Sales Presentation and Actual Series

I was visiting hyn5 Fortunate City blog and stumbled into this very interesting article about TVB's sales presentation compared to the actual series being filmed. First of all, I need to give special thanks to hyn5 for the wonderful information and rare pictures that I am using for my own entry.

As a fan, whether you are a certain artist's fan or a TVB fan in general, it's always interesting and curious to find out what artists were supposed or first chosen to film a series and then were replaced by a completely different cast. I have chosen certain series to give my two cents about out of the many series and sales clips that hyn5 has at his/her blog.

Romance Beyond: Frankie Lam, Athena Chu.
Sales Cast: Frankie Lam, Dicky Cheung, Gigi Lai, Fennie Yuen.

I've watched this series and I'm glad TVB chose Athena to pair with Frankie. In general, this series is very mediocre and maybe a bit lame but Frankie and Athena had great chemistry. It's really cute how Athena's character would follow Frankie's almost anywhere he goes and seems to trust only him. The ending is a bit disappointing for me but I did enjoy their collaboration throughout the series. TVB made the right choice to eliminate Dicky, Gigi, and Fennie because there is no other good role for them in the series. I do not like the supporting male character so I'm glad Dicky didn't have to play him.

Holy Dragon Saga: Frankie Lam, Catherine Hung, Marco Ngai.
Sales Cast: Eddie Kwan, Emily Kwan.

Again, TVB made a great decision by choosing Frankie for this role. After all, this was the role that I fell in love with Frankie and his character. I mean, I absolutely would not mind watching Eddie in this role because his handsome looks will fit the role and perhaps I would fall in love with Eddie instead. However, I despise watching Eddie with Emily or even worse, Chilam with Emily. I have watched parts of TVB version of Dagger Lee and whoever casted Emily for the role Lin Shi Yin must be blind or out of his mind. I like Emily as an actress and she is indeed a wonderful actress, but her look is no where near Lin Shi Yin who has two men fighting head over heels for her. Eddie made a fine choice as Li Xun Huan but his partner, tsk tsk tsk... I guess TVB realized its mistake and decided to cast Frankie with Catherine rather than torturing its audience one more time with the pairing of Eddie & Emily. The worst decision, however, was casting Chilam and Emily as a pair in Mystery of the Condor Heroes...

Speaking of Holy Dragon Saga, I was hoping Frankie would end up with Jojo Cho instead of Catherine Hung. Catherine just looks so awkward with the tribal costumes. Despites being a small production, the fighting scenes were great. Frankie and Marco had great chemistry.

Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994: Julian Cheung, Athena Chu, Gallen Lo, Emily Kwan
Sales Cast: Frankie Lam, Athena Chu, Julian Cheung, Leung Siu Bing, Lam Wai, John Chiang, Lau Dan, and Law Lok Lam.

What role would Frankie play if he was in here? Hm... Chilam did a great job as Kwok Jing, so I don't know if I can picture him as Yeung Hong? Maybe Frankie could be Yeung Hong and paired up with Noel Leung. That would be great. I read an article about Noel in which she claimed that one of the biggest regrets during her early career was losing the role Wong Yung to Athena. Perhaps Noel and Athena were both considered for the role but for some reason Athena got it? Athena was very cute with the role and she did perform very well. However, one thing about her performance that bugged me was that she kept playing with her hair and sometimes her expressions were a bit too much. I think perhaps Noel would do a better job as Wong Yung but Athena was great as well. By the way, the Gallen and Emily pairing was another bad decision.

Remembrance: Chilam Cheung, Kenix Kwok, David Siu.
Sales Cast: Chilam Cheung, Kenix Kwok, Athena Chu, Sunny Chan.

Oh my! This is new and interesting! I am so glad Athena did not take part or else Kenix was likely to play a supporting role. I cannot imagine her playing the annoying sister. Oh my! Plus, Kenix doesn't look like she is Athena's younger sister. Maybe Athena could be the younger sister? ^___* This series belongs to Chilam and Kenix. Hey you, back off!

Never Made #1: Frankie Lam, Chilam Cheung, Noel Leung
Who in their right mind wouldn't make this into a series?

Detective Investigation Files: Michael Tao, Kenix Kwok, Joey Leung
Sales Cast: Michael Tao, Kenix Kwok, Deric Wan, Alex Fong, Sheren Tang.

I have no comment about the sales cast. It would be great if Kenix could collaborate with Deric, one of my favorite actors, but the chosen cast’s chemistry and performance exceeded expectations.

Down Memory Lane: Alex Man, Frankie Lam, Michelle Yim, Kenix Kwok, Candy Lo.
Sales Cast: Alex Man, Damian Lau, Michelle Yim, Kenix Kwok, and Eddie Cheung.

So, if TVB kept the sales cast, I guess Kenix and Frankie would have no collaboration and we probably won’t have this one of the most loved couples of Hong Kong showbiz?

Criminal Investigator or what?
Hm… maybe Kenix and Frankie would meet in this series instead of Down Memory Lane, hahaha… Anyway, the pairing of Kenix and Felix Wong was great. I’m glad they changed the cast. Plus, I don’t enjoy watching Gordon Lam at all.

Cold Blood Warm Heart: Adam Cheng, Julian Cheung, Gallen Lo
Sales Cast: Alex Man, Julian Cheung, Nadia Chan, Athena Chu, Kenix Kwok, Gallen Lo, Frankie Lam, Jessica Hsuan, and Louis Koo.

I cannot think of any role Kenix could have played except for Christine’s? I would not mind watching her with Alex Man, although I prefer Adam more.

Never Made #2: Bobby Au Yeung, Kenix Kwok, Athena Chu, Noel Leung.

It’s a shame these girls didn’t get to collaborate in a series… But three beautiful ladies for one Bobby? Isn’t it a bit… too much? ^__^

Never Made #3: Michael Tao, Kenix Kwok, Jessica Hsuan.

Kenix and Jessica!!! I am speechless!

Detective Investigation Files 4: Louis Koo, Sunny Chan, Jessica Hsuan, Charmaine Sheh.
Sales Cast: Michael Tao, Kenix Kwok, Joey Leung, Ada Choi, Gallen Lo, Louis Koo, Jessica Hsuan, Flora Chan, and Patrick Tam.

I’m glad Michael left TVB or else there would be another pairing for him with Kenix. I’m so tired of watching them.

At the Threshold of an Era: Gallen Lo, Sunny Chan, Roger Kwok.
Sales Cast: Felix Wong, Deric Wan, Eddie Cheung, Sunny Chan, Lawrence Ng, Amy Kwok, Vivian Chow, Ada Choi, Kenix Kwok, and Monica Chan.

Uh… too many people. But I don’t mind watching Kenix with Felix though, if she gets to pair with him again. There are too many strong female casts we would not know where Kenix would end up.

Credits: hyn5 at Fortunate City