Hong Kong Heartbreaker - the early career of Chow Yun-Fat
additional TVB series information
About TVB
How many TV series did CYF make?
Where can I see these series?
Are any of these shows in English?
Aren't these shows just soap operas?
Why aren't all of CYF's series detailed on this site?
About TVB
TVB is the acronym for Television Broadcast, the larger of the of two television
networks operating in Hong Kong. They broadcast two primary types of programs,
those required by their license, supplied by RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong), and
wildly popular commercial efforts which are produced in-house. Like its American
counterparts, TVB produces dramas and comedies, soap operas and game shows. Unlike
American networks however, TVB also runs a famous training school for actors. Many of
the current stars of Hong Kong cinema have appeared in one or more (sometimes many
more) of TVB's serials: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Carol Cheng Yu-Ling, Ng Man-Tat and
of course Chow Yun-Fat.
TVB maintains a site on the Web at http://www.tvb.com.hk;
it is primarily in Chinese but has some portions in English as well. It's worth a visit
if for nothing else than to look at the pictures.
How many TV shows did CYF make?
In total, I'm not sure anybody, including CYF himself, really knows. Like any other actor
he started at the very bottom playing walk-on parts; unlike other actors though he rose to
stardom on television relatively quickly (not necessarily easily). As either the star
or a principal character, 20 series are credited to him. In 
, a Japanese
book which details CYF's career up to 1990 (well after his association with TVB ended), these
20 series are detailed. CYF has stated he made around 1000 episodes all told,
so I doubt if there are many (if any at all) other series which should be credited to
him.
Where can I see these series?
The more popular series, such as The Bund, are aired on The Jade Channel
which is a part of TVB's international satellite network. Other series which
have aired on Jade are Radio Tycoon, Smiling Proud Wanderer and
The Legend of Master So. As of 1999, Jade was not available on DSS satellite but
according to TVB's website Jade will be expanding their coverage in 2000, so hopefully
this will change. For more information on TVB International, visit their website at
http://www.tvb.com.hk/tvbi/index.htm.
TVB International also produces VHS tapes for the international video rental market.
TVBI rental outlets exist in San Francisco, Miami and Houston, Texas. For those don't have
access to these outlets, TVBI offers a rental-by-mail option.
I was fortunate in that I found a former rental outlet which was liquidating its stock
and gave me the opportunity to buy the original TVBI tapes outright. While this was
simply a stroke of luck on my part, if you are really interested in owning originals
it can't hurt to ask around in your local Chinatown to see if there are any such former
rental outlets which might be willing to sell to you. Be prepared though - depending on
the length of the series, prices will range from around a hundred to almost a thousand
dollars.
There have been reports on the Usenet group alt.asian.movies that TVBI has indicated they
will begin producing VCD versions of some series at some unspecified future date, but whether
or not any of CYF's serials (which are now rather old in the context of a TV show's half-life)
have been planned as part of such a release remains to be seen. As it is, there are a few
bootleg versions of The Bund available, taped from Singaporean television and made
into VCDs. The quality of these efforts vary - just be sure to buy the unedited version (in
other words, make sure all 25 episodes are included).
Are any of these shows in English?
No. Also, as far as I have been able to find, none of these series have been subtitled either
in English or Chinese. If you don't speak Cantonese, you're just going to have to enjoy them
as they are, I'm afraid.
Aren't these shows nothing but soap operas?
Some of these shows really are little more than soaps, that's true. The Fate,
for example, never really rises above your typical family saga involving heinous crimes,
suffering relatives, frustrated romance and the other standard soap fare. Happily
there are also outstanding series such as Battle Among The Clans or The Legend
of Master So which are entertaining, engrossing and showcase some wonderful
performances not only by Chow Yun-Fat but Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Lau Ching-Wan and the
ubiquitous Wong Sun as well as many others. You'll also catch glimpses of future stars, some in
nothing more than tiny walk-on roles - look for a shy Leung Ka-Fai as a guest in the birthday
party scene in the first part of The Giants, for example. The young and smirking
Ng Man-Tat in The Killer 1 is already well on his way to being the expressive
superstar we all know and love, and where else than in The Legend of Master So
will you get to see a baby-faced Andy Lau Tak-Wah peeping into a girl's bedroom
through the transom window and tossing a rat on her for fun?
Of course there's also The Bund, which is in a class by itself; at the TVB 30th
Anniversary Awards it was voted as one of the Five Most Memorable television shows in
TVB history. Its three leading stars, Chow Yun-Fat, Chiu A Chi and Ray Lui Leung-Wai
were also named as having portrayed Most Memorable Characters from the same series.
The series, which ran for 25 episodes, was edited into two films two years later.
Why aren't all of CYF's series detailed on this site?
As mentioned above, Chow Yun-Fat appeared in 20 series as the star or a principal character.
Because I will list only those which I personally have seen, I can only add series as
I acquire copies of them. It's much too easy to pass along misinformation without
having first-hand knowledge of some of these old works (for example, it's a long-standing
error that the early CYF film Miss O is a horror movie, which is completely false).
Since the way I prefer to acquire the series is by buying the originals, that means I have to
hunt them down, find the money to buy them, watch them (and when it's 120 episodes,
that alone takes a fair amount of time), write my thoughts on them, translate names and
such from Chinese into pinyin and then into English, make the screen captures, write up the
HTML and put it all together online. In between doing this I try to squeeze in a few other
things, like making the money to buy the series in the first place, so it's a fairly
time-consuming process. Driven by the fires of obsession it may be slow but it's continually
ongoing, and one day I hope to have a complete listing of both CYF's film and television works,
completely detailed between this site and A Free Man In Hong Kong.
I've acquired a number of series which are not yet listed on the site. If you have any
specific questions about one and don't see it here, I might have it, just drop me some
email and I'll try to answer. Oh, and I finally did find "Alligator Pool" - the
English name is "Good Old Times" and it is a total riot. This will be the next series which
will appear on Hong Kong Heartbreaker - though it may be a while. Stay tuned!
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