The comedy series Mad Doctor (村裡來了個暴走女外科) was named the Best Television Series on Day 2 of the 58th Golden Bell Awards, a win that saw it tie with crime thriller Copycat Killer (模仿犯), political drama Wave Makers (人選之人-造浪者) and Shards of Her (她和她的她) for most honors with four prizes each.
Mad Doctor and its cast and crew received seven nominations, with director Lai Meng-chieh (賴孟傑), leading actress Janel Tsai (蔡淑臻) and supporting actress Su Ying (蘇瀅) winning Best Directing for a Television Series, Best Leading Actress in a television series and Best Newcomer in a Television Series, respectively.
The show tells the story of a surgeon who is sent to a tiny, underequipped hospital in a remote village, where she refuses to give up on her patients despite facing unimaginable difficulties.
Photo: CNA
Best Miniseries went to the Netflix political drama Wave Makers, whose director, Lin Chun-yang (林君陽) was named Best Director. The series also won Best Visual Effects for a Drama Series and Best Theme Song (A No is a No).
Shards of Her, meanwhile, shone in individual award categories, with Hsu Wei-ning (許瑋甯) winning Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film and Toby Lee (李程彬) named Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film and Charlize Lamb (林奕嵐) receiving Best Newcomer in a Miniseries or Television Film.
The show’s writer, Wen Yu-fang (溫郁芳), was recognized as Best Writing for a Television Series.
Copycat Killer, meanwhile, won Creative Award for a Drama Series, Most Popular Drama Series, Nest Cinematography for a Television Show and Best Art Direction for a Television Show.
The series, adapted from Japanese author Miyuki Miyabi’s 2001 novel, The Copycat, tells the story of a sneering, manipulative serial killer being pursued by a young, iron-willed prosecutor who goes to great lengths to bring the killer to justice.
Best Television Film went to The Mimicry (綠金龜的模仿犯).
Wave Makers is a fictional work that depicts the hectic and high-stress work of aides to politicians campaigning for public office in Taiwan and depicts the crises they must defuse and the tough decisions they have to make.
The Mimicry, adapted from the short story Proteges of the Green Scarab by author Kao Yi-feng (高翊峰) of the same Chinese title, tells the story of a scarab trying to imitate human behaviors after it metamorphosed into a human form.
In the Best Leading Actor in a Television Series category, Hsueh Shih-ling (薛仕凌) edged out Taiwan Crime Stories co-star Frederick Lee (李銘忠) to bag the award. The tightly contested category saw another set of nominees from the same show vying for the honor: Copycat Killer’s Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁) and Yao Chun-yao (姚淳耀).
The Golden Bell Awards, known as “Taiwan’s Emmys,” was held as a two-night event in Taipei, with non-drama programs featured Friday and dramas showcased Saturday.
Following the conclusion of the awards on Saturday night, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a social media post expressed gratitude to film and television workers in Taiwan, acknowledging the impact of their work on people’s lives, and called for more diverse and heart-touching programs.
She praised their consistent efforts to produce high-quality and diverse content, including entertaining variety programs, trendsetting reality shows and dramas that touched on many issues.
She cited the award-winning TV series, Wave Makers as an example. She said the series allows people to better understand how Taiwan’s democratic system works by depicting the daily lives of political figures.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by