Meteor Garden creator Angie Chai abandons TV production

TAIPEI - As idol dramas' viewership dwindles in Taiwan, Angie Chai, creator of the trail-blazing Meteor Garden, has confirmed that she is hitting the pause button on television production.

Once celebrated as the mother of the fluffy, sugary genre of idol drama, the 50-year-old was behind the pop phenomenon known as F4 (Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Ken Chu and Vanness Wu), who shot to stardom overnight in her 2001 adaptation of the Japanese girls' comic Boys Over Flowers.

Her other successes include 2005's Devil Beside You and 2009's Hi My Sweetheart.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Chai said she decided to halt her TV career because "these two years, my report card hasn't been good".