discussing Han Li and the table tennis national team turned their focus to this when they heard the news! There was only an hour to go before the scheduled skit would go live. With the skit actor suffering a heart attack, everyone was extremely worried for Beijing Television, which had suffered a tumultuous setback!
...
There was a heated discussion within the industry!
"Are you serious?"
"Aiyo, they're done for this time!"
"Yeah, even though they had help from Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai's crosstalk, there's no way for Beijing TV to get back on their feet this time. Viewership rating? I think the more important question is whether they can finish the show!"
"Let's see who gets chosen to replace the act!"
"There's no one else? I think they did not prepare any backup acts in their lineup!"
"It doesn't matter who gets chosen to stand in for the act, just look at the time!"
"Right, the problem is that there isn't any time left!"
"If this amounts to a broadcasting issue, the punishment for Beijing TV would definitely be quite heavy!"
"Let's wait and see how Beijing TV's Spring Festival Gala will handle this!"