I see that term thrown around quite a lot, but I never really understood what "idol drama" means? Is it…
The easiest is to think about the target audience. It's really young people, teens to younger adults, so you have a lot of romance, CP is one of the most important things, accent is on looks, the quality is not the priority. These days almost all of xianxia is basically idol dramas too, apart from romance.
There is nothing wrong with watching and enjoying these dramas. The problem is that for any actor who wants to expand into high quality work, it's difficult to shed the label of an idol actor or actress as it has a negative connotation. So in order to be taken seriously they don't step back once they get out - if they can help it. Unfortunately most of them don't succeed in this transformation and they have to go back to idol work.
It's not like downgrading..He is young and some of his fans want to see him in idol drama if the script is good
It is downgrading. Sorry but you can't reinvent Chinese entertainment and how it works because you want to see idol romance.
In China, every single actor who wants to be taken seriously will try as hard as he or she can to get cast in serious dramas because it takes years to shed the title of an idol actor and it is probably one of the most difficult things to do in cent. It often doesn't matter if they have 2, 3, 4 successful roles in serious dramas because that idol actor title will still be dragging them down.
All actors who have successfully completed this transformation have spoken out how difficult it is to shed this and that even major success with awards sometimes wasn't enough.
So no, Xiao Zhan is not going to return to idol dramas because he wants to be taken seriously as an actor. This is how cent works.
It's been a big day in China about this one. It looks like this is indeed Xiao Zhan. Both the production and the platform have been pursuing him and it seems to have been settled in August.
Not surprising considering the size of the investment that is required for an adaptation of this novel. You want the top star for top investment.
Xiao Zhan is not an idol actor anymore. His projects are not idol dramas. Going back to them would mean his career is downgrading.
I understand people liking other genres but this is the path of a serious actor in China. You can hop aboard or not, everyone's choice but every time you wish for him to do idol work you are wishing for his career to stop being successful. So please move on by making that choice.
I don't know why no one is talking about zhuang zhi xing he is my favourite character of this drama.
Because this drama is stacked with incredible acting performances. He did a very good job but when it's among stellar work of others, it doesn't stand out. It was still good enough as can be seen by the follow up. He has lots of time to develop in the future.
Because who gave low ratings, look at their profile, mostly chengyi and wang yibo fans, very easy to check between…
"my friend didn't like this drama and gave it a low rating because he wasn't into political intrigue, does that mean he's from a toxic fandom"
Yes, your friend is an anti.
A regular watcher will figure out that the genre is not their thing and they will walk away, not rating the drama because ratings should reflect quality.
Imagine thinking it is ok to downrate a drama because it's not your fave genre. I don't like horror, so should I give 1 star to them? No, I am an adult who knows that me not liking a genre doesn't mean a drama is bad.
Your friend is absolutely an anti who found an excuse to give this drama a bad rating.
I am sorry but what "better casting"? I am genuinely curious considering all these actors have an excellent reputation for the quality of their acting, especially Ni Dahong who is the second lead and a well respected veteran actor and JY, who just won a Magnolia for her acting. This is actually a better team than Spying when it comes to acting cred.
This one, Magnolia award winner for best supporting actress.https://kisskh.at/people/15611-jiang-yan
Totally understandable. But in the end, we can just hope it all turns out for the best and maybe in some next work there will be some younger talent to work with him!
This one, Magnolia award winner for best supporting actress.https://kisskh.at/people/15611-jiang-yan
She has really good connections and the Magnolia award boosted her profile. There were a lot of questions about this in China too (she is also older than him) but in the end, this is who the production chose. We can only hope for the best outcome.
Which drama? Spying shooting is over, right? Is it his next drama??
My pleasure! It's very different from OOL, it is a serious drama tackling many issues.
In fact, for China it almost borders on controversial on some issues though as far as I know, XZ demanded the script to be altered somewhat before he said yes.
I do think that the beginning will be the same - "flying knife" is a term we use for surgeons who travel to a different hospital in order to perform surgeries that cannot usually be done there and are often paid under the table for this. This is why the ML goes back, he is caught doing it. Medical themes that affect society can be tricky but I trust they will try and do their best.
Which drama? Spying shooting is over, right? Is it his next drama??
Next one, yes. The name is 小城良方, no English title at the moment. It is on iQiyi, based on a book called Flying Knife because the ML is a doctor. FL is Jiang Yan.
This is the Douban drama page, official announcement is coming and XZ is already there.
3 
There is nothing wrong with watching and enjoying these dramas. The problem is that for any actor who wants to expand into high quality work, it's difficult to shed the label of an idol actor or actress as it has a negative connotation. So in order to be taken seriously they don't step back once they get out - if they can help it. Unfortunately most of them don't succeed in this transformation and they have to go back to idol work.
In China, every single actor who wants to be taken seriously will try as hard as he or she can to get cast in serious dramas because it takes years to shed the title of an idol actor and it is probably one of the most difficult things to do in cent. It often doesn't matter if they have 2, 3, 4 successful roles in serious dramas because that idol actor title will still be dragging them down.
All actors who have successfully completed this transformation have spoken out how difficult it is to shed this and that even major success with awards sometimes wasn't enough.
So no, Xiao Zhan is not going to return to idol dramas because he wants to be taken seriously as an actor. This is how cent works.
Not surprising considering the size of the investment that is required for an adaptation of this novel. You want the top star for top investment.
I understand people liking other genres but this is the path of a serious actor in China. You can hop aboard or not, everyone's choice but every time you wish for him to do idol work you are wishing for his career to stop being successful. So please move on by making that choice.
Yes, your friend is an anti.
A regular watcher will figure out that the genre is not their thing and they will walk away, not rating the drama because ratings should reflect quality.
Imagine thinking it is ok to downrate a drama because it's not your fave genre. I don't like horror, so should I give 1 star to them? No, I am an adult who knows that me not liking a genre doesn't mean a drama is bad.
Your friend is absolutely an anti who found an excuse to give this drama a bad rating.
This is not an idol drama 🤷♀️
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5223030835381495
Starring Xiao Zhan, Ni Dahong, Jiang Yan, Shi Pengyuan, Jiang Renzi etc.
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5223036241579460
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5223030835381495
Started officially filming this morning, expected to last 120 days. 30 episodes.
We already have a photo of Ni Dahong in doc clothes, prep work.
https://kisskh.at/people/15611-jiang-yan
In fact, for China it almost borders on controversial on some issues though as far as I know, XZ demanded the script to be altered somewhat before he said yes.
I do think that the beginning will be the same - "flying knife" is a term we use for surgeons who travel to a different hospital in order to perform surgeries that cannot usually be done there and are often paid under the table for this. This is why the ML goes back, he is caught doing it. Medical themes that affect society can be tricky but I trust they will try and do their best.
This is the Douban drama page, official announcement is coming and XZ is already there.
https://movie.douban.com/subject/36675942/
Edit - oh, I found it here on MDL too. This drama. The summary is ok.
https://kisskh.at/760719-fei-dao
It is based on a book called Flying Knife, the ML is a doctor. The platform is iQiyi, director Zhang Xiaobo. It will have 30 episodes.
https://movie.douban.com/subject/36675942/
New work might start as early as October 10th.