American dramas are weak, it's time for domestic dramas to make a comeback

Compared with domestic TV series, American TV series have always been considered the conscience of the industry. Someone once joked that American crime dramas are all about solving cases, how dedicated the police are, and how the process of solving cases is tortuous; while domestic police dramas are about the love stories of the police.

Looking back at 2015, it seems that it is difficult for an American TV series to bring people the excitement they felt when they first came into contact with it. It is difficult to reproduce the phenomenal TV series like "Prison Break", "The Big Bang Theory", "Sherlock Holmes" and "House of Cards" that triggered a nationwide viewing craze.

Just like the rule that "if you fall to the bottom, you will rebound, if you rise to the peak, you will decline, and if you reach the peak, you will fall." After years of vigorous development in the mainland, American TV series seem to have entered a relatively weak period.

How can the audience continue to love the old drama as it approaches its twilight years?

American TV series that have accompanied audiences for many years, such as "House MD" and "Lost", retired after one or two seasons of weak ratings, but at least they did not lose their reputation. "Desperate Housewives", which was once announced to be filmed to the ninth season, saw a serious decline in ratings from the seventh season, so it had to enter the final stage. "CSI", an old series that has been broadcast for 13 years, also faced the fate of not being renewed due to poor ratings.

There are many reasons for the decline in ratings of old dramas: serious plot routines; decline in the quality of dramas; impact of new dramas; impact of economic recession; screenwriters' strike, etc. In this era of developed Internet and popular online videos, the viewing habits of the audience have undergone earth-shaking changes, and the era of sitting in front of the TV to watch TV dramas is gone.

At the same time, the audience's aesthetic taste has become tired of the same routine that has remained the same for ten years. The routine that used to be popular is no longer popular, but the increasing number of choices has left the audience at a loss.

The new recruits are weak and the embarrassment of the lack of successors

How to Get Away with Murder was a highly anticipated dark horse in 2015. The popularity of the first season of this drama was beyond everyone's expectations: this legal drama was not as good as Boston Legal in terms of courtroom debate, not as suspenseful as Law & Order, and not as good as The Good Wife in terms of evidence collection, but it carved out a path by thinking in reverse and thinking from other people's perspectives. The leading actress Viola Davis also became the first black actress in history to win the Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

However, the second season that aired this year was a big disappointment. How to Get Away with Murder made many of the same old mistakes as American TV series, digging too many holes to fill and then continuing to dig another hole. "Killing but not burying", many clues were either forgotten or simply ended in a crude way. The confusing emotional lines and increasingly bloody plots made this highly anticipated drama like an onion, peeling off layer by layer only to find nothing in the end.

In addition to "How to Get Away with Murder", "iZombie" and "Cybercrime", which were new American TV series in 2015, also saw a sharp drop in ratings after their short-lived popularity. Although there are news that both have been renewed for the next season, it is really hard to arouse people's interest.

Can domestic dramas really make a comeback this time?

Although there are still several eye-catching new American dramas this year, compared with the years when American dramas flourished, this year can really be called a year of "no dramas to watch". On the other hand, domestic TV dramas are still criticized for their 50-cent special effects, but they have caught up in both quality and attitude.

By joining hands with online video websites, counterattacking offline from online, and relying on a series of Internet thinking operations such as big data + capital + marketing, domestic dramas, especially domestic web dramas, have won both ratings and reputation. From "The Journey of Flower", "The Disguiser" to "Nirvana in Fire", the screens of WeChat and Moments are no longer dominated by Chao Ye and Benedict Cumberbatch, but by Lao Ganli and Prince Jing.

The popularity of domestic TV dramas in 2015 was no longer just a flash in the pan. One after another, good dramas came out. The first half of the year was led by "The Silence of the Gods" and "Empress Wu", followed by "The Journey of Flower" and "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" in the summer vacation. "Nirvana in Fire" became popular, and the following "Close Your Eyes" and "Legend of Miyue" continued to have high ratings.

The continuous emergence of excellent Chinese dramas is a sign of the real strength of Chinese dramas. The shortcomings that have been criticized for many years have also been improved: the audience's IQ is respected, the scenery is exquisite, and the camera language is no longer shoddy. What is worth celebrating is that Chinese dramas have finally broken out of the vicious circle of only romance. In several popular dramas, romance is no longer the main description, but the audience's IQ is respected, the scenery is exquisite, and the camera language is no longer shoddy. Although there is no "love", true love can be seen everywhere. No wonder some friends sighed: Now all those who are in the European and American circles have climbed the wall to the Chinese circle.

At present, among domestic dramas, popular IP dramas still have the best ratings, while other works perform generally; there are many similar dramas; life dramas account for a high proportion on the screen, and the plots and plots are all familiar and lack freshness; TV dramas with good reputation and high ratings on satellite TV only account for 20%.

Chinese dramas are improving, which is a fact that is obvious to screen audiences, but if they want to counterattack the well-produced American dramas, they still need to work hard in terms of screenwriters, funding, actors, technology, etc.

If a few years ago, people said that Chinese dramas could not compare with American dramas, there would definitely be many people who would agree with that. But in the future, once Chinese dramas begin to truly grasp the Chinese people's appetite for watching dramas and develop "Chinese characteristics", there will definitely be more and more people who oppose such statements.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.