Following the unleashing of democracy in Taiwan with the end of martial law in 1987, the 1990s were a golden era for TV talk shows. During these years, the hosts of these shows and the social critics and political commentators who were their frequent guests became well known, and many of them began to think of themselves as intellectuals.
1990 年代開始，隨著台灣社會的民力在 1987 年解嚴之後大量釋放，各大電視台搶著在黃金時段開播談話節目；這幾年下來，主持人與常上節目論政、品評人物的來賓，都成了名嘴，許多還以知識分子自居。