The varied performances of different guests, including singer Zhang's musical stand-up comedy, journalist Yi's "roast with questions" and host Zhang's "suicidal mocking", or self-mockery of one's negative sides, have greatly impressed the audience.

The last episode of the fifth season will be broadcast online this month, and the title of "talk king" will be given to the comedian who gains the most votes.

"We have always been planning to create an attractive collaboration between traditional cross-talk and stand-up comedy, so it's interesting to see Yan Hexiang's performance," Tan says. "Yi Lijing also impressed us a lot. As a journalist, she has a different view, and her questions themselves directly provide a conflict between journalists and interviewees."

Tan also points out that this year's Roast mainly focuses on the concept of collision between cultures. She says each culture has its own characteristics, but their ways of expression can sometimes resonate with each other.

Roast also tries to highlight the differences and contradictions among the participants and the competitive format. "We use topics from pop culture this year, and try to bring the ideas through the participants' dialogue and their battles with each other," she says.

With its popularity online, the show has also caught the attention of industry observers and researchers.

"It is truthful and sincere, it covers all kinds of people with all kinds of personalities, and reveals various problems and contradictions in our society," says Yu Xiujuan, director of the policy office and development research center of the National Radio and Television Administration. "People dare to share their conflicts, problems, pains and distress, and have the courage to face them head on in the show. It also gives the audience a special insight toward life."