Veteran Musician Ajian Criticizes Taiwanese Variety Shows for 'Copycatting' Trend

A veteran Taiwanese musician, known as Ajian, has voiced his concerns about the repetitive nature of the Taiwanese variety show industry. He pointed to the common practice of "copycatting" successful programs, which he believes ultimately leads to the downfall of good shows.

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Even ghosts could come to the scene, we were almost laughing to death during the recording!

Ajian recalled the classic program "Iron Lion Jade Ling Long," which he was involved in. He noted that after its success, other networks quickly launched similar shows, leading to market saturation and a decline in the original program's popularity. He lamented this trend, stating that it's a "fatal flaw" that ruins good content.

He also mentioned the show "Breakup Arena," a collaboration with host Yang Fan, as a personal highlight. Ajian designed all the music for the show, which he remembers fondly for its humorous and creative content, even featuring "ghosts" as guests. However, he observed that this show also spawned imitators, such as "The Last Supper," which featured similar conflict-driven formats and quickly faded from the scene.

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Once a show becomes popular, many other shows will follow suit, opening similar ones, and eventually the opportunity gets ruined.

Ajian's observations extend to other genres, like singing competitions, which also experienced a boom and bust cycle. He concluded that variety shows, in general, lack longevity and are destined to end, regardless of their initial success. This cycle of imitation and decline, he feels, is a persistent issue in Taiwanese television.

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So I feel that variety shows really have no permanence, there will always be a day of curtain call, no matter what show it is.