The 56th Golden Bell Awards are to be held today in Taipei, with 192 nominees vying for 39 television industry awards.
The organizers received 1,781 entries, of which 192 were shortlisted for the awards, which are to be presented at a ceremony at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
There were fewer submissions this year than last year, but the quality of the entries is higher, Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) told a news conference last month.
The Magician on the Skywalk (天橋上的魔術師), a fantasy comedy-drama and based on the novel of the same name by Wu Ming-yi (吳明益), has the most nominations.
The series bagged 14 nominations. Among them, 12-year-old Lee Yi-chiao (李奕樵) might become the youngest actor to win Best Leading Actor or Best Newcomer in a television program.
Another literary adaptation, Workers (做工的人), which is based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by writer and construction engineer Lin Li-ching (林立青), has the second-most nominations.
The series tells the story of two brothers and the turmoil they face as construction workers.
The series is nominated in nine categories, including Best Directing in a Television Program, Best Leading Actress and Best Leading Actor.
With eight nominations, comedy series U Motherbaker (我的婆婆怎麼那麼可愛) is third for nominations. The series depicts the life of a woman and her mother-in-law as newly widowed women going through the 2008 financial crisis hand in hand.
A special contribution award is to be given to 76-year-old weathercaster Jen Li-yu (任立渝), who worked for several news stations for nearly three decades until his retirement in May.
The Golden Bell Awards recognize outstanding TV and radio productions. The radio industry awards were presented on Saturday last week.
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