Due to loads of work there will probably be a slower update. At least we're getting to the end of the topic
Pt IV Interest in Wuxia DeclinesWhile CTV had Zhou You and TTV had Chen Ming Hua, Wei Hsin continued to improve on his Wuxia works on CTS, and made
Legend of Tigerheart (大明英烈虎威, 1984, CTS),
Lu Xiao Feng (陸小鳳, 1984, CTS), and
Reincarnated Again(天蠶再變, 1984, CTS), each with increasing success, establishing CTS as the "Wuxia Kingdom". CTS also asked Wei Hsin to film the Taiwanese version of
The Roving Swordsman (大俠沈勝衣, 1984, CTS).
At this time Wei was so saturated with work, at this time there was this running joke at CTS, in which one day all three of its studios were filming Wei's shows at the same time. Studio 1 was filming
The Roving Swordsman, Studio 2 was filming
Chinese Myths: Journey to the West (中國神話故事:西遊記, CTS, 1983), and Studio 3 was filming
Reincarnated Again, and that didn't even fill his full schedule, because at his peak he had
FOUR series per week. After
Reincarnated Again, Wei Hsin filmed
Xia Ke Xing (俠客行, 1985, CTS), based on the Jin Yong novel, with Max Mok, which was praised and finally boosted Mok's career in Taiwan.
But in December, 1985, Wei Hsin faced a strong challenge. His career was in a depression. Ratings began to drop. After Xia Ke Xing he produced
Dragon of the Seven Seas (七海遊龍, 1985, CTS) and went to TTV to produced
Hero of the Skies (俠游雲天, 1986, TTV), which angered the CTS high officials and cut his other show,
Gate of Life and Death (生死門, 1985, CTS).
At that time, CTV was airing
The Empress (一代女皇, 1985, CTV) on weekdays, and neither of Wei's weekday shows could compete.
Hero of the Skies was not able to compete against
The Legend of Chu Liuxiang on Sundays, and another show,
The Dragon and Phoenix Heroes (龍鳳奇俠, 1985, CTS) was unable to compete against
The Golden Partners (黃金拍檔, CTV, 1984), a variety show, on the Saturday slot.
It is also notable that
The Empress was aired after a failed Wuxia show,
The Angry Sword and Wild Flower (怒劍狂花, 1985, CTV), starring Chang Ling of
The Escorters fame.
With all these failures, besides Wei Hsin's exhausted talent, a more important question was: Has Wuxia finally met its end?
After
The Empress, Zhou You went on to produce
The Princess (一代公主, 1985, CTV) and many other non-Wuxia dramas. On the other hand, starting from 1986, the TV version of
Many Enchanting Nights (幾度夕陽紅, 1986, CTS) aired as the first TV adaption of Chiung Yao's romance novels in Taiwan, followed up by
Misty Rain (煙雨濛濛, 1986, CTS). Around this time, the Wuxia Dramas were mainly Gu Long's works, such as
The Legend of the Bannered Heroes (大旗英雄傳, 1986, CTV),
The Unofficial History of the Martial World (武林外史, 1986, CTV), and
The Legendary Twins (新絕代雙驕, 1986, TTV), but all of them weren't able to compete against the non-Wuxia dramas on week days. CTS only produced one Wuxia series,
Holy Sword, Flying Hawk (聖劍飛鷹, 1986, CTS) for this time slot in 1986. The weekend Wuxias were still popular though. Series such as
Asking Romance with a Sword (揮劍問情, 1986, TTV),
The Book and the Sword (書劍江山, 1986, TTV),
Golden Sword, Condor's Feather (金劍雕翎, 1986, CTV),
Legend of the Cicada's Wing (蟬翼傳奇, 1986, CTV),
Red Snow, Black Frost (絳雪玄霜, 1985, CTV),
The New Seven Swords of Xi Luo (新西螺七劍, 1985, CTS), and
Shaolin Disciple (少林弟子, 1986, CTS) were still the main competing shows on the weekend.
In 1987 Wuxia productions were waning. There was only
Ghost of the Heroine (俠女幽魂, 1987, CTV),
Holy Arrow of the Spirit Mountain (靈山神箭, 1987, CTV),
Full Grab of Gods (神仙一把抓, 1987, CTS),
The Flower Protector (護花使者, 1987, CTS),
Surprise in the Chess (棋中奇, 1987, CTS),
Wind, Woods, Fire, Mountain (風林火山, 1987, CTS), and the ratings were all qutie modest compared to Wuxia in the previous years. A notable exception would probably be
Holy Arrow of the Spirit Mountain, which was full of fantasy elements, targeted at children, and aired before the Summer vacation. This show had higher ratings than the high quality/cost
Xi Shih (西施, 1987, CTS) of CTS, which made its producer quite angry due to losing to a "kids show".
CTV would get a taste of its own medicine. In 1988,
Heroes of Mount Heaven (天山英雄傳, 1988, CTV), based on
The Jade Bow Connection was aired, but failed in ratings, competing against
City of the Golden Peacock (黃金孔雀城, 1988, TTV), another Wuxia show with a lot of fantasy elements. Again, people began to discuss whether Wuxia still had its market, and Zhou You's
LOCH this year (射鵰英雄傳, 1988, CTV) was probably a show of faith from her.
After 1988 even fewer Wuxia was produced. There was
Dagger Echoes in the Bordertown (邊城刀聲, 1989, TTV). This one I remember clearly that the airing time was set in an obscure Sunday afternoon, and the series production itself seemed to be plagued by a lot of problems.
Capital City Hunters (京城獵人, 1989, CTV), another series, mercilessly copied from the Japanese manga,
City Hunter. In 1990 there was
Invincible Divine Sword (神劍無敵, 1990, TV),
The Fiery Phoenix (浴火鳳凰, 1990, CTV), and
TLBB (天龍八部, 1990, CTV).
The Fiery Phoenix was again a fantasy based Wuxia show, and
TLBB was, well, a total parallel universe version of the original work. CTS had two periodic shows,
Eight Thousand Lis of Clouds and Moon (八千里路雲和月, 1988, CTS) and
Mu Gui Ying: Family of Loyal Blood (一門忠烈穆桂英, 1989, CTS), which strictly couldn't count as Wuxia.