14 Dramas Introduced at “TVB Programme Presentation 2021”
It is that time of the year again for TVB to announce its programming line-up for the upcoming year, and we are in for exciting surprises.
Unlike previous years, there was no star-studded celebrity gala due to pandemic restrictions. Replacing a sales presentation was a pre-filmed presentation program, hosted by Bob Lam (林盛斌), Luk Ho Ming (陸浩明), Patrick Lam (林溥來), and the three 2020 MHK winners, Lisa Tse (謝嘉怡), Celina Harto (陳楨怡), and Rosita Kwok (郭柏妍).
Check out the 14 new TVB dramas coming later this year and in 2021:
Line Walker: Bull Fight <使徒行者3> — November 2020
Starring Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Kenneth Ma, Benjamin Yuen, Mandy Wong, Priscilla Wong, Sisley Choi, Owen Cheung, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, with Joseph Zeng and Kent Cheng
Legal Mavericks 2 <踩過界II> — November 2020
Starring Vincent Wong, Owen Cheung, Sisley Choi, Kelly Cheung, and Paul Chun
Life-Changing Truth <換命真相> (tentative title)
Starring Shaun Tam, Gloria Tang, Jonathan Cheung, Angel Chiang, Brian Chu, Timothy Cheng, and Moon Lau
Super Emissary <超能使者> (tentative title)
Starring Ruco Chan, Natalie Tong, Joel Chan, Grace Wong, Tiffany Lau, Jazz Lam, Sammy Sum, Moon Lau, and Jimmy Au
Plan “B” <BB大晒>
Starring Eliza Sam, Kenneth Ma, Kiki Sheung, Mimi Kung, Hugo Ng, and Joseph Lee
The Forgotten Day <失憶24小時>
Starring Roger Kwok, Shaun Tam, David Chiang, Grace Wong, Elvina Kong, Zoie Tam, and Roxanne Tong
Seven Princesses <七公主> (tentative title)
Starring Priscilla Wong, Rosina Lam, Samantha Ko, Kaman Kong, Judy Kwong, Moon Lau, and Hera Chan
Shadow of Justice <伙記辦大事>
Starring Bobby Au-yeung, Joe Ma, Joey Meng, Jeannie Chan, Mat Yeung, and Ngo Ka Nin
Big White Duel 2 <白色強人II>
Starring Roger Kwok, Kenneth Ma, Natalie Tong, Kelly Cheung, with Moses Chan and Nancy Wu
Murder Diary <刑偵日記>
Starring Vincent Wong, Kara Hui, Philip Keung, Benjamin Yuen, Mandy Wong, Lokyi Lai, Venus Wong, and Alice Chan
Barrack O’Karma 2 <金宵大廈2>
Starring Joel Chan, Selena Lee, Christine Ng, Roxanne Tong, Hubert Wu, Katy Kung, and Shiga Lin
Hong Kong Love Stories <香港愛情故事>
Starring Joey Law, Katy Kung, Venus Wong, Mimi Kung, Jason Pai, and Shek Sau
Armed Reaction 2021 <陀槍師姐2021>
Starring Jessica Hsuan, Moses Chan, Joyce Tang, Him Law, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, Tsui Wing, and Gloria Tang
Pediatricians <兒科醫生> (tentative title, previously known as Children’s Hospital)
Starring Kevin Cheng, Kenneth Ma, Linda Chung, Him Law, Catherine Chau, Florence Kwok, and Mimi Kung
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
All the trailers look interesting and almost (if not all) are joint production with someone in China.
While all has big budgets, i have little faith in the scripts (just as joint production have always failed me)
Massively looking forward to Barrack O’Karma 2 and Murder Diaries next year! Life-changing Truth looks interesting as well, looks like another dark mystery-suspense drama led by Shaun. Will give the medical dramas a miss.
@boomer Agree, looking forward to Barrack 2 & Murder Diaries. I will watch Big White Duel 2 because first one was great.
Almost all of the shows look trash to me. MAYBE I’ll watch Shadow of Justice, just for Bobby, but Joe Ma is the other lead that can’t act to save his life. Without china money, the shows don’t even have a shot of being watchable IMHO.
“We are in for exciting surprises”, lol how did they write this with a straight face??!! Everything listed is either a sequel or a slight variation of a previous (looking at you Super Emissary aka A Fist In Four Wall aka China Town aka any series with Ruco & Joel). And the “big stars”, previous TVB actors too old for mainland market (Raymond, Kevin, Him, etc.) leads are more “bargain bin discounts”. And I don’t know in what twisted world (even though 2020 is crazy) is Linda Chung still classified as a big star. What this is a red flag for TVB. The artists well running dry and creatively speaking, they are running on fumes.
@seriously
Spot on with the Linda Chung comment. TVB is a has-been now with their lack of quality current and up and coming actors and actresses, and they can’t produce any world-class quality shows to show any respectability and self-worth.
Only looking forward to shadow of justice!! Beof bobby lol
i wish they would make ancient periodic dramas but no more….
@m0m0 no budget lol, can’t compete with those multi million dollar costume-fantasy dramas from China. Was their last historical drama the one with Shaun Tam?
@bubbles23 Handmaidens United
Only Barrack 2 and Murder Diaries, and maybe the Bobby series are appealing, but even then a bad script could break what a star studded cast brings. I am sick of Kenneth Ma and Natalie Tong and of the medical theme dramas. The plot is just 1) good doctors doing surgeries 2) doctor gets married to doctor 3) doctor gets life threatening illness. But I do want to watch Children’s Hospital for Catherine.
Shaun is probably the rare breathe of fresh of air we’ve been getting… And where on earth is Ali’s series?? Oh right. Everything is a China co production.
Lastly, slight excitement for Seven Princesses because of Priscilla and Rosina but Im also not a fan of those ensemble cast dramas with no real leads, so :/
@bubbles23 I agree, Only looking forward for Murder Diary and the bobby series because of him. BOK2 looks good, but don’t think will be as good as the first one, will still give it a go. Life Changing truth looks interesting but not sure about the cast. The forgotten day looks funny, the rest will be a pass for me.
@scre yeah it’ll be harder to replicate the intricacies from BOK1. Honestly if tvb had believed in their script and promoted it more Selena and Joel could have won BA already. Now it’ll be even harder for these two to win it among everyone.
@bubbles23 Both Ali’s show will be in TVB Gold and TVB anywhere, which means overseas audiences will get to see it first. Not sure if it’ll ever get aired on local TV.
Guessing her local supporters will subscribe to TVB Gold to watch her. Guess this means while TVB recognise she has a good fan base, they dare not antagonise CN
There’s a lot of series missing from this article such as Ali’s AI series which looks super interesting. I will watch that because of Ali and FAMA.
I’ll watch most of these because I need things to pass time but will I like them all? TBD on that lol. I just got back into TVB after many years of not watching it so my perspective is a bit different than most of you.
Most looking forward to murder diaries, both of Shawn’s series, barrack o’karna 2, armed reaction because I grew up watching that series, and Bobby’s series but only for Bobby. Joe ma and mat yeung being in it is disappointing.
Super emissary looks hella weird no? Like trying very hard to be suicide squad? Natalie’s facial expressions in the trailer already tell me that it’s going to be bad which sucks because I love Joel. Also that Tiffany girl can’t act to save her own life. Medical dramas yawn. Nancy looks boring in her role and it’s going to be very hard for me to watch children’s hospital with Linda Chung.
Also sad there is only one Vincent drama next year 🙁 i think they also showed the trailer for the one he filmed with bosco and chilam? But I don’t think he’s in a lead role for that one and that’s probably one of the China co productions, not sure the difference.
Also!! Ali’s series with Moses, Amelia’s or whatever they decided to call it. I want to watch that too.
@tt23 I was kind of hoping for at least one more vincent drama, but the trailer for his drama looks super good and I think he has a really good chance to win BA with it.
The bosco and chilam drama is co production with china and vincent is on it as a a guest role.
Also I just realized that both Chinatown and Sinister Beings with Ruco in it are not on the list, is there a problem with him and tvb?
@scre the more complex the role is, the better Vincent does. Looking at the lineup for next year, I’m not sure who else could compete with him for BA. Maybe Shawn if his two shows does well. But also someone said that because he’s signed now with Shaw brothers his chances are not great for BA. I don’t know the politics of it.
Yeah you’re right maybe there is something wrong with Ruco and TVB… that Chinatown situation was very weird and it doesn’t look like they want to air it anytime soon.
@tt23 Ruco has definitely fallen out of favour ever since he got married. Coincidence? I feel bad for Grace who’s also in Chinatown. I can’t see Ruco leaving tvb though.
Vincent, Joel, and Shaun seem to be the only three in contention post 2020. I want to add Owen to that list but not sure if he’s leading any series
@bubbles23 What about Kenneth and Moses? they both have 3 dramas each
@scre Kenneth just won so I don’t think he will get it again anytime soon unless he has some groundbreaking performance in a role he’s played 20+ times lol. Highly doubt it.
Moses MAYBE. I feel like Moses is just a TVB favourite and so that’s why he gets to film so many series. Is he super great in all of them? For me, it’s a hit and miss. Nothing spectacular. However, if Vincent signing for Shaw brothers kills his chance at BA, then Moses has a bigger chance with the three dramas he’s in next year. Has he won before?
@tt23 Moses won it back in 2007 in Heart of Greed, but since he hasn’t won it. I agree, he has filmed a lot of dramas and he still in his late 40s, but the last 10 years he hasn’t had a outstanding performance worthy of BA, his performance in DBZ is quite good, but it looks like Raymond is getting BA this year.
@scre agree with tt23. Moses is already peak tvb. He’s the highest paid and still popular that winning or not doesn’t help tvb or him much. although he’s in armed reaction how good is a series reboot gonna be. Kenneth winning was just a consolation prize, you probably know how I feel about him acting now lol
@bubbles23 I think Owen has maybe a year to go. I think he’s the second lead in that boxing drama with Wayne lai? But you are right, hasn’t been a lead yet. So much potential so I am sure he will get there soon. Also he’s not really in any dramas next year it looks like.
@tt23 He is the lead in the Offliners, but that series is nothing special.
@bubbles23 @tt23 @scre I heard that the theme of Chinatown is somewhat anti-govt, so that’s why TVB isnt airing it.
@luye You heard right, the story is the people vs the corrupted cops… Which we all know what’s going on currently… I’m looking forward to armed reaction Joyce! And it’s cool that Jessica is in it…
@bubbles23 What does marriage have to do with anything? Arent most actors married?
@luye I didn’t mean it that way. Just pointing out Ruco’s career stalled after 2018.
@bubbles23 I agree, which is quite sad since he is a pretty good actor
@bubbles23 rumours has it he was in the camp of one of the exec that lost her influence, the one that’s transferred to head Shaw production now
@conan2209 you mean Virginia Lok?? Woah I didn’t feel like she lost her position at tvb, instead I thought her power was growing since she’s also in charge of Shaw.
@bubbles23 I read somewhere that she fell out of favour and thus him too. Placing her in Shaw was her out of TVB management
@conan2209 interesting… Yet so many actors have left to go to Shaw. I think Shaw might have the upper hand here….
@bubbles23 Shaw is into movies but HK movies are not doing too well
@tt23 I agree, murder diary looks really good and the cast is really well assembled. Shawn is definitely on his way to become a top actor in tvb, both his dramas are fascinating. Bobby is always a must see, I was kind of hoping that bobby was in the armed reaction as well, that series is one of my all time favorites, but the trailer looks average, I don’t think it has anything to do with the chinese title.
@tt23 Ali’s AI series isnt confirmed for 2020.
@luye they showed it in the previews for 2021 but this article probably forgot to highlight or only included the big hitters
My first reply got eaten.
So many Kenneth dramas. Weird that Ruco’s 2 other ones aren’t shown, looks like Chinatown will be shelved.
Biggest disappointment is not seeing Ali’s 2 drams too. The trailer for Amelia’s Rhapsody was cute and heartwarming. The AI series seems original.
I am also interested to see Bobby, BOK2, Murder Diaries and maybe Shaun’s series in 2021.
I finally saw Brutally Young, but while it was engaging, I had trouble completely feeling Shaun’s character. He wasn’t quite earnest enough at the beginning, and maybe that is my bias since I find his look more sinister. But he is definitely interesting enough to keep watching.
Too bad Chinatown is not on the list. Did they change Armed Reaction title? Isn’t it used to be Armed Reaction 2020? Now 2021?
May I prejudge the series without reading the article? Pure TRASH.
It looks like LM2 is following the same format as LW3 and premiering a week earlier on TVB anywhere.
Is TVB trying to kill their own network and move strictly to online? This is such a ratings killer.
@tt23 yeah, I don’t get this strategy
@tt23 moving it online allows it to reach out to overseas audiences (aka Chinese), that’s where the $$ is now
@conan2209 that makes sense. im fine either way i love the TVB anywhere app but just curious. I hope it doesn’t impact the actors and how successful the shows are. Not sure how they would measure or combine online viewings with tv broadcast.
it’s interesting though!
@tt23 they’ve been boasting about online viewership more than local ratings, thus my guess that’s what it all matters now. I’m now a member of TVB anywhere just so I can watch Ali when she’s up. Sad she’s totally not mentioned and I hope I’ll still see her in the front row on TVB anniversary show
What’s happened to Chinatown?
That’s a big production and no trailer?
Lol Bobby is in some random drama but not the Armed Reaction sequel.
@mrlam27 lool yeah that’s really strange and won’t make it much of a sequel
@mrlam27 I think bobby is not in the sequel of armed reaction because his contract with tvb ended when they started filming the sequel.
Sorry, but most of these dramas are sequels and reboots, little to no surprises at all. Some of them are reboots where there probably shouldn’t be one, particularly Murder Diaries, being a reboot of the classic Detective Investigation Files series (at least the name was changed so MAYBE that’s forgivable). TVB has unfortunately run out of ideas. Now they are desperate to regain relevance by screwing up their legacy of classic dramas! Never mind them turning classic Cantopop hits into crappy new themesongs, desecrating on them too…
@mrlam27 with the Chinese backing them, they get a big say in Who gets to be in and what gets to be shown. As always, dictatorship kills creativity.
I’m guessing the only reason TVB is still around cos it’s the only one that is still in Cantonese. Come one day when they have to do everything in Chinese, TVB will die a natural death
@mrlam27 Yeah I dislike when tvb reboots sequels, at least try to bring some of the original cast back, otherwise change the name of the series, for example the forensic heroes series reputation kind of went because of bad the sequel was this year.
Also why did they decide to do a sequel for armed reaction after 16 years from the last one? especially when the last one wasn’t that good.
Prb another sequel of LW
Im gonna watch t BB大晒 Super emissary… Shadow of Justice Pediatricians and Armed Reactions the rest I’ll past