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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Follow up to TVB’s midnight timeslot series and onTV poll

Those who’ve been following my blog are probably familiar with this whole midnight timeslot thing that I wrote several posts about the past few months.  As a refresher, here are the links to the posts related to this topic:



This is my fourth post about this topic and unlike the previous posts, this one will be quite brief.

Basically, I AM PISSED!!!!! 

I just read the below article from on.cc which references back to the TVB/onTV poll that allowed audiences to choose which series they most wanted to watch in the midnight timeslot.  The poll had closed back in September and when the results were announced, the top 3 winners (in order of most votes) were: 1) War of the Genders, 2) Looking Back in Anger, and 3) A Step into the Past.  Back then, onTV claimed that TVB had agreed they would re-air series in their midnight timeslot based on the results of this poll – indeed, on 10/5, TVB started airing War of the Genders, which was the series that garnered the most votes…makes sense and I’m fine with that.  Logically speaking then – and if TVB was true to their word – the next series to air after War of the Genders ends on December 10th would be the #2 highest voted series, Looking Back in Anger, right?  WRONG!!!!!!   According to the below article (keep in mind that onTV belongs to Oriental Daily, which is actually the one who did this poll in collaboration with TVB), the next series to air will be A Step into the Past, NOT Looking Back in Anger!!  WTH???  Why did they skip LBIA when that series is in the #2 spot and instead choose to air the series in the #3 spot, ASITP???  Does that make any ounce of sense at all?  What gives, TVB??  Why are you once again deliberately skipping LBIA and not allowing it to air in the midnight timeslot?  Especially now when audiences VOTED the series as their 2nd most favorite series that they want to see re-broadcast in that timeslot? 

I don’t know about you guys, but to me, this is proof right here that the previous “rumor” about LBIA being blacklisted by TVB due to Felix Wong is absolutely TRUE !!  I mean, what other logical explanation is there for why TVB would choose to go back on their word (which was to air the series in order of what audiences chose) and air ASITP instead, completely bypassing LBIA?   In my previous posts, I mentioned the blacklist thing as a possible reason why TVB keeps skipping the series, but in efforts to be fair and give TVB the benefit of the doubt, I kept it as 'speculation only' on my part.  Well, now with this revelation, turns out that, once again, I was right after all (so next time people try to defend TVB whenever I criticize their stupidities, please remember this incident and spare me from the excuses -- because at this point, nothing is going to restore my trust in TVB, especially with the damn incompetent management they have in place right now!)

Another thing’s for sure – the next time those stupid, imbecilic, bastard execs at TVB try to REFUTE the claims of there being a blacklist (they have repeatedly denied the existence of a blacklist, even though some artists have proven there IS a blacklist because they've personally seen it), I am calling them out on this issue and want to see what they have to say (hey TVB, if there is no blacklist, then WHY DO YOU GUYS REPEATEDLY REFUSE TO AIR LBIA?????).  Stop treating your audiences like fools, TVB!!!  And FOR ONCE, have some respect for those whose support over the years helped make you into the powerhouse you are today – otherwise, sooner or later, even those die-hard fans who grew up watching your programs and therefore continue to blindly support you will end up abandoning you as well!


Source article from on.cc:

順應《重播你有Say》民意 《尋秦記》深宵重來

10 comments:

  1. My first impression after reading above post, wanna throw up about current TVB management. They skip Looking Back In Anger since this highly quality drama contains two 'blacklisted names' Felix Wong-Deric Wan, shame on you TVB!! TVB looks more and more to be delusional and insensible, War of Gender and A Step In The Past are absolutely far from LBIA league but they treat these two mediocre dramas beyond expectation. I'm really speechless about their policy.

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  2. @jadul80: Well, actually not sure if Deric is blacklisted by TVB, but Felix Wong for sure is...Spencer Leung (he plays their adopted brother in the series) is also on the blacklist.

    I want to throw up too at TVB's stupid actions! I mean, do they really think we're not going to notice? Sure, before, like after the airing of Greed of Man, they could hide behind the ignorance argument and not air truly 'classic' series because they 'didn't know' -- but when audiences tell them bluntly and directly (via voting) what they want to see and TVB promises to adhere to audiences wishes, but then several weeks later they go back on their word -- it's almost like they are telling the audiences: screw you, I'm going to air what I want to air!

    Oh and I watched the anniversary gala today and it made me more pissed (won't go into detail here since I already wrote up a long comment about it on JS) -- but basically, it's not enough that TVB lacks originality and recycles their series' plots/stories (also props, costumes, dialogue, settings, etc), now they're recycling their skits too (both of the skits they did in this year's anniversary gala were down before in previous galas).

    At this rate, TVB will go down faster than anticipated, as they pretty much have nothing good going for them at this point....

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    1. llwy12, I read TVB Awards has new category, Most Popular Classic Series and it made me rolling eyes that how come they could include "Lives of Omission" and "Brother's Keeper" as CLASSIC?? Big laugh on TVB stupidity!

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    2. @jadul80: Exactly! Oh and you watch – I wouldn’t put it past TVB to be stupid enough to award either one of those 2 non-classic series that night as well….they could always use the ‘most popular’ piece as an excuse. I’ve pretty much given up on trying to understand TVB and its current management – nothing they do makes an ounce of sense!

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  3. I lost confidence in TVB a long one ago, hence my wanting to look for old dramas on DVD instead. Is Deric not blacklisted? I thought there was a time when viewers objected to seeing him in any series after the Chan Mui Hing saga and he seems to get so much crap written about him by HK media.

    Anyway, TVB have really shot themselves in the foot by not airing LBIA as it could regain their former glory and their rapidly declining viewership. Idiots!

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    1. @Cee Bee:  Yea...sometimes I ask myself why I still bother with TVB too…for me, it’s mostly because some of the veteran artists I like are still there so I want to support them, though a small part of me (the sentimental part, lol) is still holding out hope that someday, TVB will ‘wake up’ and finally improve for the better…over the years though, that ‘small part’ has gotten smaller and smaller – and if TVB keeps up these stupid antics that ‘small part’ might erode completely!

      I’m actually not entirely sure whether Deric is blacklisted.  That Chan Mui Hing thing happened a long time ago and he still returned to TVB after that, so I don’t think that alone would’ve been the reason.   My guess is that TVB probably cut all ties with Deric because of his crappy relationship with the HK media in general -- probably figured it was too much trouble bothering with him so they didn’t even want to try.  Though no doubt that his high profile, messy relationship with Sonjia Kwok as well as his tough personality did more to hurt his career than help it and I wouldn’t be surprised if it affected his relationship with TVB too. 

      With such idiots running TVB, there is truly no hope for them anymore!  The sad thing is, with their expansion into movies and music too, they’re not just ruining the television industry, they’re also helping to push the rest of the HK entertainment industry (which is already in shambles) further into oblivion.  Argh….

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  4. So....I just found out that TVB is doing a 'classic TVB series' award at this year's awards ceremony -- the award is for the most popular classic TVB series aired in the midnight timeslot....

    Hmmm...now I'm starting to put two and two together. Though I still think the blacklist thing was one of the main reasons why TVB isn't airing LBIA, now I also believe that the award thing has something to do with it. Knowing how much they like to rig their awards, it's possible they refuse to air LBIA because they are afraid it might win an award (though of course, that's only if they decide to have this award next year as well, since the series airing staring Dec 10th wouldn't be eligible for this year's award). Very interesting indeed...

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  5. I also thought that the original poll results may have been rigged.

    Is LBIA still the all time highest rated series?

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    1. @Cee Bee: Yes and no. The way that the ratings are calculated nowadays is way different from in the past, which is why I personally hate using ratings as a ‘gauge’ to judge anything. I’m pretty sure if we compare the ‘number of households/viewers’ the way they did back when TVB went through their top ten highest rated series at their 1995 anniversary gala, the number will still be way up there, but ratings-points wise it won’t even come close.

      Even if LBIA is still TVB’s highest rated series, doesn’t make a difference to be honest, since the current management are either ignorant (which I wouldn’t be surprised given their actions over the past couple years) or they deliberately bury their head in the sand so they can continue to play their politics.

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  6. I remember back in the late 90’s when TVB had the award ceremony take place during the anniversary gala. And the first three best actress awards went to Esther Kwan, Ada Choi, and Jessica Hsuan. Ada and Jessica were only in their 20’s back then. When they received the award was there any negative press about them receiving it? Because I know that negative press’ are bound to happen just like with Gigi Lai winning the award in 2004 for War and Beauty and having Sheren Tang losing out on it for her character Yu Fei in War and Beauty as well. There were negative press with Charmaine Sheh for winning it in 2006 as well. I acknowledge the fact that the qualities of TVB drama has gone down and so has the artist’s acting skills. But was there any flaws with the earlier TV Queens? Did Ada and Jessica do a great job in Healing Hands and Detective Investigation respectively? This by no means that I’m bashing on their status because without a doubt they were known as the 90’s fa-dans. But how come in 2010 when the fadan’s return to TVB, (Ada Choi for Fly With Me, Maggie Cheung for Beauty Knows No Pain, Jessica Hsuan for Sisters Pearl, and Flora Chan for Suspects in Love) they did not get as much recognition in their series? As a matter of fact, they didn’t even attend the award ceremony. Has this been TVB’s strategy? They promote the one’s that got a “market” If that’s the case why has Grace, Sisley, and Moon not improve from their first debut. What is lacking at the moment? Meanwhile for the Best Actor awards, besides Louis Koo for being the youngest male artist to win the award, everyone else are of age. Think about it, Bobby, Gallen, Roger, Bowie. TVB initially did well with promoting Bosco, Ron, Raymond and Sammul when they were young. But from recent years all the awards were awarded to all the seniors, Ha-Yu, Wayne Lai (x3), Kevin Cheng, Dayo Wong and Roger Kwok. Mind you these people are all in the 40’s to their 60’s(<-Ha Yu). Now you hardly even see Bosco, Ron, Raymond attend the award ceremony. They always tell the artists not to give up over and over again, but as you can see it’s tough when you see all your hard work go to waste with no recognition. With Gallen, Louis, and Roger receiving the awards more than once in the earlier anniversaries has already been a wrong choice. That just discourages all the other male artist to even continue their work at TVB, for example like Frankie Lam, Gordon Lam, Benny Chan, Sunny Chan, Eddie Cheung, and Nick Cheung. On an average recently actresses become TV Queens in their 30s meanwhile the TV Kings are in their 40’s. Compared to foreign drama’s especially in Korea, all lead actors are in their late 20’s and early 30’s. TVB really got to start promoting new people but by using the right source and spend more quality on their scripts to get the best out of these people. I feel like the reason why t newbies nowadays can’t act is because TVB just throw them out to the sharks. They have not really train them at all. What’s the point with TVB’s Acting Class anymore. You hardly see anyone come out from that now. All they care is their Voice stars, and Ms/Mr Hong Kong.

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