Curse of the Royal Harem

Cast:
Sunny Chan as Emperor Do Kwong
Myolie Wu as Empress Hao Sun
Jessica Hsuan as Niuhuru Yee Lan, later Concubine Tsuen
Gigi Wong as Empress Dowager Gong Chi
Joel Chan as Prince Rui
Sire Ma as Princess Rui
Elena Kong
Nancy Wu
Vivien Yeo
Rebecca Chan
Gordon Liu
Kwok Fung
Ben Wong
Jess Shum
Macy Chan

Total Episodes: 31 episodes
Aired Dates: October 31 to December 9, 2011
Time Slot: Mondays to Fridays, 8.30pm
Channel: Astro Channel 901

Synopsis:
Emperor Do Kwong accended the throne after the disappearance of his elder brother Prince Muk while at war. Although the Emperor ordered for the search of Prince Muk, deep down, the royal family, including his consort, Niuhuru Yee Lan, knows that Prince Muk has died.

Emperess Dowager Gong Chi ordered that Nuihuru Yee Lan be buried alive to appease the soul of Prince Muk. The Emperor found out about the Empress Dowager's decree at the coronation ceremony of his Empress, Empress Hao Sun. In his rush to save Niuhuru Yee Lan, the Emperor disrupt the Empress coronation ceremony much to the disappointment of Empress Hao Sun as well as the Empress Dowager.

To save Niuhuru Yee Lan from further punishement from the Empress Dowager, the emperor decided to take his sister-in-law as his Concubine. This enraged both the Empress Dowager and Empress Hao Sun who sees Yee Lan as her main rival for the Emperor's affection.
The two women began to manipulate and outsmart each other.

caught between the woman he loves and his Empress, the Emperor is tired and exhausted and wished for calm and peace. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when rumours of an affair between the Empress and Prince Rui, the emperor's younger brother, surfaced.

Although Nuihuru Yee Lan (now Concubine Tsuen) is the favoured concubine of the Emperor, she is constantly oppressed by the Empress Dowager and the Empress. Concubine Tsuen turned from a simple-minded and kind hearted lady into a sophisticated and manipulative women. She refused to be a victim of fate and decides to put her own fate in her own hands. She is ready to take anyone who stand in her way down.

Official Site

Kent Cheng and Wayne Lai set for powerful collaboration

TVB new series, The King Maker, held its costume fitting recently. [The Kingmaker] stars two of Hong Kong's biggest talents - Kent Cheng and Wayne Lai.

[The King Maker] revolves around the story of the men in the imperial palace. Wayne and Kent will each play the role of the masters of a prince. They will out battle one another and aid their respective prince to become the Emperor.

Wayne shared that the new series will place great focus on the conflicts and struggles between the male characters in the palace, so it is alright not to have any "first-line" actresses in the series. Most importantly, is the good script that will produce good drama.

Wayne explained that he had collaborated with Kent before back in 2009 in The Greatness of a Hero. As such, for this round of collaboration, Wayne feels less pressure. "He’s a person who has very strict standards and does not film TVB series often, so getting the chance to collaborate with him is definitely a rare opportunity. I know that he rejected a lot of series in order to participate in this one – for him to think so highly of me, I’m very happy!" says Wayne.

Sacrificing earnings of over HKD 2 million, Kent turned down many offers so that he has the chance to work with Wayne again. Without any regrets, Kent explained, "If I don’t film the series this year, I may not have time next year. Wayne is TV King so I’m honored that he is willing to collaborate with me – his acting is amazing! If it weren’t for Wayne being in the series, I would not have come back to participate in it. If I had to choose one actor in all of TVB to collaborate with, my number one choice would definitely be Brother Wayne!"

Kent even joked that with such a collaboration, he "may" even earn back his HKD 2 million. Kent adds that although he collaborated with Wayne in [The Greatness of a Hero] two years ago, they did not have many scenes together, so this is the chance for them to battle it out in the new series.

Krystal Tin, Natalie Tong, Pierre Ngo, Chris Lai and Vivien Yeo make up the rest of the cast for this series.

Source: Mingpao with translations by llwy12@ AsianFanatics.net

Jessica Hsuan stresses the need for safety measures when filming

Jessica Hsuan, Myolie Wu and Vivien Yeo attended a dinner to wrap up the filming of TVB new series The King among the Phoenixes. Jessica explains that the series has not officially finished filming as there is still one last scene to be filmed - a burning house scene.

As Taiwanese pop group S.H.E's Selina Ren was recently injured while filming an explosion scene for a TV series in Shanghai, Jessica shares her concern. "When we heard the word fire, we were especially worried, we have to be careful. Before when I was filming a series, there was a glass breaking scene, that time I used a stunt double to help me do it, the martial artist got burnt and was sent to the hospital," reveals Jessica.

Vivien adds that when her boyfriend heard that she has to film a scene that involves fire, he was very worried about her safety.

After the filming for this series wraps, Myolie will only have a few days of break before going to Chengdu, China to film a new series with Bosco Wong.

Source: On.cc with translations by aZnangel@ AsianUniverse.net

Note: Selina was flown back to Taipei from Shanghai to undergo further treatment. She suffered 3rd degree burns on over 30% of her body when explosives went off earlier than scheduled, injuring her and co-star, Yu Hao Ming.

The Season of Fate

Cast:
Esther Kwan as Lin Sheung Chun
Michelle Yim as Wong Yuk Lam
Roger Kwok as Ma Wing Ching
Derek Kwok as Leung Kau Mui
Lawrence Ng Wai Kok as Yam Fei Yeung
Oscar Leung as Yam Shing Tin
Regan Cheung
Vivien Yeo

Total Episodes: 25 episodes
Aired Dates: January 11 to February 12, 2010
Time Slot: Mondays to Fridays, 9.30pm
Channel: Astro Channel 921

Synopsis:
Lin Sheung Chun came from a poor family. She was sold off to the Kwan family as a concubine, but shortly after marriage, her husband passed away. Her husband's sudden death could not be accepted by his first wife, Wong Yuk Lam. This resulted in Yuk Lam behaving erratically and became mentally unstable.

As such, the responsibility of managing the household and all other family matters fall on Sheung Chun's shoulders. She even had to take over the management of the family's business which is a bistro.

Swindlers, Ma Wing Ching and Lee Shi Mui, were up to their mischief and antics. However, Sheung Chun was around and managed to blow their cover. Unfortunately, Yuk Lam mistakenly identified Wing Ching as her senior apprentice and follows him around. Wing Ching used this perfect opportunity to swindle more money from the Kwan family bistro.

After a series of incidents and misunderstandings, Wing Ching and Sheung Chun fall for one another. Sheung Chun felt confused between her feelings for Wing Ching as well as her childhood friend, Leung Kau Mui.

At the same time, Yuk Lam's second senior apprentice, Yam Fei Yeung, returned home with his foster son, Yam Shing Tin. Fei Yeung, who harboured feelings for Yuk Lam hoped to win her heart once more but Sheung Chun felt that Fei Yeung has ulterior motives.

Note: Previous working title was The Five Flavours of Life

Shirley Yeung sandwiched between Vivien Yeo and Eric Suen

TVB organised a promotional function for its latest drama series, Pages of Treasures. The main cast - Shirley Yeung, Vivien Yeo, Eric Suen and Paul Chun were among those present. The latest news in HK showbiz is about the restructuring of key positions in rival TV station, ATV. Vivien was asked about her opinion regarding the matter in which she replied, "Hope they are gradually good, but I am not sure about this and do not want to talk about it."

Shirley added, "Hope that it is a healthy competition between TVB and ATV. With the presence of competition comes about a great effort and determination. I support TVB with all my heart and confidence." Paul Chun also offered his thoughts, "I knew ATV had faced a lot of problems a few years back. These recent years ATV had incurred many expenses plus the production ATV produced had not been fond or liked by the public. This does not relate about all the ratings about TVB. ATV had recently filmed two series too."

Vivien and Pages of Treasures co-star, Eric Suen are rumoured to be dating. During the event, reporters requested for the two of them to be photographed together but somehow there's always someone standing between them and most of the time it's Shirley. Shirley, Vivien and Eric will be involved in a love triangle in the series.

Source: (1) Shirley Stuck In The Middle Of Eric & Vivien, translated by Blue_Angel_12 (2) Shirley Yeung: Hope There Is Healthy Competition Between TVB & ATV, translated by jse @ AsianFanatics.net

Pages of Treasures

Cast:
Wayne Lai as Fong Sum Ming
Sonija Kwok as Yuen Wai Chung
Paul Chun as Fong Hok Man
Eric Suen as Fong Sum Ching
Shirley Yeung as Lui Yuen Yi, Abby
Vivien Yeo as Xu Hei Man
Mary Hon
Sharon Chan
Macy Chan
Kara Hui

Total Episodes: 20 Episodes
Aired Dates: December 8, 2008 to January 2, 2009
Time Slot: Mondays to Fridays, 8.30pm
Channel: Astro 901

Synopsis:
Fong Hok Man works in a bookstore and lives by the principles that knowledge is power. He has 3 children, 2 sons - Sum Ming and Sum Ching and a daughter, Sum Mei. Sum Ming is not good in his studies and did not further his education at the tiertiary level. However, Sum Ching is very smart and chose to further his studies in IT at a university in United States. To fund his studies, Sum Ming works hard in Mauritius for better pay.

The two brothers now decides to return to Hong Kong. Coincidentally, they both end up working in the same commercial building, Sum Ming as a security guard while Sum Ching works as a Senior network Security Engineer. Hok man is afraid that the brothers' different job levels will cause a rift in their relationship.

Sum Ming starts to fall for Yuen Wai Chung, who owns a clay model shop. Hok Man tries to help Sum Ming launch a better career by buying a bookstore for him to manage. Sum Ching, who already has a girlfriend, Yuen Yi, starts to fall for his colleague, Xu Hei Man.

Stay tuned to discover how Hok Man untangle his family from these messy situations.