Best Modern TVB Series

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Behind the Rose Garden
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Behind the Rose Garden
再見十九歲
Cantonese: Choi Geen Sup Gao Shui
Mandarin: Zai Jian Shi Jiu Shui

Chapters: 20
Year: 1983
Singer of Theme Song: 陳美齡
Cast:

I didn't watch this story in a long time so the summary will be sort of shaky. This sad and touching story started with Ma Tin Yao (Tony Leung), an orphan boy, who grew up in Macau; a nun (Lee Si Kei) raised him up. His best friend (Yim Sel Wah) and him, growing up in a church setting, were innocent and naive. However, Yao is determined to find his biological father when the nun tells him about him.
Him and Yim Sel Wah go to the big city to seek his father. Along the way, they get tricked and lose their money but they end up living with this poor village family. Yao then meets his girlfriend and future wife, Ah Hern (Lau Mun Yee). When he finds out that a rich man (Patrick Tse Yin), he doesn't accept him. He then discovers that the nun who raised him was involved in a relationship with the rich man and she is actually his mother. The rich man and the nun had a more complicated past which I forgot.
At the end, Yao accepts his father after he risks his life to save him. It was another happy ending for Tony. This story was touching because it showed how Tony learns how to adapt to the big city. The literal title is "Farewell at 19 years old" and when filming this series, Tony was about nineteen years old. The theme song is very good also.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
網中人
Cantonese: Mong Chong Yun
Mandarin: Wong Chong Ren

Chapters: 80
Year: 1980
Singer of Theme Song: 張德嫻
Cast:

This is considered a classic in TVB history. It revolves around a young man named Cheng Wai (Donald Chow) who just graduated from college and gets a good job. Later on, his brother, Cheng San, (Liu Wai Hong) escaped from the Mainland; they were separated when their parents went to Hong Kong during the war. Cheng San is really funny when he tries to get adjusted to Hong Kong life; this is the series that put Liu Wai Hong to stardom. Cheng Wai then meets his girlfriend, Fong Hei Mun (Dodo Cheng Yut Ling) who is the daughter of a rich business man (Kwan Hoi San) who owns a jewelry company named Yuk Fuk. Wai gets a job there. Another guy, Yun Kei Churn (Lee Yu Dao) also is "chasing" Hei Mun because he wants her father's business and he really likes her. Wai and Churn have conflicts in the company.
All this stops when Cheng Wai's mother goes on vacation, gambles, loses all her money, and needs to repay it fast. Wai steals the money from Hei Mun's company and has to go to jail. After jail, he learns life the hard way; no one will hire him and he has to work at a gasoline station. He leaves Hei Mun because he feels that he is worse than her and likes another girl who always liked him (Au Yeung Pui San). Pui San was forced by her mother to be a moviestar but when she freed herself from showbiz, she opened a clothing store. In the meantime, Kei Churn tricks Cheng Wai's little sister, Cheng Fun (Lun Si Fun) into bed. She almost commits suicide but she doesn't succeed. This gets Cheng Wai more angry.
Later on, Cheng San gets married and influenced by his friend Ah Bui (Ray Lair), they open a massage business. When the store got burned, they had to steal money to repay the loan. They start doing illegal trade for Kei Churn. Hei Mun then learns who her biological mother is (she had been calling her "auntie" all this time) but her father discovers that he has cancer. Soon, Kwan Hoi San dies and Yun Kei Churn takes over the company. Hei Mun, becoming strong after all this, calls back Cheng Wai to help her recover her father's business. Pui San also gets killed by the triad at this time. So Cheng Wai agrees (to avenge for his sister and he hates Kei Churn). Through many complications, Kei Churn is arrested and Cheng San goes to jail; his wife (Gong Ho Oi) and baby waited for him. Hei Mun, who had been comforted Cheng Wai on his girlfriend's death, finally ends up with him at the end in a happy and cute ending.
When this movie was being done, Cheng Yu Ling originally did not play the leading role. Liu Ging Yun(?) played the leading role and Dodo was second leading character. However, Liu Ging Yun quitted the show in the middle (they had already wrote the script and did the theme song happenings) and everyone switched parts. The show was so famous that people say that on the day the last chapter was broadcasted, all of Hong Kong was watching it. This is definitely a great show that tells a lot about real life and that things are not always happy. This story is so complicated and good that no summary like this could ever justify it.

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