Roger Kwok, Tavia Yeung Star in “At the Threshold of an Era Again”
Struggling to increase viewership ratings in recent years, TVB is looking back at old classics to rekindle nostalgia and public interest. Most recently, TVB announced that they will begin filming a new age At the Threshold of an Era (創世紀), which they will title as At the Threshold of an Era Again (再創世紀). The original series aired 18 years ago, consisting of 106 total episodes and big stars.
At the Threshold of an Era Again sees the return of Roger Kwok (郭晉安) as the lead. Other cast members include Niki Chow (周麗淇), Tavia Yeung (楊怡), Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣), Frankie Lam (林文龍), Benjamin Yuen (袁偉豪), and Pakho Chau (周柏豪).
This will be Linda’s first TVB drama since giving birth. To accommodate her schedule for taking care of her daughter, the majority of her scenes will be shot in Canada.
Roger shared that the big budget series will be filmed in various locations, including Czech Republic, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Earlier, Roger had expressed his desire to film with Ada Choi (蔡少芬) for this drama. Unfortunately, due to Ada’s busy schedule, she will not be able to take part in the drama. Ada admitted that TVB contacted her regarding the project. “Yes, they did contact me, but I let my management company handle it. In the end, we didn’t take it!”
Roger joked, “Ada is very busy in China earning RMB! Originally, Ada was supposed to portray my older sister. Now, Niki is going to play my daughter instead.”
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
Ada was going to play Roger’s older sister? What?! O_o
And Niki playing Roger’s daughter is just as ridiculous. He looks neither that old nor does Niki look that young…geez.
I wished Sunny could have been in this. And maybe Maggie Siu too.
@dandan sunny died in the first part so it’s normal he’s not in this
@ivan @dandan Yup, not to mention that Sunny is still under contract with HKTV (his contract ends some time next year), so no way that he would be able to participate even if TVB were to invite him (which we know they won’t because that’s just the way they are).
I agree that it would’ve been great if Gallen could’ve been in this series rather than Provocateur, but it makes sense why he can’t, since he shifted his career to Mainland already and so schedule-wise, it was probably hard to accommodate.
To be honest, I’m not looking forward to this one at all. As much as I love Roger, the rest of the cast is pretty weak, especially considering this is supposed to be such a huge production. Tavia has always been a boring actress in my book, Linda is too one-dimensional, and Nikki is a weak actress overall. On the male side of things, I find it ironic that Frankie will be in this (perhaps they couldn’t get Kenix to come back so settled for her husband instead?) and like I mentioned before, he is very much hit and miss as an actor – with that said though, I liked him and Linda together in Forensic Heroes so if they are being paired together here, that would be a highlight. I still don’t like Benjamin’s acting (he has improved but still stiff and unnatural) and not sure how Pakho will do since I haven’t seen any of his acting gigs yet. The only good thing I see so far is that the series will only be 30-something episodes – thank god they didn’t make this 100+ episodes like the original Threshold!
No offense but this epic series is shit without Gallen Lo, Roger and Flora Chan. Pls don’t try to hold back the golden time in the past. Have a good script, give chances to real and talented actors. We don’t wanna see miss HK in series anymore.
Gallen should take part in this rather than the provocateur …
Yes…finally At the Threshold of an Era Again! So happy that Roger is leading the series since he was in the original series last time. Agree that Gallen should take part in this series instead of Provocateur.
Meanwhile, Ada could either be Roger’s girlfriend or younger sister (if she takes part in the drama), while Niki is more suitable to be Roger’s younger sister than daughter.
Anyway, glad that the female leads are not from the current generation of actresses.
Aside from the familiar name, there will be little to no similarities to the original.
Another weak attempt from TVB to gain an audience!
Not too excited about this one to be honest. Love Roger but not fond of the rest of the cast, plus I hate when TVB re-hashes old series. Doesn’t matter how they try to sell it, the original Threshold is unmatched – the all-star cast they had is irreplaceable.
Even better news (which came out around same time as the one above) is that “golden” scriptwriter Chan Po Wah will be returning to TVB to film 1 series in October and is scouting her friend Sheren Tang as well as Francis Ng to star in it. Now THIS news I am absolutely excited about! Details are in this post: http://llsmusings.blogspot.com/2017/06/breaking-news-scriptwriter-chan-po-wah.html?m=1
@llwy12
I agree, I love Roger too, but the rest of the cast is unmatched with the “original” casts, from star-power to acting.
It’s like they are filming a completely new series, but taking various elements from the At The Threshold of an Era franchise so they can be in a better position to market and draw an audience. It’s pity!
Thanks for that extra bit about the possibility of Sheren Tang and Francis Ng returning. That is definitely something to look forward to.
By the way, any updates with HKTV? What are your views of the new ViuTV series?
@anon Yea, definitely agree that TVB is playing their marketing game again with using the same name and similar elements for this new series when it has nothing to do with the original supposedly. Typical TVB behavior of course!
About the other news — you’re very welcome! Thought I would share from the source (MP Weekly interview), since it looks like other media outlets are reporting it as a “for sure” that Sheren will be returning when in fact, nothing has been confirmed (both from Chan Po Wah’s side as well as Sheren herself).
As for HKTV….from what I last heard, HKTV is still in the same position it was before. Their second license application is technically still pending, though in September of last year, the government did “return” the application back to HKTV claiming that “additional supporting documents” were still needed. Ricky Wong provided all the documents they asked for, though of course he made a big stink about the government “playing games” again, since all the documentation they asked for he already provided previously. There hasn’t really been much “news” on the license front the past few months, though just last week, the outgoing Commerce minister Greg So (who also heads the Communications Authority, which regulates the HK broadcasting industry) revealed on a radio program that he “nearly cried” when HKTV’s license application was rejected back in 2013 (supposedly because it would put several hundred people out of a job). Not sure how many people remember (I know I had mentioned it somewhere but not sure if it was on this forum), but back in 2013, the CA had actually recommended that all 3 companies (i-Cable, NowTV, HKTV) be granted licenses (this was in the official recommendation report they had sent to the CE and Legco), but in the end, only 2 got approved. Sounds like Greg So is finally speaking out in HKTV’s defense now since he is stepping down from his position due to new administration coming in.
Meanwhile, Ricky Wong is focusing all his efforts on HKTV Mall, which has been doing extremely well last I heard. Supposedly, he is using the production studio he had built in Tseung Kwan O as the main warehouse/servicing center for the mall. And despite what he has been saying the past 4 years, he has yet to “resume” production of anything – be it TV series or movies – even though the construction work on his studio was completed awhile back ago. With how much the landscape of the TV industry has changed the past few years and HKTVmall doing unexpectedly well, many of us think that RW might finally decide to pull out of the TV license thing altogether if his application gets rejected again. If you’re interested, I posted some updates about HKTV and the television wars on my blog back in February/March/April, so feel free to check there for more details.
Which ViuTV series? The one currently airing or the ones that they announced in that press conference a few weeks ago that they plan on filming in the next few months? I actually had a conversation with @jjwong about this very topic in another thread a few weeks back (going back to look for that thread so I don’t have to retype everything here, lol). In general though, ViuTV definitely has potential now that they are switching their focus to producing TV series instead of “factual entertainment” programs, especially given the good reception they’ve gotten to the few series they’ve done so far…however, they are still very far away from being any type of threat to TVB – their return on investment probably won’t come for another couple of years, though it’s good to see that they are finally heading in the right direction after a year of pretty much non-activity. Their series are targeted toward a younger audience and they are actually taking HKTV’s approach in terms of producing series across multiple genres and not being afraid to push the envelope – it’s a refreshing change from TVB’s formulaic stuff, that’s for sure!
This is confused I thought Tavia had left tvb since last year now she decided came back again? Lol how can Niki be Roger daughter? supposed say she’s his niece or something.
@cutie777 let’s just pretend Roger had Niki at a very young age lol
@vodka Omg!! Imagine they put Grace Chan and her boyfriend as father and daughter that would be a big mess there… as for Nikki and Roger you’re probably right the story might have similar like that who knows.
this serie is confusing its a reboot or sequel? … wish they had bring back Nicky Wu =P
@vodka nicky would’ve been crazy expensive
What a frightening prospect! Linda Chung returning to TVB. Everyone was hoping she’s gone for good to look after Philip Ng’s baby in Canada.
@creditor are u kidding? Phillip’s baby? Its lame….
@alicesky I see this thing is still talking out of its rear end, and spilling nasty fecal matter too.
Why not TVB try to invite Louis Koo to join the new series too since he was in the previous series & still has outstanding TVB contract. I read from another source where Louis mentioned that TVB didn’t contact him to join the new drama. Although the chances of Louis to return is slim, but there is no harm to try asking.
Besides, it would be great if TVB could pull…let say half the original casts to join the new drama ^_^
@diana80 louis died in the first part lol
@diana80 would loved to see him comeback for an epic Detective investigation Files sequel with Jessica … *dream* lol
@vodka yes yes me too. Sigh can only dream. They looked so good in that series. Their chemistry was amazing. Hated that lousy ending. Yeah how nice if they can reunite.
Eh, can’t bring myself to get excited about this. Yet another business war with friends become enemies, enemies turn friends, convenient plot holes, and final showdown for power in the end. Eh. The cast isn’t exciting either. Bleh.
@jjwong Yup, agreed….all that plus weak cast aside from Roger. Definitely going to skip. Besides, if I want to watch a financial-themed series, I would rather watch the series that Fox Asia is producing – Hong Kong Wall Street — which will be available before the end of the year. With big name movie stars involved in that series (Andy Lau is the producer and Francis Ng as well as Liu Kai Chi are starring alongside a bunch of other film and television stars), plus it’s short (only 5 episodes) and the format is similar to American series, all that alone already puts it levels above TVB series. Oh by the way, the director of the series is KK Wong (yes, the same KK Wong who produced The Election for HKTV – he is apparently working for Fox Asia now…).
@llwy12 The Election was a lost to me; only because I don’t understand HK politics or live in HK. So I don’t get to enjoy the history or relation or tidbits. I still thought the series was well done though. I watched for the cinematic and directing style. I also liked the acting.
Ugh, that Fox Asia sounds enticing with good casts. Hope their female counterparts are as good…?…
@jjwong Yea, I wasn’t too keen on the whole politics thing either but still loved The Election (hated the ending though – I’m still kind of ticked at the ending being the setup for a season 2 that never happened due to government not granting a license…argh…).
For Hong Kong Wall Street — Female side is so-so – other than Maggie Cheung Hor Yee (not to be confused with the other Maggie Cheung, lol), the rest are mostly newbies or lesser known actresses. But that’s ok though, since this is a male-oriented series anyway and the male side is pretty strong. In addition to Francis and Uncle Chi, there’s also Patrick Tam, Carlos Chan, Poon Chan Leung, and Taiwan actor Joseph Chang…also a bunch of familiar supporting actors as well, such as Alan Luk, Deon Cheung, etc.
The other Fox Asia series has a lot of potential as well – the detective thriller starring Anthony Wong and Kara Hui (I think the English name for the series is “Stained”). The only thing is that the series is being produced/directed by Patrick Kong, whom I’m not too fond of — didn’t like any of his movies, plus this genre seems to be a bit out of his league, since his movies are usually romantic comedies…we’ll see though…he might surprise us but even if he doesn’t, the acting will definitely make up for it!
@llwy12
Any word on when those fox series will be released?
@anon Last I heard (this is from an interview with Fox Asia’s senior VP Cora Yim back in June), Hong Kong Wall Street will be airing at the end of this year, though no specific date was given. Not sure about the Anthony Wong/Kara Hui series, as I can’t remember if they finished filming it already – I’m guessing it will probably air around the same time as the other one or close to it. All of Fox Asia’s HK series will air on their Chinese channel, which is currently a paid subscription channel in most of Asia (the particular interview I mentioned above brought up the issue of HK audiences having to “pay” to watch the series versus getting it “free” like they are used to).