First Episode 92: 北京爱情故事

[heifeng]

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

北京爱情故事：

summary （*w/ spoilers if you read too far down in this link*): A recent tv series (2012) 3 friends, 3 different backgrounds, and well, I haven't gotten too far yet..BUT, what I like so far is that the characters seem to have some chemistry (at least the ones that are suppose to have it do) so you are not left wondering wtf are they doing together in the first place (cough cough 婆婆来了...and so many other series). So I've only watched a few episodes, but the character development seems pretty good which means that I actually WANT to watch it to see what happens to them (instead of hoping they all somehow spontaneously combust onscreen)...of course it could just be all down hill from here, but I'll have to see how it goes...

Other notes: Oh my! had to do a double take...the character of 林夏 is played by 张歆艺 who was 叶子 in 给我一支烟。 Sooo, there is a 'debate' on how much 'work' she got done on herself , but I think that it looks more like the result of a few extra kilos that has aided her transformation. I nearly did NOT recognize her.

Ok, so sorry for lack of details, but these are just a few series I have stumbled upon of late. Maybe you will find them interesting too!

Edited October 27, 2012 at 06:48 PM by renzhe
Added preamble, split parts of the post to other threads (红蝎子)

[imron]

the character of 林夏

sounds like they just took the names from 奋斗 and reversed the characters.

[heifeng]

I just need to report back and say I'm up to episode 31 (of 39) of 北京爱情故事 and it's still really good! I'm still going strong & will be plopping down in front of my PC tonight to possibly finish it! I figure I'll report back now before it ends (just in case the ending causes me to hate it in the long run and be bitter about investing 30+ hours into a series that ultimately lets me down), but at least up to #31, it has been a nice series about the 80后 generation...and， well， 爱情！！

I'm also really impressed with the actors performances! Great character development indeed! I felt like they were each all fairly believable characters (keeping in mind it is tv, so maybe some exaggerations) and I am rooting for them. (nope, only so far one character deserves to spontaneously combust!). ALSO, I like the settings for the scenes. I mean, the hospitals look like real hospitals (edit: with the exception of anything that looks like a 四合院...aren't those extinct and nearly museum like by now?!), sure the train could be more crowded (that was a great episode by the way), but at least the apt buildings actually looked like what I saw in Beijing...not some huge fantasy land apartment that you know is out of the budget. (Ok, american series are guilty of this too....do you ever see how big dorm rooms are on US tv shows....trust me, that's not the case) Anyway, back on subject, this series so far gets 4 out of 4 stars from me and the last few episodes will determine if it can hold its high rating.

Anyone else watchin' it?!!!??? Don't be shy now

[heifeng]

Finished 北京爱情故事 last week and it was great. Up until episode 39 that is. Skip that episode and you will be a happy camper!

Now I am onto the TV series 悬崖...all of episode 1 so far！ You can read about it here, but again, there is a spoiler alert. Since I've only covered episode 1, I didn't read too far into the summary, but so far episode one kept my attention (*yes! slightly longer than a goldfish), so the next few episodes will determine if I can stick through all 40 episodes of the series

[rob07]

Anyone else watchin' it?!!!??? Don't be shy now

On the strength of your recommendation, I've watched the first couple of episodes. Superior 80后 fare.

Actually, where this show wins big with me is its use of the song 滴答滴. I remember it was playing non-stop when I went to Lijiang in 2009 and it used to bother me that I couldn't tell what Da-ling meant. I wasn't able to understand the rest of the lyrics at the time so had no way to look it up ... until now, glad to find that it is onomatopoeia. I like the song as well.

[Mindmaxd]

北京爱情故事is also good,maybe you can hava a try

[renzhe]

I like this so far! It has the right balance between realism and humour.

You have to give it a few episodes before deciding, though, you only get to meet all major characters and understand how everyone is connected in episode 3.

Language is upper intermediate, but the first episode is quite heavy in terms of language, I found. Very fast, very Beijing-y.