Scans of Next Magazine (Jessica's part)
Congrats to the lovely Jessica Hsuan for placing 2nd in Next Magazine's annual TV Award. Yay! For a complete list of this year's winners, please visit
here. Very very surprise that Raymond Lam isn't on the list. Even Ron Ng or Bowie Lam or Gigi Lai! Shocker! Anyways, here's some scans from Next Magazine, mainly just Jessica Hsuan's part. Translations may come later! Enjoy!
Credits & Scanned by: Mrs. Luk @ Jessica Hsuan's Forum
"Best Selling Secret," an equivalent to "Virtues...?"
Spring Break was this past week for me. Didn’t really do anything special. Went to work, hung out w/ friends, and most importantly had the time to start up a new series. hehe… =D Currently on my playlist: “Slicing of the Demons” but in-between, I am also keeping up w/ the latest airing sitcom “Best Selling Secrets” 《同事三分親》. BSS has aired for 2 weeks already w/ 11 episodes released. First week’s ratings averaging about 30 pts, not too shabby. While the 2nd week dropped 4 pts, averaging about 26 pts! That’s a huge drop from its debut week, but will this last?
I read from forums that many are getting weary w/ BSS already. Can’t really blame them for it. Well first off, this sitcom isn’t entirely funny. Sort of…like dry humor funny. If you get it, you get it. If not, then…(shrugs) you just don’t. Occasionally, I find myself cracking a smile, while the rest of the time, I just sit there and watch it religiously despite how ridiculous some parts may be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m liking this sitcom. 20 minutes flies by just like that (snaps)! But I just wish the storyline could improve a bit more. Hopefully I’ll be surprise in the weeks to come.
Last minute thoughts: Does this sitcom remind anyone of “Virtues of Harmony II?” Both series on parts, revolves around the office area, the bickering/teasing of colleagues, family life, etc. etc. Even some casts’ personality from BSS are based from VOH!
Examples are: Roger Wong Sheung (played by Lau Daan) in replace by Geoffrey Wong Chi Hung (aka Vincent in the sitcom). Both men are the head of their companies respectively, easy to get along with, and are players type of men.
VOH had the very funny Athena Man Gwai Fei played by Stephanie Che, while BSS has the serious and manipulative, Diana Dai On Na played by Alvina Kong. Both ladies are hated by every employee under them, and is able to manipulate situations in favor to them, especially in Roger/Vincent's perspective.
Final thoughts over "Devil's Disciples"
*Warning: May contain spoilers to the series.*Finished watching Devil’s Disciples (強劍) this past weekend. Like everyone else, I wasn’t please w/ its ending at all. What in the world was w/ the dancing and the singing at the end?!! lol…my gosh…this series started pretty nicely; funny & addictive to watch. But the more episodes I finished, everything went downhill from there! I say starting around episode 3, it goes bad. Storyline, cast, ending, etc. etc. Blah!
The Pairings:
Originally, I thought I the pairing of Bernice & Bosco would be cute and fresh, but somehow their chemistry just didn’t work. It was sorta…weird? Bernice looks too mature for Bosco in my opinion. mmm… =/ Although, I would love for them to end up together at the end, but when that didn’t happen (one of the major shockers of the series), I wasn’t as disappointed as I originally predicted. But definitely, my sympathy goes toward Bernice. Poor her...and Shirley Yeung, too. (all Bosco's fault!)
Kevin & Sharon’s relationship developed very nicely, surprisingly. Their chemistry clicked! Even though this was their… 3rd? time collaborating (was a couple in “Trimming Success” and “Better Halves”), I’m going to give all credits to Sharon’s character, Mok Mun on why I like them so much. Sharon’s character was the most interesting out of the whole cast! She’s supposedly the semi-evil villain, but we loved and pity her from the beginning to the end. If TVB airs DD later in the year, Sharon Chan is high on my list for winning the Most Improved Actress award at the anniversary. (sorry, Bernice, performance wasn’t as great)
Did you noticed or was it just me?:Did you guys noticed that in the first couple of episodes there was some scenes of Bosco’s that relates to some of his previous series, the memorable parts.
1.) “War of the In-Laws” episode 1 = “Devil’s Disciples” episode 1The amusing opener for WOIL where Bosco’s “Ling Mau Chun” character had to participate and climb to the top of stack chairs to win the hand of girl in marriage. Bosco’s “Sing Fung” character had to do the same stunt, but the reward is money instead. Both series, Bosco was forced/persuaded by his mother to participate.
2.) “Under the Canopy of Love” episode 2 = “Devil’s Disciples” episode 3First time Bosco and Kevin’s collaborating together was in last year’s “Under the Canopy of Love” series. For those who saw the series, remember how they met? lol…if you guys don’t, it was at the gym and in the sauna. Scene similar to in DD’s where the 2 had to stay overnight dipped in freezing water as a punishment. A complete change in temperature but the same humorous effect, don’t you think? ;-)
Expectations on TVB's newest airing series?
Today, TVB officially released couple of new series to everyone's delight (myself included; Yay!) either overseas or airing on Jade Channel. Just sharing some of my expectations/thoughts from the synopsis I read of each. =)
After being cramped up inside a "house" for so long, its about time we take a breath of fresh air and go back to the office life shall we. Replacing "Welcome to the House's" time slot on Jade channel @ 8 is the new sitcom: "Best Selling Secrets" (同事三分親), starring Esther Kwan, Alvina Kong, Elaine Kam, Stephen Au, Vin Choi, Angela Tong, etc.
Before I read the actual synopsis for this series, I was absolutely excited about its airring? Why? Its the debut of Esther Kwan returning to TVB after 7 years! Can it get any better than that?! Also, this series also marks Alvina Kong's return to acting. With these 2 actresses starring in a series, hands down, I'll definitely be interested in watching it. However, after reading the synopsis, hesitation does occur. This series lacks some attraction on its storyline. And it also in need of a dominant male lead that could be pair up to either Esther or Alvina (the same problem "Women on the Run" had during its short run as a TVB sitcom). Real interested on how well this series would go from there.
This series also marks the debut of Elaine Kam after hopping over from ATV to here. Personally, I don't like her. But that may be a bit to harsh since I'd only seen her in one series: Central Affairs II (情陷夜中环 2). Her character in CA2 was awful! And a little annoying, too. Hopefully this series would change my thoughts about her.
*crosses fingers*
"Life Art" (寫意人生 ) replaces "Best Bet's" time slot @ 9:30 pm today; starring veteran actor, Paul Chun, along w/ Kevin Cheng, Gigi Lai, Queenie Chu (her debut series), Astrid Chan, etc. "Best Bet" really did bad on its ratings over the past couple of weeks. Is it because it aired so late in the evening? Or did everyone got tired of Linda's pitching voice? hmm...lets see if Gigi can make a difference in her ratings.
"Supposedly," LA is a comedy stated by Kevin, but I don't see any humor reflecting on the storyline. More like a short 20 epis series regarding life, inspiration, and hope. For some odd reason, when I think of this series, it reminds me a lot of TVB's 2001 series: "Invisible Journey" (彩色世界), starring Jessica Hsuan, Bowie Lam, Joyce Tang, Raymond Cho, etc. Jess and Gigi, because of an accident, has to readjust their lives to continue on in society in a positive attitude (Jess was blind; Gigi lost usage of right hand). Bowie and Kevin's character lives in a fast pace life and after meeting their optimistic female lead, they completely change. And of course, the girlfriends, Joyce (Bowie's) & Queenie (Kevin's), who comes in to make the storyline more complicated. Same...same...
Newest series release overseas is "The Slicing of Demons" ( 凶城計中計), starring Sunny Chan, Michael Tse, Bernice Liu, Angela Tong, etc. What is up w/ TVB! My gosh! 2 series in row released overseas of Bernice's! I shouldn't be complaining, since its in my favor, but still. Poor Bernice. hmph!
TSOD's storyline sounds very complicated for my little & simple mind to probably comprehend, but the cast does looks tempting for me watch after DD. Sunny pairing up w/ Bernice, Michael and Sunny are bff. hmm...simple enough for now. Wonder what Angela's character has to do w/ anything in this series, as she is now one of the main leads. One of the main things that attracted me to this series, besides Bernice, is this quote: "A man's heart is past finding out. You never know who is your real enemy" (TVB program highlights). Very mysterious and suspenseful. lol...just this quote itself is enough to make me paranoid of the people around me! hehe...anyways, it's sounds like a major spoiler of series, but still: can't wait! =)
TVB Square's Avatar Contest
Wow! Time flies by so fast these days. On the 27th of this month,
TVB Square (aka TVFansquare) will officially be celebrating its 5th birthday w/ us! Yay! And to make it even more special, TVB Square (Ying) started an avatar contest for TVB fans to have a little fun and an opportunity to show off your artistic capabilities. =)
Rules for the contest:1. You can submit as many entries as you wish, but all the avatars have to be designed by you.
2. The avatar size should be 100 x 100, animation is optional.
3. All entries must sent to
tvbsquare@gmail.comDeadline: March 25, 2007
Ten Brothers: Is it that good?
Sidney's little ramble: "Hi guys! So sorry! It's already the 6th of March, and I'm now making my first post of the month! Eeks! Truly slacking off around here. But I have an excuse! First off, my router is still down at home, so my time online is very limited. Don't really like hanging around campus too long if I don't have class or work to go to. (sigh) What a hassle for me to go through just to check my emails, submit homework, post on blog, etc. etc."
Anyways, TVB's current airing series, "Ten Brothers" (十兄弟) seems to be doing a fantastic job in keeping up w/ it ratings; achieving an average of 34 pts and peaking at 37 pts. That's beating the very promoted series, "Best Bet" (迎妻接福) by a mile! And it was previously a warehouse series, too! lol...funny, interesting and pretty impressive.
I haven't had the the chance to watch TB yet when it first came out overseas. But then again, I didn't really want to. For most parts, it was because I'm not a real fan of all the extra computer graphics added (one of the downfalls I found in DD currently), plus the costumes of the cast looking a bit odd. However, since the ratings are so high and I heard numerous praises for it, should I change my opinion and give it a try after I finish "Devil's Disciples?"
"Ten Brother", I believe, is the only series left of TVB starring Kenix Kwok. Since it's doing so well, I really can't help but notice that Kenix's status w/ TVB and the HK viewers in general are relatively still strong despite not seeing her for so long (Kenix's last aired series was "A Pillowcase of a Mystery;" almost exactly 1 yr. ago). When compared her to the recent aired TVB series, "The Brink of Law" w/ the new generation fai daans: Bernice Liu, Shirley Yeung, & Kate Tsui, & the currently series: "Best Best" w/ Linda Chung, Kenix's series can really surpass them all! Ratings? Yup! Acting? Umm...I'm pretty sure, yes on that, too. lol...however, when compared to Jessica Hsuan's "Dicey Business," they're about equal, don't you think? ;-)
