Fox Asia’s “The Trading Floor” to premiere on May 24th

Saw this article yesterday about Fox Asia's highly anticipated first Chinese-language series, "The Trading Floor."  Many of us were wondering when this series will air and the last I had heard several months back was Spring 2018….well, yesterday they finally announced that the series will officially premiere on Fox's Chinese language channel on May 24^th.

Below are some of the highlights from the article (will translate in more detail when I have time but for those who can read Chinese, I suggest checking out the original article itself).

-          Chinese name of the series changed from  香港華爾街   to 東方華爾街

-          Producer for the series is Andy Lau

-          Director is KK Wong (he was the director/producer for HKTV's "The Election")

-          Cast features ensemble of actors/actresses from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China

-          Partial cast includes:  Francis Ng, Joseph Chang, Patrick Tam, Maggie Cheung, Liu Kai Chi, Poon Chan Leung, Law Kar Ying, Cheung Lui, Carlos Chan, Jacky Cai, Fish Liew, etc.

-          Season 1 will be 5 episodes

-          Story is about the finance sector in Asia and the changes that it goes through over a 20 year time period.  Francis plays a finance expert who will do everything he can to climb to the top and become finance boss – throughout the process, he will face off against his apprentice student Joseph Chang

There is a trailer included in the article, which I haven't had a chance to watch yet so I'm not sure if it's the same one as previously released.  The 2 posters are new though and both versions (which have been dubbed "Cash 1.0" and "Cash 2.0" by the director) look AWESOME!

I honestly can't wait to watch this series!

Link to article: https://www.hk01.com/即時娛樂/186166/東方華爾街-吳鎮宇張孝全師徒決裂-記錄亞洲金融戰場20年

News article: Fox Asia series “Trading Floor” (香港華爾街)

Fox Asia recently announced that post-production for their highly anticipated series Hong Kong Wall Street has been completed and season 1 is scheduled to air first quarter 2018. Season 1 will only be 5 episodes and will have a movie-like quality. The way HK audiences can watch is very similar to Netflix – subscription basis via an app.

I'll post up more information once I have more time but for now, those who can read Chinese can check out this article from HK01, which is an interview with the series' star Francis Ng. I'm actually looking forward to this series, as there are so many veterans in it, plus so many big HK movie stars.

Anyway, more to come so stay tuned….

HK01 article

'TVB Family Culture' -- some upcoming changes at TVB

** HOT OFF THE PRESS **

TVB’s chairman Norman Leung just announced that they will be making a lot of changes and instituting what they call “TVB family culture”.  He said he was inspired by veteran actor Liu Kai Chi’s interview (I’m assuming he meant the long, in-depth interview that Uncle Chi did with Mingpao, which was a great interview by the way) and is instituting changes because he wants people who work for TVB to feel proud to work for them – also, he said that if other TV stations (referring to HKTV) can do it (referring to all the things that HKTV has done for its artists), TVB should be able to do it way better.

While on the one hand I’m happy to see TVB finally willing to make changes that will benefit their artists and are putting in the effort to recreate the ‘family’ atmosphere that defined them back in the 70s and 80s (and early 90s to some extent), part of me can’t help but think that these changes are ‘too little, too late’.  With all the ‘damage’ that has already been done, it’s going to be difficult for them to turn things around without a lot of hard effort….plus, right now, it’s all talk – until these changes are put into action and we start seeing the results, I’m not too confident that TVB will be able to pull it off.  

Also, the 15-20 years or so of TVB treating their artists like crap is definitely not going to be easy to reverse....besides, there are other policies that they need to look at as well that had a huge hand in putting them in the rut they’re in today.  With these changes, it's definitely a step in the right direction, but how effective it will be remains to be seen...let’s wait and see though….

****

Below is the translation of the article that outlines the new plan…

Source:  kuangai TVB’s weibo

(I’ll post the link to the actual article from its original news source later on…)

Yesterday, TVB’s chairman Norman Leung attended the celebration dinner for Triumph in the Skies II.  Of course, the ‘hot topic’ of late has been the free TV license debacle and Ricky Wong’s HKTV.  Despite losing their jobs, all of the HKTV staff have stood by Mr. Wong and supported him, with not a single person blaming him for the situation – to be honest, this is something that we’ve never seen happen at TVB.  In addition, veteran actor Liu Kai Chi (廖啟智) accepted an interview with a magazine earlier in which he detailed very clearly, point by point, why he decided to leave TVB (after close to 30 years of service) – it wasn’t a decision made in haste or out of a fit of anger.  Rather, it was because some of the clauses in TVB’s contracts were too ‘bizarre’ and ‘insulting’ to artists.  At the end of the day, the biggest reason why things eventually got to this point – TVB’s monopoly and the lack of competition to challenge them. The emergence of Ricky Wong gave these television artists new hope and reignited in them the passion and love for their craft that had long since disappeared.  

Now, it seems that even TVB has finally ‘woken up’ and realizes that something has to be done.  At the dinner, Norman Leung went onstage to give his customary speech, during which he expressed that over the weekend, he read the interview that Liu Kai Chi did and that inspired him to immediately institute a few changes:  “Effective immediately, I would like to start cultivating a ‘TVB family culture’.  As part of the management team, my hope is that members of our TVB family will truly feel proud that they are part of our family and that everyone will see our progress.”

Mr. Leung continues:  “This new TVB family culture consists of 4 main things:  first is that our artists need to feel respected; second is that work hours need to be reasonable; third, compensation needs to be reasonable and fair; fourth is that all artists need to be given opportunities to perform.”

“In terms of the work hours, the memo has already been sent out:  work hours will be based on ‘shifts’ going forward.  Each shift will be 10 hours, but can be extended to 11 hours if needed on certain occasions – anything over 11 hours must be approved by the director of production.  For on location filming, the shift can extend up to 12 hours, however anything over 14 hours will require approval from the director of production.  With this change, we hope that artists will be able to get sufficient rest.  At the same time, we already implemented the requirement that all scripts must be 80% complete before filming starts so that the production team can have sufficient time to prepare.  Even though all these changes will cause production overhead to increase, that’s okay because our goal is to make quality series and also create a good working environment for our staff.”

Mr. Leung concluded his speech with the following words of encouragement to his staff:  “If other TV stations are able to do it, TVB will definitely be able to do it too – not only that, we should be able to do it better!  I don’t care whether you’re Mr. Wong, Mr. Lee, Mr. Ma, or Mr. Cow – I’m absolutely certain that we [TVB] are up to the challenge and will absolutely do it better than you!”

HKTV Series Police Boundaries (警界線) -- Official Premiere of Entire First Episode (My Thoughts)

Police Boundaries (警界線) 

[Entire first episode from Youtube]

A few days ago, HKTV put up a ‘poll’ on their Facebook page, asking audiences to vote for which series (out of the 8 teaser trailer clips they released so far) they would like to watch the entire first episode of – HKTV would then ‘premiere’ the entire first episode for the series that receives the most votes.  Voting ended on Tuesday and the series that garnered the most votes was, not surprisingly, Police Boundaries (according to HKTV, Hidden Faces came in a close second).  Therefore, HKTV kept their promise and broadcast the entire first episode of Police Boundaries on Youtube yesterday (Friday).

So far, the feedback for the first episode has been overwhelmingly positive (based on comments in Weibo, discussion forums, HKTV’s Facebook page, etc.).  Since this is one of the series that I’ve been looking forward to watching since HKTV first announced the filming of it last year, of course I wasn’t going to miss the broadcast of the first episode (I don’t think I would have been able to forgive myself…LOL).

Anyway,   below are my initial comments from watching the first episode – I will most likely have more feedback later on (tomorrow) once I get the chance to re-watch the episode again in more detail…

My comments (so far):

.— I don’t know what to say except for – WOW!!  The first episode as well as the preview for episode 2 absolutely made me want to watch the rest of the series! 

.—The episode was fast-paced, thrilling, suspenseful, and so full of twists and turns that it literally kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time I was watching!  When the 11 minute teaser aired last week, I had already remarked how awesome that trailer was (reference this link for my initial comments on the episode 1 trailer) – well, the first episode was even better because we (the audiences) got to understand more of the plot as well as get a better picture of each main character.

.—I was actually quite shocked to find out the relationship between Dominic Lam and Liu Kai Chi’s characters (though from what was revealed in the first episode, it still isn’t 100% clear…but at least we know that, at minimum, the 2 of them, along with Dominic’s deceased wife, are very close friends).  But I’m actually really curious about Uncle Chi’s character – it’s obvious that he was an undercover cop at one point, but is he truly a good guy or will it turn out that he’s actually the main villain?  Whichever it ends up being, I am looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds – and with Uncle Chi’s top-notch acting, I am absolutely certain that his performance will be stellar!

.—Dominic was also absolutely brilliant in the first episode!  After watching the initial 11 minute trailer, I remember commenting that he didn’t have much screen time, but it turns out he does – it’s just that majority of his scenes are concentrated in the middle and second half of the episode.  The scene at the gun shop was quite intense – I will admit that I was so worried Dominic was going to hurt the little boy (Lawrence’s son)…the expression on his face was pretty scary (plus that little boy is just too darn cute and adorable…can’t bear to see anything else bad happen to him!). 

.—I know the feedback to the initial trailer from last week was that Lawrence’s acting was subpar – but after watching the entire first episode, I actually don’t think he was that bad.  Of course, when you’re up against such established veteran actors as Liu Kai Chi, Dominic Lam, Felix Lok, etc., anyone’s acting will seem like ‘child’s play’…however, if we put aside the comparisons to the veterans, I actually feel that Lawrence’s performance wasn’t really that bad at all.  At the very least, I (as an audience member) was able to connect with his character on an emotional level (that’s half the battle right there) and also feel sorry for his plight in the series.  Sure, some of his facial expressions, delivery of dialogue, as well as the way he handled certain emotional scenes still need some work,  but overall, I would actually say that he did a decent job for such a heavy role.

.—I am definitely interested in learning more about Joman Chiang – her performance in this first episode was very impressive, especially knowing that she is a ‘newbie’ in the area of acting!  She had good control over all of her scenes and even with the complicated dialogue (I’m assuming she is the female ‘military weapons expert’ character described in the plot summary), she was able to deliver the goods extremely well.  I don’t know about you guys, but watching her performance, I absolutely could not believe that this series was her first attempt at acting!  Looks like Joman has a bright future ahead of her as an actress….

.—Interesting that Lam Lei’s character dies in episode 1 – I actually thought that he would have a more significant role.  Also, is it just me, or does Lam Lei look really really old in this series?  His first few scenes were fine, but the ones later on in the episode weren’t – he looked way too old, thin, and sickly (so different from how he used to look).  Not sure what happened there but I just found it a little hard to concentrate on his scenes because I couldn’t get over how haggard he looked.  In any case, the plot twist involving his character was quite interesting and I assume that story arc is going to be an important one throughout the rest of the series.

.—No Leila in the first episode (bummer) – though it’s obvious from the second episode’s preview clip that she will appear starting with that episode.  Definitely look forward to seeing her.

Premiere of HKTV Series online -- PART 1

A few days ago, HKTV started up a ‘movement’ on Facebook asking whether audiences were interested in watching the first 5-10 minutes of the first episode of all their series online.  The response was overwhelming, as within hours of their post on Facebook, they received over 5000 likes/comments from people (like me for instance) who were interested in seeing what HKTV had to offer (and since they still don’t have their license yet, releasing the clips on the Internet is pretty much the only option they have at the moment). 

So far, they’ve released clips for 3 of their series (with more coming) and I must say that I definitely like what I see!!   All 3 clips were very well made, both from a visual standpoint (graphics, etc.) as well as storyline and acting (so far).  Actually, now I’m wishing that HKTV would just put the entire first episode of each series up instead of just the first few minutes because honestly, a few minutes is really not enough (I was so engrossed in the clips that I felt like I blinked and it was over already…LOL).

Great job to the HKTV cast and crew!  Watching these clips was definitely a breath of fresh air for me – especially given the dismal state of TVB’s series in recent months (gosh, I don’t think I actually sat down and seriously watched a TV series since the year started!).  For me, one of the highlights of watching these clips is that I don’t have to keep watching the same artists / pairings onscreen all the time (when you start seeing the same artists playing the same types of roles in series after series -- as TVB has been doing --  it starts to get boring!) – plus I was super-excited to see artists back on the small screen whom I hadn’t seen in a long time (William So, Liu Kai Chi, Yu Mo Lian, just to name a few).  It was also refreshing to see some new faces pop up (well, they may be ‘new’ to me because I’ve never watched their previous works but not necessarily ‘new’ to the industry). 

Lastly….below are a few of my thoughts on the clips released so far (sorry, can’t say much since the clips were so short…bummer…).  But hey, at least we get to see more than what was in the sales presentation, so that’s definitely a plus. 

P.S.:  Damn HK government!!!  Stop fooling around!!!  Issue those darn licenses already, will ya!!!!  Argh!!

.*****.

Once Upon A Song (童話戀曲201314)

My comments:

.—This has got to be my favorite clip so far out of the 3 released!  I love the upbeat nature of the opening segment and the lighthearted humor that made me laugh without even thinking about it (the natural kind of humor that doesn’t try to be funny but ends up being funny because of the dialogue and interaction of the characters). 

.— In the short, few minute clip alone, Jason Chan already left quite an impression on me with his performance as ‘Handsome Chan’ (still can’t get over that name…haha).  His interaction with William So’s character ‘Da Wai Gor’ was absolutely hilarious (I actually miss William’s acting – he always comes across very natural to me in his roles, as though he is playing himself every time).  I especially enjoyed the scene where Da Wai Gor describes all the stuff that his missing dog used to do for him and Handsome agrees to do all those things despite not knowing what most of the stuff meant (LOL).

.—The girls in the clip did a good job as well.  I’m actually not familiar with Evelyn Choi at all, but so far, her performance as ‘Yan Tze Ching’ wasn’t bad at all  (though of course I would have to watch more of the series to really see).  Lesley Chiang also did pretty well with her role as ‘Kalie’ (so far) – her facial expressions were pretty spot on, which is pretty impressive considering this is her first acting gig (oh and her dialogue was pretty funny as well).

.—Overall, definitely looking forward to watching this.  HKTV:  Please release the rest of the episode!!!

Brain Opening Detective (開腦儆探)

My Comments:

.—To be honest, showing a mere 6 minutes wasn’t enough to really get the ‘feel’ for this series.  Unlike the other 2 clips, I actually didn’t feel anything when I watched this  (honestly, all I could think about was ‘Yay, Felix back onscreen again!’  LOL!)

.—The scene showing Felix’s son getting shot was interesting, but I kind of felt they did the ‘kid getting shot’ scene better in Police Boundaries than they did here – the one here was too ‘science fiction-ish’ (if that’s a word), especially with the whole slow motion thing and such.  But I’m thinking perhaps that was done on purpose because according to the plot summaries, this series will have a ‘supernatural’ element to it – if that’s the case, then it explains why those scenes were shot that way.

.—By the way….I’m trying to figure out who plays Felix’s wife in the series (her appearance in the clip was way too brief for me to tell).  I do like the ‘refreshing’ team of Sam Lee pairing up with Felix to solve cases though – now that’s a collaboration we haven’t seen before.

.—All in all, I will probably still watch this because of Felix, but so far, the ‘premiere’ segment wasn’t really too exciting for me.

Police Boundaries (警界線)

 My Comments: 

.—The 11 minute opening segment that they showed of this series was AWESOME!!  I was at the edge of my seat practically the entire time and felt like it went by way too quickly (honestly, it felt more like 5 minutes than 11…).  This has actually been the number one anticipated HKTV series for me since it was announced last year and sure enough, the opening segment didn’t disappoint.

.—Love Liu Kai Chi (he’s one of my all-time favorite veteran green leaf actors), so I’m definitely thrilled that he has such a heavy role in this series (he’s definitely one of the leads and in most of the rundowns, his name is even listed first!  Yay!).  He was witty and cool in the opening segment and by the looks of it, his character is going to be a very interesting one (and no, doesn’t look like he’ll be playing the villain this time).

.—The ‘funniest’ scene for me so far was the one at the convalescent home (yay, Yu Mo Lian is back…haha!).  Loved the interaction between Mo Lian Jie (missed her acting too), Philip Keung, and Liu Kai Chi in that scene (sorry, but I’m not sure who the other woman was in that scene).

.—Too bad that Leila Tong wasn’t in the opening clip (didn’t see Felix Lok or Annie Liu either) – but ah well…she’s one of the main characters so most likely she will show up in the first or second episode.

.—There wasn’t a whole lot of scenes with Dominic Lam either, though he’s also one of the main characters – but the few scenes he was in were definitely very intense…he didn’t have any dialogue, yet just seeing those scenes play out was already enough to give me a sense that there would be something up with his character somehow (and we find out what that ‘something’ is at the end of the clip).

.—Oh and I have to say that I absolutely did not recognize Lawrence Chou at all, even though he had majority of the screen time in the first 11 minutes (not surprising, since the last time I saw him in something was like over 10 years ago!).  He looks so much more mature than how I last remembered him – in any case, he did a great job in the opening segment and really brought out the emotional intensity of the first segment. 

.—As for the woman who played Lawrence’s wife (girlfriend?) in the first segment, of course I had no clue who she was (I know her name is Joman Chiang, but that’s about it), but so far, I’m impressed by her performance (I think this is her very first TV series…if so, then wow….)

.— Lastly, I absolutely must give kudos to the filming techniques for this series – the entire time, I felt like I was watching a movie rather than a TV series.  Oh and I definitely have to mention the scene at the piano recital involving Lawrence, Joman, and the boy who plays their son (he is super-cute!!) as well as the subsequent ‘flashback’ scene showing the ‘event’ (shootout) that happened ‘one year ago’ – those scenes were very nicely transitioned (kudos to the editing team) and quite clever (not sure about you guys, but when the scene cut back to the recital and they showed what happened to the boy as a result of that awful event, I nearly cried…and of course the ‘shock’ of seeing the ‘culprit’ sitting right there in the audience – intense!)  GIVE ME MORE OF THIS SERIES PLEASE!!!

My Thoughts on CTI’s ‘Sales Presentation and Name Changing’ Ceremony (Part 3) – Feedback on drama series clips

Ok, now that everyone has had a chance to watch the Sales Presentation clips (I mean the actual drama series and variety program clips, not the Sales Presentation show itself), including myself, here’s my feedback on which programs I’m ‘anticipating’ and which ones I will probably ‘pass’ on….


**Note: There’s no special significance to the order in which the drama series are listed – I pretty much listed them based on the order in which the preview clips are shown in the Youtube links.**

Overall feedback: I have to hand it to the CTI/HKTV cast and crew for doing such a great job with the filming and editing of the clips. The high quality filming equipment and techniques really show – the way the preview clips came out, I truly felt that I was watching trailer clips for upcoming Hollywood movies / TV shows!

Due to time constraints, I didn’t actually link any of the series back to the previous posts that I did but if anyone is interested in looking at the cast lists or plot summaries, let me know and I’ll be glad to point you in the right direction.

.****.

Fantasy Love Song 201314 (童話戀曲201314)  [already finished filming]


My Thoughts: This series reminds me of the movie “Chicago” with the whole music / dance theme + love story thing. Anyway, I’m not tremendously fond of the main cast (though I like majority of the supporting cast), but the storyline does sound interesting and the scenery looks absolutely stunning…plus I love musicals – it’s one of my favorite ‘genres’ for one, and two, I haven’t watched a musical in such a long time, so it will be fun to get back into one again. Also, it’s nice to see actual singers in this series (since it’s a ‘musical’ after all) as opposed to actors/actresses ‘pretending’ to sing. Another ‘plus’ is the fact that they got a pretty well-known record producer / songwriter (Mark Lui) to ‘do’ (produce) all the music / songs in this series so at least there’s a bit of ‘name recognition’ there.

Based on what I’ve seen / read so far, this series is definitely on my ‘to watch’ list. Hope the final product lives up to the expectation!


Three Sides of Shape Doctors (三面形醫) [currently filming]

My Thoughts: Definitely interested in this series, since the 3 main leads (John Chiang, Frankie Lam, Wilson Tsui) are among my ‘favorites’ in terms of actors (I like the supporting cast as well). The trailer clip was pretty riveting and the theme is quite refreshing, since very few (if any) HK series explore the subject of plastic surgery in such detail (key word here is ‘HK series’). I know many people said this series is similar to the American drama “Nip/Tuck”, which is probably true, but since I’ve never watched that series, I can’t really comment on this piece of it. The other ‘draw’ with this series is that it will supposedly show real life surgery scenes, though I’m assuming that those scenes will be cut out in the TV version (since the HK audiences are ‘ultra-conservative’ plus there are limitations to what is allowed to be shown on TV based on broadcasting regulations) – so it looks like most of us will need to watch the ‘web version’ of the series in order to get the ‘complete’ viewing experience with this series.

The only thing about this series that I’m not sure about is the fact that it doesn’t have any strong female leads in it (at least none that are familiar to me) – supposedly, Kate Yeung is the ‘female lead’ in this series, but honestly, I have no clue who she is or how her acting is like, so not sure at this point how/ if that is going to affect my ‘viewing experience’ with this series.



Fiery News Catalyst (導火新聞線) [starts filming in 2013]

My Thoughts: This is actually a ‘new’ series that has not been formally announced yet (hence the lack of cast list and series summary) and won’t actually commence filming until 2013. I read a little bit on what this series will be about on Weibo (it’s about the tabloid /newsmagazine reporting industry) and so far, it sounds interesting. Looks like the biggest ‘selling point’ of this series will be Noel Leung playing the part of a ruthless, ethically questionable editor-in-chief a news agency who is willing to go to great lengths for a news story, even if it means harming others in the process -- this type of character is definitely different from the typecasted ‘sweet angelic girl’ roles that Noel usually got when she was at TVB. Noel has always been a ‘decent’ actress to me, so I definitely don’t mind watching her in a series.

The preview trailer for the series was quite gripping with the whole ‘pregnant woman jumping off a building’ scene and the aftermath of that….will definitely be interesting to see what happens. Since the series hasn’t started filming yet, I’m assuming the script isn’t complete yet (that’s one of the big differences between CTI and TVB – filming doesn’t start until a complete script is in hand), which means that the story concept and cast could still change. Anyway, let’s wait and see once more details come out next year (when the series is ‘officially’ announced)…


Still Have Time to Love You Again (還來得及再愛你) [already finished filming]

My Thoughts: Ok, I can already say right now that this series is a ‘skip’ for me, primarily because I can’t stand ‘idol series’ nowadays (I’ve watched quite a few of them in the past and hated them!) plus I’m not a big fan of the vampire theme. Also, the cast of this series is the least ‘appealing’ to me because I barely know any of them (not surprising since this IS an idol series after all, so the main cast consists primarily of youngsters, most of whom are probably newbies).

I know one of the ‘selling points’ of this series is its main lead, Taiwanese actor Danson Tang – sorry, nothing against the guy, but I stopped following Taiwanese entertainment ‘religiously’ years ago, so I have no clue who all the ‘popular’ artists are in Taiwan nowadays. Personally, I had never heard of Danson Tang until CTI/HKTV came along, so to me, whether he is in the series or not doesn’t make a difference – it won’t change my opinion about whether to watch this series or not.


Frightful Century (驚異世紀) [already finished filming]

My Thoughts: This series will also be a definite ‘skip’ for me because, well, I don’t like to watch horror flicks. Ok, fine, I admit I have a ‘weak heart’ and have never been able to ‘tolerate’ that particular genre – way too intense for me! I actually do like the cast of the series and from all the stuff I’ve read, it sounds like the artists had very challenging roles, which means these particular performances could be ‘breakthroughs’ of sorts for them in terms of acting. Unfortunately though, based on the trailer, the series looks way too scary – I actually covered my eyes practically the entire time that I was watching the trailer for the series because the scenes shown were too ‘horrifying’ for me (never did that before!). Ah well – luckily this same cast is in other series as well, so I’ll still get a chance to see them in action elsewhere.


Police Boundaries (警界線) [started filming, continuing in 2013]

My Thoughts: This is definitely one of my most anticipated CTI/HKTV series! I’ve always been somewhat of a ‘fan’ of cop series – that particular theme / genre just never seems to get old, no matter how many times it is ‘re-used’. Based on what I gather from the trailer as well as the series summary, it does sound like the series will deal with the ‘black cop’ concept again, which has pretty much been filmed to death by both TVB as well as the HK movie industry already, so it will be interesting to see what type of different spin HKTV brings to it.

I’m actually very excited about this series because I love the cast – it’s been years since I’ve seen veteran actor Liu Kai Chi on the small screen --he’s been doing movies for more than a decade already, but since I don’t watch HK movies as much now as I used to, I definitely miss seeing him! Oh and Dominic Lam is in this one as well (his name is listed second after Liu Kai Chi’s), along with Leila Tong, Deno Cheung, Lam Lei, Felix Lok, Annie Liu, etc. – a lot of artists I like and enjoy watching! From the trailer, it looks like Liu Kai Chi will play the ‘black cop’ in the series, which means that he will be taking on a villain role again (it’s been years since I’ve seen him in a villain role) and matching wits against Dominic Lam (wonder whether his role will be good guy or villain – or little bit of both?) as well as Lawrence Chou. Can’t wait!

Oh, by the way – all reports indicate that HKTV is going to air this series as their ‘opening series’ – meaning it’s going to be the very first series they air when they finally get their license and ‘open up shop’. At first I was wondering how this was going to work, since the series is still being filmed and isn’t even close to completion yet – but then I remembered that they said they were going to make a movie version of this series first and then the storyline will continue as a TV series…so it looks like they will probably air the movie version (assuming it will probably be a few hours?), then later on follow it up with the actual series (not sure if there will actually be a time lapse in between). Smart choice if you think about it because cop series traditionally fare well with audiences and since it appears from the trailer that there will be quite a few ‘action-packed’ scenes, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a hit with audiences…great way to start off with a bang!


Second Life (第二人生) [already finished filming]

My Thoughts: Based on the trailer and the series summary, sounds like this will be HKTV’s ‘time travel’ series – though unlike the TVB ones, it’s not going to be the obvious ‘ancient time to modern time’ and vice versa type. Instead, the characters are going to remain in the modern world and essentially will ‘travel back in time’ to get a second chance at living their lives differently. It’s supposed to be one of those motivational, life inspiring, feel good type of series….whether the series will actually live up to that remains to be seen.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the cast (though I found most of the artists in here quite tolerable) but I’ll probably watch this series just to see how they do the ‘time travel’ theme – plus there’s a huge music component to this series as well (obviously, since majority of the cast consists of singers), so that will be nice to watch. Oh, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the special ‘concert’ thing that they did for the series – the first time ever where the cast held a live concert (complete with real life audiences) at an actual arena (the Asia Expo Centre) and integrated it into the series….not sure how the editing is going to work or whether the cast will actually be playing the characters in the series or themselves, but it will definitely be interesting to watch!


Brain Opening Detective (開腦儆探) [currently filming]

My Thoughts: Of course this is a ‘must watch’ for me, given the fact that Felix Wong is the lead in the series (obvious Felix fan here…haha!). Other than Felix, the rest of the cast might not be too ‘impressive’ (other than perhaps Sam Lee and Lo Hoi Pang) but I’m ok with that because I already knew going into it that the cast will consist of quite a few ‘newbies’. Besides, it looks like the ‘draw’ of the series (based on the trailer and series summary) will be the storyline more than the cast – the ‘X-Men’ type spin on the traditional investigative / detective storyline sounds really interesting!

Another reason why I’m looking forward to this series is because it’s also the ‘debut’ series for Felix’s real life daughter Adrian Wong – I’m curious to see how her performance will be (though with her parents’ acting genes plus her dad personally ‘teaching’ her on set, can’t be that bad I’m assuming). And for those who might be curious – no, they are NOT playing father / daughter in this series. Oh, and one other interesting ‘tidbit’ about this series: Felix’s ‘other daughter’ is in the series as well….now before anyone gets confused, I’m referring to the actress who played his daughter in TVB’s anniversary series from 2010, Gun Metal Grey – yes, she(Janice Ting) also joined CTI and will be collaborating with Felix again in this series (though not sure about her role). Interesting!


Kung Fu (功夫) [starts filming in 2013]

My Thoughts: Not sure about this one actually, since this series hasn’t been announced yet, so I have no clue in terms of cast and storyline. All I know is that this is the kung fu themed series Yuen Wah mentioned awhile back ago that he would be filming. Not surprisingly, both Sin Ho Ying and Li Ka are featured in the trailer as well (both have martial arts / kung fu backgrounds so of course they would be in this series) – the others who were featured all have some type of martial arts or action hero / heroine background too…so if all of them will be in the cast, then at least the action scenes and the ‘fighting’ will look decently genuine! Die-hard kung fu / martial arts fans will most likely enjoy this series!

For me, I’m actually going to hold off judgment until I found out more about the series, since virtually nothing has been released about this series yet (this is the only series out of the 12 featured where there has been no information whatsoever on Weibo or in the various entertainment news sites – at least none that I’ve been able to find). So let’s wait and see…



Hakka Women (客家女人) [currently filming]

My Thoughts: I have a feeling this is going to be one of the more highly promoted series for HKTV because it stars 2 award-winning actresses: TV Queen (Maggie Cheung) and Movie Queen (Prudence Liew). The two will play sisters who grow up in completely different environments and live very different lives – they are at odds with each other but will be brought back together due to some things that occur. From watching the trailer, I do agree that the series looks a bit on the ‘soapy’ side (meaning ‘soap opera’) – not sure if that’s a good or bad thing….but one thing that the scriptwriter / director ‘promised’ on Weibo (yes, I’ve been following the Weibo accounts of most of the behind-the-scenes people) is that this series will be ‘different’ from the traditional ‘see lai’ (housewife) series that we are used to seeing at TVB (for one, there won’t be a ‘love triangle’ thing between the 2 sisters in the series….good!).

In terms of the rest of the cast – well, it looks like Savio Tsang will have a heavy role in this series (I believe he’s second male lead here?), which is great because it’s been years since he’s had a ‘decent’ role (he pretty much got pushed down to 3rd / 4th line status at TVB…). And even though I have no clue how Poon Chan Leung’s acting will be since he’s a theater actor and I obviously can’t watch stageplays due to not living in HK, I read that he’s won quite a few awards in the theater world, so the ‘credentials’ are definitely there. The rest of the supporting cast is made up of actors and actresses that I’m familiar with (and grew up watching) as well, so that’s definitely another ‘plus’ for me. I’ll probably keep this one on my ‘watch’ list, at least based on what I’ve read and seen so far…


Age of Housing Passion (歲月樓情) [starts filming in 2013]

My Thoughts: From a casting perspective, this series is probably the most ‘heavyweight’ one out of all the series -- let’s see, there’s TV King Ha Yu and Movie Queen Paw Hee Ching (2 excellent, award-winning veteran artists) plus Felix Wong (haven’t seen him and Ha Yu collaborate in a series since like back in the 80s), Savio Tsang, and Lam Lei. On the actress side, there’s Emily Kwan (whom I haven’t seen in a long time) and Leila Tong (this is probably her 3rd series now with HKTV?) – both of whom will have some type of relationship with Felix in the series (if I read correctly that is). Hmmm – Felix and Leila….interesting pairing!

Anyway, since this series has not been officially announced yet either and there is no series / plot summary available yet, can’t really tell what the series will be about based on the short trailer. But with the strong cast (and Felix of course…LOL!), this one is also on my ‘watch’ list….at least for now!

Follow up Post: Details on 3 Additional CTI Series Announced Recently

Recently (a couple days ago), CTI held a press conference announcing the newest series that the company will start filming soon (a medical drama starring Frankie Lam and John Chiang). This is actually the 6th series that has been officially announced, with more to be announced in the upcoming months/weeks (2 more I know of for sure is Felix Wong's series with his daughter Adrian and also Maggie Cheung's series with Prudence Liew).

I actually posted a little bit about the first 3 series that CTI had announced awhile back ago (you can read about those 3 series here)...but now with more series being announced (and the 'revelation' of more artists who have joined CTI), I figured it would be an appropriate time to post a ‘followup’ detailing the remaining 3 series that have already been announced -- including the official plot summaries and cast lists that were released during the press conferences that were held for each series. I decided to do this post partly for those whom I've been discussing CTI's series with in forums and on my blog (you know who you are...LOL!), but also partly for myself, since there is so much information out there now that it's easy to get confused.

Hope this provides a bit of clarification (and insight) as to what CTI has in store for HK audiences when they finally 'open their doors' sometime next year (depending on when the government decides to issue their license).

Also, due to some discussions I’ve had with various people over the past few months, I felt the need to clarify a few things...

For the record, the reason why I’ve been posting a lot of stuff about CTI on my blog is NOT because I support CTI (because to be honest, I really can't 'support' them right now because 1) they're too new and I don't have enough info / history to go off of yet and so I refuse to blindly support a person / company until I know more, and 2) I still have some reservations about the company and its chairman Ricky Wong) nor is it because I want to see the downfall of TVB....[sure, I criticize TVB alot -- probably to the point of being annoying to some people -- but that's because my family and I have supported TVB for more than 3 decades and it pains me to see how 'far from the tree' they have fallen, so my constant 'constructive' criticism is my last ditch attempt to hopefully pound some sense into the (lame) management over there before they run the station to the ground (some people feel they already have)].

Rather, I post about CTI and its series because 1) they’re pretty much the only one out of the three stations that are actually filming series right now, and 2) as a long-time follower / supporter of the HK television industry in general, I'm disappointed with how much the industry has deteriorated and strongly feel that in order for the industry to 'get back on its feet', (healthy) competition is definitely necessary because, well, competition drives improvement (yes, that's the business person in me talking again...). So essentially, I guess you could say that I support the overall cause of having new free-to-air TV stations in HK because I want to see the industry flourish again. Some people may think that this is wishful thinking on my part (which I'm ok with), but I'm actually looking forward to the day when all the TV stations can co-exist together and produce quality programming for us viewers -- after all, isn't that what a TV station at its core should ultimately be about?

Anyway, here are the details on 3 more series that CTI has announced over the past 2 months -- filming has already started on all 3 series:

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The Second Life (第二人生)

Copy Editors: Lee Yee Wah (李綺華) and Suen Ho Ho (孫浩浩)
Main Director: Chan San Hap (陳新俠)

Filming Dates: July 2012
Length: 15 episodes

Cast: Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍), Terence Yin (尹子維), Bondy Chiu (趙學而), Joey Tang (鄧建明), Patrick Lui (雷有暉), Ann Ho (何紫綸), Maria Chen (陳霽平), Samuel Kwok (郭峰), Anita Chan (陳穎妍), Bonnie Wong (黃文慧), Wong Ching (王青), Mannor Chan (陳曼娜), Nick Chong (莊兆麟), Emily Wong (王歌慧), Ricksen Tam (譚晴), Wong Mei Kei (黃美棋), Cherry Pau (鮑康兒), Chan On Ying (陳安瑩), Jim Bing Hei (詹秉熙), Annie Cheung (張雅麗), Joyce Giann Wong (黃瑩), etc

Plot Summary:
After living for several decades, when one has reached middle age, we start to complain about the pressures and failures that we’ve experienced and regret those ‘missed opportunities’ from the past. But for someone who doesn’t have any dreams or aspirations, what is the point of living a life of such uselessness? The series will explore how the main characters, while going through a low period in their lives, will encounter a situation that gives them the opportunity to change history – however, once the history is changed, they discover that their lives did not become better than it was before. This makes them realize that instead of constantly fretting about the past, why not seize the opportunities they have presently and live life to the fullest?

Additional Notes: This is one of those ‘tales of encouragement’ series that will explore various relationships between siblings, family, friends, and lovers.

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Police Boundaries (警界線)

Creative Producer: Chu King Kei (朱鏡祺)
Copy Editor: Lau Siu Kuan (劉小群)
Main Director: So Man Chong (蘇萬聰)

Filming Dates: Mid-July (movie) / Mid-October (TV series)
Length: 21 Episodes

Cast:  Liu Kai Chi (廖啟智), Dominic Lam (林嘉華), Leila Tong (唐寧), Lawrence Chou (周俊偉), Joman Chiang (蔣祖曼), Annie Liu (廖安麗), Philip Keung (姜皓文), Crystal Leung (梁寶琪), Lui Hei (呂熙), Deno Cheung (張松枝), Cheng Ka Sheng (鄭家生), Felix Lok (駱應鈞), Lam Lei (林利), Yu Mo Lian (余慕蓮), Luk Chun Kwong (陸駿光), etc.

Plot Summary: 
Haivng a clear separation between black and white, placing heavy emphasis on discipline – both are the most important ‘boundaries’ for a cop. But if those boundaries are broken through and cops collaborate with crooks, the investigative process as well as the probability of cracking the case becomes limitlessly greater. A 12 year undercover agent living on the edge, a hot-tempered cop who once broke out of jail after he was framed for crime, a ‘King of Robbers’ who was once jailed for a crime he didn’t commit and now specializes in robbing crooks, a ‘spinster’ female cop who had never fired a single shot in her life and relies on her wits as well as life experiences to ‘figure out’ criminals, a fugitive from the law who is obsessed with female cops but always puts righteousness ahead of all else, and finally a high-ranking female officer who is also a military weapons expert – together, they will match wits as well as match strength. Out of this will come not only love, hate, and sparks, it will also break all boundaries – joining forces to crack cold cases and locate criminals, it creates an entirely different battlefield. Through blood, tears, life, and death, these most ‘hot-blooded’ of cops and criminals manifest the brilliance of human nature, leaving behind one touching, heart-stopping story after another.

Additional Notes: The series will technically be 20 episodes, as the first episode will be a movie that sets up the scene and the story will continue on in the TV series. Also, CTI’s chairman Ricky Wong specially arranged for all the artists participating in this series to take lessons at a real life firing range using real guns.

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Three Sided Face Doctors (三面形醫) [Not official English title]

Copy Editor: Choi Ting Ting
Screenwriters: Sin Siu Ling, Man Kin Fai, Ho Lo Yan
Main Director: Kwan Shu Ming

Filming Dates: September
Length: 20 Episodes

Cast:  Frankie Lam (林文龍), John Chiang (姜大衛), Wilson Tsui (艾威), Kate Yeung (楊淇), Sam Chan (陳宇琛), Leanne Ho (何思諺), Lesley Chiang (姜麗文), Rain Lau (劉玉翠), Benji Chiang (姜文杰), Queenie Chan (陳莉敏), Rachel Lam (林熹瞳), Lee Cheuk Ling (李卓寧), Yetta Tse (謝珊珊), Deno Cheung (張松枝), Carlos Chan (陳家樂), Yan Ng (吳日言), Maria Chen (陳霽平), Philip Keung (姜皓文), Wong Gwan Bun (黃冠斌) , Damon Law (羅貫峰), etc.

Plot Summary:
Humans are naturally born to love beauty. Alot of people put on makeup, do beauty treatments, some even opt for plastic surgery -- but there are probably not many people who are willing to look directly into a mirror and comfortably, naturally, peel away their glamorous 'outer skin' and reveal the rawest, most hidden side of themselves. That's why all along, doctors are only able to heal our physical bodies, but not our hearts. Ultimately, the 'root cause' of alot of illnesses does not stray far from what we call 'humanity' (renxing)!

Utilizing the story of a plastic surgeon joining a franchised medical treatment conglomerate as basis and adding in a 'discussion' of a few recent controversial 'hot topics', the series will attempt to critique the value system of mainstream modern society in the hopes of inspring the general public to reflect on the definition of 'beauty' and how it relates to their own value system. At the same time, it hopes to be the 'voice' for different levels of people in society and thereby resonate with audiences.

Additional Notes about series:   Through the story of doctors and their patients as well as the various inner and outer conflicts that a medical treatment conglomerate experiences, hope to demonstrate the 'real' side of humanity.  This will be the first series in HK television history to present the 'true face' of medical surgeries.  There will be a television version as well as a web version of the series -- the web version will reveal the real life process involved in plastic surgeries.