Old entertainment programs find it difficult to regain their glory.

Instead of just performing skits like before, "Weekend Meeting" in 2025 (just aired on March 1 on VTV3) combines many genres such as: news, reportage and skits.

"Old bottle, new wine"

In addition to "Gap nhau cuoi tuan", recently, some old entertainment programs that had stopped broadcasting suddenly returned. Although guaranteed by the values ​​they had before, the return of these programs also faced many challenges. In the context of entertainment habits and audience that have changed compared to before, the programs have struggled to find solutions to survive.

Launched in 2000, "Weekend Meeting" was loved by audiences through its hearty laughs and sharp satirical skits. "Weekend Meeting" was also the launching pad that brought artists: Minh Vuong, Pham Bang, Van Hiep, Meritorious Artist Quoc Khanh, People's Artist Xuan Bac, People's Artist Cong Ly, People's Artist Tu Long, Van Dung... to fame. For many audiences, this program is an indispensable highlight of Vietnam Television.

"Gập nhau cuối tuần" in 2025 has many efforts to improve. The first digital content revolves around stories about festival culture in villages, especially superstition and money-making tricks disguised as religious activities. The program interacted directly with the audience in the studio; approaching the current trend when "catching the trend" of tearing blind bags, pickleball, baby three or using phrases like Hong Hai Nhi, Ngưu Ma Vương... The parody music is a "specialty" in VTV's comedy shows, this time continuing to appear on the "Gập nhau cuối tuần" stage.

According to insiders, the 2025 version of "Weekend Meeting" is still widely welcomed by the audience. Humor and social trends become the unique features of the program, keeping the audience watching TV.

However, besides the compliments, for many viewers, "Weekend Meeting" is still scattered, lacking highlights; many parts are not enough to bring refreshing laughter to the audience. The connection between the parts of the program is still loose, some details are not charming, still too noisy...

Not as expected

Previously, the media and audience were very excited about the return of "Dancing with the Stars" or "Vietnam Idol" after a period of stopping broadcasting.

In the 2010s, "Dancing with the Stars" was a television program about artistic dance sports that was very popular with audiences. The program brought together famous Vietnamese people and international dancers to form couples, practice together, create and dedicate impressive performances to the audience.

Over 7 seasons, "Dancing with the Stars" has contributed significantly to the shining journey of stars such as: Ngo Thanh Van, Doan Trang, Thu Minh, Yen Trang, Thu Thuy, Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc, Chi Pu, Diep Lam Anh, Huong Giang, ST Son Thach... The stage of this program has witnessed many times the artists' skillful "transformations", turning seemingly impossible things into possible, making bold ideas become reality.

After 8 years, "Dancing with the Stars" returned in 2024 but without the familiar appearance to the audience, with many changes, expected to bring an explosive comeback. However, the program did not leave the expected impression. The champion of the program was quickly forgotten. After the efforts of the 2024 season, the producer announced to stop production of the 2025 season with the reason of "losing more than 10 billion VND".

"In the past, because there weren't many choices, entertainment programs easily attracted audiences. Nowadays, audiences have too many choices and are smart enough to choose the right programs for themselves" - experts say. In order to survive, the problem that producers of old programs have is how to be as close to today's audiences as possible.

Returning to old shows, producers have focused on current events, trends, interactivity and taking advantage of the power of social networks, because today's audiences are mainly young people. Most shows take advantage of social platforms to reach "home" audiences. Some shows use young actors with modern acting styles, close to Gen Z, even inviting foreign stars (Korean actors for example) to participate... but it seems that these efforts are not enough.

Another reason why old shows struggle to maintain their glory when they return is because more and more new, more attractive shows are being launched. If last year was the year of "Anh trai say hi" or "Anh trai vu ngan cong gai", then in 2025, "Show it all" - a famous Chinese show, copyrighted and produced in Vietnam - is predicted to have "no rival".