JoleCole's Station

Today is Zhao Liying's 26th birthday and Yu Zheng celebrated with two new stills of her cameo role in his latest production. Luckily, my fear that Zhao Liying's Mu Nianci and Chen Zhao's Yang Kang not sharing any scenes together has evaporated with this pictorial release. It definitely more than I asked for. It also seems my favorite pairing is sharing a "intimate" scene together.

So it's definitely confirmed that Gao Zhan and Lu Zhen are officially married in the story! Even though she never gets any official empress/concubinage titles, she definitely became a 'wife'! It's no dream sequence or someone's wild imagination. Gao Zhan looks like he's the happiest guy on earth in these photos. Chen Xiao once said in an interview that when he filmed this wedding scene, he felt like he was actually getting married. LOL.

Unlike Sealed with a Kiss and Bu Bu Jing Xin, Legend of Lu Zhen was purely scripted for television adaptation. It was not based on any existing novels or work of literature. The novel is almost entirely based on the television script;  hence, the writing style is not anything imaginative or poignant. The novel is more like an narrative of the whole drama script. I highly suggest that you avoid reading this novel if you want to keep the excitement of watching how the actors/actresses interpret the script. I, myself, just briefly scan a few bits to pacify my worries about certain "plot devices." For the first time in my life, I don't want to get spoil by the spoilers. LOL.

Mandarin title : Legend of Lu Zhen/ Female Prime Minister/陆贞传奇/女相 # Episode : 45 Genre : Historical Release date : May 5, 2013 Broadcasting Compan y: Hunan TV Cast: Zhao Liying as Lu Zhen, Chen Xiao as Gao Zhan, Yang Rong as Xiao Huanyun, Qiao Renliang as Gao Yan, Tang Yixin as Shen Bi, Liu Xuehua as Empress Dowager Lou, Maggie Cheung as Lou Qingchang

Caption Translation: Chen Xiao - "Lu Zhen, what would you like to tell me today?" Zhao Liying - "2" I waited for more than a year for Legend of Lu Zhen to air. Now that the release day is less than two days away, I feel like my mind still hasn't completely processed this fact. I don't think I ever religiously followed a drama series as closely as I did for Lu Zhen. And I've followed quite a few dramas from pre-production to broad in my life. I hope, I pray, I hope again that this drama won't disappoint! Alright, enough of my rant. Last night, the end theme song "Mood" finally got released. The singers are none other than our main couple: Chen Xiao and Zhao Liying. To my surprise, Chen Xiao's singing voice is actually quite memorable. Zhao Liying sounds more coarse and less professional, but definitely better than Yang Mi's squeaky singing voice!

 Last night, I was lucky enough to chat with a fellow Lu Zhen fan on the Baidu Forum who was willing to share some information she read in the novel adaptation of this TV series. I bombarded the poor girl with a ton of burning questions. During our short online chat, I learned a few important things and would like to share what I discovered. If you want to remain spoiler free, I strongly recommend that you don't read this post. If you want to get spoiled about some aspects of the plot, you can continue to read. I'm going to structure the spoilers in a Q&A format and hide my answers in yellow font.

While I was wasting away my precious sleep time browsing the Baidu Forum, I chanced upon a funny post listing all of Lu Zhen's love rivals in Legend of Lu Zhen. Gotta say this girl has some serious competitors to eliminate to win her Prince Charming! It seems like almost...I mean ALMOST every non-blooded related woman in the story is romantically interested in Gao Zhan. He is practically a Marty Stu character but in a more likeable way.

The mysterious and much anticipated release date for Legend of Lu Zhen has finally been officialized and finalized! Get ready for some action on Sunday, May 5th at 7:30 p.m. Beijing time. I feel as if a heavy burden has lifted off my shoulders now that the release date is officially confirmed by many sources and is fast  approaching . During the course of the initial broadcast, I hope to be more active in my blogging. If you sense that I'm awfully silent on this drama, it means the drama utterly fails to sustain my attention. If I'm super active, it can probably mean two things: I'm totally hooked or I'm totally pissed. LOL. I'm praying the latter won't ever happened.

Since Legend of Lu Zhen will be airing soon, Hunan TV has been releasing a series of 1-minute trailers to catch  viewer's attention. Each teaser trailer has its own "theme." I would like to dedicate this post to these mini-trailers and will do a continuous update as Hunan TV releases more during the next few days. Please check back often! I think my excitement for this drama is building up again! Yeppie!

We have a very very good chance that Legend of Lu Zhen will air in May, possibly May 1st. The probability of it happening is nearing 90%. Hunan TV announced that Legend of Lu Zhen will be the next drama to air once their current modern drama finishes. Why hasn't Hunan TV announce an official date yet? Well....They tend to cut and edit episodes based on current ratings. If a drama does well in ratings, they will prolong the broadcast of the series by cutting shorter episodes and adding longer commercials. The modern series being aired right now has above average ratings, so I don't know how many episodes Hunan TV plans to cut for that drama series.

Lu Zhen treats Gao Zhan's wounds after their third meeting After multiple false alarms and misinformation, there are some "positive" signs that Legend of Lu Zhen will be airing "soon." Based onHunan TV's bad record, the definition of "soon" may  mean weeks or months. The latest rumors indicate two potential release dates: May 1 and May 12.  Though we should take all rumors with a grain of salt, I think there is a little truth in these rumors. Hunan TV is actually starting to promote Legend of Lu Zhen by inviting the cast to a popular variety show, Happy Camp. Chen Xiao, Zhao Liying, Qiao Yinliang, and Yang Rong will show up in Changsha on April 26 to record an episode of Happy Camp. Now this bit of information is a very convincing indication of its pending release! Being a Hunan TV invested project, Legend of Lu Zhen's TV rating is a big concern for the station's executives. The drama is garnered toward the younger audience, particular...

In a recent interview with Teng Xun, Chen Xiao discloses quite a few important plot detail about Legend of Lu Zhen. The details are both good and bad. First, I'll reveal some non-ending tidbits. As previously revealed in the 30-minute trailer, Zhao Liying's character Lu Zhen and Yang Rong's Xiao Huanyun (Yang Rong's original character name "Xiao Guanyin" has been changed to Huanyun due to SARFT's intervention) share an uncanny resemblance to each other. When Chen Xiao's Gao Zhan falls in love with Lu Zhen, Xiao Huanyun consequently interprets that Gao Zhan has only fallen in love with Lu Zhen because the latter looks a lot like her. Chen Xiao clarifies that though the two ladies may look "alike" in the story, but Gao Zhan's love for Lu Zhen is profoundly genuine and has little to do with her physical similarity to Xiao Huanyun. He further describes Gao Zhan is not as good and "nice" as what the trailer portrays. Being a devoted...

SORRY READERS!! After a public announcement on weibo yesterday saying Legend of Lu Zhen would be the next drama to get aired, Hunan TV decided to flush their professional integrity down the toilet and pull out Legend of Lu Zhen from their March time slot. Chinese netizens on Sina weibo are fuming mad. I am furious beyond words and just wanted to tear them to pieces for giving us false hope. Everything seems so finalized yesterday. The weekly schedule on the official website was even updated to reflect Legend of Lu Zhen's episode broadcast. Numerous articles were released today to confirm this broadcast. I just can't believe they have the audacity to make such last minute changes. From now on, I'm not going to trust any public announcement from Hunan TV until I see the series actually gets aired!! I don't to make the same mistake for the third time!

Rumors having been circulating wildly online after a major internet broadcaster Teng Xun announced that Legend of Lu Zhen will air in mid-March and even posted a "March 19th" release date. Then the official Hunan TV microblog refuted the claim and said the TV station had no intention of releasing Legend of Lu Zhen as its next primetime drama. Fortunately after some back and forth confusion today, Hunan TV microblog finally corrected itself and said chances of Legend of Lu Zhen airing this month is very HIGH!

Sorry readers! I have some discouraging news for you. Apparently the release date of Female Prime Minister still hasn't been finalized yet. Now opens the possibility of a April release date and not January anymore. *CRIES*  According to Yu Zheng (again), a new SARFT rule has been adopted prohibiting  major provincial TV stations to broadcast two period dramas consecutively. Hunan TV is currently airing the Sui and Tang Dynasty Heroes. Thus, the next series needs to a modern drama and the the next series to succeed the modern drama is believed to be Wallace Huo's Swordsman. What's up with all these stupid SARFT rules?!

OMG...Good news are just rolling in this month! And just in time for Christmas too. We just got another confirmation about the official release of Female Prime Minister in early January. I'm getting super excited for January now!

The famous or should I say "infamous" producer Yu Zheng tend to produce multiple costume TV series simultaneously . After the rating successes of Gong and Gong 2 last year and earlier this year, Yu Zheng's series seem to have went under the carpet. Though he continues to make some greatly anticipated series such as the Swordsman, but for some odd reasons, most of Yu Zheng's completed series have been put on hold for most of 2012. I speculate the delay definitely has something to do with politics.

It appears the release date for both Female Prime Minister (FPM) and In Love with Power (ILWP) is not anywhere near the horizon. Rumors and speculations are plentiful but nothing concrete is set. FPM was originally slated for summer, then got pushed to October. Now I don't even hear any details on it's official release date. I just know Hunan TV has officially included FPM in its long list of dramas to broadcast for 2013.

A drought has once again descended upon my land of dramas and I have nothing substantive to post besides the occasional picture spurts. My eagerness for October 1 has all but dissipated. I highly doubt Female Prime Minister will get to air next month. It seems the unspoken ban on costume series from September to November during prime time hours (7 pm to 10pm) is taking effect. For the past two months and will probably continue till November, Hunan TV has been airing nothing but modern series and idol dramas. I'm soooo sick of them. I want to see pretty people in pretty costumes with a good storyline. After Turbulence of the Mu Clan, I'm back on the hunt for series that can hold my interest.

Okay. It's established fact that Gao Zhan is alive in this scene Today is Chinese Valentine's Day. To "celebrate" this special occasion, more pretty pictures from Female Minister just got released . Yay! These stills just shows the various romantic relationships between the major characters. They include: Gao Zhan and Lu Zhen; Lu Zhen and Shen Jiayan; Gao Zhan and Shen Bi; Gao Yin and Xiao Guanyin. I think the pairing I dread most is Gao Zhan and Shen Bi. Based on what I read and saw in the trailer, Shen Bi just looks like the typical jealous villain without any redeeming qualities. Hopefully, she won't be too bad in the actual drama.