Technically "When Easterly Showers Fall on the Sunny West" is in contention for the 2009 award as it was aired late last year (along with The Gem of Life). Sadly this series ain't going to garner any awards - at least it shouldn't! With average ratings never above 30 points and a long and difficult name to remember it hasn't left a mark in my memory. The cast looked decent with Charmaine Sheh, Joe Ma and Liza Wang as well as Selena Li but sadly it was aired at the wrong time which made it difficult to gather momentum. The two things I remember about this series are Joe Ma and Selena Li's characters besides that I can't really conjure up that much from this series. Liza Wang will inevitably be listed under the Top 15 Nomination list for best actress - she has to or she'll kill TVB, but this series will not be helping Joe Ma with a nomination whilst Charmaine Sheh has better rated series under her belt.
Pages of Treasure, well, well! This series received rock bottom ratings, I don't remember seeing 24 points since "Always Ready". Maybe this series would have benefited if it was aired mid year in order to reap Chai Gau's name. The thing I remember about this series was the shove down your throat ideology that everything is changing to technology. It also changed my view of Lily Ho (a failed Miss HK contestant) she was quite natural in her performance which is in stark contrast with the crazy mess of herself at Miss Hong Kong 2007. Anyway this series will be one that Wayne Lai would rather forget about whilst Sonija Kwok will have DIE Again to gain a nomination spot.
The Gem of Life was just WAY TOO LONG! An eighty-two episode series is just way too intimidating at the start of the year. One of the main problems I felt with this series besides its length was the number of characters. This series would have benefited much more if it was only about the three sisters therefore cutting at least 1/3 of the characters. I don't think I watched every episode but I think that wasn't necessary. The main crippling factor to its ratings was the length and it being at the start of the year. Condensing this series to 40 episodes and releasing it in May may have made this a real contender for awards. I'll be utterly shocked if this series doesn't get at least 4 nominations in the number of categories (I expect Adai Choi to be nominated and possibly Bowe Lam, Linda Chung and maybe Maggie Siu) as it was an expensive and highly anticipated series - I don't think TVB would like the public to forget about it just yet!
This series was basically catering for children, I think TVB wanted to achieve the success of Ten Brothers. However how could you take this series seriously when you have a cross dressing actor playing the mother of Louisa So and the story revolving around Winter melons! Undoubtedly this series had its funny moments providing a come back for Liu Kai Chi as well as having Rain Lau who is always funny to watch but this series ain't going to win any awards.
E.U. will inevitably be a series which will remain in peoples minds because of Laughing Gor and the movie it spawned however personally I'm not a fan. I found it interesting also that Ron Ng was in two of the biggest series this year but nobody remembers him! Talk about wasting opportunities! Anyway I have to say I don't remember much from this series besides Michael Miu killing Kathy Chow and how Michael Miu was so unwilling to trust anyone - but I have to clear this out, I think Michael Miu is a weak actor maybe it's the botox in the eyes because his eyes are just stiff, no emotion! Michael Tse performed well but I didn't think it was worth the uproar it received. However it was an ok series and it showed that Kathy Chow was still a decent actress and this can be further seen in "In the Chamber of Bliss".
Joyce Tang was not enough for me to pay attention to this series, I probably watched two hours worth of this series in total because I'm not the least bit interested in snooker, I don't like Adam Cheng's acting, Niki Chow isn't enough of a pull as a leading actress and I don't like Patrick Tang (his exclusion from the main poster baffles me). What I know is this series won't be garneing any awards.
"Man In Charge" is a light hearted watch and not all that bad! The acting was average but you'd come to expect that from this kind of series however it's not all that bad. Is it going to win awards - no, but it kept me interested enough to watch it and stay tuned! Though the acting and plot left much to be desired it managed somehow to maintain my attention.
"Rosy Business" is this years IT series. It managed to get sky high ratings and a plethora of fans. I myself was hooked on this series and found it compulsive viewing tbh. It wasn't glamorously cast neither do I think that TVB would have expected such success but decent acting with a good amount of memorable lines made it an instant hit with viewers. If you ask me why I like this drama I honestly wouldn't know how to explain it, I just can't put my finger on it, but an unconventional storyline (to modern TVB series anyway) and decent acting may have been the key to its success.
An easily forgettable series in my opinion which I found difficult to sink into. A shame considering Jessica is one of my favourite actresses. I remember the awkward storyline of Sunny Chan being a bastard and Jessica Hsuan finding her true father but besides that the biggest memory I have of this series was a shove down your throat theme of law.
Yet another series from TVB that wasn't all that bad yet not all that great either, this year TVB has just made too many forgettable series and this is one of the many in the long list. I'll always like Tavia Yeung's acting as I'm a fan and tbh the acting wasn't that bad it was just the forgettable plot. I remember Raymond Wong being some sort of ill person but I have no memory of what Steven Ma's character did.
Another weird series! Louisa So makes it 2 out of 2! Anyway I found this series an awkward watch but tbh I really don't remember much of it even though I watched it 2 months ago! I found it weird that Chin Kar Lok was the lead in this series as he has only been lead once before.
"You're Hired" isn't a great series but you'll find yourself watching anyway. I personally don't like Dayo Wong's acting, he's only good at comedy so therefore I found his serious acting to be a bit lackluster compared to his funny scenes. I did however like Charmaine Sheh's character and portrayal. I also didn't like the halfway split which basically happened when Michael Tse's side of the story came in. However this series was a compulsive watch even though I found very little to compliment it on.
Haven't watched it and I have no intention of watching it because, 1) it's about the Immigration Department - has TVB run out of professions to focus on! 2) Never been a fan of Roger Kwok 3)PATRICK TANG AGAIN! 4)Not only Patrick Tang but Toby Leung on top of that! It did receive good ratings though but I just don't find myself watching this series at all.
In my honest opinion Burning Flame III is overated and in some respects boring! I liked the start of the series but I found myself losing interest fast! The lame ending also ignited my anger over this series. Personally I didn't like Wong Hei or Kevin Cheng in this series, Bosco was OK as his character as it brought some fun to the series but all in all I felt utterly dissapointed by this series.
I never understood the "cult" following of D.I.E. as it had weak acting and a weak plot and DIE Again confirms that. I've never been a fan of Roger Kwok and Sonija Kwok's acting I find stiff. The lame plot and more than predictable cases made this series a weak one even with the adorable 3 babies!
The Greatness of A Hero will not be competiting for awards as it never aired in Hong Kong but as I watched it I'll add it to my list. I couldn't really remember much of note. What I did remember was the unexpected and random killing off of Sunny Chan's character which had no build up or purpose and that basically describes the latter half of the series.
I'm currently watching "The Stew of Life". It's not a bad series nor is it great, it has a modern vibe to it though it isn't fresh in that respect, it does try to break some boundaries in Hong Kong TV though by having Fala in her underwear and the explicit mention (for Hong Kong anyway) of the possible homosexual ongoings of some of the characters. However this series will not be a contender for awards. It's a light hearted watch which I don't really mind but I wouldn't really recommend it either.
"In the Chamber of Bliss" is another series currently airing in the UK. I have no interest in the background story or Damian Lau, the only thing keeping me on my sofa is Kathy Chow. I'll see if my opinion changes later on.
I guess I should mention "Off Peddar" if I was to have a comprehensive list of this years series but I haven't watch that much of this series. However it seems OK and I guess a decent series.I'll post my nominations for awards later on so stay tuned!
great overview. I agree Rosy Business and You're Hired were great. You're hired's ending was disappointing though. Couldn't finish Gem of life, got bored, hated DIE again (but i haven't seen number 1) but a fan of off pedder.
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