Overview - Flying Tiger

When he was younger, Hugo Ng accepted a mission to infiltrate the triads as an undercover agent. The triad leader's daughter, Christine Ng, fell in love with him at first sight. Although Hugo already had his heart set on the simple Mimi Kung, he pretended to be with Christine in order to solve the case. As a result, he quickly rose through the ranks in the triad. One time, during a fight between triads, Hugo eliminated Christine's triad rivals, but Christine's fate remained unclear. Hugo's good friend, Michael Miu, knows about his affair with Christine and their infant son (Bosco Wong). Hugo brings Bosco home and Mimi also gives birth to a son (Ron Ng). Because of the sin that he represented, Bosco did not grow up with love from his father. But Ron also did not get spoiled by Hugo and instead had to go through many hardships. The half-brothers accumulate a number of grudges growing up. Each of them also coincidentally develop a father-like mentor relationship with Michael. During a grand promotional ceremony, Hugo, having achieved the rank of Superintendent, is happily preparing to receive this honour, but unknowingly steps into a revenge plot that is thirty years in the making...

Flying Tiger will be released on myTV Super and Youku beginning on April 6. 

Overview - Birth of a Hero

To avoid being caught up in the drama of the underworld, Edwin Siu and his sister Rachel Kan operate their inn and live quietly. But Edwin, in an attempt to win back his ex-lover Roxanne Tong, participates in a competition for new heroes. Because of this, scandals in the Eastern Depot are exposed and Edwin is imprisoned by Eastern Depot official Ben Wong. To save her brother, Rachel spreads rumours that there is hidden treasure at the inn. Not only does Ben immediately release Edwin, he also sends his right-hand woman, Grace Chan, to travel with Edwin to the inn and collect intelligence. The rumour attracts many hidden heroes to emerge and try different tactics. In the process, Grace finally discovers the truth about the murder of her parents from many years ago, causing her to turn against Ben. In addition, she develops feelings for Edwin and they are determined to reform the wulin world together. It gives new vitality to a dying wulin, but the two of them fall into the revenge plot that the kind senior, John Chiang, has planned for a long time...

Overview - The Forgotten Valley

Raymond Wong and Grace Chan are a couple that has been influenced by Western thinking. They want to change their closed, backwards-thinking hometown, but things don't go their way. Aside from the totalitarian rule and obstruction from the village leader (Lau Kong), they are embroiled into a series of mysteries, including a ghost bride killer, kidnapping and murder cases. A group of oppressed women, including Lau Kong's second wife (Louisa So), third wife (Rebecca Zhu), and maid (Katy Kung), can no long tolerate the unequal treatment of men and women. They secretly form a coalition to protect other women. But when a group of men led by housekeeper Louis Yuen let in bandits for their own gain, it not only exposes the women's coalition, but also puts Raymond and Grace's relationship to the test. The fight between men and women intensify...

Overview - Brother's Keeper II

After many hardships, Edwin Siu and Kristal Tin successfully establish the "Lo Shun Kei" brand in Hong Kong and Macau. However, this draws dissatisfaction from junket turned real estate developer Hugo Ng, who uses underhand tactics to suppress them. Edwin is betrayed by his trusted aide (Matt Yeung). Feeling that the world is too chaotic, Edwin travels to Japan to find a peaceful space. There, he falls in love with a mysterious girl (Grace Chan) and gets embroiled in a twenty-year old murder case! Meanwhile, Kristal's husband, Louis Yuen, suffers a brain injury from a plane accident and sees her as a stranger... In addition, Ruco Chan has returned to look for his old love, Linda Chung. Faced with these sudden attacks to their family, love life and business, how will Edwin and Kristal handle it?

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Overview - Blue Veins

Five hundred years ago, imperial guard Kevin Cheng was ordered to exterminate the vampires. He encountered a rare severe thunderstorm and accidentally became immortal. Ever since then, he made it his personal mission to kill vampires. He travels the world and changes his identity every twenty years to conceal his secret. He has an encounter with forensic pathologist Kay Tse in the Netherlands. Although it was only a brief encounter, Kay develops a deep admiration towards him. Kevin's pursuit of the vampire Joel Chan brings him back to Hong Kong, where he discovers that Kay and Joel have an inextricable relationship. Kevin takes on the identity of a late-night restaurant owner and interacts with different customers every night in a bid to find new clues. In the process, he meets Kay's sister (Grace Chan), who resembles his wife from four hundred years ago, as well as Grace's university classmates, Anjaylia Chan and Winki Lai. He also teaches Wong Yau-nam and Luk Wing-kuen to be chivalrous. Kay gradually begins to notice abnormalities with her body. It turns out that an unbelievable secret is hidden within her. With the help of Kevin, she is finally able to return to a normal life, until the appearance of another immortal (Eddie Kwan). For his own selfish reasons, Eddie is determined to capture Kay. Meanwhile, Joel's vampire army is conducting activities in the dark. Being at the centre of the storm, Kevin, Kay and the others cannot avoid getting caught up in the several hundred years old war between vampires and immortals...

Blue Veins Promo Clips

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Captain of Destiny Promo Clips

Overview - Captain of Destiny

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(watch Extended Trailer in Vietnamese)

Overview - Captain of Destiny

While chasing a thief on a speedboat, Cheung Chau police officer Grace Chan is caught in a waterspout and brought back in time to the Qing Dynasty. She meets Tony Hung, a pirate of the Red Flag Fleet, and Ruco Chan, the 11th imperial prince. Grace uses historical facts from her e-book to broker peace between the two groups. However, Lam Lok Lam, the captain of the Red Flag Fleet, and his wife Maggie Siu are suspicious of this girl who came from nowhere. Grace's ability to predict the future attracts the affections of Tony and Ruco, leading to a messy entanglement of love and friendship. Grace also meets her great-grandparents Mandy Wong and Joel Chan. The antics of this quarrelsome couple leaves Grace laughing and crying at the same time. Tony is suddenly embroiled in the power struggle at the palace, while Ruco is unwittingly being manipulated by the consorts Elaine Yiu and Susan Tse. Ruco falls victim in the palace struggle and decides to give up everything for love. He deserts the army and leaves with Kelly Fu, and later encounters the Siam pirate captain, Oceane Zhu. The waterspout reappears in the midst of a solar eclipse. While trying to help Grace, Tony is brought to the future too...


Captain of Destiny Promo Clips

Raising the Bar Review

Producer: Joe Chan
Genre: Legal
Cast: Ben Wong, Grace Chan, Jeannie Chan, Stephanie Ho, Moon Lau, Louis Cheung, Elaine Yiu, Timothy Cheng, Natalie Tong

Review:
Raising The Bar takes a fresh angle on the oft-seen TVB legal drama. Instead of the typical case-by-case structure, this series focuses on the daily routines of a lawyer. The depiction of a lawyer's job is fairly realistic and shows the less glamorous side of the profession. There are also little tidbits, like the call to the bar or scheduling hearings, that are rarely seen in other legal dramas. The cases cover a variety of matters before the court and do not shy away from sensitive topics. For once, legal procedures and reasoning are mostly followed. It is also shocking to know that there is actually more than one judge in Hong Kong.

I was worried about the overwhelming number of characters at the beginning, but the series quickly deals with that by regulating some characters to the background. That is not to say, however, that the focus went to the best stories. The second half of the series put an overemphasis on romantic lines that no one cared about (ie. Elaine's affair). Further, it throws logic out the door with the sexual harassment case, which any competent lawyer should have gotten rid of a long time ago.

The four girls were surprisingly capable of carrying the series. They clearly had a lot of fun filming together, which shows in their on-screen interactions. Grace Chan shows why she is perhaps deserving of her rapid climb to lead status as she looked comfortable and natural in her role. Jeannie Chan suited the role of the snobby rich girl and smoothly managed her character's transition into a more humble person. Stephanie Ho is cute and provided comedic relief. Moon Lau fared well for her first series; though she was not particularly impressive, she was certainly not bad either.

Ben Wong hits the nail with his professionalism as an experienced barrister, especially with those reading glasses. Elaine Yiu needs to stop being given these discontent wife roles. Natalie Tong has been doing a great job with her subtle performances. Louis Cheung is a really versatile actor, but his character's odd obsession with aliens was something that I don't get. Timothy Cheng is funny in his interactions with Stephanie and Natalie. King Lam does a good job with his clueless lawyer, while Hugo Wong is great eye candy despite limited screen-time.

So does Raising the Bar actually raise the bar for TVB productions? Maybe slightly, but it is not without its faults. What does the jury think?

Rating: 4/5


Raising the Bar Alternative Ending

Raising the Bar Alternate Ending

This is Casual TVB's 400th post!

Netizens have discovered that there was actually an alternate ending to Raising the Bar, shown in the overseas version. In the alternate version, the characters participate in a silent protest in defence of Hong Kong's judicial independence.



The alternate ending is in reference to the protest staged by Hong Kong's legal professionals in June 2014. Around 1800 lawyers, legal scholars and law students dressed in black and marched from the High Court to the Court of Final Appeal. They then stood in silence for three minutes in front of the Court of Final Appeal. It was a protest against a "white paper" issued by the Chinese government which regarded the judiciary as part of the government and stated that "loving the country" is a requirement for judges. In a statement by the Hong Kong Bar Association, they felt that having these political requirements for judges would threaten the idea of judiciary independence.

Raising the Bar Theme Song

The theme song for Raising the Bar is "Me and You" (我和你), by Stephanie Ho.


Theme Song MV


The sub-theme song is called "Person in Front" (面前人), by Louis Cheung and Grace Chan.

Overview - Raising the Bar

A group of barristers and trainee lawyers vow to pursue justice and ideals, but the process is fraught with difficulties. Regarded as the "Condor Heroes" of the legal world, barrister Ben Wong and his wife Elaine Yiu have taught many students. Among them, Grace Chan, Jeannie Chan and Louis Cheung are Ben's favourites. Grace's classmate, Moon Lau, is a trainee solicitor at Elaine's law firm, while Stephanie Ho trains under barrister Timothy Cheng. Jeannie's half-sister, Natalie Tong, has an affair with the married Timothy and later switches over to work for Ben. With each of them using their own methods, how do these rookies become qualified legal practitioners, in a journey that is full of struggle, doubt and tough choices about their future? Theory turns into practice as they handle tricky cases and experience success and failures, while also dealing with love, family and friendship problems every day. Their biggest test arrives when legal standards challenge their personal orientations...


Raising the Bar Promo Clips

Raising the Bar Promo Clips

Overview - Raising the Bar

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Overachievers Review

Producer: Marco Law
Genre: Modern, business
Cast: Wayne Lai, Raymond Wong, Power Chan, Raymond Cho, Edwin Siu, Nancy Wu, Susanna Kwan, Maggie Siu

Review:
This series is exactly like the wealthy family that it is depicting – glamorous on the outside, but rotten on the inside. As an anniversary series, Overachievers has a grand appearance: an all-star cast, extravagant sets, glamorous clothing... okay, maybe not so nice hairstyles... but the plot was a disaster.

It's easy to understand why the Chinese title was changed from "Business Wars", because business was certainly the least of the worries in here. The first two episodes feature a seemingly intense war between father and son. But after that, it is almost forgotten and replaced with pointless drama between irrelevant characters. The Raymond-Nancy love-sickness was a drag. Power Chan and Maggie Siu, while both are entertaining, add almost nothing to the overall plot. The entire Edwin-Sisley line was neither entertaining nor necessary. After twenty episodes, you will realize you've gotten nowhere. Then in the last week or so, the plot takes a turn for the worse and we suddenly have a few wackos at our hands. Until finally, everything is wrapped up in a ridiculous ending.

The biggest problem was certainly the dramatic character changes. Elliot Ngok's character suddenly decides he's going to push away all his children with his unreasonableness and Raymond Wong's character becomes an insane serial killer. I get that these two characters drive the series to its climax, but it is really hard to watch when everything stems from such illogicialness. The character that was actually the most interesting, but ultimately wasted, was Susanna Kwan. From the way she handled her husband's infidelity, she was made to seem like a smart, calculating lady who patiently awaits her chance for revenge. Yet in the end, she proves incapable of managing the corporation or getting revenge on her son's true killer.

Wayne Lai seems to have lost his touch and now only acts as various versions of Chai Gau in his dramas. Raymond Wong has too much "force" in his acting, like the way he pushes his dialogue out or the way he grabs his female co-stars. Edwin Siu is over-exaggerative in his attempt to deliver comedy. Raymond Cho is good as the useless son, but this is not a break-through for him. Power Chan is the best of the "Five Tigers", as he always finds a way to make his characters stand out. Elliot Ngok acting is just right as the patriarch and is also convincing in the scenes after his stroke. Amazingly, Jason Chan's acting was not cringe-worthy in this series. There was only about one scene where I noticed his hands gesturing randomly. Fred Cheng is cute in his performance.

Nancy Wu is a capable actress, but she never attracts attention on the screen. In contrast, Maggie Siu can grab attention with her expressions or movements even when she is not talking. Susanna Kwan was the perfect choice for the semi-villainous step-mother. Unfortunately, her character didn't use all of her potential. Grace Chan was impressive in her debut. She is natural and at ease next to the veterans, and her crying scenes can already beat out some actresses with more experience. Sisley Choi also made a good debut, but she has a weaker screen presence compared to Grace. Ali Lee was quite noticeable too.

Rating: 3/5. Overachievers underachieved.

Overview - Overachievers

Wayne Lai is determined to make his own name in the business world and triumph over his father (Elliot Ngok), as a way of getting back for the many years of having to live under his tight control. Despite previous failures, Wayne is ready for another comeback with the help of Raymond Wong, Nancy Wu and Edwin Siu. They start up a mobile application company, with the intention of waging an all-out business war against Elliot. Ever since Wayne left home, his brother (Raymond Cho) has been cast aside by Elliot. His stepmother (Susanna Kwan) uses this opportunity to promote her son (Jason Chan) as the successor of the corporation and secretly works out a takeover plan. Facing repeated attacks from Susanna, Wayne fortunately receives the emotional support of his ex-girlfriend Maggie Siu and her autistic son (Fred Cheng). He also reconsiders his relationship with his father. Seeing Susanna's plot to take over Elliot's business empire, Wayne joins with his brother Raymond and step-uncle Power Chan to fight back. Unexpectedly, friends turn into rivals, while former foes become allies, making it difficult to distinguish the enemy in this dangerous dilemma.

Overachievers Promo Clips

Overview - Overachievers

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New Faces of TVB (2)

Which one of these new faces will make it to become the next top fadan at TVB?

Tracy Chu (朱千雪)


Tracy was a huge fan favourite when she competed in the Miss Hong Kong pageant. Although she ended up finishing third, she was immediately given an opportunity to star alongside veteran Lawrence Ng in The Hippocratic Crush II.

Look for her in: Battle Again Tomorrow, The Misadventure of Zoo



May Chan (陳嘉佳)


May met Wong Cho Lam while filming the movie Short of Love, who introduced her into TVB. The heavy-weight actress has captured the hearts of the audience with her adorable characters in Inbound Troubles and Bounty Lady. She managed to secure a Best Supporting Actress nomination in just her first full year at TVB.

Look for her in: Inbound Troubles II



Harriet Yeung (楊詩敏)


Harriet is an accomplished stage actor that has signed with TVB. She shocked audiences in her first drama, Bounty Lady, due to her outlandish character and striking imitation of Kate Tsui. She showed off with her remarkable imitation skills once again in the variety show Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk.

Look for her in: Officer Geomancer, Battle Again Tomorrow, The Misadventure of Zoo



Stephanie Ho (何雁詩)


Stephanie entered the industry through The Voice. Because of her small size, she was chosen to star next to Wong Cho Lam in Gilded Chopsticks, which helped to raise her profile. The multi-talented Stephanie is also a professional golfer who has represented Hong Kong in international tournaments.

Look for her in: Quid Pro Quo



Candy Chang (張慧雯)


Candy is a pageant winner from Toronto. Her role as "Jing Jing" in The Hippocratic Crush was well-received by the audience. She was unfortunately caught up in a drug scandal, but has since fully resumed her career with a prominent role in Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain.



Kelly Fu (傅嘉莉)


Kelly got noticed as the coffee girl in Triumph in the Skies II after rumours surfaced between her and co-star Ron Ng. She added to her recognition by taking on a challenging role as a Mainland girl in Swipe Tap Love.

Look for her in: Cheung Po Tsai



Whitney Hui (許亦妮)


Whitney turned heads when she made her debut as the sexy model “Monica D” in Inbound Troubles. She has proven to be a versatile actress, succeeding with different types of roles as well, such as a mute maid in Return of the Silver Tongue.

Look for her in: Street Sorcerers 2, Overachievers



Jacqueline Wong (黃心穎)


Jacqueline was the runner-up in the 2012 Miss Hong Kong pageant. So far, she has mainly hosted variety shows, with only guest star appearances in dramas. She most recently appeared as Bosco Wong’s first wife in The Ultimate Addiction.

Look for her in: Madam Cutie on Duty, Battle Again Tomorrow, Limelight Years



Grace Chan (陳凱琳) & Sisley Choi (蔡思貝)


The reigning Miss Hong Kong winners are receiving a heavy push from TVB. Both will have supporting roles in the highly anticipated Overachievers. Each of them will also have the opportunity to lead their own series.

Look for them in: Overachievers, Quid Pro Quo (Grace), Officer Geomancer (Sisley), Cross the Finish Line (Sisley), Cheung Po Tsai (Grace)



M Club Girls


The seven young actresses in Never Dance Alone all had memorable performances in the series. The girls have leveraged their increased popularity to gain job opportunities in various areas, including television, movies and stage performances.

Look for them in: Street Sorcerers 2 (Anjaylia Chan), Quid Pro Quo (Jeannie Chan), Lord of Shanghai (Winki Lai)


Check out the list of new male faces!