Chinese Dating Show 非诚勿扰

[Guest realmayo]

Haha, glad to see you're hooked too!

Don't suppose you're downloading them from somewhere? -- I can't stream them and was getting files in good resolution until recently when the site went down. I was catching up with episodes from earlier in the year, am glad to hear # 12 is still going strong....

[Guest realmayo]

Actually, I wonder if it is #12 I'm thinking of. Anyway before I got distracted I meant to ask: isn't this show an example of the stuff they want to ban in that latest edict about culture and tv?

[renzhe]

I'm watching them on youtube. Quality is acceptable, and they are never more than a few days late. I've watched the episodes from the last month, so I'm following current events.

At the same time, I'm going through the backlog for fresh daily listening. Since I like seeing the progression and familiar faces coming back, I'll start with a very old episode and work my way through the episodes chronologically.

EDIT: OK, this was the best episode I've ever seen:

Can somebody top that one? Ha?

[roddy]

The Renzhe stamp of approval? I may have to check this out. Should I start from a beginning, or can I jump in with the current episodes?

[renzhe]

It's hard to say. I'd recommend recent ones, because you'll find better quality encoding and they've polished the format somewhat. The downside is that it's a bit tamer, and more harmonious, and you'll have to endure occasional stories about city boys going to the countryside to develop the glorious nation and the like. They are often funnier than the old ones, though, mostly because of much better chemistry between the presenters and more time being given to the contestants and their quirks.

On the other hand, the older episodes (I'm starting from the very first one) are wilder, with more outrageous people, but also growing pains and inconsistency. Sometimes it is insanely funny (check out my last link, epic fail), but sometimes you have guys like the 29-year old male model looking for an older woman because his mother left him, which is not even funny anymore.

In the end, the format is pretty much the same, and they are all funny in their own way. The definition of guilty pleasure, basically.

[WestTexas]

Number 12 is pretty for sure, but not any moreso than most of the other girls on the show. She's also way too skinny. Not my type. I am repeatedly weirded out by the Chinese idea of an attractive woman tbh.

[jbradfor]

The Renzhe stamp of approval?

I was thinking of checking out the show and saying the exact same thing....

[Guest realmayo]

I'm remembering now that I was a fan of a #13, but maybe she was from 2010...

The Renzhe stamp of approval?

I was thinking more "fall from grace"

[rezaf]

(please make all the corn jokes stop)

That corny girl is beginning to make me sick.

[feihong]

Watched the Saturday episode from last week. Not really sure who the current #12 is. No one picked her at all in that episode, and I didn't even get a good luck at her face. Also, isn't #23 the Japanese woman? She didn't talk very much in that episode, although #24, the Mauritius girl, did speak up several times (and also went up to dance when the opera guy performed). All in all, a good episode, with a classic exchange between Meng Fei and Le Jia about being mummified and entombed in the 非诚勿扰 studio.

[roddy]

Ok, I'm going to try and watch the whole of the episode Renzhe describes as the best ever above. Will report back later on . . .

[renzhe]

It's probably not the best episode, just the best contestant ever. I do think, however, that that also happens to be the BMW episode (it was the 2nd or the 3rd episode).

[roddy]

I ended up watching half of the Dec 3rd episode. I can see the attraction, and it is good fun, but I think I might let you lot carry on with it . . .

[feihong]

Just watched renzhe's YouTube link. That was quite an epic fail, although I recall one other guy that managed to do that. In his intro, he said something like "我最讨厌灭灯" in kind of a douchebaggy way, and of course that's exactly what he got. My favorite male contestant though was the 枪王. He had some fairly interesting videos and did well all the way to the very end and basically had his pick of the hottest girls, but he turned them all down! He made the decision to go after his 心动女人 from his previous appearance (he was a returning contestant). At first, I thought he was being an idiot, but then I heard somewhere that there are very few successful relationships that directly result from this show. So he probably figured that the girl had already broken up with whomever she 牵手成功'ed.

[renzhe]

4 days ago, I wrote:

Number 12, everyone's favourite potential trophy, is annoying beyond words. I hope they marry her off soon, it's boring to see her picked over and over again.

And guess what -- this week, 谷慧子 was gone. The only possible explanation is that the 非诚勿扰 crew are keeping a close eye on the First Episode project, and I am one of the most powerful men in Chinese TV business!

[feihong]

Yes, renzhe, that is the only possible explanation. Now that you've watched a decent amount of this show, who are your favorite and least favorite female contestants?

My least favorite is a former #11 (I think), the computer instructor who everyone thought looked like Fan Bingbing (I personally didn't think it was that great a resemblance). She claimed she was into tall, chubby men, but she was always 找茬儿ing, so she was on for a pretty long time. My favorite is still the dim-witted #15 dance instructor. Few contestants had as much comedic chemistry with 猛非.

I'm not sure who the weirdest contestant was, but I vaguely remember one contestant introducing herself as "basically a boy". And yes, she looked just like an effeminate boy.

[rezaf]

I think lejia kicked her out.

[wedge]

I love this show but it is getting a bit repetitive. It's most entertaining when something out of the ordinary happens, which I think is not a good thing for sustained interest. One of my favorite episodes was the one with Memory Brother (Jan 8th).

Youtube link below. Starts at 12:45 on the first link and continues with the second link:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=5DzH4C1s0jw

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=m6-EDsKwUuM

[Etwood]

Our 口语 teacher introduced us to this show one day in class, and I have not looked back since! Addicted. My favourite is 佐藤爱, the Japanese woman (#23). Seems to have more personality than a lot of the other girls.

I also had a soft spot for 邢燕玲 (#7), straight-talking girl from Beijing. Hardly smiled or laughed, very dry! She was scooped up a couple episodes ago.

Definitely a good show to 练习听力 and good to pick up modern colloquialisms. Can't wait for new episodes!

[renzhe]

I also had a soft spot for 邢燕玲 (#7)

She was absolutely hilarious, shame to see her go. I still remember that kid who came just for her, and she turned him down immediately with the explanation "太二了". Another great moment was when she left her light on (she rarely did), and the guy turned her light off during the final selection, and she had this look of disbelief like she didn't understand HOW it was possible.

But yeah, felt more honest than most of them.

佐藤爱 is awesome, she's responsible for half the viewers, the ratings will plummet once she's gone.