Variety Shows:
Exploring the Genre of the “Most Local Show” in Taiwan

Fang-chih Yang

Keywords: variety shows, genre analysis, textual conventions, media production, 
audience engagement, Japanese connection, globalization.

Abstract: 
As a response to the “ideology of mass culture” which underlies much of contemporary criticism on variety shows, this paper uses the notion of genre, reformulated through Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, to explore how the production of variety shows is embedded in the larger political, economic, and cultural forces. The three “moments” that constitute the genre of variety shows are textual qualities, audience participation, and industrial practices. The generic conventions I identify are the centrality of the host and the inclusion of various segments such as music performance, pranks, and Japanese connections.  I situate these generic conventions within the site of media production and the context of globalization which shapes local media production.  Particularly, I focus on two aspects—the relationships between production company and network TV and the legalization of cable in 1993—to illustrate the recent inclusion of many younger talents in variety shows, the changing themes of the segment such as the disappearance of music performance and the rise of pranks, and the charge of similarity/imitation as proof of variety’s low quality.  I also discuss the role of audience’s engagement in newspapers and the internet in shaping the textual strategies of variety shows, including the decline of prank skits, the rise of “healthy shows,” and the increasing presence of Japanese idols in Taiwanese variety shows.  By mapping out the forces involved in the production of variety shows, I also map out the role of cultural criticism in shaping the production of the show and argue for the need of a more nuanced analysis of popular culture that takes into account the “hidden abode of production.”