Chapter 48 TV Drama Broadcast
Finally managed to get through the press conference without any surprises, and then Zhang Chengyuan followed the crew to rush to the filming location in Gangwon-do overnight to continue filming. Before leaving, he took some time off to see Xiao Shuijing and took her out for a meal of spaghetti to comfort her for the time being.
Five days later, on May 14th, Monday, "Beautiful Life" starring Jang Seung-won and Ha Ji-won finally started airing in the evening prime time slot of KBS TV. Since neither of the two main actors were big stars or familiar faces to housewives, the attention for this drama was relatively low, with a viewership rating of only around 8% that night, ranking last among dramas aired at the same time on the three major television networks.
The atmosphere within the crew suddenly became much more oppressive, and even those who usually liked to joke around stopped doing so because everyone was in no mood to laugh. As the leads, Zhang Chengyuan and Hwang Jiyun naturally took on the responsibility for the failed premiere, and their pressure suddenly increased greatly, to the point where they often couldn't fully immerse themselves during filming, with NGs happening several times more than usual.
The director was very considerate of their feelings at this time, not only did he not scold them, but also let Zheng Baoshi, Yin Haiying and other senior actors talk to them, calm their anxious mood, and told them that the poor ratings of the first episode were normal and could not represent the failure of the entire drama.
Seniors' words are sometimes really accurate, and as expected, after the second episode was broadcast on Tuesday, the ratings soared to over 10%. The reason may be that Zhang Chengyuan's handsome face is too deadly for girls, and Hee-jin's attraction to boys is also considerable, so when the second episode was broadcast, many more boys and girls watched.
After watching TV, a small number of these young viewers also left comments on the TV station's drama website, praising the appearance and acting skills of the male and female leads. Some representative comments about Zhang Chengyuan include:
"The male lead, Zhang Chengyuan, I know him, he once collaborated with Jang Dong-gun in a ramen commercial and was nicknamed 'Jang Dong-gun's younger brother', talented and exceptionally handsome! Now shining brightly!"
"National pretty boy, comparable to Zhang Dongjian and Yuan Bin, and even more so, at least his figure is stronger than theirs, with a height of 188cm, broad shoulders and narrow waist, an inverted triangle shape, his back view is really stunning."
……
Comments like "blowing Zhang Chengyuan to the extreme, almost making Zhang Chengyuan the number one handsome man in Korea" are mostly made by Park Hyung-ryeol's subordinates, who have thinner skin than Zhang Chengyuan, with the aim of increasing Zhang Chengyuan's popularity.
"The lead actor looks good, has a good temperament, but can't see his acting skills for now, feels okay."
"Isn't this guy the one who played Zhang Lie in The Young Warriors? He's grown up a bit, gotten more robust, and matured a bit - almost didn't recognize him. But he's not as fierce as before."
"He's really handsome, hope to see more of his performances."
……
These are mainstream views and relatively objective.
Of course, there were also some who didn't get along with Zhang Chengyuan:
"What kind of goods, which sewer came out with this level, can still be the male lead, did the director receive benefits?"
"His acting is like mashed potatoes, rotten to the core. And yet they say he's handsome, isn't he just a product of plastic surgery? Thousands of them pop up every year! More than stray dogs in the countryside."
……
There are several hundred comments like this one, far more than positive ones.
Seeing these malicious comments, Zhang Chengyuan's calm and unmoving heart also felt a surge of anger, and he cursed: "The most numerous in the world are those who can't stand others being good, and arbitrarily insult others. I really want to beat them up!" On the contrary, Park Byung-ryul was delighted to comfort Zhang Chengyuan, saying: "Chengyuan, you're popular now, the more fiercely these people scold you, the more it proves that you're popular."
As the plot unfolded, the ratings of the subsequent episodes also rose steadily, reaching nearly 15% by the fifth episode, 17.7% by the ninth episode, and barely breaking through 20% by the eleventh episode. Although it later showed signs of weakness, it generally remained above 20%, with a peak of 23.6%.
It can be said that Zhang Chengyuan's first starring TV series was somewhat successful, although compared to those very popular TV series with ratings of 30% or 40% or more, it is not worth mentioning, but for a newcomer actor, it is definitely a considerable achievement.
Afterwards, the evaluation of Zhang Chengyuan changed a lot. The number of people who praised him increased, and those who scolded him decreased. Some newspapers' entertainment sections even published Zhang Chengyuan's personal information and performance experience for the first time. Especially when a certain media revealed that Zhang Chengyuan graduated from Hanyang University, this surprising news made Korean netizens pay attention to Zhang Chengyuan, regarding him as an excellent student with both good grades and good morals, and a new actor who is striving upwards. The evaluation of him immediately rose a lot. Those who slandered him almost all immediately stopped making noise, not daring to speak out, at most picking on some words like "he's still too young and not enough to deserve such high praise".
As Zhang Chengyuan became a hot topic, the TV series he starred in also rose with the tide. In episode 15, the ratings suddenly soared to 27.7%, an increase of around 5% from the previous episode. Unfortunately, the plot had already entered its final stages, leaving the TV station and production team sighing in regret. If they had known that Zhang Chengyuan's educational background would attract such attention, they should have promoted it before the premiere. Park Byung-ryul was even more heartbroken, lamenting the missed opportunity. He knew that another artist under his management, Kim Tae-hee from Seoul National University, had quickly risen to fame thanks to her beauty and education. This time, he surprisingly forgot to capitalize on this aspect, which was truly regrettable!
On July 3, the drama ended with a finale episode with a viewership rating of 28.5%, although it did not break through 30% and could not be compared to other popular dramas such as "Empress Myeongseong" and "Hotel Del Luna" that aired in different time slots, but among the three major broadcasting companies' simultaneous programs, it ended with a smile, which is also considered a successful ending.
The next afternoon, the main creators and actors of the crew gathered at a barbecue restaurant in Jiangnan to celebrate the end of filming. Zhang Chengyuan and He Zhiyun were naturally present. After eating this farewell dinner, the crew officially disbanded. However, Zhang Chengyuan and He Zhiyun did not part immediately, but instead went together to visit Xiao Shuijing, accompanying her for several hours before leaving separately.
After finishing this TV series, Zhang Chengyuan's popularity rose several times, and Park Byung-ryul was delighted to smile all day. Park Byung-ryul also multiplied his worth several times, and the low-priced small advertisements that he used to take on frequently are no longer accepted. He is busy formulating a new development plan for Zhang Chengyuan and running around everywhere to select suitable jobs for him.
While these things Jang Sung-won generally didn't bother to participate in, he believed in Park Hyung-seok's vision and character, wouldn't do a losing business, and wouldn't sell him out. Therefore, when Park Hyung-seok was busy to death, Jang Sung-won was extremely idle, either visiting Lee Hyori, Jung Yu-mi, etc., or teasing Soo-young, occasionally taking Soo-young to the company's practice room to visit her sister Jeong Su-yeon, and also signing autographs for a few trainees who were close to Jeong Su-yeon and taking photos together. Now he is also considered a small celebrity, having fans is nothing unusual.
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