Ratings For “The Offliners” Are Better Than Expected
December to February have traditionally been off-season for the Hong Kong television industry, as locals are busy with holidays and especially during the Lunar New Year season. TVB often strategically avoids airing big-budget dramas during this time. Therefore, there were no expectations for The Offliners‘ <堅離地愛堅離地> ratings when the drama started airing at the end of December, yet the series performed better than expected.
Airing its finale on January 24, The Offliners averaged 22.8 points which was slightly lower than last week. However, the final episode increased slightly to 23.3 points which was an unexpected surprise. Taking into account big-budget series such as Line Walker: Bull Fight‘s <使徒行者3> finale week only obtained 25.9 points in December, The Offliners already exceeded expectations.
Though The Offliners was warehoused for three years, making the production seem dated in certain aspects, Owen Cheung’s (張振朗) performance as a nerdy otaku was entertaining. Unlike his previous roles in Airport Strikers <機場特警>, Legal Mavericks <踩過界 2020>, Al Cappuccino < 反黑路人甲>, and Line Walker: Bull Fight where he is a smooth talker, Owen is a withdrawn otaku working in an IT start-up in The Offliners. Many actors would just put on a pair of nerdy glasses and step into the role, but Owen goes further in his attention to detail in his first leading role. One scene comes to mind where Owen’s character was seen running away after being rejected in love, and his uncoordinated mannerisms were very convincing as an otaku as they rarely exercise.
Other than Come Home Love: Lo and Behold <愛·回家之開心速遞>, all other dramas dropped slightly in ratings post the Anniversary Awards. Entertainment news program Scoop <東張西望> has seen a steady rise in ratings, averaging 23.6 points. It achieved 24.2 points on Saturday and 25.6 points on Sunday. Scoop has been focusing on a special report in the areas restricted by COVID-19, so the increase is likely due to the public’s concern over this topic.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
How Owen Cheung Prepared for His Otaku Role in “The Offliners”
The Owen and Katy scenes and chemistry was the best part of the series. Negative was Jacqueline Wong and any of her scenes and the storyline about Katy’s little brother.
I honestly enjoyed it. Consistent storyline, Owen/Katy had good chemistry. Moon was great but not terrible. Jason and Jacqueline were annoying and useless.
After hearing that Owen is an ******* in real life I’m a bit off put by him which is unfortunate lol.