Warning: Long post ahead. Took me 3 days and 3 nights to complete this ok. haha.
Take your time, read it over a few days, ‘coz i’m probably not going to blog next week since I can predict that I’ll be running around like a mad woman.. :p
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A mediacorpse channel 8 production..
Title: The Rainbow Connection (Though I can see neither the rainbow.. nor the connection)
Genre: Dancing
Moral of the story: … … (Yet to figure out at press time)
Synopsis: … … (Don’t really know where or how to start)

Characters:


(Pictures from mediac*rp channel 8 website)
 

- Yoyo, daughter of Yoyo’s mom, wilful, stubborn, speaks with a deh voice, with a dunno-what’s-happening-up-there and bomb-attacked hair/head.

 - Yoyo’s mom (Either called Aixue-or-is-it-Ruixue), who acts weird sometimes, and likes to scratch her head when in doubt.


- Michelle/Niuniu/Ruixue-or-is-it-Aixue, Yoyo’s mom’s ex-sworn sister (they had some feud in the past over a competition and a man), supposedly a world-renowned dancer.


- Xiaoqian, Michelle’s daughter, who loved David but found that he loved her mom instead, and eventually became Yoyo’s boyfriend snatcher (Oh-so coincidentally).
- Jianyi, Yoyo/Xiaoqian’s boyfriend – the short guy who can’t seem to decide and thus deserves to be shot.
- David, a damn show-off guy who supposedly loves Michelle though he is half her age, and who seems overly obsessed with the film “The Graduate”.
- Martin, a supposedly excellent dancer with a plastic expression and strange accent, who supposedly gave up his status as a rich man’s son to pursue his dreams but somehow gave up and went to Europe with Lulu.. and disappeared for the rest of the episodes (not that we care lah).
- Lulu, aka Meilu, dancer who broke her leg in a weird/freak/strange accident, yet forgave Martin easily after he lit up some firewood (??!) in what looked like a tribal setting (??!), and went to Europe with him.. and disappeared for the rest of the episodes (not that we care lah).


- Chen Sheng, the strange old man who was/is Michelle and Aixue-or-is-it-Ruixue’s ancestor teacher, who speaks like he’d lotsa lotsa phlegm stuck in his throat and does nothing but to have heart attacks ALL the time.


- The strange principal of the strange dance school…- Others – strange monkeys students of the strange dance school who usually do strange things

Confused already?
Aiyah, block-busted blockbuster mah.. it’s like that one..

 

 The main purpose of this production is probably for mediacorpse to sell it to the overseas market, and thus the range of cast from S’pore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.. Though strangely, with the exception of Mixue (who plays “Michelle”), none of them seem really famous.

And none of them can really act, though they are probably not to be blamed.. afterall it is not easy for 20/30-yr-olds to act like they are 15 or 12. And perhaps, like the viewers, they probably have yet to grasp what the script is trying to say even after the completion of the production.The weirdest thing about this serial is probably the genre.

While the genre seems to on dancing/dancers, the actual aim of the serial is unknown.

If it were meant to be a blockbuster, with an array of characters, exciting plot and complicated storyline, the only aim that was partially achieved is simply that of confusion.

 

For one, the “complicated” plot seemed silly, juvenile, if not outrageously slapstick. Attempts at humor – if humor meant having the 20+-yr-old cast jumping around, acting like some juvenile kids or infantile adults - would most likely be met with responses ranging from a mild one like “DUH?!” or to a disastrous one with all the blocks of question and exclamation marks falling and hitting the viewers’ heads, or a more violent one like ”WTF???!”, complete with having rotten eggs thrown at the innocent plasma TVs.

 

For future budding blockbuster-producers, just take note:

If you want a complicated and exciting plot, then make sure it is intriguing enough.
If you want to do a teen flick or a slapstick drama, then make it downright slapstick and juvenile.
Never, ever make it downright slapstick, and then try to sell it as a blockbuster.
Cannot bluff people like that one…

 Why, then, do we classify this as a CMI (cannot make it) production?

(I) Weird Names
The names of each character, especially the leads, are essential to the success of every drama serial and the cast. They must be easy to recall, representative of their characteristics, and also sei enough.
Like in HK drama serials, they have characters like Ah Wang, simple but easy to recall, and definitely representative of his outlook and personality.

Otherwise, we have the more unfamiliar Korean names that we might not understand but are able to recall and remember, because the actors like to repeat each others’ names for many many times throughout the episodes. I mean, who can’t remember Han Jingshu and Chengjun-ge after the 30 episodes of their screaming and shouting of each other’s names?

But I digress.

I just wanted to say.. that the naming for some of the characters in TRC are just.. bad? 
Examples:
a) Yoyo
- Why does it have to be Yoyo? Why not Five-Stones? Or Hopscotch?! More unique mah.. – Or.. Does it has anything to do with the theme, YO as in shake/dance – in hokkien?

b) Lulu, aka Meilu
- Engrish name = Milo?!
- Such a name would only raise more issues when used with lines like “I cannot do without Meilu!”, because this would only evoke responses like – “Erm.. get it from the supermarket lor.. Everywhere also got sell; Milo only what..”

c) Aixue vs Ruixue
- I still can’t tell which is which. I know they were sworn sisters.. But do the names have to be so alike?

d) David
- The name is too common.
- And taking into the consideration of the pronounciation skills of the cast from HK/China/TW, there is an unfortunate tendency for them to call him “Leh-vic“, or “Leh-vic ah“.

(II) Weird Scenarios
There are simply~ too~ many~. Let’s just name the top 3.

a) The feud between the sworn sisters
Long before our time, the two sisters fought over a man. One married the man, and the other became a world-renowned dancer. And… …
Honestly, I still don’t understand what the fish the fuss was about.

b) Lulu/Meilu/Milo’s accident
On overhearing the conversation between Martin and his rich dad, Lulu discovers that he is actually a rich man’s son in disguise, gostans (ie: goes into reverse gear) in disbelief and falls a storey down a construction site.

One, any smart person who knows s/he is at a construction site would be extra cautious not to fall or trip, much less to anyhowly gostan without seeing what’s behind.
Two, erm.. what’s so shocking about the news?!
Three, we all know it’s wrong to lie. Then again, it depends on what kind of lie it is. I think a normal gal would rush forward and give Martin a BIG hug for finally revealing his true (rich) identity, rather than going backwards, falling down and breaking her leg lor. So maluating.

c) The weird admirer of Yoyo and the weird plan
So the admirer somehow managed to move his arse into Yoyo’s home, did everything he could to please her, fought like a 12-yr-old, behaved like a 5-yr-old (I don’t care I don’t care I don’t care! I just want to be with Yoyo!!).
The mom who somehow managed to allow him to move his arse into her home thought of a brilliant plan to get rid of this housefly — by getting Yoyo and Jianyi to lock themselves in the room.

The stupid admirer then sat outside the room for the whole night, listening to the two of them act out their “script”, while the two ended up drinking hard liquor to quench their thirst (coz they cannot go out of the room mah). And of course, they somehow managed to get drunk, and somehow managed to kiss each other, and somehow managed to conclude with the Most-Noble-and-Greatest-Embrace-of-the-Century. (Excuse me while I puke.)
…
Simisai right?!
I just think a baseball bat or dialing 999 would work better.
I have no other comments.

(III) Unconvincing Plots
Actually, the WHOLE story in itself is an utterly unconvincing one.
Just to name the top 3:

a) Yoyo’s stage fright and the miraculous cure
For one, how is it possible that anyone who loves dancing would not know they have stage fright until they are like 20-over years old and about to take part in a competition?
And if it were that serious.. how did she get cured so easily?

b) The principal’s resignation and return
Suddenly there was a scene where the principal appeared and announced that he’d resigned, just because he wanted to go for a holiday somewhere. And off they all went to prepare a full-dress rehearsal because, oh-soooo sadly, the principal would not be able to watch the actual performance.
Suddenly the students seemed oh-soooo in awe and respect for the principal and oh-soooo sad that he was leaving.. when the principal was but a walking-around-doing-nothing figure before all these.
And then suddenly, during the actual performance, he appeared again, announcing that he was not leaving afterall. And of course, the students were oh-soooo delighted.

c) Xiaoqian’s job offer at cold storage warehouse
According to her teacher, he’d wanted her to work there so that under the contrast of the extreme temperatures, she can experience and learn more about life..
?!!???
……
Erm.. come my company also can? More shit, but better air-conditioning.

I strongly suspect that the actual aim of the arrangement was to create a scene whereby Xiaoqian and Jianyi could get stuck together in the very very very cold room, hug each other for warmth, only to be discovered by a sad Yoyo..
Then just say so lah. Don’t have to come up with such excuses.

Creating conflict between the characters is one of the most important and essential aspects in writing a good script. 
However, achieving the impact is one thing; being able to rationalize it is another.
Rather than thinking of supposedly impactful scenario before trying to create a believable development in order to reach the “ideal” consequences, the key is to come up with a logical flow of the events first.

If the director’s aim was to portray the struggles of Yoyo, it should be done right from the beginning, and not when the competition was about to start.

If the aim was to do a touching scene like “to sir, with love”, then the bond between the principal and the monkeys students should be established right from the start. And please, if you intended him to leave, don’t let him come back.

And lastly if the aim was to create a conflict between people caught in a love triangle, using a cliched, over-used, trapped-in-a-big-fridge-and-had-to-hug-each-other-for-warmth-but-oh-no!-we-were-caught-redhanded scenario, then please don’t do it at all.

At this juncture, some of you (who are patient enough to read all of the 2,032,871 words above, before coming to this point) might be thinking, “You think you so good then you ownself write lah..” or “Comprain so much then why you still watch?!”

Well..
Should all movie critics direct their own films then? Should all book critics write their own books? Should all sports instructors take part in the tournaments and competitions instead?

And as for why I still watch it occasionally, the reasons are simple.
Just like Korean dramas, I watch it when I have nothing to do between 9 to 10pm because:
1) once again, it reminds me of how fortunate i am – while i slog like there’s no tomorrow and earn less than peanuts, the cast has to work even harder to act at least 10 years younger than they really are and be scolded in the forums for acting so
2) it gives me something to write about
3) watching something dumb at the end of every workday makes me feel a little better, and a little smarter — there are worse things out there
4) my tv set is spoilt and there is reception for channel 8 only
5) did i just say i have nothing to do?

But most importantly, it is because a struggling executive cannot afford to subscribe to cable!

And so, this is to Mediacorpse:
Eh, monopoly also cannot like that lah.