VietNamNet Bridge – National Vietnam Television (VTV)’s recent decision to stop airing “The Time Traveler” soap opera series, is the evidence of problems with TV series and the audience’s power.

On air from March, the series produced by Nang Dong Viet Company, has stirred widespread concerns over its sloppy script, feeble details and its cast’s poor acting skills.

Nguyen Thanh Luong, deputy head of VTV, said the suspension was necessary for its partner (Nang Dong Viet) to gather more time and resources to do a better job for the rest of the series.

The film’s production process, a hasty and problematic one, was attributed by many to its disappointing final product.

Having a total of 36 episodes, the first part of the series was filmed in less than one month before it was officially aired on VTV3 in March.

Nang Dong Viet also needs to settle their internal problems with the cast and film crews, Luong said, after a sudden change was announced to the initial cast.

The new cast, however, shows signs of disappointment and one of its leading actors, model Hua Vi Van, has even backed out of the series.

“The Time Traveler” is not the first TV series that has made the audience discontent of the conflict between the producers and actors. Previously, some TV series which are poor in quality were known for the quarrels between producers and actors in the media.

Apart from “The Time Traveler”, another TV soap opera series which is being aired on VTV, entitled “I Swear to Tell the Truth” is also criticized by both the audience and critics for absurd details in the movie and poor acting skills of the leading actor and actress.

Two years ago, the Vietnam Television Company (VFC) made an unprecedented decision to stop producing TV series “Joyful Singles” at the 171^st episode, since it was no longer attractive to the audience. Earlier, the producer planned to make up to 250 episodes.

However, the two cases--“Joyful Singles” and “The Time Traveler” are different. Joyful Singles was stopped because it was not been interesting to the audience, while The Time Traveler was temporarily banned from airing for its poor quality.

The case of The Time Traveler shows problems of the TV soap opera series at present. A well-known TV film director recently said that a new record in making TV films was made: 2 episodes in 3 days. However, this record has been broken. A new record has been made: 1 episode in 1 day.

With such short time, the quality of the TV series is unable to be good. Producers argued that they were under pressure of production time and short funding. However, these reasons are not enough to defend for the poor quality of the TV series.

Hanh Phuong