WK1

Yeah. We know she is tired. But, to spend an entire year just doing commercials, variety shows, and no new dramas?? I cannot read her mind, but if she truly sees herself as an actress, that isn't a wise decision. She is at the top of her game now. 12 months without filming. That may well make her 'rusty'.

Latest trailer showed that Croton Media is involved with the production of MTC. Croton Media are also involved with the production of TBW. Maybe that is the connection between MTC and TBW? Are they the CGI expert people? The latest trailer for MTC does look good, and it does affirm the suspicion that MTC will be aired soon. We can see that the focus will be on romance, between the two leads. So far, no video of the merman in MTC trailers.

Yes, I saw on the facebook page of Croton Media. They have a poster that showed that MTC will be telecast on both WeTv and Youku channels. We just wait for official confirmation for TBW.

If MTC airs on 16 Jan, all the more, chances are high we will get to see TBW in Jan.

If she does not take up any drama in 2022, she will have no drama airing in 2023. Sounds kind of strange, because back in 2019, when she also had zero drama aired, she sounded that she really wanted to film something, but no one approached her (in 2018). Maybe 2021 really exhausted her. We'll see. Maybe after resting a while, she will pick up something.

Shanghai is definitely special to her. It must be her 2nd home. She graduated from the STA. People in Shanghai who do not know her must be those who have not watched a single Chinese drama for the last 5 years. But, the usual Chinese tradition is for one to go back to one's hometown during the Chinese New Year. Who knows. If she is too tired or too busy, her parents can of course visit her.

But, we hope that he can replicate the magic from Yanxi Palace. Especially since both Xu Kai and Wu Jinyan starred in that drama, and displayed amazing chemistry.

We wait for official announcement for TBW. Should be coming out soon.

Yup. Court Lady was not well received in China (and internationally). He also did Song of Youth (2021), which also did badly, and Marvellous Women (2021), which also did rather poorly.

Yes, if there is an annoucement for collaboration, for sure they will also annouce the air dates for both dramas. And indeed Reba is one of their ambassadors for WeTv. Already, she will have no drama to be produced by Tencent airing in 2022. So, having TBW on Tencent's WeTv is one way for them to leverage on her immense popularity overseas. Domestically, in China, it will be hard to imagine any drama viewer who does not know who Dilraba is. Streaming TBW on Tencent Video will make a lot of sense.

I will not be surprised that later on, Legend of Anle will also be streamed on Tencent Video and WeTv.

It is the truth that 2021 was a very busy year for Reba. After filming TBW in June, she started on Legend of Anle in July. In the midst of filming that drama, she left Hengdian to film promotion for YAMG. And then went back to Hengdian to finish off LOA. And after LOA, lots of red carpet stuff and filming of commercials.

The Chinese New Year is just weeks away. She deserves the rest. But, I am curious. You said she is in Shanghai now, and spending time with the family. Isn't her family in Xinjiang?? Her parents moved to Shanghai?

Folks, we may not need to worry too much about competition between TBW and MTC. Someone on the page of MTC already mentioned that both Youku and Tencent will be airing MTC on their respective platform. Nothing is confirmed yet, but if that is true, it might also be true that TBW will also be aired on both platforms.

What does this tell us?? Behind the scene, they are actually helping and collaborating with each other. Remember, some of you mentioned that the team who worked on the CGI for Ancient Love Poetry is the same team that will be working on the CGI for TBW?? Well, go to the page of ALP. Who is the producer of that drama? Tencent. If this is the case, isn't it plain that Tencent has been helping Youku with the CGI for TBW? They likely 'loaned' their CGI team to Youku, to work on the CGI for TBW.

I do feel that the big bosses of the two companies (Tencent and Youku) know each other very well and have worked on stuff together in the past.

Them broadcasting each other's first blockbusters that will be launched in 2022 can only point to some backdoor collaboration. If so, they will do their very best to avoid head-on collision.

There are several ways they could do this. Too many permutations to list here, but believe me, they will do their best to avoid airing both dramas on the same night and at the same time, forcing viewers to choose between the two. Once they can do that, the two dramas may actually be synergistic, each building on viewers' appetitie for the other, as both are Xianxia drama. Different stories but same genre.

Even now, I suspect top executives from both companies are talking to the Winter Games organisers, check the schedule, see which nights Chinese athletes are likely to compete and avoid any pivotal epsiodes on those nights.

So, let's wait for the official announcements from Youku (and perhaps also Tencent). If they are indeed serious about airing both in Jan, some kind of official notices will be out soon.

This news would have gotten around in lots of social media platforms in China. Hopefully, it will draw more crowds to watch TBW, to see the Queen and King of Chinese dramas in their finest acting performances.

It would be! Mid Jan is just a few days away. Let's wait to see if this rumour would turn out to be great news for all of us, inclusive of possible news on airing date of TBW.

This latest tweet by Lulu did not say the drama will be aired in mid-Jan. It merely says an official announcement will be made with regard to TBW being shown on both Youku and Tencent platforms.

Please see below. I did reply to your earlier post. This latest one by Lulu is different.

This is quite interesting. By next week, we will know if this is true or just another rumour. If it turns out to the true, it would mean even though Youku and Tencent are competitors, they can put aside their rivalry and help increase the viewing platforms for a top notch drama. For TBW, this could only be good news. More viewing platforms usually leads to greater view count and hence popularity. It would also be interesting to see if Mirror Twin Cities will also be shown on Youku's viewing platform.

Also, if this is true, we might get greater clarity on the airing dates of both TBW and MTC by next week.

I think if we take all those 'news' with a pinch of salt, we will not be too disappointed. That is my attitude anyway. Ok. I do believe you were not annoyed, and I am not going to take your previous remark personally. We are on the same team, cheering Reba's dramas. In any case, we shall know very soon, whether the predicted airing date mentioned by that magazine or the tweet is accurate or not.

I guess we all want Youku to air it in Jan, instead of March, so that we can get to watch it earlier. If they want to do it in March, no big deal. We just go watch some other stuff that do air in Jan, and then come back here in March.

Just came across this article. It is one day old, so some of you might have already read it. Both Allen and Reba won two awards each, in a recent drama competition in China. I think this is done via voting among Weibo users in China.

https://epop.my/2022/01/06/%E7%AC%AC6%E5%B1%86%E5%BE%AE%E5%8D%9A%E9%9B%BB%E8%A6%96%E5%8A%87%E5%A4%A7%E8%B3%9E%E6%9C%80%E7%B5%82%E5%BE%97%E7%8D%8E%E5%90%8D%E5%96%AE%EF%BC%81%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%A6%E5%8A%87%E9%9B%86%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%A6/

While it is not a direct promotion for TBW, indirectly it does shine light on both the leads in this drama, and could be viewed as a form of free publicity. After this win, viewers could be on the lookout for TBW.

They are both good actors. But Allen does have a better track record for historical dramas, and Yang Yang a better track record in modern dramas.

Previously you said Reba was a done deal for Ball Lightning, pointing to Douban. That later turned out not to be true. I was not annoyed at all, because you were relying on a source that you thought was highly reliable. I am doing the same, looking at various sources. So, please do not get annoyed.

There could be good reasons why Youku has made no official annoucements of the airing date. They could still be working on post production, and do not wish to 'lock' themselves in, which is what will happen, if they annouce an official airing date. By keeping quiet, if they feel that they need more time for post production, they can do it without disappointing us, or give the impression that they cannot stick to their promise.

So, do lurk around this page every few days. Some of us are looking out for clue everyday. If we hear anything official, you will know it from this page.

Two different sources say the same thing, but there is nothing official. One source said 30 Jan; another said between mid to end Jan. There has been no new promotional materials the last many days. So, if you are into probabiility, there is a high chance that it will be 30 Jan.

30 Jan airing will help 'catch' the Chinese New Year crowd in China, and help the producer of TBW to avoid jamming up their other dramas (compared to say, airing in March).

We might know real soon, because the source that made the prediction for 30 Jan also predicted the airing date for another drama. If they are accurate for that drama, it might mean they are also realiable in predicting this drama too. 10 Jan is the predicted airing date for the other drama. So, just a few more days.