Joe Ma to Return to TVB in June
After last year’s successful Tiger Cubs <飛虎>, Joe Ma (馬德鐘) will once again return to TVB to film in June. Although no longer a managed artist under the station, Joe retained good relations and is willing to help out TVB in a year when uncertainties lie ahead for the Hong Kong television broadcasting industry.
Joe’s Popularity is Plummeting?
The New Year started on a rocky note for Joe Ma. Filming earlier in mainland China, Joe was plagued by negative press claiming that his popularity had plummeted dramatically. Oriental Sunday had reported that Joe performed in a Guangzhou show by discounting his fee by 20,000 RMB, but the viewers fell asleep and was not entertained by him. After Joe was largely ignored by Ricky Wong’s (王維基) HKTV, Joe allegedly will sign a per series contract with TVB in September.
In response to Oriental Sunday’s caustic report, Joe’s management company issued a statement and said that the details found in the report were false, including the performance discount fee to the bored audience’s reaction. Joe’s company retained all rights to pursue legal action.
Back in Hong Kong
In fact, Joe remains in high demand and has been busy filming a mainland China drama until a few days ago, when a local snowstorm halted filming and resulted in a short break for Joe. This allowed Joe to return to Hong Kong to spend time with his family.
The day after Lunar New Year, Joe and his wife, Karen Cheung (張筱蘭), had a meal outside to celebrate the festivities. Married for 20 years, Karen had formerly taught at Hong Kong University, but resigned from her post last year to focus on taking care of her family. Although Karen holds a Ph.D. degree and is well versed in several languages, Karen explained her choice to put her career on hold, “My grandma said that a woman should follow the wishes of her husband. So I will also hand over the decision-making to my husband.”
Karen will sometimes visit him in mainland China and accompany him at media events. Next month, the couple looks forward to flying to Kuala Lumpur for their son’s swimming competition while taking in the local Malaysian sights. With Joe back in Hong Kong in June to film for TVB, the family will also have more quality time together.
Joe Ma is not that bad…
He’s tall and quite charming in particular roles he played. I liked him in TITS, in Relic of an Emissary, and also in Tiger Cubs.
Joe Ma has improved quite a bit in his acting in the last few years. Unfortunately, he was not nominated much for the Best Actor Award.
He has aged like fine wine, just like Michael Miu.
Agreed!! He’s getting hotter & gorgeous as he aged. Glad to know that he is coming back to tvb.
Indeed, a very fine and smooth Burgundy 😉
I sure hope he returns and that his popularity doesn’t “plummet”! I’ve been watching Joe Ma since I was around 6 or 7 years old (I’m now 17) and I’ve always liked him! He’s one of my favorite Chinese actors. I hope only good things lie ahead for him and that we’ll get to see him in future TVB dramas soon.
Really excited to see him in Tiger Cubs II!
I really like his acting.. although half of the time I hate the characters he’s portraying, especially in The drive of life which is a good thing!
I liked his role in that series with Charmaine Sheh:)
I cannot wait to see his new drama 🙂
You are talking about “Maiden’s Vows”, in which Charmaine Sheh won the Best Actress Award. Right?
No, I am talking about 東山飄雨西關晴.
But Maiden’s Vow is pretty good too.
I liked that drama series as well.
yeah it’s one of the dramas where I liked Joe Ma.
Never knew he was gone in the first place. I find him boring but serviceable as an actor.
I always liked Joe. He’s very convincing in authoritative or power hungry roles.
I’ve always been a fan of Joe ever since the Vigilante force days. It’s been a good 10 years come to think of it. He improved heaps over the years and I still find him very charismatic on screen!
Yeah… Thats great news. Can’t wait to see him…
I like Joe Ma in supporting roles rather than leading roles. He’s nice eye candy and succeeds in cop roles, but still somewhat limited in range as to the roles he can portray convincingly.
However, compared to some newbie inexperienced actors, then I do prefer watching Joe Ma
lol but joe was a cop before he become an artist
He was?? No wonder he seems to play those roles so well…
Joe still look so handsome.. <3
Great to know that Joe is coming back. I wonder who will replace Jessica’s role since she is not coming back???
He’s not that good playing good guys.
Any goodie goodie character will put me to sleep!
But he’s great playing meanies & macho guys. His height gives him an advantage in certain roles as well.
Welcome back Joe! I cannot wait to watch your next drama serie!