| Alt Name: | 16 Summers | ||||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Genre: | romance | ||||||||||||
| Director: | Fu-Hsiang Hsu | ||||||||||||
| Starring: |
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| Opentheme: | "Langman Lai Xi" | ||||||||||||
| Endtheme: | "Yihou Bie Zuo Pengyou" | ||||||||||||
| Country: | Taiwan | ||||||||||||
| Language: | Mandarin Taiwanese | ||||||||||||
| Num Episodes: | 16 | ||||||||||||
| Producer: | Ruby Lin Lisa Tan | ||||||||||||
| Executive Producer: | Wang Zhuan Ren | ||||||||||||
| Location: | Taiwan, Shanghai | ||||||||||||
| Runtime: | 90 minutes (per episode) | ||||||||||||
| Channel: | TVBS Public Television Service |
The Way We Were, also known as 16 Summers, is a 2014 Taiwanese romance drama produced by Ruby Lin and Lisa Tan[1] and directed by Fu-Hsiang Hsu (許富翔;). It stars Lin, Weber Yang, Ann Hsu, Melvin Sia and Jason Tsou (鄒承恩;) as five friends who first met in college in late-1990s Taipei. In 16 episodes, the series narrates a love and friendship story that spans 16 years, from the summer of 1998 to 2014. It is set against major events that occurred in Taiwan during the 16 summers, such as the 729 blackout, 921 earthquake, SARS and the Financial crisis of 2007–08.[2]
According to online statistics collected by the website dailyview.tw, it was the most popular Taiwanese idol dramas in 2014.[3] Another website 7headlines.com ranked it the second most popular Taiwanese drama of 2014, after In a Good Way[4] (which began broadcasting in 2013 and was therefore not included in dailyview.tw's ranking). Google ranked it the second most-searched TV series in Taiwan in 2014, after the Korean drama Empress Ki.[5]
At the 50th Golden Bell Awards, the series won three out of seven nominations, including Best Television Series, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress for Ann Hsu.[6] [7]
While in college, Jia-Ni Tang (Ruby Lin) falls in love with her schoolmate and neighbour, Wei-De Fang (Weber Yang), after she agrees with Wei-De's idea of an eye for an eye, when she catches her boyfriend cheating with another girl. However, broader events intervene in their romance: during the historic 1999 Jiji earthquake in Taiwan, Jia Ni's friend Jun-Jie Wang (Melvin Sia) becomes crippled in one leg. Out of obligation and compassion, Jia-Ni decides to marry Jun-Jie. When Jia Ni and Wei-De run into each other again in 2008, she is a married woman and he is about to walk down the aisle. They are still in love but part as friends. But when fate brings the two back together at another wedding in 2013, will they make the same decision?
The Way We Were Original Soundtrack (16個夏天 電視原聲帶) was released on September 24, 2014 by various artists under Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) Ltd. It contains 15 songs, in which of them are instrumental versions of some songs.
| Type | Title | Singer(s) | Lyricist | Songwriter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Song | "Lang Man Lai Xi" (浪漫來襲; "Romantic Attack") | Elva Hsiao | Hsu Shih-Chen | Peter Mansson Vicky Karagiorgos |
| Ending Song | "Yi Hou Bie Zuo Peng You" (以後别做朋友; "Don't Be Friends From Now On")[9] | Eric Chou | Wu Yi-wei | Eric Chou |
| Insert Songs | "Ru Guo Bi Ci" (如果彼此; "If Each Other") | Ai Yi-liang | Jopo Chou | Justin Cho |
| "Wo Bu Zhi Dao Ai Shi Shen Me" (我不知道愛是什麼; "I Don't Know What Love Is") | Ai Yi-liang | Jin Guisheng | ||
| "Ai Zou Diao" (愛走掉; "Gone Is Love") | Hu Xia | Ho Chi-hung | Eric Chou | |
| 1990s Songs featured in the drama [10] | "Ai Ni Deng Yu Ai Zi Ji" (愛你等於愛自己; "Loving You Is Loving Me") | Wang Leehom | Lin Xi | James Gicho Pontus Söderqvist |
| "Gong Zhuan Zi Zhuan" (公轉自轉; "Revolution") | Wang Leehom | Yao Chien | Samuel Waermö | |
| "Bubai de Lianren" (不敗的戀人; "Unbeatable Lover") | Vivian Hsu | Sugar Lee | Tao Zongci | |
| "Ni de Dianhua" (你的電話; "Your Phone Call") | Pauline Lan TOLAKU | Chang Kuo-hsi |
Pauline Lan and the band TOLAKU appear in ep.5 as themselves, performing their song on stage.
TVBS launch of its own drama division in 2013, The Way We Were was announced to be the third drama being made by TVBS.[12]
It began filming in Taipei, Taiwan, on 31 March 2014 and ended on 1 July 2014. It reported more than 2 million NTD were spent on 2 days of filming in Shanghai.[13] It first aired in Taiwan on the Public Television Service and TVBS on 19 July 2014. It simultaneously aired in China via online video platform site iQIYI.[14]
As her production, Lin invited good friends of her as cameo role or mentioned them by characters. Dylan Kuo guest stars in the earlier episodes, as he said "(I) have to be in Ruby Lin's drama."[15] His character mentioned Peter Ho's name in ep.1 as an in-joke; Ho is a good friend of Kuo and Lin's in real life.[16] In ep.3, Ruby Lin's character watched celebrity Alec Su on TV.[17] It was another in-joke since Lin had been very good friends with Su since 1997, with the media over the years frequently asking them whether they were dating.[18] Lin's own name as well as her claim-to-fame TV series My Fair Princess (1998-1999) are also mentioned in several episodes as in-jokes.
In addition, every episode begins with a short message from a celebrity friend of Lin's on the topic of "farewell", including Kevin Tsai (ep.1), Zhang Ziyi (ep.2), Mark Chao (ep.3), Peter Ho (ep.4), Vivian Hsu (ep.5), Jerry Yan (ep.6), Huang Xiaoming (ep.7), Tony Yang (ep.8), David Tao (ep.9), Patty Hou (ep.10), Huang Bo (ep.11), Shu Qi (ep.12), Cecilia Cheung (ep.13), Richie Jen (ep.14), Rainie Yang (ep.15), and Ethan Juan (ep.16).[19]
Lan Zu-wei, chairman of the 50th Golden Bell Awards jury and film critic, said “The Way We Were” is an outstanding production on the strength of its complete storyline and high artistic and commercial values.[21] The series was praised for using character modeling, transformation of Taiwan's landscape and changes in characters' personalities to show 16 years of changes in the Taiwanese society.[22] “The Way We Were” selected as top ten 2015 Chinese-language TV series by Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly).[23]
| Category | Nominee | Result | ||
| The 50th Golden Bell Awards | Best Television Series | The Way We Were | ||
| Best Actress | Ruby Lin | |||
| Best Actor | Weber Yang | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Ann Hsu | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Melvin Sia | |||
| Best Directing | Fu-Hsiang Hsu | |||
| Best Writing | Zheng-Zhe Du | |||
| The 20th Asian Television Awards | Best Actress | Ruby Lin | ||
| The 8th Straits Film and Television Festival Awards | Favorite Taiwanese TV drama | |||
On 12 August, Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said The Way We Were is to be broadcast on 13 TV channels in Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic — seven of Taiwan's 22 diplomatic allies — and in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.[24] It was chosen by the ministry following a strict screening process and will be the second Taiwanese TV series to be aired in Latin America.[25]
| Network | Country | Airing Date | Timeslot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PTS | July 19, 2014 | Saturday 9:00–10:30pm | ||
| TVBS | July 19, 2014 | Saturday 10:00–11:30pm | ||
| KTSF | March 3, 2015 | Mon-Fri 9:00–10:00pm | ||
| KSCI | March 9, 2015 | Mon-Fri noon – 1:00pm | ||
| TVB Chinese Drama | April 4, 2015 | Saturday 13:00–14:55 | ||
| TVB J2 | August 30, 2016 | Mon-Fri 19:00–20:00 | ||
| June, 2015 | Mon-Fri 13:00–14:45 | |||
| August 5, 2015 | Sun-Thurs 16:00–17:00 | |||
| SDTV | March 11, 2016 | Mon-Sun 22:00–23:40 | ||
| December 12, 2016 | Mon-Sun 17:00–19:00 | |||
| May 21, 2018 | Mon-Fri 5:00pm |