“Season of Love”: Kate Tsui and Ron Ng Find Summer Love
For the past eight years, TVB has exclusively reserved their romantic dramas to broadcast in February, in the midst of the Valentine’s Day atmosphere. This year, TVB chose to broadcast the star-studded Season of Love <戀愛季節>, a 20-episode serial that features four separate story lines.
Due to the Lunar New Year holidays, the first five episodes of Season of Love – titled “Chapter of Spring” – has suffered lukewarm viewership ratings. The first week of episodes reportedly raked in a new low in TVB’s recent prime-time ratings history – an average of 22 points, with approximately 1.41 million viewers tuning in. However, now that the holidays are coming in to a close, ratings are expected to pick back up again this week.
“Chapter of Summer” – Kate
“Chapter of Summer,” which is the theme to this week’s episode, will feature Kate Tsui (徐子珊) as television producer Summer, who is forced to star in her own reality dating show. Four men will be competing each other for her hand in marriage, but Summer will only have eyes on one – the show’s director, CK (Ron Ng 吳卓羲).
“If it’s just for show, then I can handle it,” said Kate in regards to whether or not she is willing to star in a dating show. “It is impossible to rely on these programs to find a husband. I can’t understand why a girl can go out with four guys at the same time. It’s quite far-fetched. We all have our own standards. I do not agree [with Summer], and I can’t handle that many people at the same time. There are limits. If you want to give others a chance, it shouldn’t be like this. It is unfair for them. As for me, I get very serious when it comes to dating.”
Summer bumps into the show’s director CK, who was also her ex-boyfriend. “We are a bickering pair. It has always been like that since our youth. That is how they communicate. In reality, there are many couples who can only communicate through bickering, and we are that type of couple [in the drama]. I am definitely not that type in real life. I do not like to fight, and I am against confrontations. We will often do things we regret in the future when we are not in our calmest times.”
When it comes to her romantic rumors, Kate realized that she rarely finds herself in a rumor with a male TVB costar. “I know my costars will often treat me like a boy. Maybe it’s because I am easy-going and whimsical, but I really don’t want to be their brother! I also like to be taken care of. I am actually a very dependent person. It’s just that I already depend on my makeup artist, hair stylist, and manager, so I don’t need my costars to take care of me. I don’t think I’m that boyish!”
“Chapter of Summer” – Ron
Summer is CK’s first love, but as he could never muster the courage to confess his love to Summer (which would also apparently take a toll on his ego), they eventually drifted apart.
When it comes to recalling his first crush, Ron expressed that he could still remember the feeling of a blooming heart beating rapidly, “I remember that when I was in primary school, I had a crush on a girl who in another class. Whenever I saw her, I got really nervous. I would always try to sneak a peek at her, but I kept all of these feelings to myself. How would we know how to confess to someone when were so young? We were all very innocent back then. I remember I had two classmates who dated, but their ‘dating’ consisted of walking to and from school together. They didn’t even hold hands.
“[My crush] and I ended up going to different high schools. Besides occasional friend gatherings, we would never see each other. I can still remember that feeling of a rapid heartbeat. In the drama, Kate and I will also portray ourselves in high school, and I will bring that feeling to my role.”
Both lead very separate and different lives, Summer and CK finally meet again years later, and ultimately, rediscover their love for each other.
Similar to Kate, Ron also does not see CK’s character to resemble much of himself. “We all grow older. After a certain amount of time, you will start to view things differently. Even if I do meet [my crush] again, I will not see her the same way as I did before. That is why I don’t believe in reconciling with your old love.”
Busy with mainland Chinese dramas, Ron spent very little time in Hong Kong recently. “I don’t even have time for my mom’s soup. How can I find the time to meet girls? It’s hard to find a suitable partner for my job, and it’s even harder to maintain a relationship. Girls would most likely want to have their boyfriends to spend more time with them, but I wouldn’t be able to do that, and I also don’t think I would be able to successfully fulfill my role as a boyfriend, so I choose to concentrate on my work. I don’t want to think about these things right now.”
Source: TVB Magazine #817
- “Season of Love”: Myolie Wu and Kenneth Ma’s Winter Love
- “Season of Love”: Him Law and Toby Leung Discuss Their Love Partners
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Summer is Kate. The other series Summer is Ruco.
They can’t up with a better name huh. They are so awful when they speak English. They can’t even say the name right.
Hong Kong / English
Summa / Summer
Peta / Peter
Wata / Water
Not surprised if Ron Ng can’t speak proper English as he was a drop out of Form 4 (or Grade 9), but I think Kate Tsui should speak decent English. She went to a university in California to study Japanese and other majors.
Ron just can’t speak good English. His pronunciation is terrible.
I had heard Kate speak decent English in one of her interview. Wonder how her Japanese, anyone seen her speak Japanese ?
He looks stupid acting like he can understand English. Both Ron and Tavia don’t peak good English
Kate went to the same university(UCD, University of California,Davis) as I did and around the same time that I did so it would be disappointing if can’t speak good English.
kate’s accent is terrible! i can’t stand listening to her english
did you guys catch yesterday’s episode where Kate was required to speak in English? It was quite painful to watch
I dont know about you people but I find Kate English good and understandable. Just like any Chinese people speaking in English. There are a lot of people that are born ABC or CBC they have accent to them even when they speak English.
I haven’t watched the show yet but in interview her English is good not compare to Englishman but still is good
I don’t know much,but I’m studying with quite a lot of professors who came from England, but just those who were born in England can speak English perfectly, those who were not born there but lived and worked there for a long time they always had accents of where they came from.
So I guess for someone who only stayed in The USA just for a few years as Kate, it’s normal for her to speak English not really excellent. And I can understand her words
Why must Chinese be able to speak good English? And why do you excuse those white men when they can’t even pronounce Chinese names and words properly, all out of tone, many times worse than any Chinese ever pronouncing English?
Why the double standards as set by your world view?
BTW, I find ‘Peta’, ‘Summa’ to be very colloquial and reflects on the unique culture of a country.
In fact, I hate it when Chinese speak like Americans, it just proves that they are not local bred but are true-blooded Americans, trying to make a living in HK.
Aussies speak funny too when you compared it to Amercians, no?
You ever actually watch these HK series, they do the mispronunciation on purpose and it is extremely evident when you’re doing it on film. If you watch Linda Chung or Bernice Liu before, even they caught on to the “Hong Kong accent” instead of file, they say FI-LO. And they’re both Canadian born and raised which really causes confusion.
White men, minus those who mock the language for their own enjoyment, actually do speak clearer than the ABCs. There were experiments ran where they compared the outcome of white and chinese students learning the chinese language, and the former:
1) had an easier time learning the language
2) spoke in correct grammar
3) SOUND weird due to the accent but nonetheless they are right on with the tones
I didn’t get it, do you mean even Linda and Bernice’s English are bad?
English is an international language so many around the world should know at least some. I don’t expect Ron to speak well since I don’t think he has ever studied or lived overseas. Kate, however, has so people would expect her to speak English decently well…
Icetea_td:
The person above was trying to make a point that actors/actresses in HK series tend to mispronounce the words on purpose. Because Linda Chung and Bernice Liu both speaks fluent English, they surely should know how to say the word “file” correctly. Instead, both have pronounced it “FI-LO” thus proving the point that sometimes actors and actresses does it on purpose. Now as to why do they do it..that is up for speculations.
Your accent is due to where you learn your English. You can stay all your life in England and speak with an Aussie accent. Unless you’re forcing yourself to do so.
Accent is not a problem. The ability to speak well is a lot of problem.
As for some example like “Fi-Lo”, that.. is a slang not accent. You can speak Queen’s English and still say “Fi-Lo”.
I see FI-Lo as a Cantonese word, we all call it FI-Lo very few will say 文件夾 🙂
Fi-Lo is File, just a modern slang for cantonese speaker but I doubt is in the cantonese dictionary unless updated.
I dont think anyone said fi-lo is part of an accent? For english speakers, they would deem that as wrong without a general base of chinese slang. Seriously that is a slang? So what does it connotate to? Lol. I always thought its one of those words chinese people make fun of….didnt know it was an actual slang with a separate meaning.
Eh? I thought fi-lo was part of an accent? It’s just so commonly used that it’s almost become some sort of slang – especially as it’s much quicker/easier to say than in Chinese. I see it as more of a word the Chinese have borrowed from the English. Like how Koreans say “hwaiting” (fighting).
I was born and raised in the UK so I speak with an English accent. However, when I converse with my mum (who’s not so fluent), I’ve also developed the habit of pronouncing English words as an HK-er would… ONLY when it’s a few English phrases interspersed in between – never a whole sentence like that!
Looking forward to watching Ron and Kate’s summer romance!
I love story of Summer, probadlly because I love Kate Tsui
and I Think her English is fine, not excellent but fine, I can understand every English word she said
Me too, Gabby :).
In the series, on episode 07, there was this one scene that Kate actually gives a speech in english. Not sure if that’s how she really speaks or she’s just doing that accent to portray her character but it was okay. I expected it to be better though.
Ron has been with Tvb for over 10 years. He has not improved a bit compared to bosco, Kenneth, and Raymond. He was the favorite in the beginning but cuz of his poor acting and singing skills, tvb stop investing in him and turned to focus on Raymond. . All the characters he portrayed has the same a action! No wonder he focuses ion getting girls….
Just for the record, Raymond was already promoted over Ron. But Bosco and in some ways Kenneth started to get love from TVB management after the downfall of Ron.
You are right! Raymond was first. But he had a lot of chance to shine, but his acting is just terrible!!!
I understand what you mean but Ray can attract lots of fans and that means benefit then why wouldn’t TVB invest on him? On the contrary, Ron’s acting is limited, his life style creates more scandal and he’s stupid in the way he handles reporters’ questions, he has less fans and why should ppl invest on him any longer?
Anything can be improved if u put your heart and effort in it. Raymond’s acting skill in his first main series is back to the future with Louis kuo. He over reacted on some scenes? But in years he improved and so did Kenneth and bosco. I just think he takes his career lightly and he is just going to go no where
I just watched episode 7 of Season of Love which aired on Cable TV tonight. The entire reality show story line seems pretentious, especially the actors that appear as contestants to win Kate’s heart.
Ron and Kate’s story line seems so obvious, as she will likely pick Ron in the end.
Perhaps TVB is trying to imitate the romantic feel of Korean dramas, but “Season of Love” really lacks the romantic factor for a drama centered on love.
I like the cast, but the love stories do not feel genuine.
Jayne, you like Ruco right? Watch Reality Check. Good stuff and Ruco looks rather pissed off in a manly way!
Funn,
Thanks for the recommendation! Yes, I’m a Ruco fan. How is newbie Priscilla Wong?
I found some time tonight to watch Ron Ng in “Season of Love” because I was curious how his current acting is, haven’t seen his dramas in awhile.
Ron looked mostly annoyed in SOL rather than the repressed ex-lover.
I’m wondering the reality game shows like Bachelor, how many percents are actually true, and the contestants really come to find the true love or just come for money. Any how, I’ve searched in wiki and the result is that only one guy ended up marrying the girl (but she’s the runner up,not the winner he did choose before) and the rest broke up very soon after the show ended.
Gotta admit. These 2 definitely look great as a on-screen couple.
That is a cute picture of Ron and Kate. I think Kate and Ron are the most compatible onscreen pairing compared to Kate and Raymond, Kate and Kenneth, or Kate and Bosco.
At least this story is a lot better than the first one. Watching Toby is just painful!
And that is why the rating is so low. Not because of the holiday season but the fact that Toby is so painful to watch. I had to skip episode 3-5 as I just couldn’t take it