“Short End of the Stick” Ratings Peak to 31 Points
TVB period drama Short End of the Stick <公公出宮> recorded a peak viewership rating of 31 points on Monday, reaching approximately 2 million viewers. The main cast, including Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Edwin Siu (蕭正楠), and Raymond Cho (曹永廉) have expressed their excitement and hoped that ratings would continue to climb.
Short End of the Stick is a comedy about expelled imperial eunuchs trying to make a living outside the palace after the fall of the Qing Empire. It premiered last Tuesday, February 9, a day after the Chinese New Year. The modern cop comedy K9 Cop <警犬巴打> also premiered that same day.
As premiere week fell on holiday week, viewership rating for both dramas were expected to dip. Nonetheless, both dramas performed fairly well, averaging 24 points on the first week.
February 15’s episode of Short End of the Stick, however, exceeded expectations. The episode peaked at 31 points, reaching 2 million viewers.
Upon hearing the good news, Wayne Lai immediately left a message on his Weibo, urging costar Raymond Cho to start a hot pot business so they could celebrate their success. Poking fun at their eunuch roles in the series, Wayne also joked, “Maybe you can dress up as a waitress so you can be your true self.”
Wayne then thanked everyone for their support and said if the ratings continue to rise, he would serve everyone while wearing a low-cut evening gown. Edwin Siu, on the other hand, jokingly said he would perform a castration on Raymond Cho “again.”
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
i only watched half way into the first episode and stopped watching after that…the cantonese spoken is too difficult to understand.
30 points used to the the norm.. now it’s consider good rating for sure. Happy for them. Liking this drama so far as think it’s funny!
this is such a silly drama. i only put it on to made some background noise during dinner time and b/c there’s nothing else to watch. the entire drama is a joke, can’t believe that the ratings are high so far.
This series isn’t great (definitely not Lord of Shanghai level) but it’s better than all the garbage series that TVB has churned out as of late – if anything, at least the acting is up to par with most of the main cast. With that said though, I dropped the series already, as I watched the first few episodes and just couldn’t get into it, despite how much I like most of the cast (specifically John Chiang, Wayne, Power, and Raymond). Not sure if it’s because TVB went too long with airing (mostly) crappy series after crappy series the past couple months (to a year) so I got used to not watching or perhaps I got too spoiled with the quality of HKTV’s series (which is where most of my TV-watching focus has been the past year and a half) – either way, I get the “too little, too late” feeling now with TVB and it has become a chore to sit through any of their series, even with a good cast.
It is indeed sad that things have gotten to the point nowadays where ratings of high 20s / low 30s warrant celebratory dinners. And we’re not even talking average ratings for the series anymore – if one episode’s ratings peak to a certain level, that’s what gets talked about and celebrated, even though the average ratings for the series overall is low….kind of pathetic if you ask me…
@llwy12 it’s def. not great for sure. But I think people tend to enjoy comedy so really is enjoying this drama. eheheh Can use some laughter during CNY!
@llwy12
“It is indeed sad that things have gotten to the point nowadays where ratings of high 20s / low 30s warrant celebratory dinners.”
Other than the declining viewers, more people are probably watching online so that affects the ratings too.
While it’s nothing original, at least this series has more substance than Speed of Life and K9 Cops.
the 4 of them have so much chemistry I simply just love watching them together… even the show is not the best comedy but still great to see such cast put together.
I saw the first four episodes and like the other person above said, it’s better than Speed of Life and K9 Cops in terms of having a storyline and having a bit more substance. But every plot seems to be like something TVB has explored before so there is nothing new. However, I won’t say it’s because of the four male leads that makes the show interesting at all. The story about how they’re adapting post-Qing Dynasty is kinda lame and trivial. And even though they are somewhat different, it’s hard for them to distinct among themselves and shine for some reason.
Nancy and Rosina is who keeps me watching atm as they seem more independent and unique. Rosina’s role where she dresses as a man is very different from what she has previously played.
Also, for a comedy it’s not funny enough. I see it as a regular family drama.
Maybe I’ve lowered my standard subconsciously due to TVB lower quality dramas recent years, I found this year dramas are pretty okay lol. I just finished speed of life and actually liked it. I said Benjamin is stiff like a piece of wood but surprisingly he’s better with that kind of role in speed of life. Different. I liked it. Of course Natalie was GOOD. Even Sisley grows in me. Towards the end I don’t find her as annoying as before anymore.
I’m watching all 3 dramas at the same time now (need to support TVB as a long time fan lol). Again, surprisingly “love as a predatory affair” didn’t bore me, found its funny and interesting. Wayne Lai’s drama is funny. K9 Cop has a slow start but I guess I have to be patient as it’s a norm for TVB dramas.
It’s true, a lot of people watch TVB online nowadays, I’m one of them, so the low rating is not accurate. Now Wayne doesn’t have to quit haha.