REPOST: Top Ten HIGHEST and LOWEST Rated TVB Series from the past 15-20 years (Part 1)

This article was actually written back in September 2013 and I had actually already posted up Part 1 not too long after the original article was published, however, before I got a chance to post up Part 2, I got sidetracked with the whole free TV license thing.  Now that things have settled a bit, I finally found some time to translate Part 2 – therefore, I figured it would be best to ‘re-post’ Part 1 so that people can read both parts together….besides, there are some important ‘disclaimers’ that I wrote when I posted Part 1 initially that also apply to Part 2 – this way, I don’t have to repeat myself for Part 2…LOL.

Anyway….those who didn’t get a chance to read Part 1 can do so now.  Part 2 will follow right after this…

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Here’s an article that I came across earlier in the week.  It’s kind of a ‘two-parter’ special feature of sorts where Singpao (newspaper in HK) counts down the Top 10 highest rated and lowest rated TVB series from the past 15-20 years (the article doesn’t specify the dates, but based on the content, looks like the oldest series is from 1992).

I actually didn’t get the chance to ‘vet’ this article yet to see how ‘credible’ the information is – therefore, please take this article for what it is and don’t get too worked up if certain series are not on the list and you feel they should be (and vice versa).   I personally won’t vouch for the information in this article, but I will say this – I definitely have heard about a few of the series on the list having high or low ratings in the past, so there weren’t too many ‘shockers’ for me when I first read the article (for example:  The Intangible Truth being on the ‘lowest rated’ series list and Square Pegs being on the ‘highest rated’ series list are both accurate for sure, as the star of both series -- Roger Kwok -- had talked about this several years ago on his Be My Guest interview with Stephen Chan).

The one part I question about this article is the timeframe – I wish that it were more clearly defined.  It would make sense to say that the series were all from the past 15 years or so (late 90s to post-2000s), but then they threw in the series Key Man in there, which is from 1992  (which is why I threw the ‘20’ in the title of this post) – true, that was the only early 90s series on the list, but still, makes me wonder about the gap in timeframe.

Anyway, one thing to note – both the ‘highest’ and ‘lowest’ lists only count the ‘top ten’ series….so just because a series didn’t make the list doesn’t mean that it had good or bad ratings – it just didn’t get a ‘placement’ on the list based on mathematical calculation.  I emphasize this point because some people may misread the title and think that this is one of those ‘highest/lowest of all time’ type countdown, which is definitely NOT the case – there are actually NO 1980s or early 1990s series on this list at all.  [As a sidenote:  If you would like an idea of what the top rated TVB series were from the 1970s to early 1990s (1991 or so), check out this particular blog post that I wrote several years back – it’s a recap of the ‘top rated series countdown’ that TVB did themselves during one of their Anniversary Galas (complete with a video excerpt from the gala itself!): TVB 28th Anniversary Gala]

Back to the article…..part 1 will cover the ‘highest rated’ series while Part 2 will cover the ‘lowest rated’ series. (Again, both lists were put together by Singpao – I’m not too familiar with that particular newspaper, so not sure how ‘trustworthy’ it is…therefore, please don’t shoot me if the information is wrong….)

What are your thoughts on this list?  Agree?  Disagree?  Shocked?  Don’t care?

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Top Ten HIGHEST Rated TVB Series 

Source:  Singpao

Translation: llwy12

In recent years, there has been an obvious downward trend in the ratings for TVB series.  Some of the criticisms towards TVB series that have arisen over the years include poor production quality, accusations of ‘copying’ ideas from other series, plot and story arcs being too ‘heavy taste’, etc. – the result is that TVB series have lost a lot of their previous luster and appeal.  In addition, the rapid advancement of technology such as the Internet -- which gives audiences the choice of viewing series online rather than on television -- plus TVB’s recent switch to a different ratings measurement company, all contributed to majority of TVB’s series not being able to reach the 30 point mark in the past year.  In fact, it has gotten to the point where even TVB’s own ‘TV King’ and ‘TV Queen’ winners aren’t able to pull the station out of its ratings rut, as evidenced by the disastrous ratings that both Bullet Brain (神探高倫布) [starring 3-time TV King winner Wayne Lai (黎耀祥)] and Beauty at War (金枝慾孽貳) [starring 2-time TV Queen winner Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯)] garnered.  With all these factors combined together, it’s no wonder that so many people have called into question the relevancy of TVB’s series in recent years.  It wasn’t until this past summer when the airline-themed Triumph in the Skies II (衝上雲霄II) finally aired that TVB was able to regain their lost ground in the ratings department – unfortunately though, since the series was a sequel to their hit series from 10 years ago and brought many of the characters back from the original series, it can be said that the ratings increase was partially due to the popularity of the original.

Given the recent ratings situation, we (Singpao) decided to put together a list of TVB’s highest rated series from the past 15 years or so to ‘reminisce’ together with our readers.  However, one interesting thing to note is that even the number one highest rated HK series on the list could not reach the ‘ratings peak’ that Korean drama Jewel in the Palace (大長今) created when it aired on TVB back in 2005.

Rankings and summary below:

1^st PLACE:  Square Pegs (戇夫成龍) [2003] – averaged 37 points, peaked at 46 points

Set in the late Qing / early Republic era, this series aired at the end of 2002 going into early 2003 and starred Roger Kwok (郭晉安), Jessica Hsuan (宣萱), Raymond Cho (曹永廉), Winnie Yeung (楊婉儀), Yuen Wah (元華), etc.  Not only did the series garner the highest overall ratings (based on calculation), it also proved to pay off greatly for the series’ lead actor Roger Kwok, as he won both the TV King and Favorite TV Male Character awards at that year’s (2003) Anniversary Gala for his performance, which catapulted him once again to the height of his career.  In 2005, the sequel Life Made Simple (阿旺新傳) was made, which was set in the modern era and re-assembled many of the same cast members from the original series – unfortunately though, the series was not able to achieve the type of record-setting success that its predecessor did.

2^nd PLACE:  Return of the Cuckoo (十月初五的月光) [2000] – averaged 36 points, peaked at 46 points

At the mention of this series, the first thing most people will probably remember is Julian ‘Chilam’ Cheung’s (張智霖) character Brother Chor (初哥哥).  Set against the backdrop of one of Macau’s most famous streets (Rua de Cinco de Outubro十月初五街), the main plot of the series revolved around both family love and romance.

In addition to setting ratings records at the time, the series also received quite a few awards, including the Best Serial Drama award from Taiwan’s APTV as well as various awards at TVB’s Anniversary Awards Gala, such as the ‘Favorite Television Character’ award for Chilam Cheung, Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼), and Nancy Sit (薛家燕) [TN: the Favorite Character award back then was given out to as many as 10-15 artists in a given year] and also the ‘Favorite On-screen Partners – Drama Series’ award for Chilam and Charmaine.

The series also successfully cemented lead actress Charmaine Sheh’s ‘first line fadan’ status at TVB; at the same time, Chilam Cheung’s theme song for the series, Wishing Kwan Well (祝君好) became an instant hit and even today, enjoys a status as one of TVB’s most popular, ‘classic’ love ballads.

3^rd PLACE:  Armed Reaction 2 (陀槍師姐II) [2000] – averaged 36 points, peaked at 47 points

Fans who enjoy watching the ‘magical’ chemistry between ‘golden’ pairing Bobby Au Yeung (歐陽震華) and Esther Kwan (關詠荷) can check out their latest collaboration Always and Ever (情逆三世緣) [which just finished airing on TVB].  But when it comes to recounting one of the most representative, ‘classic’ collaborations between these two, the Armed Reaction (陀槍師姐) franchise is definitely at the top of most audience’s lists.   Set in the modern era, the first installment to this police comedy/drama franchise originally aired in 1998 to almost instant popularity, resulting in a sequel to be made in 2000 that not only reunited the entire original cast, it also continued the story exactly where the original left off.  In an interesting twist, the ratings for the second installment far surpassed the original -- not only did the series break ratings records for franchised series, it also shattered the widely held notion that sequels are never as good as the originals.  The franchise also expanded its reach into Taiwan at one point and was well-received there as well.

The characters in the series also left a deep impression with audiences – Esther Kwan’s Ngor Jeh and Joyce Tang’s (滕麗明) Sam Yue’ were especially memorable and can be considered both actresses’ most ‘representative’ performances.

4^th PLACE:  Time Before Time (大鬧廣昌隆) [1997] – averaged 36 points, peaked at 46 points

Starring Gordon Lam (林家棟), Kathy Chow (周海媚), Florence Kwok (郭少芸), etc., this pre-modern ‘supernatural’ themed series premiered in 1997 with a plot that revolved around the romance between ‘Ah Gwong’ (Gordon) and a ‘ghost’ named ‘Siu Fu Yong’ (Kathy) who resides in an umbrella.  Even though the series was technically a ‘ghost story’, the underlying message was actually about interpersonal relationships (whether between family, friends, lovers, etc.) – resulting in a story that resonated on an emotional level with audiences.

5^th PLACE:  Journey to the West (西遊記) [1996] – averaged 36 points, peaked at 43 points

Starring Dicky Cheung (張衛健) in the lead role as the Monkey King, Journey to the West first premiered in 1996.  In 1998, the series was rebroadcast on TVB’s Jade Pearl channel [TN: TVB’s English language channel] in both English and Cantonese – that same year, a sequel to the iconic series, Journey to the West II, debuted on TVB’s Jade channel, however this time around, Dicky’s starring role was replaced by fellow actor Benny Chan (陳浩民).

Journey to the West was an important series in many aspects, but one of its biggest ‘contributions’ was that it shot each of the main actors in the series to almost instant stardom, including ‘Monkey King Sun WuKong’ Dicky Cheung, ‘Tang Sanzang’ Kong Wah (江華), ‘Zhu Bajie’ Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), and ‘Sha Wujing’ Evergreen Mak (麥長青).  The series proved to be immensely popular with audiences, especially the younger crowd – back when the series aired, audiences throughout HK could be heard repeating Dicky Cheung’s ‘golden phrase’ from the series:  “Yo!  Nothing to be afraid of!” [Yo！使乜驚呀！]

6^th PLACE:  Detective Investigation Files III (刑事偵緝檔案III) [1997] – averaged 36 points, peaked at 44 points

When it comes to cop series, the entire Detective Investigation Files franchise can be counted as a ‘classic’ that was immensely popular with audiences back then and continues to be even now.  Back in 1995, the first installment in the franchise debuted to stellar ratings, prompting a sequel to be filmed immediately and aired in December that same year, thereby making DIF the first franchise in TVB history to have both its original and sequel air within the same year.  The 3^rd installment of the franchise – the last one with the original cast from the first 2 installments -- aired in 1997 and broke ratings records.  In addition, the DIF franchise also succeeded in cementing star Michael Tao’s (陶大宇) status as a lead actor – he also became especially popular amongst TVB’s female audiences, earning him the title of ‘housewife killer’ (a title he shared with fellow actor and close friend Bobby AuYeung 歐陽震華).

7^th PLACE:  The Key Man (巨人) [1992] – averaged 36 points, peaked at 43 points 

Out of the 10 series on this list, 1992’s The Key Man can be considered the one that dates back the longest.  Many of the artists who participated in this series became ‘stars’ in their own right – amongst them including Alex Man (萬梓良), Louise Lee (李司棋), Idy Chan (陳玉蓮), Monica Chan (陳法蓉), Dicky Cheung (張衛健), Cutie Mui (梅小惠), etc.  With its storyline surrounding the complicated love/hate relationships between several generations of 2 families, The Key Man can be considered a ‘model’ for classic, family conflict themed modern series.  In addition, this series started the ‘trend’ of series that revolved around business world conflicts and battles amongst families – a theme that was pushed to its ultimate peak with TVB’s famous classic The Greed of Man (大時代), which aired later that year.  This series can also be considered one of veteran actor Alex Man’s most representative works.

8^th PLACE:  War of the Genders (男親女愛) [2000] – averaged 35 points, peaked at 50 points

Every time comedian Dayo Wong (黃子華) films a series for TVB, it almost always garners attention and becomes a hot discussion topic -- in this way, he is absolutely a ‘ratings guarantee’.   In 2000, Dayo teamed up with Dodo Cheng (鄭裕玲), Marsha Yuen (原子鏸), Patrick Tang (鄧健泓), etc. in a situational comedy (sitcom) called War of the Genders that not only became an immensely popular ‘classic’, it also ‘smashed’ ratings records when it peaked at 50 points near the latter part of the series.  War of the Genders was the first TVB series to reach the 50 point mark in ratings and shares the record as being one of only 4 series that have been able to achieve this so far. [TN:  The other series were:  Korean drama Jewel in the Palace (大長今), which aired on TVB in 2005, 2008’s Moonlight Resonance (溏心風暴之家好月圓), and 2009’s Beyond the Realm of Conscience (宮心計)].  In addition, this was one of the few TVB series that was also turned into a stage musical not long after its successful television run, thereby allowing audiences to enjoy the hilarious antics of the cast and the humorous story all over again.

9^th PLACE:   Moonlight Resonance (溏心風暴之家好月圓) [2008] – averaged 35 points, peaked at 50 points

Billed as the ‘sequel’ to 2007’s grand production Heart of Greed (溏心風暴), Moonlight Resonance went down in the history books as one of HK’s highest rated series ever.  With its huge ensemble cast comprised of TV veterans such as Ha Yu (夏雨), Louise Lee (李司棋), Susanna Kwan (關菊英), Michelle Yim (米雪), Lee Heung Kam (李香琴) as well as popular idols such as Raymond Lam (林峯), Moses Chan (陳豪), Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣), Tavia Yeung (楊怡), etc., the series not only lived up to the ‘success’ of its predecessor Heart of Greed, it also far surpassed it in terms of ratings and popularity.  Further to re-assembling most of the original cast from the first installment, the sequel also boasted the addition of popular artists such as future 3-time TV King Wayne La, Kate Tsui (徐子珊), etc.

10^th PLACE:  Beyond the Realm of Conscience (宮心計) [2009] – averaged 35 points, peaked at 50 points

Due to its ancient series genre and palace conflict theme, Beyond the Realm of Conscience has often been compared to TVB’s 2004 hit palace series War and Beauty (金枝慾孽) since it debuted 4 years ago.  At TVB’s Anniversary Awards ceremony in 2009, the battle for TV Queen ended up coming down to a heated race between BTROC’s Tavia Yeung (楊怡) and veteran actress Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯), who was nominated for her phenomenal performance in Rosy Business (巾幗梟雄) [coincidentally, Sheren had also starred in War and Beauty back in 2004 and was widely viewed as having been ‘robbed’ of the TV Queen award that year for her stellar portrayal of Concubine Yu in the series].  In the end, Sheren triumphed by winning the coveted TV Queen award for her portrayal of Fourth Mistress in Rosy Business while Tavia took home the Favorite Female TV Character award for her performance in BTROC.

My ‘TVB Rant’ #8: Lamenting the lack of ‘good’ TVB series nowadays....

Over the years, as I've gotten older, watching TV has become a secondary pasttime for me -- meaning that the TV is still on all the time in the house (as it had been throughout my childhood), but instead of it consuming most of my time, it has now been reduced down to 'background noise' pretty much, taking a back seat to the other more important things / tasks that I have to do. Therefore, most of the time, even though the TV is on, I'm not truly 'watching' TV, but rather 'listening' to the TV, and I only look up occasionally from what I'm doing if there is a scene that happens to interest me, then after that scene passes, I quickly look back down and continue with the task at hand. So I guess you could say that I'm not really ‘paying attention’ to what is on TV, but rather focusing more on the task I am working on at the moment.

The above has pretty much become a way of life for me, but looking at it from a different perspective, it also helps me to gauge whether a particular TV series or show is 'good' or not.

In my book, in order for a series to be considered 'good', it has to meet 4 criteria.

First, a ‘good’ series must be able to "distract" me from what I am doing at the moment and cause me to ‘pay attention’ to the series for a long period of time. For a series to be considered 'really good', it has to do more than just "distract" me -- it has to cause me to set aside what I am doing at the moment and concentrate fully on what I am watching -- in other words, it has to pull me in to the point that what I am doing at the moment becomes secondary rather than primary. (Another way to look at is: ‘good’ is equivalent to ‘like’ and ‘really good’ is equivalent to ‘love’).

In addition to the above, the other way I can tell if a series is 'good' and/or 'really good' is whether it has the the 'chasability' factor. What is the 'chasability' factor, you may ask? Well, in Chinese, the word that we use is 追 (zui), which means 'to chase after' -- if you put 'zui' in front of the character for TV series, you get 'chase after TV series' -- which to me, has 2 meanings: 1) if the series airs at a certain time every day, then 'chasing the series' means that you don't want to miss a moment of it, so no matter what you are doing or where you are at, you always manage to get home in time to settle down in front of the TV and watch the next episode; or 2) if you are fortunate enough to own the entire series on DVD (my preferred method, since I like to be in control of my time and hate waiting day after day to watch 1 measly episode), then 'chasing the series' means that you can't stop watching the series and keep putting disc after disc into the DVD player and in the end, you finish watching the entire series in like 2 days (ok, 2 days might be an exaggeration -- though I've done it before -- but the point is that you finish the entire series in pretty much one sitting, however many days that may be).

Another criteria for me is that the series must be memorable in some way – now I don’t mean just being able to remember a character’s name or certain events that happen (though that’s certainly part of it)….when I say ‘memorable’, I mean that it had some type of impact on me to the point that even after I finish watching the entire series, I’m still thinking about the series (or certain parts of it) and perhaps wishing that it wasn’t over so quickly.

The last criteria is the “rewatchability” factor, which is basically – how likely am I to re-watch the series again? This is actually an important criteria for me because to be honest, if I am barely able to sit through the series the first time around (meaning I watch the first few episodes and am already bored out of my wits or I miss a few episodes and don’t even bother to rewatch what I missed), then that’s a sure-fire sign that I am most likely NOT going to waste my time rewatching the series again.

So in a nutshell, for me, there are 4 criteria for determining a 'good' (or 'really good') series -- it must 1) distract me from what I’m doing to the point that I really pay attention, 2) give me that 'chasable' feeling, 3) be memorable in some way (whether it’s character, storyline, or both), and last but not least, 4) be re-watchable.

You may be asking how all of this relates to TVB? Simple -- in the last decade or so, there have been very few TVB series that have met all 4 of my criteria for being a 'good' series (and even fewerhave made it into the 'really good' category)....in fact, in the last 7 years or so, it's gotten progressively worse, to the point that nowadays, I struggle to find even 1 or 2 series that are able to meet my criteria. In comparisons, back in the 80s and even part of the 90s, I could rattle off to you series after series that could EASILY fall into either category (‘good’ or ‘really good’). Also, just as a point of reference: I have watched most of the series from the 80s and early/mid 90s more than 1 time (and of course there are a select few that I have watched upwards of 20 times – and I’m not kidding!).

To illustrate my point, let’s takes the series from the past 3 years or so as examples….

Starting with 2010’s series -- out of all the series that TVB produced last year, the only two series that met all of my criteria were “Gun Metal Grey” (primarily because of Felix and Michael, though I ended up liking the series as a whole) and “No Regrets” (the acting was superb, even if parts of the storyline were a bit draggy -- well, when you’ve got Wayne and Sheren as the leads, it’s hard not to have awesome acting). Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that ALL the rest of the series that year ‘sucked’ (though a few of them did truly suck) – all I’m saying is that the other ones just didn’t quite cut it for me.

Looking at 2009’s series, the stats are even worse -- the only series that I liked out of the bunch (that met my 4 criteria) was “Rosy Business”. Even the series “Born Rich” – with it’s ‘dream’ cast consisting of many of my favorite actors and actresses from the 80s/90s – failed to make the cut because of its awful script and just plain boring storyline (I feel so sorry for the artists in that series – and yes, I’m still pissed at TVB for ‘ruining’ their careers).

2008’s series didn’t fare any better -- I liked “A Journey Called Life” and “Catch Me Now”, but to be honest, it was really a stretch – I had to think hard in order to get both series to fit all 4 criteria. Oh and don’t even get me started on the BIGGEST disappointment of 2008 – “Forensic Heroes 2” (basically, I went from loving the original FH in 2006 to absolutely hating the sequel…but I’ll save that rant for another post).

Going back one more year, to 2007 – “Fathers and Sons” was good and so was “Dicey Business” (both happen to be Bobby AuYeung series – love that guy!), but that was about it (though technically, “Dicey Business” started airing in 2006, so I guess you could say that it is really a 2006 series) – so in 2006, there were only 2 series I liked: DB and also the original “Forensic Heroes”.

And the list goes on…..(but I’m sure you get the picture by now, so I’ll stop the list here)….

So yes, I will reiterate the sentiment that I’ve carried for the past decade regarding TVB’s series nowadays – THEY SURE DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THEY USED TO!!!

My Thoughts on: "Rosy Business 巾幗梟雄"

I’ve been wanting to watch this series since last year and figured since it’s airing on TV here, I might as well watch it rather than wait until later (since I have the series on DVD as well). The reason I wanted to watch the series was not because it won so many awards last year (to me, TVB’s awards have no significance and I would not use them to judge the ‘quality’ or ‘merit’ of any series or artists anyway, but that’s a different topic) – rather, I wanted to watch the series because I knew I would be treated to a high quality production. With experienced producer Lee Tim Sing and script writer Cheung Wah Biu at the helm, I already knew the series would probably be better than a lot of the other ones that came out the same year – plus add to that brilliant performances by Wayne Lai and Sheren Tang – it’s no wonder that the series was so successful garnered as much public accolade as it did.

I won’t attempt to do an in-depth or thorough review of the series, as that would be way too much, but I want to at least express some of my thoughts about the series and things that stuck out for me….more of a commentary of sorts…

First of all, Wayne’s performance was absolutely amazing in this series! Despite being in the industry 20+ years, this was only his second time as lead actor in a series and I must say that TVB is blind for not seeing the talent this guy had from the beginning. Since I’m an 80s/90s HK entertainment fanatic, I am definitely familiar with Wayne and have seen most of the series that he had been in throughout those decades. Even though he was mostly in supporting or minor roles, his acting prowess was already evident even back then (those who have seen “The Challenge of Life” from 1990 will know exactly what I mean). Anyway, knowing Wayne, I had high hopes for his performance going into this and I definitely was not disappointed – in fact, I was actually ‘blown away’ by his brilliant performance. Now I understand why Cheung Wah Biu likes working with him so much – he is able to bring out even the most minute characteristics of each character he portrays and make the character convincing as well as memorable.

In my opinion, watching Wayne perform is like watching the ‘master’ at work – it’s no surprise then, that Wayne is known in the industry for his meticulous acting (and rightly so). The best way to describe his acting: “perfect” – he never goes overboard with his expressions or gestures and always gets it ‘just right’. Many artists who have worked with Wayne have talked about how ‘mesmerized’ and ‘captivated’ they were whenever they watched him perform a scene (not just in this series, but in others as well)….and as a member of the audience, I definitely agree, as I was mesmerized by his performance as well!

His portrayal of Chai Gau – a ‘scoundrel’ who eventually works his way up to become ‘3rd in charge’ of a rice shop (actually a huge rice business) and a great leader for the citizens of his country – was very realistic and convincing. Of course, it does help that the character of Chai Gau was well written and had a lot of depth, so Wayne was able to use the ‘opportunity’ to let his acting skills shine. The important thing about the character of Chai Gau is that he is neither a ‘good’ person nor a ‘bad’ person – he had characteristics from both sides in that deep down he has a good heart, but he did do some things that a truly ‘good’ person would not do. Not everyone is able to pull off a brilliant performance of such a complex character, but for Wayne, it’s no problem at all!

Sheren’s portrayal of Fourth Mistress Hong Bo Kei was also very well done. Granted, Sheren’s acting may not be as ‘refined’ or ‘perfect’ as Wayne’s, but the most important thing is that her acting is of a higher level of quality than most of today’s artists. Her character was very smart and likable – extremely clever and as well as persistent -- always coming to the rescue whenever the Tseung family was in a bind and never giving up her values even in the face of adversity. She is well respected in the family (well, at least part of the family – except the evil Eldest Wife and her son Bit Man, both of whom hated her for making them fall out of favor)…not only that, she is also well-respected in the entire village, which is evident when she is wrongly arrested near the end of the series and all the villagers (led by Chai Gau) come to her defense. In fact, they would form a ‘Sei Lai Lai Bang’ (Fourth Mistress Party) to show their support of her.

I really liked Sheren and Wayne’s relationship in this series. It wasn’t a relationship based on love and passion like most ‘close’ relationships between a male and female. Rather, their relationship (and feelings for each other) was at a higher level and was one based on mutual trust and admiration. Fourth Mistress went from being Chai Gau’s enemy to being his closest confidante – sort of like ‘soulmates’ but without the intimate love relationship. It’s a very unconventional relationship and one that is not usually found in TVB’s series (which is what made it so special). Both Fourth Mistress and Chai Gau admired and supported each other so much that they were willing to make sacrifices for each other – especially Chai Gau. In the second half of the series, I finally understand why Chai Gau admired Fourth Mistress so much and eventually developed feelings for her near the end (though it never goes beyond that, which is what makes the relationship so righteous) – it’s because throughout her life, Fourth Mistress never did anything for herself – she was very self-less in that everything she did was always for others….Chai Gau had never met anyone like her – someone who would always give of herself self-lessly and sacrifice for others.

All those times when Chai Gau would come to Fourth Mistress’s rescue whenever she was in a tough situation and how he would trust her word fully because he respected her so much – it was definitely very moving. I feel that the turning point to their relationship – the part that made their relationship ascend to a whole new level (though still not a traditional ‘love’ relationship, since both were already married) – was the part when Fourth Mistress goes missing due to the invasion of the ‘long-haired robbers’ and Chai Gau does everything in his power to find her – including entering a disease-ridden village to look for her and eventually contracting the disease himself (which is what he ends up dying from). When Fourth Mistress finds out that her best friend contracted the disease because of her, she is devastated. The amazing thing is that despite being so ill and weak, during the last half of the last episode when Governor Lam tries to arrest Fourth Mistress again (after plotting with the evil First Wife and Bit Man), Chai Gau comes to Fourth Mistress’s rescue again – not only does he argue with Pang Hang as well as the governor, he also reveals that he and Fourth Mistress are actually working undercover for Master Wong (Kwok Fung’s character). He and Master Wong are finally able to get rid of the ‘evil clan’ once and for all, but then Chai Gau coughs up blood and falls to the ground….later on, when Chai Gau is very weak from his illness and everyone is celebrating his birthday with him (bittersweet, since he was dying), he kept saying that even if he dies, at least he knows that he had all these good friends and won’t have regrets. Fourth Mistress tells him to stop talking like that and demands that he must give the disease a good fight at least and not give up – and he does, but only because Fourth Mistress told him to. In the end, Fourth Mistress agrees to go with him to Shanghai (where he goes to seek treatment for his illness) and when he died 2 years later, she was at his side – the best friend and confidante who never gave up on him and would always support him….

Though I felt sad about the ending, I felt that the series at least did a good job with wrapping up the Chai Gau/Fourth Mistress relationship. The narrative that they did at the very end (like the last few scenes) after Chai Gau died was a very good summary of his life and a touching (though solemn) tribute to him.

There is so much more I could say about this series and perhaps in later posts, I will do so….one last point I want to mention is how successful this series was last year – and I can definitely see why. There was not much promotion for this series originally because TVB did not think it would do well (since it doesn’t star their “favorites”) – yet it was able to garner ratings of 47 points at its peak….and that’s not counting HDTV. (As a side note, it sort of sucks that they didn’t count the HDTV ratings because it surely would have exceeded 50 points…though TVB said that it was because RB finished airing right before HDTV ratings were to be counted, so they just missed it by like a day, I have my own ‘speculations as to what actually happened…but won’t go into that here).

And even though the series did win a lot of awards at last year’s TVB Anniversary awards, my personal opinion is that what mattered more is the quality of the script and of the acting, which in turn garnered accolades from audiences and from the general public in Hong Kong. Though there were (and continue to be) accusations that the series ‘copied’ mainland China series “The Grand Gate Mansion” and certain aspects of the “Rosy Business” storyline itself are VERY similar to that of another TVB series “Safeguards” (which was coincidentally also a Lee Tim Sing / Cheung Wah Biu / Wayne Lai collaboration), it really doesn’t matter to me – all I care about is that I enjoyed a good quality series with superb acting – something I haven’t seen from a TVB series in a LONG time.