RETURN OF THE CUCKOO

"Return of the Cuckoo" is a series that is set mostly in Macau and stars Julian Chueng Chi Lam, Charmaine Sheh Xi Man, Nancy Sit Ka Yin, Steven Ma, and Michael Tong Man Long. If a theme or moral has to be pinpointed to "Return", it would have to be sacrifice for the ones you love. Julian Chueng plays a mute person, Man Chor, whose muteness was directly caused by his mother when she tried to poison him to death. Saved and brought up by Q Yee (Aunt Q) who is played by Nancy Sit, the two most important women in Man Chor's life are his Q Yee and her daughter, Guan Ho (Charmaine Sheh). The complications start when Man Chor and Guan Ho realize that their love exceeds the boundaries of just brotherly and sisterly love and is trapped in a love triangle with Xi Tao Lie Suern (Steven Ma).
The script for "Return" is rather funny in the beginning with Julian Chueng and Charmaine Sheh bickering all the time as brother and sister. Julian doesn't get to talk much in the series--he's mute!--and communicates through sign language with his voice in the background as a translation for the audience. He is a pretty good performer while Charmaine Sheh is also improving. The subplot story has Michael Tong who, since his unexpected good performance in "The Kung Fu Master", plays Gum Sing, a renegade who is unacknowledged by his own rich father.
Some people have argued that it's unlikely and similar to incest for two people growing up as brother and sister to actually develop the kind of love between man and woman. Psychologically speaking, if in their minds they had always made the distinction that they were of different parents, then I believe that such feelings are possible and not unlikely at all.
I'm not too sure what year the series is supposed to be set in--it looks like present modern--but I did not see muteness to be such a big handicap in society. The series made it seem as if it is such a big hindrance, so much that Man Chor was unable to find a good job because his prospective employers never gave him a chance. It was also mentioned that he was not admitted into a prestigious school because of his muteness. Perhaps things work differently in Hong Kong but in the US, we would probably sue the butts off of the company-in-hire and the school for such discriminations. If a person had the skills and training--especially in the technical fields (think Internet)-- muteness does not appear to be a big problem to me. However, in "Return", Man Chor carried an inferiority complex because of his muteness and was afraid to declare his love for Guan Ho because he thought he was not worthy.
That is what vexed me most about "Return"--as if someone did not have the right to love and marry, and can't become successful just because he is mute! Are there not other ways to communicate between man and is really having a wealthier life superior to having the love of your life? The kinds of sacrifices made by Q Yee and Man Chor for Guan Ho just seemed unreasonable, too good to be true and too unselfish. This kind of storyline has the tinge of "A Kindred Spirit" (which I might add is a plague on mankind, but that is another review) because it goes into such romantic notions about the relationships between people. To me, it is just a form of surrender, a submission to your so-called Fate. Man Chor gives up his love because he thinks another man can provide better for her?! Whatever happened to trying to better your own education and quality of life and fighting for the person you love?

PS I do not own this review !!!

THE GREEN HOPE

Just when you're about to give up on the series that TVB produces, they come out with a savior called "The Green Hope" that surprises the viewer with a refreshing cast and an interesting storyline. The Chinese title translated literally is "New Fresh People" and "Green" is everything new and fresh. With a plot that entails the struggles of those inflicted with mental illnesses and the ordeals of their family and friends, the main cast members includes Bowie Lam Bo Yee, Stephen Fung Tak Lun, Joey Yung Cho Yee, Cathy Tsui Zhi Kay, Yoyo Mung Ka Wai, and Melissa Ng.
For such a new cast, except for Bowie Lam, all the other main cast picks have not made an appearance in a TVB series prior to "Green", though Stephen Fung - from the Dry Band -has made several popular Hong Kong movies ("Gen-X Cops", "Gorgeous", "He Comes From Planet K"). Their performances were pretty good, especially notable were Stephen Fung as the mentally ill younger brother, Fong Ka Him, of Fong Ka Fai (Bowie Lam) and Yoyo Mung as Lai Wah. Joey Yung was cute as Wai Man who pursues Fong Ka Him while Cathy Tsui was also not bad, though her voice seemed to teeter on cracking at times. Considering it is the first TV series for these three, performances are better than average. Another appealing factor of "Green" is of course the new matchups - triangular love between Stephen Fung, Joey Yung, and Cathy Tsui vs. Bowie Lam, Yoyo Mung and Michelle Ng Mei Shuet. Bowie Lam is an experienced actor and gets into his role with ease.
"Green" is a series that is heavy on the love between the two brothers, Fong Ka Fai and Fong Ka Him. It is a series that is deep with morals and good feel but done not in a preaching way. The only faulty points in the series is that flashbacks can get redundant at times and some might complain about the not so fast pace. However, character development is done very nicely at such a pace. Music is also good - the themesong written by Stephen Fung himself - with mixes from Stephen Fung's and Joey Yung's albums.
The ending is probably one of the best parts of the series. "Green Hope" is one of TVB's best modern series out thus far this year. For a while, one was getting worried that TVB would not take a series seriously anymore!

PS I do not own this review !!!

SLIM CHANCES

Chinese Title: "Ngor Yiu Fit Yut Fit" (translates into I Need To Get Fit)

Theme Song: Sung by Miriam Yeung, not sure of the title

# of episodes: 25 (20 when played in Hong Kong and on TVB's official website)
Cast:

Fennie Yuen Kit Ying as Wong Man Yee (Margaret; nicknamed "Mao Kwut", which means cat bones)

Ronald Cheng Zhong Kei as So Bing Man

Annie Man Chung Han as Suen Hao Bik (nicknamed "Din Mao", which means crazy cat)

Rain Lau Yuk Chui as Tim Boh (nicknamed "Boh Boh Lung", which means something like fierce dragon)

Kevin Cheng Ka Wing as Si Zhi Keung (Sean; nicknamed "Song See", which means corpse)

Lydia Shum as Salina Zhong Siu Lai (Salina, called "Sah Jeh", which means sister Sah)

Yuen Wah as So Si Fu ("Master So", father to Man)

Joe Cheng King Kei as Heng Kei

Ah Mong as Sheila (nicknamed "Zhu La", which means female pig)
Plotline
Margaret, Boh, and Bik are best friends with distinct personalities. Bright and fast-thinking Margaret is the top salesperson at her company, while the mouthy Boh, although working at the same company, spends her money on branded goods and is in a constant search for what she calls her "long-term rice ticket", which actually means a wealthy husband. Bik suffers from minor paranoia (just kidding, although it definitely seems like that), is ultra-sensitive to money matters and always guarding her bucks. Although she scratches people when they take her money, deep down she is a good-hearted girl willing to help out her friends whenever needed.
The passive and slightly clued-out Man's group of friends consists of Sean, a freelance advertising agent who entirely fits the epitome of a "flower flower prince" (Cantonese slang meaning a guy who is a player) but who, in reality, is witty and genuine. Sean and Fatty (the horizontally-gifted younger brother to an equally horizontally-gifted Salina) spend their days trying to convince Man to dump irritating big spender girlfriend Sheila, while Fatty temporarily entertains dreams of becoming an actor.
Eventually all of the characters, with the exception of Bik, get fired or laid off from their jobs. Sean ends up at the same company as Bik, much to her annoyance, while Man and Fatty also end up working there. Margaret and Salina partner up to establish a restaurant, and Boh? She drives a taxi. She and Fatty also accidentally sleep together when drunk (much to Boh's horror, who is less than fond of Fatty's looks and lack of riches). Boh gets pregnant, and reluctantly marries Fatty, while the latter caters to Boh's every whim like a slave. Bik and Sean get together, but both realize that Bik finds Sean too insecure, and break up.
Eventually everyone gets back together. Yay.
Comments
Can the plot get anymore predictable? The plot for this series goes nowhere. I have absolutely no clue what the point of the series is. Are the characters trying to get fit (as the series title implies)? The triumph of the underdog (Margaret)? What's with the romantic tension between Salina and Man's dad? The plot goes everywhere and nowhere. It could have been written by a 12-year-old as far as I'm concerned. Situations are contrived and overused. The series is nothing but recycled material, and badly recycled at that. It doesn't help that the cast is composed mainly of C-rate actors, with our leading lady being Lydia Shum, the most annoying actress and person in the HK entertainment industry of the 60's.
Let's start with the acting. Ladies first. I've never liked Lydia Shum, both as an actress and a person. In real life she seems obnoxious and loud, which isn't too far from how she acted her role. Her voice is unbelievably irritating, and like Nancy Sit, her acting is stuck in the opera-ish era of the 60's - noise, noise, noise, more noise, overdone body gestures and facial expressions. Horrible performance.
Fennie Yuen portrayed the strong-willed side of her character well, but for the most part she overdid it. Yes, Margaret is determined and has a "don't mess with me" and "never give up" personality, but Fennie showed no vulnerability in her character. Actually, during the whole series, she came off as icy to me. She has charisma on the screen, but that doesn't mean she's a good actress.
Now, for some compliments. Rain Lau is dependably funny as Boh, but the best performance (although that isn't saying much, considering the others) comes surprisingly from Annie Man. Although not TVB Big Sister material, she is hilarious here as the neurotic number-crunching Bik! Very good performance, and that's comic-wise, not dramatic-wise. She made a cute couple with Kevin Cheng too.
Speaking of Kevin Cheng, he's smoking hot in this series but has yet to prove his acting chops. I hated him in Burning Flame 2 (he was like a piece of wood throughout the entire thing) but here his acting skills have improved. Not a great performance by any means, but at least I wasn't annoyed (Lydia Shum) or bored (Fennie Yuen). Ronald Cheng brings his Hong Kong movies' comic presence into TVB, and that's useful as the slow-thinking Man, but he is definitely not meant to be the leading male. Yuen Wah and Joe Cheng are ok in their roles, and never-seen-before Tuck also handles the Mr. Nice Guy character of Fatty pretty well.
A few scenes stand out for me in this pointless series: 1) When Fatty talks back to his sister when she tries to convince him that acting isn't a realistic career. He says "Can fat people not have talent?". A very sad scene actually. 2) After Sean first confesses his feelings to Bik, and they go to a bar and listen to Heng Kei's song, which was actually written for Bik. Heng Kei's sad look as he sings and watches the two together was actually pretty touching. Sad scene also. 3) When Sean tries to lead Bik across the street to see if she trusts him, and she ends up letting go of his hand and opening her eyes before they even start to cross. Very disappointing for Sean. Even more ridiculous is the demands that Bik makes and acting like she is the "right one" after their fight/breakup.
Hmm, all the scenes that I liked were sad... maybe because the rest of it was boring. I probably fast-forwarded more than half while watching.
From the Grapevine
Lydia Shum's daughter (fathered by well-known veteran Adam Cheng) Yan Yee (aka Joyce) is planning to enter the entertainment business, and recently went through an intensive diet where she went from 230 or so pounds to only 130 or so. Also, for those of you who don't know, Joe Cheng is Canadian. He worked as a radio DJ in Toronto for many years and off-and-on acts for TVB. I've actually met him. Very nice guy and yes, the songs in the series that he sings are written by him.

PS I do not own this review !!!