Favorite Soap Operas

[terminator]

I didn't find anything about your favorite soaps, so I decided to start a new thread.

What are your favorite Chinese soap operas and why?

[skylee]

I like 雍正王朝 and 走向共和.

[terminator]

I highly recommend《上海风云》. This new show, which came out on 8/18/05, is my favorite show. It talks about the escape of a Jewish girl from Germany. The Germans and Japanese try to catch her, who has fled to shanghai with a chinese man. Both love, thrill, and action are in this movie. Especially good is 程前's performance as the bad guy. The second of three brothers, he has pity on himself and slowly turns to the bad side, reflecting more badness in every following episode.

[deterius]

I forgot the chinese name, but in english it would be "The Big Manor“ highly recommend it, about a family starting right before the fall of the Qing dynasty to the cultural revolution, great Soap.

[skylee]

"The Big Manor"? Could it be 大閘門 Da4 Zha2 Men2 ?

[MikeNolan]

I am watching Wedding Gown now.

[Song You Shen]

Yeah, I'm watching "Heaven's Wedding Gown" right now with my girlfriend. It's alright, it has it's comedic moments (but I'm not sure if they're supposed to be funny). I'm more into the wuxia soap operas.. ;) but I guess you gotta make some comprimises for the lady.

Youshen

[Fan Qing Yu]

Oh! I forget the name of the show but it followed a young boy (I believe Tai Long? Although the characters escape me...) and his dozen siblings scraping for food and money. The opening was the Beatles' song "I wanna hold your hand." Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Anyway. It was my favorite, but I watched it very early into my Mandarin learning days. I'd like to watch it again but I can't find it for the life of me.

[lpascoe]

Can't let something about soap operas pass, even if my reply is a bit late...

Warning: I've got pretty bad taste in TV (or so my housemate tells me).

王子變青蛙 because it was funny and I've got a bit of a thing for王紹偉, hurm. Although I didn't when I first started watching it. Whatever.

流星花園 because it was one of the first I watched and it was really funny, except when one of the characters tried to starve himself to death. Okay, actually that was kind of funny too.

戀香, not sure why. I really like the song 原來愛 by Ben 白 that plays at the start of each episode, although I doubt that's why I got attached to the series.

I thought 鬥魚 was good, but I remember being pretty miserable while watching it. I prefer to watch funny soaps than ones that make me upset. If I feel like bawling my eyes out, I'll pick something Korean

[skylee]

王子變青蛙

Bad taste indeed. It started in HK last sunday and I enjoyed it a lot. Those guys and girls are not pretty enough, though (I've heard some say that they 趕客 - i.e. literally drive the customers away). hahaha.

[Quest]

My mom enjoyed 王子變青蛙 very much. I liked it too. I've been watching Taiwan variety and game shows a lot, so the actors/actresses are quite familiar to me. They are much better in the drama than they are in real life.

[Ferno]

I highly recommend《上海风云》. This new show, which came out on 8/18/05, is my favorite show. It talks about the escape of a Jewish girl from Germany. The Germans and Japanese try to catch her, who has fled to shanghai with a chinese man. Both love, thrill, and action are in this movie. Especially good is 程前's performance as the bad guy. The second of three brothers, he has pity on himself and slowly turns to the bad side, reflecting more badness in every following episode.

I'm confused - what's the scope of this drama??

Is the Jewish girl white?

Does it include segments in Germany?

Are there German and Japanese actors in the show?

(oh and does drama=soap opera?)

[lpascoe]

I've been watching Taiwan variety and game shows a lot

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I've become slightly addicted to watching 完全愉樂 and 少年特攻隊 recently. It's a good thing I rarely get home in time to watch them, otherwise I'm certain my mind would turn to mush.

Having said that, WQYL invariably makes me laugh and that's a good thing. Plus, the same housemate who tells me I have bad taste in TV programs usually ends up sitting on the sofa next to me laughing along, after spending 5 minutes elsewhere in the apartment pretending to be uninterested.

[bhchao]

There is going to be a Taiwan drama starring Vic Zhou, Park Eun Hye, and Andy Hui, called 深情密碼. It's going to air in May.

Character descriptions (Source: Soompi):

Qi Wei Yi (portrayed by Vic Chou)

25 years old, intelligent, talented, excels in all areas. The confident Wei Yi has always believe that there's no "misfortunes" in the world, there's only "not try hard enough." Because of this, he's so strict on others that he's almost merciless. This is until his doctor tells him that he has liver cancer with only 1 year to live and when he meets Zhao Shen Shen again. Wei Yi slowly changes because of Shen Shen and lives the last 365 days of his life nicely. Gradually he understands the meaning of pursuing life and love.

Zhao Shen Shen (portrayed by Park Eun-hye)

23 years old, Chinese-Korean, in an accident she loses her ability to speak. But this didn't bring complete misery, but instead it helped her to better understand how to use her heart to listen to and understand others. She didn't give up because of her mishaps and you can't see the inferiorities of disabled people in her. She substituted it with honesty and optimism. Though she can't speak, but the "love" in her heart is more intense than anyone else.

Zuo Jun (portrayed by Andy Hui)

27 years old. When he was young he was rebellious and playful, harming Shen Shen to become mute in an accident. Although on the surface it seems that Zuo Jun refuses to admit he's wrong, inside he holds himself responsible. To make up for his wrongdoing, he decides to protect Shen Shen from any kind of harm and unconsciously falls in love with Shen Shen. He's convinced that he's the only one who can give her happiness. In the name of love, he blocks Shen Shen and Wei Yi from development and doesn't hesitate to do sinful things. This is all because he wants to keep the girl at his side.

Mi Xiao Guang (portrayed by Megan Lai)

26 years old, Wei Yi's fiancee, serious, competent, independent, wants to use her abilities to have a breakthrough achievement in her career and prove her strength. Although there aren't many feelings between her and Wei Yi but they have a steady tacit understanding of each other. When Wei Yi suffers from cancer and dismisses their engagement, she couldn't help but reconsider what "love" is.

Some photos of the drama:

Photo Source: Zhi Hua San of Vicpower.net Japanese section

[atitarev]

Guys, which ones of the above soapies have subtitles in simplified? Is 上海风云 in simplified and 王子變青蛙 in traditional or both?

bhchao, yours must be in traditional, because it's from Taiwan?

No prejudice against traditional but my confidence in traditional is much lower. I've got a few movies in traditional, too.

[heifeng]

My favorite TV series is

不要和陌生人说话 from 2001

you can read the episode descriptions here:

http://ent.sina.com.cn/v/f/byhmsrsh.html

sure it gets a little annoying that she doesn't fight back and that the banner in Yedou's apartment says "dometic violence"

but it's my personal favorite and I think the cast does a great job....

I also think that 荣誉is not bad, but the final episodes when they go to New York aren't great...

I think I'm partial to cop dramas....TV series love stories are just too sappy....*gag*...