It’s stuff entertainment business is made of. Erstwhile onscreen partners, now ratings rivals. My OTP, why did they do this to both of you?

Not that stars have a choice on when their drama should air or who they want to be paired with. They may have personal preferences but ultimately, it’s the networks that decide.

So here we go: Mike He and Rainie Yang–my Ah Meng & Qi Yue/Huo Da & Jia Di–finally appear on the same time slot BUT in different networks and dramas.

ROUND 1: Sunny Happiness (Mike He) vs Drunken to Love You (Rainie Yang)

SH on CTV; LH on SETTV

2011-04-10     SH: 1.87 (the reigning lead in the time slot)

2011-04-17     SH: 1.70                 LY: 2.24 (pilot)

2011-04-24     SH: 1.76                 LY: 2.62

2011-05-08     SH: 1.52                 LY: 3.34

2011-05-15     SH: 1.44                 LY: 3.81

2011-05-22     SH: 1.62                 LY: 4.22

2011-05-29     SH: 1.57 (finale)     LY: 4.18

WINNER ROUND 1: Rainie Yang (Love You)

ROUND 2: Love Keeps Going (Mike He) vs Drunken to Love You (Rainie Yang)

LKG on CTV; LH on SETTV

2011-06-05     LKG: 1.84 (pilot)     LY: 4.89

2011-06-12     LKG: 1.38               LY: 5.03 (Joseph Chang takes a dive!)

2011-06-19     LKG: 1.56               LY: 4.39

2011-06-26     LKG: 1.40               LY: 4.84

2011-07-03     LKG: 1.92               LY: 4.40

2011-07-10     LKG: 1.97               LY: 4.82

2011-07-17     LKG: 2.23               LY: 4.63

2011-07-24     LKG: 2.06               LY: 3.99

2011-07-31     LKG: 2.11               LY: 4.29

2011-08-07     LKG: 2.07               LY: 4.54

2011-08-14     LKG: 1.55               LY: 4.65

WINNER ROUND 2: Rainie Yang (Love You)

The loser may now give the winner a pandaback ride.

Now that the rivalry is over, can we go back to regular programming too?

Some end notes on the promo of Love You and Love Keeps Going (mutated to Love You Keeps Going): fake movie dates seem to be the trend in the business these days, huh, with the obviously cooked up Mike-Cindy Wang night at the movies and the Rainie-Joseph Chang “movie dates” that have brought traffic to this blog for those searching about them.

Maybe this is my chance to air my beef on this blog that mistranslated an interview of Rainie where she was asked about Joseph. She did not say they went out to watch movies, she said he would drive her home after work “IF he has time” and she joked that she would do the same IF she has a car. (Thanks to my friend mehmeh for clarifying this.) The difference an “if” makes and what people would do to twist words to meet their agenda.  Who says it’s only the press who does that? And sorry, she does not have a car and he has a girlfriend–her manager himself pointed out obviously to put an end to that line of questioning by the reporter. <end of rant>

Seriously, I need to write a separate blog on how “seasonal” shippers grow like mushrooms everytime there is a new drama in town. And another blog on the rumor factory that regularly churns out scandals to sell a drama. Anything for high ratings, baby.

Ratings source: China Times Showbiz

OK, now back to Xiao Mei and Linlin.

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