Everybody Stand By (2019)

Game Show: Performance Face-Offs and Director Challenges

This is a game show featuring performance face-offs, where teams of actors are divided under different directors. Each episode presents a series of challenges, and these images represent each challenge per episode. Sometimes, team members compete against one another for seats and are graded by the lead directors. Other times, teams compete against each other, with the audience acting as the judges.

I had a lot of fun watching this show, which I started primarily for Guo Jingming. Since much of it wasn’t subtitled, it was difficult to consistently gauge the commentary, and I occasionally used a translation app to understand the praise or critiques given by the directors. Even so, I found myself really immersed in the clips and short performances, which I felt were the heart of the show and where the raw talent truly stood out.

Because the episodes are almost three hours long, by the midpoint this became more of a background watch for me. I paid closer attention to the parts that interested me most—such as the challenges—and less to the judging, unless Guo Jingming was giving commentary or performers I liked were on stage. That said, I plan to continue with season two, and I’m excited to see the performers that were cast.

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