According to the Beijing News on Friday, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) recently put forward six new guidelines on the production of TV serials. The new guidelines demand that a clear line be drawn in dramas of China's revolutionary history and that dramas cut back on excessive family conflicts and jokes about history. They also demand that business-themed shows emphasize positive values, and online games and foreign shows not be adapted into TV serials.  

SARFT reportedly came up with these guidelines at a working conference with high-level management from various TV stations several days ago. They have been put into effect in the past few days. This is not the first time that SARFT has tried to regulate TV dramas. In December last year, it issued regulations prohibiting dramas about historical court intrigues and time travel from being aired on TV during prime time.

Those guidelines and regulations have their merits. With time travel-themed TV dramas and online novels becoming so popular in recent years, many young people have become addicted to them and even seek to travel in time when facing difficulties in reality. Two schoolgirls in East China's Fujian Province committed suicide in March, leaving notes saying that killing themselves could help them travel back to ancient times.

China's TV dramas are considered to be lacking in vitality and characteristics. In recent years, Chinese TV screens have become filled with costume dramas, repetitive family dramas and poor adaptation of Chinese classic novels. It is laudable that the authorities are trying to clean up TV, but tightening the censorship on TV dramas may be a superficial move. The new guidelines may dampen the inspiration of screenwriters. This worry is not groundless. Indeed, some writers have already said that they would quit their jobs.

Besides, China's TV dramas may lose any quality that makes them interesting by complying with these guidelines. For example, adapting online games into TV serials is not undesirable. Many popular online games such as Tomb Raider and Dead Frontier have been adapted for TV and become hugely popular. Properly adapting online games could diversify the style and content of TV dramas.

The controversies around the new guidelines for TV production actually mirror the embarrassing state of the industry. The quality of TV serials is worrying and regulation is necessary, but SARFT's regulations also bring undesirable side effects. Cultural vitality could be better achieved through encouragement. More work, besides administrative regulations, needs to be done to revitalize Chinese TV.