CtiTV’s popular television show The Largest Political Party (全民最大黨), known for poking fun at politicians and celebrities, has remained quiet on a recent controversy involving people with close connections to the station, drawing accusations from local netizens that it was “protecting” those involved.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu’s (徐熙媛, also known as Big S) wedding with Chinese restaurateur and multimillionaire Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲) on March 22 in Hainan Province, China, caused a stir over allegations the hosts favored Chinese media over Taiwanese media. Many viewers found it odd that the The Largest Political Party did not mention the scandal, leading some netizens to question whether it was because CtiTV wished to protect Hsu’s younger sister, Dee Hsu (徐熙娣, also known as Little S), who is one of the star anchors at the station and is on friendly terms with Wang Wei-chung (王偉忠), the producer of The Largest Political Party.
Another case in which netizens accused the show of protecting people involved with the station involved Wang Wei-chung, who netizens criticized for closing bidding at an auction after offering just NT$300,000 during a March 18 fundraiser for autographed -soccer cleats and two jerseys donated by former Japanese soccer player Hidetoshi Nakata. The televised fund-raising event was held to help the people affected by the disasters in Japan.
Last year, Nakata raised almost US$1.5 million for Haitian disaster relief when he auctioned a pair of cleats. Netizens accused Wang Wei-chung of “robbing” Nakata and depriving the public of the chance to bid on the items.
Liu An-hua (劉安華), one of the producers of the fundraising event, later said that Wang Wei-chung had not meant to “hijack” the shoes too cheaply, but had given directions for their “direct purchase” to let the fundraiser proceed more smoothly.
It was learned that The Largest Political Party had originally written an episode in which one of its cast, Tai Chih-yuan (邰智遠), would mimic Wang Wei-chung, but the producer cut the episode on the grounds that it was not “relevant to the subject.”
Disappointed viewers have since accused the show of lacking guts.
Denying the allegations, comedians in The Largest Political Party said the show had not produced episodes focusing on the controversies due to a lack of actors.
Comedian Hsu Chieh-hui (許傑輝) said Jiu Kong (九孔), whose real name is Lu Kung-wei (呂孔維), was originally cast as Wang Xiaofei, but he was unavailable at the moment.
“We don’t have anyone to play Wang Xiaofei’s part,” he said, adding that “Nancy Kou (寇乃馨) and Amber Ann (安心亞) just don’t look like Barbie Hsu. And you can’t possibly have Na Tou (納豆) act Barbie Hsu’s part; that’s like directly announcing she is pregnant.”
Kou also jumped to the show’s defense, saying that although it didn’t focus on Wang Wei-chung, it had mentioned him.
Another comedian on the show, Kuo Tsu-chien (郭子乾), said the show was not trying to “protect” anyone.
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