Throwback Thursday: When CCTV Standards Fell, and We Laughed and Laughed
Throwback Thursday takes a look back into Beijing's past, using our nine-year-strong blog archives as the source for a glance at the weird and wonderful of yesteryear.
TV News anchors have long been standing as an example for all those kids whose bedtime is right after the evening news. Flawless faces and puffed up hairstyles, pearly white teeth, and ironed shirts add up to the high-brow standard of a national broadcaster. Unfortunately, in the case of CCTV, not even their majestic Guomao building or a longstanding name have been able to keep the benchmark up – since back in 2008, the one thing that has been lacking was a tiny detail in the content and presentation standard.
Back in 2008, the Beijinger took a serious task upon itself and kept a log of slips and screw-ups from CCTV broadcasts. Probably the most suitable headline would be "We bring the word from the street to the CCTV." While it could be regarded by some as low-brow humor, or one media organization offering some constructive criticism to another by others, it was really simply a mess of misunderstandings and carelessness.
The log the Beijinger laid out for the readers pointed out a selection of incidents throughout 2006-2008 caught on camera. Amongst the colorful collection of bloopers, there are some yawns, burps, makeup applications on live TV and tongues twisted by having one glass too many. Some bodily functions are harder to control than others, but that did not make it less fun for netizens to share and comment on the embarrassing videos on then-new but already beloved video platforms.
Forgiveness is bliss, especially if you, personally, have been caught in a similar situation. Does anyone ever fully dress up for a seated Skype interview or an "I am working from home" day? I think we can all relate to Duan Xuan, when he was on air for a CCTV 5 show and sneaked in a cheeky bare-knee-under-the-table situation. I wonder if his upper body outfit is also premade with hooks holding it together on the back for ease of removal once the cameras were off.
Some of the situations are quite innocent, such as seeing the early morning news presenter Wen Jing yawn during the show. We feel you, mornings are hard. She later claimed that it was a misunderstanding between presenters and the program director, who reportedly signaled they were off the air.
However, other missteps have exposed the darker side of the TV screen, and may not be welcomed so kind-heartedly. CCTV sports program reporter Zhang Bin was humiliated by his wife on live television. A far more impactful evolution of the common sight of a girl beating boyfriends with their purses in the streets, the reporter's wife Hu Ziwei disrupted the show, accusing her husband of "improper relations with another woman." Despite the crew's attempt to pull her out of the frame, the viewers did not only have a chance to witness the marital clash, Hu Ziwei also had opinions to express about China's system of values, saying that the country has to rethink it in order to become a great power.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," or in this case or in this case "thine actions in the baijiu bar as it is on CCTV." Regarded as "one of the most pompous new commentators" on the network, Bai Yansong talked about Chinese football. Innocent enough, sure. But we see the apparently hatable man "turning his tongue" and speaking incoherently during the discussion, in a manner that apparently indicated he had ingested too many of the devil's drops. Maybe it was the emotional weight of the title of "one of the most pompous" TV presenters, but the experience and widespread criticism of the incident certainly humbled Bai Yansong, though he remains one of the most influential broadcasters in China today.
Another incident mentioned one of the most famous CCTV broadcasted shows, the New Year Gala. The hosts have gotten into a state of forgetting lines and interrupting each other right before the midnight countdown. The hosts themselves apparently did not let it go down easily and reportedly got into a serious fight backstage.
And finally, as fun stories often end, nipples. While not a real blooper, the bright lights of cameras have brought out not only the certain body parts of the female presenters but also the clear interests of spectators. For better or worse, images like the one above made the rounds among Chinese netizens, probably only proving that the news shows are being watched with not the most innocent or correct of intentions, but let them amuse themselves.
Images: the Beijinger, YTIMG
