UPDATE: GO FIGHTING! IS BACK ON AIR! 😀

As you probably know, I have been catching Go Fighting! religiously every week. When I posted my first impression post, it was still an unknown variety show. I had rave reviews about it and apparently I wasn’t the only one that thought so. Go Fighting! had been dubbed as the dark horse for this season of variety shows and it became really popular in China. (Look at my screencaps below and you will understand why!) However, troubles came together with it and it has suspended airing for 3 weeks. New episodes were never shown like they were supposed to be on August 16, August 23 and August 30. I did some research and found some possible reasons which I have translated into English below.

Me when I don’t get to watch new episodes of Go Fighting!

According to the official team, the episode on August 16 was suspended to commemorate victims of the Tianjin blast incident that happened a few days earlier. The episode on August 23 was then suspended due to adjustment of schedules or something along the lines that the channel had to do. And the episode on 30 August was postponed because the channel had to air ‘Commemoration of the United Nations and the World Anti-Fascist War 70th anniversary of the victory Concert’ as part of a centralised decision.

Lay Zhang Yixing not knowing how to take the train.

Of course, netizens have their own guesses on why the program was stopped too.

Sun Honglei stealing food meant for the kids he was supposed to look after.

(i) Copyright Issues. The Korean team behind ‘Infinity Challenge’ have decided to sue the Chinese team for copying their program. Shanghai Dragon TV, the channel that is behind this show has previously bought the rights to adapt other variety shows but most of them flopped because other China channels copied them and turned out to be more successful. Hence, this time round, they did not purchase the rights from Infinity Challenge but their program turned out to be a roaring success. Some suggest that this had angered the Korean production team and hence caused a lawsuit to happen. Life is tough – failing is bad and succeeding is also bad.

Huang Bo and Huang Lei dancing in their sumo fat suits.

(ii) Wang Xun’s scandal being exposed. Wang Xun was found to have cheated on his previous wife by getting together with his current wife even before he was divorced. So complicated! But from what I gather, this should be old happenings that was recently discovered. Sure, cheating should not be condemned but I don’t see why this should be made into such a big hoo-ha now that Wang Xun and his new wife are already married and settled down. They might have done wrong back then, but at least they are serious about each other and are leading their own lives now so we should just leave them be. Some fans argue that Wang Xun has been putting on a facade all these while by pretending to be ‘a good man’ on TV and they can’t stand him any more. They do make sense and while my impression of Wang Xun might change, I won’t enjoy watching him any lesser because he is still that penny-pinching ‘Squirrel Xun’ who brings about loads of joy. Plus, he did openly admit to his mistakes and apologised so brownie points for that.

Sun Honglei carrying out some warped punishment on Wang Xun.

(iii) This show goes against the regulations of SARFT as it promotes too many negative influences such as kidnapping, bomb explosions, cheating, betrayal and ‘mock political history’. Hence, it has been banned and stopped from airing by the government.

Show Luo Zhixiang behave crazily and hurts his neck while Lay reminds him to take his pills.

There have been online rumours that claim that Go Fighting! will air it’s last episode on 30 August and conclude at 9 episodes instead of the original 12 because of all the trouble it got into. However, on 29 August, the official weibo page stated that those are just rumours and untrue and that fans should only take words published on the official page seriously. Likewise, no new episodes appeared on 30 August.

Don’t Huang Lei and 旺旺仔 look alike?

I think all of these rumours have a high possibility of being reality. After all, in chinese, there is a saying ‘树大招风’ which means you will attract (negative) attention if you are good at something. If not for the success that Go Fighting! is experiencing, the korean production team probably wouldn’t care enough to sue them.

Show Luo Zhixiang bored on the car, and decided to play dead.

And while reason (ii) and (iii) sounds a bit ridiculous, we never know what the Chinese government might be up to. They did impose some regulations on variety shows early this year and I can see how that had affected some of the shows. I just hope that no matter what, the troubles will end soon and I will get to watch my favourite variety show soon. Meanwhile, here are some funny screenshots and gifs to entice you to watch Go Fighting (or at least, the episodes that are aired) if you haven’t!

Show Luo Zhixiang trying his hardest to row the boat while Sun Honglei attempt to attack him.

Meme of the 3 sillys of Go Fighting! They have really funny interaction in the show.
Big Silly: Sun Honglei, Silly #2: Wang Xun, Silly #3: Lay Zhang Yixing

One of the cutest bromance in this show: Sun Honglei and Lay Zhang Yixing. It was raining during filming and Lay started reciting some ambiguous lovey-dovey lyrics from the song ‘下雨天’ (Rainy Day).

Since we have the 3 Sillys, we also have the 3 ‘Smarts’ made up of Huang Lei, Huang Bo and Show Luo Zhixiang. This is the scene I described in my first recap, at Time Portal 6, where Huang Bo tricked Lay Zhang Yixing by stealing the plates washed by the latter to complete the mission.

Can you recognise them in their various disguise? Top right: Sun Hong Lei. Top left: Huang Lei. Bottom left: Show Luo Zhixiang. Bottom right: Lay Zhang Yixing.

Lay Zhang Yixing sharing his ideal job if he is not a star. HAHAHA.

So what are you waiting for? Catch Go Fighting! Ep 1 with English subs here!