Huayu 2011: Starting with Hilarious Men

Chapter 84 Can we invite Yui Hatano?

"The Hilarious Men" filmed two seasons within a year, and the second season received better reviews than the first, which is very rare for a series.

The strengths and weaknesses of the series are actually quite obvious.

The advantage is that the series already has a fan base and nostalgia from previous works, so there is a basic level of popularity from the start, without the need to attract viewers from scratch.

Costumes, props, sets, character designs, and world-building can be reused, reducing the production costs of subsequent sequels.

Some series of works can generate merchandise, spin-offs, prequels, fan fiction, and offline cultural tourism, forming a long-term IP industry chain with a profit cycle much longer than that of a single film.

Moreover, once the previous works have gained a good reputation, the series carries its own brand filter, making it more tolerant of the audience; excellent series will form classic labels, become symbols of the times, and have a long-lasting legacy.

The downside is that sequels tend to rely on old material, resulting in similar plots, repetitive scenes, and a tendency for the world-building to collapse and revert to its original setting in the later stages; the more they go, the less original they become, falling into the trap of "rehashing old material".

If a series continues to use the same style, characters, and story framework for too long, audiences will get tired of it: starting strong but ending weakly is a common problem for series, with previous works being acclaimed while sequels are disappointing.

The host was still curious whether the third season of "Hilarious Men" could maintain the quality of the second season, which is why he asked Zheng Nan how the script was being polished.

"It's basically finished writing. Some parts of the plot involve celebrity cameos, so minor adjustments may be needed on set. Occasionally, I'll add any inspiration that comes to mind to the shooting plan, and then we'll decide which parts to keep and which to discard during the editing process." Zheng Nan got up and went to his small office, where he took out a stack of scripts and handed them to Da Peng.

"Can we watch?" Dapeng asked again.

"I've already handed it to you, what do you say? Why are you being so polite with me?" Zheng Nan really wanted to say, "Why are you being so polite with me?" but considering that there were many other ladies present, she swallowed her words.

"Hehe, we have to be polite, we're cultured people." Dapeng started flipping through the script for the third season.

The script is divided into series.

The first thing you'll see is a series of local memes like "What are you worried about!" and "What are you looking at!"

This series features the most Northeastern dialect references, along with a few references from Tianjin and Beijing.

Next are the barbershop series, the bus series, the clinic series, and the office series —

Wait a minute, these last three series look so familiar!

Many beautiful stories happen on buses, in clinics, and in offices.

For example, phrases like "perverted man," "perverted woman," "time stopped," "husband committing a crime," and "Madam, you don't want your husband to lose his job, do you?"

Just thinking about it makes the greenhouse seem very interesting.

With immense excitement and anticipation, Dapeng carefully read through the two script series.

"Damn, all that excitement for nothing!"

"What are you so excited about?" Yu Shasha, who was sitting next to her, asked, puzzled.

Isn't this just a collection of funny jokes? What's so exciting about it?

Could it be that the greenhouse has taken a liking to the jokes inside and is planning to go back and copy them?

"It's nothing, my first feeling after reading it was jealousy. Damn, it's so well written!" Da Peng certainly couldn't say what he was thinking, so he laughed it off and continued flipping through the script.

After quickly glancing through it, Dapeng found something strange. He searched through the script but couldn't find any scenes featuring Qiao Shan.

"Isn't there a 'Big Health Care' series featuring Qiao Shan? Qiao Shan's performance in the second season was great!" Da Peng asked, puzzled.

Qiao Shan and Da Peng are good friends. Da Peng originally thought that he could act with Qiao Shan in the third season of "Funny Men", but he didn't see the words "massage" in the script.

The production team now strongly suspects that Qiao Shan may have angered Zheng Nan privately, which is why Zheng Nan deleted all of Qiao Shan's scenes.

"Zheng Nan, did you have a fight with Qiao Shan?" Da Peng asked Zheng Nan in a low voice as he approached.

Dapeng is a very loyal friend. He believes that unless it's a matter of principle, arguments between men can be resolved by giving each other a way out. So Dapeng wanted to mediate.

"No, why do you ask? Qiao Shan has been busy writing jokes for 'Happy Meeting Room' lately, and we haven't been in touch much."

While answering questions about the greenhouse, Zheng Nan didn't forget to snatch a piece of braised mutton from Reba's chopsticks.

"There's still so much meat in the pot, why are you stealing mine!" Dilraba raised her little fist and punched Zheng Nan.

"You asked me to urge you to lose weight, so eat less." Zheng Nan's reason was impeccable.

"How can you have the energy to lose weight if you don't eat enough? Dilraba, eat more." Aya chimed in, trying to be a good Samaritan.

Zheng Nan silently made a mental note of Aya's mistake, and when the company distributed zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) for the Dragon Boat Festival, he specially gave Aya a zongzi with bean curd filling!

"If you two didn't have a fight, why isn't the 'massage parlor' series in the third season script?" After confirming that the two hadn't argued, Da Peng's voice returned to normal.

"Because I wasn't prepared to have Qiao Shan appear in the third season," Zheng Nan explained.

"Why? Isn't the 'massage' series good enough?"

"It's not that it's not good enough, it's that it's too good. The tone was set too high, which made the audience look forward to the big health care series in the third season. In the second season, Qiao Shan attracted too many viewers. It can be said that the character of "father of big health care" alone made Qiao Shan's popularity in "Hilarious Men" almost rival that of the lead actor Zheng Nan.

However, high expectations are a double-edged sword. Viewers will subconsciously raise their standards and imagine how funny the new "massage" series will be in advance.

If Zheng Nan can write a health care series that surpasses the second season, and can steadily meet the audience's expectations, that would be good.

However, if the quality fails to meet the audience's expectations, the instant disappointment and sense of emptiness will backfire on "Hilarious Men" itself.

"I understand now. So you just removed this series from the third season. Without it, the audience naturally won't look forward to it anymore. Instead, they'll keep that goodwill in their hearts, and the more they think back, the more they'll appreciate how amazing the second season of 'Big Health Care' was." Da Peng suddenly realized.

"People's expectations are the most fragile thing. Now, the 'massage parlor' series has reached its peak in the audience's mind, becoming a landmine that is not easily touched."

"Will Qiao Shan have any more scenes later on?"

"Yes, there will be. When the audience's expectations decrease and they think that the second season of Da Bao Jian is the swan song, I will arrange for Qiao Shan to reappear in the final season to give the audience a surprise." Zheng Nan is all about plot twists.

"Final season? You're planning to film four seasons of 'Hilarious Men'?" Dilraba suddenly interjected.

"Yes, the next show will be 'Lady Laughs' by Dapeng and Yu Shasha, while I focus on other careers, such as making movies." Zheng Nan nodded.

"With the success of 'Men's Laughter' as a precedent, you guys need to do your best to carry on the torch," Dilraba offered an encouraging remark.

"You've almost finished reading the script for the third season. If you were asked to add some jokes, what would be your first thought?" Zheng Nan was deliberately testing Da Peng.

After pondering for a moment, the greenhouse gave its answer: "I might move in the direction of yellow, violent, and rubbing."

The studio believes Zheng Nan's videos are too restrained; the current online environment is more relaxed, and netizens enjoy novelty and...

Heavy-flavored food.

Furthermore, "Hilarious Men" has already filmed two seasons, and the audience's threshold is rising. It's time to add some juicy material to maintain the freshness for the audience.

"Be more specific," Zheng Nan nodded, signaling Dapeng to continue.

"Could you please invite Aoi Sora, Hatano Yui, Nishina Momoka, Komukai Minako, Yoshizawa Akiho, Asami Yuma, Kitagawa Hitomi, Ozawa Maria—to star in this?" Dapeng took a deep breath and quickly rattled off a dozen familiar names.

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