Go Princess Go

Go Princess Go (Chinese: 太子妃升职记; pinyin: Tàizǐfēi Shēngzhí Jì) is a 2015 Chinese web series produced by LeTV and adapted from the novel of the same name by Xian Chen. The series stars Zhang Tianai, Sheng Yilun, Yu Menglong, Jiang Qilin and Guo Junchen in the lead roles. It premiered in December 2015 with 35 episodes.[1][2] The show incorporates various themes such as time travel, bisexuality and gender identity.[1] A third of the show was censored in China.

Go Princess Go
GenreRomance
Comedy
Historical
Time-travel
Based onGo Princess Go by Xian Chen
Written byQin Shuang
Shang Menglu
Directed byLu Hao Ji Ji
StarringZhang Tianai
Sheng Yilun
Yu Menglong
Jiang Qilin
Guo Junchen
Opening themeCan Miss But Not Say by Cui Zige
Ending themeThe Past of the Future by Sheng Yilun
Country of originChina
Original languageMandarin
No. of episodes36
Production
ProducersZhang Shao
Gan Wei
Production locationXiangshan Movie & Television Town
Running time30 mins
Production companyLe Young Pictures
DistributorLe.com
Release
Original networkLeTV
Original release13 December 2015 (2015-12-13)
Chronology
Related showsMr. Queen

Synopsis

A modern playboy travels back in time 1,000 years to find himself in the body of a royal princess. As a man inside a woman's body, he enjoys flirting and touching his husband's concubines with little impunity. Once having discovered his more feminine side, he truly falls in love with his husband.[1]

The show has three endings: the original, and the series has two alternate endings. One of them was filmed long after the first two. It is a parody of historical dramas.

Cast

Main
  • Zhang Tianai as Zhang Pengpeng (Female)[3]
    • Zhang Zhiyuan as Zhang Peng (Male)
A modern playboy travels back in time 1,000 years and finds himself in the body of the crown princess.
Crown Prince. An intelligent and cunning man of few words.
Ninth Prince. A gentle and sophisticated man with intricate and complex thoughts. He goes against Qi Sheng in political affairs, as well as compete for Zhang Pengpeng's love with him.
  • Jiang Qilin as Prince Zhao[6]
A man who appears foolish but hides a complex train of thought. He appears to be at odd with Qi Sheng, but actually works together with him to bring down Qi Han. He marries Lu Li.
Son of a general. Qi Han's closest aide.

Supporting
  • Hai Ling as Lu Li[6]
Zhang Pengpeng's personal attendant. A bright, straightforward and loyal girl.
  • An Yongchang as Jiang Yingyue
Prince Zhao's wife. She has an illicit relationship with Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng's attendant. He likes Lu Li.
  • Zai Yishu as Huang Liangyuan
  • Cheng Xiaojin as Chen Liangdi
  • Zheng Shuhuai as Wang Shaoxun
  • Hu Yue as Li Chengxun
  • Sun Fengzheng as Eunuch Li – A
  • Sun Fengzhao as Eunuch Li – B
  • Chen Hao as Yang Yu
Yang Yan's father.
  • Chai Wei as Zhang Lingling
Zhang Pengpeng's niece. Yang Yan's wife.
  • Xu Yiwen as Zhang's mother
  • Zhang Chen as Doctor Song
  • Ben Jieming as Guard Li
  • Wang Wenqiang as Guard
  • Zhou Le as Guard
  • Liu Yining as Deliveryman

Production

The drama's adaptation rights were bought in 2012 by producer Gan Wei, and pre-production started in 2014.[9] The series is directed by Lu Hao Ji Ji and written by Qin Shuang, who kept the main structure of the storyline but made considerable changes to better fit the screenplay adaptation and increase the pacing and fluidity.[10] Due to the short production time of 70 days, insufficient time and funds were used to prepare the props, and product placements have to be inserted into the show.

The series began filming at Xiangshan Movie & Television Town in August 2015.[11]

Soundtrack
No.TitleSingersLength
1."Can Miss But Not Say (可念不可说)"Cui Zige 
2."Whirlpool (漩涡)"Sheng Yilun 
3."The Future of the Past (以前的以后)"Sheng Yilun 
4."Tell Me The Future (告诉我未来)"Guo Junchen 
5."Warm Heart (暖心)"Diao Lili 

Reception

Despite its low budget of 20 million yuan (US$3 million) and cast of amateur actors, the show became highly successful and was termed as a "viral internet comedy".[1][12][13] The show has generated over $1.5 million (41 million yuan) in profit, 50,000 paid subscribers, 2.2 million new memberships, and had over 2.6 billion views in total.[1] At one point the show was a No. 1 trending topic on Weibo for 10 consecutive days.[14]

Critics attribute the success of the show to its short length of 30 minutes, thus appealing to younger audience with shorter attention span. Also, the show was broadcast online and allowed viewers to post comments and discuss the storyline with others, making the watching experience more interactive.[13] The transgender angle also makes the series more topical, helping break down barriers in discussing gender change and homosexuality.[13] Oppositely, the series has been criticized for being "lousy" and appealing to "low-brow tastes".[13]

However, it has suffered from interference by Chinese censors. The show was taken offline on January 20, 2016 following a request by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. It has been speculated that this is due to the censors' dislike of sexual scenes, vulgar language[1] and time-travel themes. The show was made available again around January 28, 2016, with a number of cuts, roughly about a third of the show – "seven to eight minutes in each episode".[14] As of 2016 LeTV was considering a movie sequel to the show.[14]

Awards and nominations
AwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
1st Golden Guduo Media AwardsMost Popular Web SeriesGo Princess GoWon[15]
Best Actress (Web series)Zhang Tian'aiWon
Weibo Fans' Choice Popularity AwardWon
1st Asia New Media Film FestivalBest Cinematography (Web series)Go Princess GoWon[16]
2016 ENAwardsTop Ten Web seriesWon[17]

Remake

In June 2018, it was announced that the drama will have a Korean remake which will be helmed by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific and Endeavor China together with YG STUDIOPLEX and LYD Networks.[18] Two years since the announcement, it was picked up by local pay TV channel tvN but only YG STUDIOPLEX and LYD Networks (which became an investor instead of a co-production role due to financial difficulty) went on for the project with new production partners, CJ ENM's Studio Dragon and independent company Crave Works.

The adaptation, titled Mr. Queen, aired on tvN on December 12, 2020.

References
  1. Huang, Zheping. "This viral internet comedy about time travel and bisexuality has suddenly been banned in China". Quartz. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  2. "No, princess, no". www.weekinchina.com. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  3. "《太子妃升职记》开播 张天爱穿越成古代太子妃". Sohu (in Chinese). December 14, 2015.
  4. "《太子妃升职记》获好评 盛一伦神还原小说人物". Netease (in Chinese). December 18, 2015.
  5. "《太子妃升职记》热映 于朦胧化身俊美九王". dzwww (in Chinese). December 16, 2015.
  6. "《太子妃升职记》热播 海铃江奇霖组"绿色家族"". ifeng (in Chinese). January 4, 2016.
  7. "《太子妃升职记》"国民校草"郭俊辰变逗比". Netease (in Chinese). December 16, 2015.
  8. "强公公彭昱畅爆红 网友直呼这么帅". Sina (in Chinese). February 4, 2016.
  9. "《太子妃》剧组有多穷？罗马凉鞋淘宝选了4个晚上". ifeng (in Chinese). August 4, 2015.
  10. "《太子妃升职记》编剧秦爽解读"神剧之王"". China Daily (in Chinese). December 31, 2015.
  11. "网络穿越剧《太子妃升职记》象山开机". CNNB (in Chinese). August 2, 2015.
  12. "Small-budget series Go Princess Go becomes online success". Asia One. 14 January 2016.
  13. "Go Princess Go an unexpected hit". MCLC Resource Center. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  14. "Hit online drama 'Go Princess Go' is back". China Daily Asia. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  15. "金骨朵网络影视盛典颁奖 "太子妃"张天爱获两奖项". China News (in Chinese). 18 August 2016.
  16. "首届亚洲新媒体电影节成功举行 亚洲新媒体电影人相聚釜山电影殿堂". Ent Group (in Chinese). 30 July 2016.
  17. ""2016中国泛娱乐指数盛典"在京颁奖 《火星情报局》等榜上有名[组图]". China.com (in Chinese). 30 November 2016.
  18. "Fox Networks Asia Partners With Endeavor China; MY Entertainment Hires Discovery Exec – Global Briefs". Deadline. June 14, 2018.
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