TVB Shelves 5 Low Quality Dramas from Broadcast
Aside Lord of Shanghai <梟雄>, many of TVB’s series in 2015 were not very well received. Due decline in the station’s ratings, TVB CEO Mark Lee (李寶安) withdrew a total of five series from this year’s broadcast lineup. The series include: No Reserve <巾幗梟雄之諜血長天>, Rogue Emperor <流氓皇帝>, Come With Me <性在有情>, Watch Out Boss <波士早晨>, and The Last Healer in Forbidden City <末代御醫>.
The majority of these series were highly publicized, with The Last Healer in Forbidden City potentially Tavia Yeung’s (楊怡) final series at TVB. No Reserve was also one of Myolie Wu’s (胡杏兒) final productions.
Although it is not fully clear as to why the five dramas were pulled, it is speculated to be due to the politics between TVB upper management. With Catherine Tsang (曾勵珍) losing favor, Mark Lee and Assistant General Manager Felix To (杜之克) decided to scrap the worst five series filmed the last year, although the projects cost over $75 million HKD to produce.
Observing the popularity of Fan Bingbing’s (范冰冰) The Empress of China <武媚娘傳奇> in Hong Kong, Felix To decided to purchase a variety of Mainland series to air during its primetime hours, including Wu Xin: The Monster Killer <無心法師>.
In response to the executive decisions, Rogue Emperor star Kenneth Ma (馬國明) shrugged, “It hasn’t been set in stone yet so I don’t have a response.”
Sharon Chan (陳敏之) on the other hand expressed, “I haven’t heard about this, but I’m the lead actress in [Come With Me]. It would be a shame if it didn’t air. But as an artiste – I can’t help it. I will respect the decisions of the company.”
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
HOW IS ROGER AND TAVIA’S DRAMA A LOW QUALITY DRAMA????? it’s one of my most anitcipated drama for this year!!!! UGHHHHH tvb airing so many mainland dramas instead of tvb dramas.
@hkeni A strong cast does not mean a thing if the storyline sucks.
@anon
Very well said and that is what I always tell everyone but sadly everyone just blindly goes for the cast and disregards everything else such as the storyline which is way more important.
@hetieshou if storyline is all that matter, there is no need to promote any actor/actress.
Hollywood will not be paying sinful sum of money for A-list actors and actresses
The Lead and the storyline plays equal part
@hkeni GOSH. low quality drama? starring roger, or kenneth or wayne lai? does it mean that the dramas which are aired now are of high quality? they are all 2nd line actors.
@hkeni potentially Tavia’s last drama… If Tavia also does not renew her contract with TVB it will be a sad day.
You mean Love As A Predatory Affair is high quality? You mean that Wuxin series that nobody heard of is high quality?
Come on TVB! Rubbish Rubbish! If you buy Journey Of Flower I understand. What an absolute BS.
@funnlim Exactly I’m disappointed they didn’t shelve Love As A Predatory Affair.
@lileric AGREE!
@funnlim good question,if they prefer laapa above no reserve and other drama’s with good cast it should certainly be a strong story,im curious now.and if isnt a good serie then they are on the wrong way again.
@funnlim
I wonder if Tvb will buy Journey of Flower? I think if they do not, it may be because the more complete version is not out(if it ever comes out anyways). But if not,I think there is a good chance they will buy it. Let’s see….
@hetieshou if Taiwan is not most complete then there isn’t one, so far haven’t heard that it is. Perhaps overseas dvd. Shld tvb buy? Yes since it is guaranteed ratings hit. The story will be a hit for hk audience. Will they buy? It could be expensive so maybe no. There will be cuts because hk audience are pretty conservative and jof is pretty shocking in parts. Likelihood of that betty sun series being bought is higher since it is similar to empress of china. Curious though dubbed k drama never at prime time?
I was looking forward to that tavia series and some others and since tvb seems wuxin a foreign productions of unknowns,of higher quality it shows how much taste they have and what sort of support they give to own production.
@funnlim I had read that TVB did buy Journey of Flower as well as Nirvana in Fire (that’s what Mark Lee said at least) but haven’t figured out when they are going to air them. By the looks of it, hard to say whether they are going to air on their regular Jade Channel, as they’ve got a few new channels they are planning to roll out this year, so they might use that as a way to push those channels.
@llwy12 I certainly hope TVB bought Nirvana in Fire – it was hands down the best mainland drama of 2015 followed closely by The Disguiser (which TVB will never air because it promotes the communist party – please don’t let that fact put anyone off watching it, the script, acting and filming are superb and was one of the highest rated dramas of the year). Journey of Flower had high ratings but is not very good and actually got bashed a lot.
@phixster Well, Mark Lee claims that TVB bought the rights to those series, but we probably won’t know until they actually air it….though there’s also the possibility that they are going to do their own post-production/editing of the series (as they usually do with the series they buy), so we’ll have to see how that turns out (and how much of the original series gets ‘lost’ in the editing). If the series is controversial, they could always avoid making a big deal out of it by airing those series on their paid channels。
Anyway, don’t be surprised if TVB focuses more on Mainland this year, as management had already mentioned last year that’s the direction they’re heading. Also, TVB originally had plans to expand their studio in Tseung Kwan O and had even obtained some land there in preparation for it, but looks like they are foregoing that now, as Mark Lee mentioned that they are planning on giving that land back (not sure to whom) and building the additional studio in Guangdong (China) instead, as they feel that location is better suited to filming the HK/Mainland collaboration series that they have plans for.
@funnlim totally agree! what is this Wuxin??
@funnlim I personally feel that Wuxin had a higher production value than Journey of Flower. It may be because my expectations were too high for the latter since Wallace is my favorite actor, but the editing and special effects (and especially the plotline) of Journey of Flower fell short. Wuxin, on the other hand, was unexpectedly great. You should give it a try first and you may end up liking it.
will they be buying the excellent Nirvana in Fire?
@msxie0714 maybe, if it is cheaper. But I am not sure hk audience will warm,up to nirvana on fire which is slower paced
Lol tvb politics is killing tvb
The 5 shelved series all sound like interesting series especially ‘No Reserve’, ‘The Last Healer’ and ‘Rouge Emperor’. A pity TVB decide to shelve them. At least release them to overseas audience. I want to see ‘No Reserve’.
‘No Reserve’ was produced by Lee Tim Shing. Even the worst LTS’s series maintain a certain standard. How can it be of low quality?
I think it’s just politics. Either the stars or the producers of the series has left the company/decide not to renew contract, so TVB shelve their series.
@kidd
Good points and I remember back in the days, Tvb used the excuse that a series was low quality even if it wasn’t just to shelve a series. In some cases,it was because the stars refused to renew their contracts,leave the company,etc… and other similar reasons. As we all know,Tvb is very petty.
@kidd I want to watch “Rouge Emperor”
Who decided that the pulled dramas are low class???? When it have big cast, big budget??? So why was it being approved to be produced in the first place???? Isn’t tvb slapping it’s own face now??? Damn tvb. Pui.
oh wow!! its either because myolie and tavia are no longer in favor with tvb, along with niki(?)(where has she been lol) That those dramas have be removed or maybe tvb is saving it for ‘MyTv’ – their online thing.
Well in the past warehoused series have been broadcasted overseas before…maybe we Australians here will be lucky? 😛
@yummiki24
I have noticed that most warehoused series are released overseas so hopefully the overseas audience can still enjoy them.
@hetieshou so off topic but since i was busy with the holidays and cant reply to our old chat, i’ll just say i havent listened to enough Taiwanese/Mainland China singers to give you on exact answer but yes, i do like Ma Tianyu’s voice also. Now that i have that answered, i feel better now lol….
as for being on topic, TVB is infamous for promoting crap and deleting potential good dramas so this is not anything “shocking” to me.
It may be boring to Mr. CEO but not to others. Since they already made the dramas might as well broadcast it lol.
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TVB dramas are all crap lately, Lord of Shanghai was the last
Series that i’ve watched from start to finish
Hoping that No Reserve 3 would be released by now
The series lined up for 2016 is not looking good.
I hope this is not true as I was looking forward to Last healer!! Grrrr TVB why are you screwing with people again!
@happybi I was looking forward to watching this series too…
What?? I was looking forward to the LHOTFC with roger and tavia …….. the plot sounds way better the LAAPA and the other cooking drama .
Looks like there is very little dramas to look forward for this year 🙁
WTH…… how is the following 5 series low quality drama i’ve been expecting to watch the Rogue of Emperor and the Last Healer of the forbidden city?????
They wanna loose all the ppls watching TVB dont they!!!!
Plus they are kinda killing the station when they keep airing mainland dramas instead of TVB series!!! This is so upsetting ArrgggggggggggHHHH
TVB is actually shelving dramas that could increase the ratings. Hopefully all good actors and actresses leave, so TVB can beg them to come back and give them the respects they deserved! The only way for TVB to get back very good ratings ( 35 and above ) is by getting back people like Michael Tse, Bowie Lam, Raymond Lam, Kate Tsui, Fala Chen, Michael Tao, Sheren Tang, Louise Lee, Joe Ma, Ha Yu, and many more! Rather than heavily promoting artists who are still too inexperienced to lead in dramas. Artists like Moses Chan, Tavia Yeung are leaving soon. They’d better do something about it or else they’re gonna see their own company crumble.
Plus, TVB should watch back their 2008-2012 series where getting ratings of at least 35 was no big deal at all. The scripts back then were amazing! You don’t see ‘family’ genre nowadays. Series like The Rippling Blossom, Moonlight Resonance, The Mysteries Of Love are so good to watch. Better than LAAPA, or the executioner.
@boychanging AGREED!!!
“Felix To decided to purchase a variety of Mainland series to air during its primetime hours”
So, they want to become the next ATV?
TVB drama’s are not the same as in the past anymore, a lot of the current TVB drama’s have lead actors that can’t act at all, one reason is because they don’t have much experience.
Besides, there will be new HK TV channels this year, I am expecting TVB ratings will drop below 20 points because of this competiton.
K-drama’s are much better in quality (dubbed in Cantonese or with Chinese subtitles), my parents are watching K-drama’s these days instead of TVB drama’s.
@mtt84 Same here.. got my parents to watch KDrama.. now they love it. As it’s not too long.. lots of eye candies and the stories are better. Now they understand why we stay up to early morning to watch drama sometime.. as they are going through the same stage as us. ehheheheheh
@happybi
Don’t know how you guys can tolerate the Cantonese-dubbed K-drama’s. The voice actors are god awful. I rather watch with subs.
@anon I can’t tolerate it either. I watch with English sub as I like hearing the original voice of the actors. But for my parents, I try to find those with Cantonese dub as it’s harder for them to watch with Chinese sub. as sometime the sub move really fast and they are not used to catching up like us yet. Some is actually not that bad.. the one that was dub by tvb are ok… only when I can’t find the Cantonese dubbed one or if they want to watch something sooner, that I find them the one with Chinese subtitles. My Mom is a huge fan of So Ji Sub these days. ehheheheheh It’s so cute!
To be honest No Reserve was warehoused a long time ago, as they didn’t know what to do with it, and scared that the audience would respond negatively to it.
Now that Myolie is gone, now they have a bigger excuse (they will lie about it) not to show it at all.
As for Tavia, can sort’ve assume that she is not renewing, I’m not guranteeing that, though you can sort see who TVB is promoting heavily.
Love As A Predatory Affair is crap and should’ve been shelved.
If I wanted to watch mainland drama I would turn on the china drama channel.
I’d rather they air some mainland drama and shelve their own dramas, I must say. TVB isn’t known for great ancient productions anymore and although Empress of China was a slow-paced series, it was more refreshing to watch with the people, costumes, scenery, etc. I can’t understand Mandarin fully and only if TVB purchase the series and airs it, the series won’t be dubbed in Cantonese. Reading English subs just isn’t my thing.
This is actually old news….the newest information from Mark Lee is that those 5 dramas aren’t truly being ‘warehoused’ but rather have been ‘chosen’ to air on the new myTV Super channel that TVB is creating, which will be a subscription-based channel available only to viewers who pay a fee to access. Of course, how true that is remains to be seen, since that channel hasn’t been rolled out yet, but logic-wise none of what TVB does nowadays makes much sense anyway. Mark Lee said in an interview a few days ago that the reports about those 5 dramas being ‘pulled’ are false and that they are simply doing additional post-production on those dramas to prepare them for airing on the new channel.
@llwy12
i hope you’re correct
Kdramas are actually more watchable than tvb dramas recently. Putting these 5 series on mytv subscription channel is a lack confidence in these dramas as tvb not willing to risk it on thrir main free channel.
wow hope its not true! i want more HK based drama. Future of TVB probaly be like 80% mainland china drama and 20% local HK drama. *sadface
if tvb starts to show mainland or noncantonese dramas even if it is dubbed into cantonese, that’s going make me have nothing to watch. i don’t like noncantonese drama, even dubbed b/c it ‘s so uncanny. the words, sentence structures, and idioms is totally lacking.
Rogue emperor is out? Omg must watch. Where can I watch it?? (Niki fan)
@mi88 me too! I soooooooooooo want to watch it!
Seeing that ‘Monster Killer’ only get an average of 22 points, it did no better than the average TVB drama. So, the CEO’s (and his assistant) taste is also not in tune with HK audience.
@kidd Mark Lee has not been in tune with HK audiences since day one when he joined TVB about 8 years ago. IMO, one of the worst moves that TVB made was hiring Mark Lee, who has been an accountant most of his life and knows pretty much nothing about managing a TV station (and no, 4 years working for ATV back in the 90s does not count given what that station has become.). All Mark Lee knows how to do is balance the budget and think up ways to cut this and that so as to maximize revenue (at the expense of operations and staff, obviously). I actually blame Uncle Six’s wife Mona Fong for this, as it was her decision as chairman and the one calling the shots back then (plus she’s the one who brought onboard most of the crappy management team from the past 10 to 11 years).
At this rate, TVB will go down quicker than anticipated…but then again, the rest of HK is already in turmoil and the HK entertainment industry is is already being severely impacted (not sure if people have been paying attention to the big ‘shakeups’ at all of HK’s main radio stations –RTHK, CRHK, Metro)…add the issues at ATV to that, plus the recent ‘buy-outs’ of major Media outlets (i.e. the recent sale of SCMP and the imminent transfer in ownership of Ming Pao’s parent company One Media) by Mainland tycoons, the future of ‘pure’ HK entertainment as it was in the past is extremely bleak. Even the new players in the free to air market as well as those who’ve submitted an application pending approval (with the exception of HKTV of course) are all Mainland based or have some type of Mainland backing. Pretty much, the HK entertainment industry as I used to know it is long gone….
@llwy12 It’s unfortunate, but that’s just the way it’s going to be. There’s really nothing HK and its people can do. I know I sound pessimistic, but I am also being realistic.
@llwy12
“plus the recent ‘buy-outs’ of major Media outlets (i.e. the recent sale of SCMP and the imminent transfer in ownership of Ming Pao’s parent company One Media) by Mainland tycoons”
This is sad. No more independence of the press. Well, lets hope these tycoons just in for the money and leave the reporting alone.
I wonder if the ‘We Are Family’ show can survive. The DJs are all supporters of Yellow Ribbons, plus, this is a program for people with alternate preference.
@kidd you know what the problem is with tvb? they are not able to generate a new stream of audience that are willing to sit at home and watch tvb drama’s every night,because their drama’s dont have that drawing power like in the past. instead they are losing more and more core audience by broadcasting several bad drama’s followed by 1 watchable drama’s.
@kolo totally agree with you.
Even anniversary series last year was crap except for Lord of Shanghai. Captain of Destiny was only saved by Ruco Chan acting.
If you look at the line up for 2016, not 1 series is high production really… Brothers Keeper 2 is probably going to be the anniversary series. The other series in production is the legal drama with Alex Fong which looks promising but not sure when that will air.
@mulder99 I so agree….none of the show lined for 2016 is worth much of viewers’ time
TVB only wants to promote new artiste by bombarding us with crappy shows…and those new artiste cant act to save their life, let alone TVB’ ratings
@conan2209 TVB only focus on promoting their popular young artists rather than the veterans. Despite their poor acting skills, TVB would continue to promote them and give them leads roles. There are plenty of outstanding and talented supporting artists such as Mak Ka Lun , Dickson Lee, Eric Li, David Do, Jimmy Au who have been working in TVB for decades, but they never get promoted and received the recognition they deserved. They are still stuck with playing minor roles after all these years. These supporting actors had never been given the same opportunities as others had.