TVB Ratings Report: “Barrack O’Karma” Takes 3rd Place Year-to-Date
The latest TVB ratings report has been released. Despite the popularity of Barrak O’Karma <金宵大廈>, the supernatural drama only took third place in ratings year-to-date. Big White Duel <白色強人> was in second place, and The Defected <鐵探> took first place.
Starring Selena Lee (李施嬅) and Joel Chan (陳山聰), Barrack O’Karma was not initially expected to do so well in the ratings. Its first week of broadcast only garnered 24.7 points. Strong word-of-mouth and positive online reviews eventually brought up ratings, but the first week numbers factored into the drama’s overall ratings of 27 points. At its highest point, Barrack O’Karma peaked at 31.1 points. The series is regarded as TVB’s most sincere production this year with its original and thrilling storyline.
In contrast, The Defected and Big White Duel were widely marketed before their broadcast, which help them achieve 28.8 points and 28.6 points in average ratings respectively. Thus, despite the success of Barrack O’Karma, the drama only landed in third place in ratings year-to-date .
Currently airing is Finding Her Voice <牛下女高音>, which received an average of 25.6 points in its first week of broadcast. Originally, TVB did not want to air this drama due to Jacqueline Wong‘s (黃心穎) scandal. Luckily, Jacqueline’s scandal did not interfere with the ratings.
As for Come Home Love: Lo and Behold <愛•回家之開心速遞>, the sitcom has already showed over 400 episodes. Last week’s ratings reached 26.4 points.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.
Selena Lee, Joel Chan Will Return for “Barrack O’Karma” Season 2 If TVB Agrees to Their Terms
Looking forward to watching the old vets in ‘finding her voice’ once have a bit of time..
@jimmyszeto I tuned in for the vets as well (and the music component) – of course, none of them disappoint, so from an acting perspective, the watch-ability factor is definitely there. Unfortunately though, the script sucks big-time (no surprise there, since this is TVB after all) and the storyline overall is boring….oh and despite TVB’s efforts to play down Jacqueline’s screen time, she still has way too much of it, which is unfortunate because her and Owen’s story arc is the least watchable in here (and for me, drags down the entire series). As much as I want to continue watching this to support so many of my favorite veterans (Hugo, Joe, Jimmy, Savio, Ram, Mimi, King Sir, Law Koon Lan, etc.), not sure if I’m going to last considering the first 5 episodes were already torture (though I guess it’s better than Vincent’s series, which I couldn’t even get through ½ an episode)….
@llwy12 OMG, yes, I can’t sit through first 5 mins of Vincent series. And I even like the dude’s acting! First 5 secs are OTT af.
As for the vet series, I only pay attention when all the vets together in a scene. I tune out at every other ones; even with the female vet, Hugo’s wife. Her personality it out of place. King Sir definitely looked frail for real in some scenes 🙁
@jjwong Haha…good to see I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sit through even a few minutes of Vincent’s series (though ironically, this is one of the few series where I actually like most of the male cast). I might still tune in here and there mostly to watch Eric Li, since this is his last TVB series and I heard his performance is really good here. Overall though, producer Lau Ka Ho has definitely lost his touch…I pretty much haven’t been able to stand most of his series from like the past 20 years (which is saying a lot considering I liked his series back in the 80s/early 90s).
With the Jacqueline series — yea, I’m pretty much only watching the scenes with the vets as well….basically approaching it from the perspective that there is little chance to see most of these veterans together onscreen in the future so cherishing that opportunity (though honestly, it’s a pain in the butt having to skip practically all the other scenes in the series, lol). King Sir indeed looked frail in most of his scenes….I don’t remember if he filmed this series before or after his surgery, but either way, hope he didn’t over-exert himself too much….
@llwy12 I like Eric too but it’s still not enough for me to stomach through. He probably has a very minuscule role. I think Ho style is irrelevant and outdated, so yeah he definitely lost his touch.
Bromance is definitely adorable in Finding Her Voice. If they cut out all female scenes, I wouldn’t have notice the difference lol. Need more scenes with Ram C =D He’s dorky funny.
@jimmyszeto
It’s a heartwarming and worth-watching series because of the vets’ acting. I’m currently on episode 11. Although undeniably there are some boring scenes, but u can just ignore or fast-forward those scenes. It won’t greatly impact the flow of the story anyway.
it’s probably the older actors that’s drawing all the rating
@m0m0 They are quite funny. I am on epi 4 & I find it funny. If they don’t like JW just ignore her storyline but the guy who played the love interest was ok funny as well.
@wm2017
yeah, i haven’t watched the series but i agree owen is pretty cute. too bad they cast jacquline otherwise, the show may perform even better. i don’t know if they took out any JW scenes or not
@m0m0 Well, personal mistakes aside why do they always make it a point to watch or not to watch a show based on a so called scandal? haha LOL..I personally will never get that I mean just ignore her or fast forward or something you don’t have to boycott the whole show and to think they restart that forensic one just b/c of her face? Sigh… So dramatic….haha
@wm2017
Yup, the vets performance are indeed entertaining.
It’s a pity if people boycott the whole show just because of JW. She’s not the only one who carry the show anyway. Just watch it to support the veterans.
Meh, I was indifferent towards this series despite all the hype. The problem with dramas that contain multiple short stories (for me) is the lack of development. I didn’t find myself particularly sympathetic towards any of the characters in the show, and thought the script was poorly written, per usual. Not to mention, the playboy story arc was a complete knock off of Hollywood’s “Good Luck Chuck” (male protagonist is cursed, so any girl he sleeps with ends up meeting the man of their dreams). So much for originality.
Joel and Selena did not strike me as a couple whose love was deep enough to transcend time either. What I did like about the series was the overall eerie ambience (very reminiscent of the 80s), and the representation of social issues.
I found Exorcist Meter much more engaging and fresh in comparison. Kenneth was convincing as the charming, dorky Taxi driver, which made him easy to root for. Maybe I’m just so used to seeing Joel in sleazy roles that it’s difficult for me to see him as the lovesick puppy.
The Defected was another series I did not care for, and never got around to finishing. Big White Duel started off good, but fizzled at the half-way mark. Overall, still not a great year for TVB, IMO.
@oystergirl Woman, I’m with you. I didn’t think Barrack O’ Karma was worth the hype. Most of the plots were rehashes of past stories and not that compelling. Neither was the main relationship in the drama. Joel and Selena may be good individually, but together they weren’t very persuasive. I couldn’t feel couple-y vibes at all. Selena was much better in Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain and Joel in The Unholy Alliance.
Exorcist Meter was actually fresh and worth a watch, even though some parts of the script was also copied from other sources, like Kenneth’s ghost parents coming back to visit him. But at least the story revolved around the main character, so the focus was centered.
BoK felt like they just stitched together these stories that weren’t very cohesive. More like forced relationships to keep the series going. Story was basically all over the place.
@coralie Right?? I kept watching, wondering when it would get to the interesting parts everyone was raving about. Selena had more chemistry with the cat than she did with Joel. Come to think of it, none of the couples in the drama had much (if any) chemistry, which was what made the stories feel extra forced.
Agree that the narrative was a mess. Had all the characters been interrelated somehow, it would have given the show a lot more intrigue and continuity. Like if one character or storyline required the support of a previous to move forward, for instance… or if they made it so that all the mini stories actually connected with the main overall story.
But I suppose we are asking too much from TVB. 😛