“Will Power” and “The Hippocratic Crush 2” Will Be TVB Anniversary Series
Both highly anticipated series, Bullet Brain <神探高倫布>, and Beauty At War <金枝慾孽(貳)> ended up as flops when they drew in some of the lowest ratings in TVB history. To save the viewership ratings for the rest of the summer, TVB management eventually decided to slot in Triumph in the Skies 2 <衝上雲霄2> for mid July. Questions were raised as to why Triumph in the Skies 2 was not regarded as an Anniversary production.
TVB executive, Catherine Tsang (曾勵珍), decided to launch modern legal comedy, Will Power <傅愛事務所>, starring Moses Chan (陳豪), Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Fala Chen (陳法拉), and Christine Ng (伍詠薇), as one of the anniversary series instead. The producer for Will Power is Tsui Ching Hong (徐正康), and he is most notable for producing War of the Genders <男親女愛>, To Catch The Uncatchable <棟篤神探>, and the Justice Sung <狀王宋世傑> series. With the combination of two TV Kings and a famous producer, TVB is hoping to push ratings in time for the anniversary awards.
On the other side, Tommy Leung (梁家樹) is hoping that dramas under his management would be aired, but because TVB wanted to spread out the star-studded dramas apart throughout the four seasons, Triumph in the Skies 2 will play during the summer instead. Regarded as a grand production to popular prequel, Triumph in the Skies, it stars Francis Ng (吳鎮宇), Chilam Cheung (張智霖), Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), and Fala Chen (陳法拉). When asked about the drama time slots, Tommy replied, “The summer is a prime time for shows, I’m sure that ratings will be very high! It doesn’t matter when it airs, as long as the audience likes the series.”
Another series being considered for the anniversary time slot is yet another sequel, The Hippocratic Crush 2 <On Call 36小時Ⅱ>. TVB management disclosed, “We’re still in the midst of deciding which dramas to air in the fall, and the filming for Rosy Business 3 is still going on, so it probably won’t be able to air this year.”
The medical drama, The Hippocratic Crush <On Call 36小時> was a surprise hit when it was aired last February and earned Kenneth Ma (馬國明), the My Favorite Male Character award during the Anniversary ceremony. Last year, the cast and crew used the North District Hospital as their main filming location, however due to the overwhelming number of reporters bombarding the hospital, they filed complaints with TVB and refused to let them film The Hippocratic Crush 2. Not wanting to affect the patients again, TVB sealed a tight lid over the sequel’s filming at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. “We’re doing everything privately this time, and only working on the weekends. If the hospital employees need us to stop rolling the camera, we’ll accommodate immediately. It’s important to see to the needs of the hospital first.” Boasting an amazing cast and featuring many new advanced equipment, Kenneth hopes to give the audience a more realistic portrayal in the medical drama.
Source: Ming Pao Weekly #2323 via ihktv.com
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
cannot wait for thc2 and tits2 to start! finally some wayne-free series (need a break from him)
I am very enjoyed watching “Bullet Brain”so that I hope “Will Power” will be aired soon so I can see Wayne’s acting again, but now I have to wait until TVB Anniversary to watch a series in which Wayne is a leading actor. What a sad new for me and a lot of my friends who just watch Wayne’s series only. Also cannot wait for RB3.
me too..agree with you..cant wait to see wayne acting again…
looking forward to on call 2!
glad for kenneth! finally on call 2 managed to be an anniversary series. congrats! can’t wait for on call 2.
brother’s keeper will be lighting series. ruco and kenneth will fight neck to neck
not too keen to see wayne and moses again and again in high profiles series all the time
looking forward to have great summer with triumph2!!
Is Kenneth Ma able to shadow Lawrence Ng? I do not think so. Lawrence’s acting is better than Kenneth Ma. Producer put LN besides KM is not good for KM because he must compete with a more heavyweight actist.
wonder if lawrence will be in the best actor race
no. he’s overrated, not tvb managed and kenneth is the titular role in on call 2, not him. tvb won’t nominate francis and chilam so fair enough that lawrence not nominated when he’s only second lead.
It’s not impossible for them to be nominated. Felix Wong was nominated for gun metal grey a few years back
Rosy business 3 should air NEXT YEAR. Give them time to iron out the lemons since TVB viewers have not forgotten the disaster of Bullet BoBo.
Will Power better be funny … Moses is meh , Wayne is so-so
On Call 36 hours II should be worth watching
will power is only tvb’s vehicle to salvage back the names of wayne and moses after their failure in bullet brain and beauty at war. tvb don’t want to lose moses because his sweet and gentleman boyfriend image are loved by housewives.
I wonder why not let Triumph in the Skies 2 vs The Hippocratic Crush 2 as anniversary battle since both serial have more movies actor like Julian Cheung ,Francis Ng and Lawrence Ng in ?
It more matched with Julian vs Lawrence .
Will Power have no popular actor ,this will give Will Hippocratic crush a big advantages and will power shall lose up .
agree should air will power during summer instead and have truimph in the skies to be an anniversary series
on the bright side this means we will have a treat of anticipated productions from july till anniversary so not too bad. tired of current tvb filler series and grand productions such as bullet brain and beauty are flops. can’t wait for triumph 2.
” Triumph in the Skies 2 vs The Hippocratic Crush 2 ”
Both are Tommy Leung series. In TVB, there would be one anniversary series from Catherine Tsang and the other from Tommy Leung.
There’s a reason why triumph in the skies would be aired in the summer. Because it’s more appropriate for the season as it involves jet setting and travelling which coincides with the summer holidays
Can’t wait to watch HC2 and TITS2!
Not really a fan of legal dramas but hot pilots and doctors, YES!! Just can’t wait for THC2 and TITS2.
It’s kinda obvious why, tvb doesn’t want to award best actor to a non-tvb managed artiste. Francis Ng would be a sure winner again with his portrayal of Sam Tong.
With OC2 as anniversary, there is a high chance that Kenneth will probably bring home the award.
agree. tvb would rather use the slot to salvage wayne and moses tainted reputation after the flops of bobo brain and beauty at war. don’t be surprised if tvb let moses win again even if ruco and kenneth does better job.
tits2 and on call should air end of this year so we can see the challenge between the two tv queen and king this year!!! waited for it so longgg.
Yeah, I cannot wait to watch TIT2, OC2, and Will Power.
Personally I don’t care which series will be the anniversary series. Only thing that matters is if it’s interesting or not. There have been many anniversary series that got low ratings in the past.
I agree
now I have a feeling that this year TV King and Queen will be repeat winners again..
I hope Ruco Chan gets TV king.
I just want to watch something with kenneth in it 😀 Can’t wait for triumph II and OC2.
On Call 2 and Triumph 2 are seriously the only dramas worth waiting for and to watch. It also looks like they are setting up Kenneth Ma to be TV King. OC2 and TITS2 should be grand production, only then we can tell if its worth the wait. If anything, PLEASE, I HOPE TITS2 WONT BE A FLOP. I have high expectations for that….killing off Zoey totally killed the mood, in addition to removing Sam and Issac’s parent.
sam and issac’s parents were really entertaining to watch! they have great chemistry 🙂
besides on call 2 and triumph 2, brother’s keeper is also worthy to watch. it’s a lighting ceremony series(last year’s was high and lows)
Yes I agree. Killing off zoe was totally an ARGH moment for me. They’re the sweetest. Besides that most of the original cast will not be back, to me it’s like a great way to care 2. The chemistry between the original cast will be all gone, family interactions etc. wonder how they will explain Belle’s absence with nancy still in hk.
Rb3 not airing this year? Now that’s a shocker. I’m pretty sure the flop in bullet brain has to do with it. Either it pressured lee Tim sing and the crew to slow down the pace to focus more on the plot and the tiny details, or the tvb management decide to allocate more time for viewers to forget about the disastrous bullet brain.
my guess for tv king this year: Kenneth, ruco, moses or Wayne.
Tv queen: tavia, myolie, fala, Christine ng
Rosy 3 will only finish by july. they need time to properly edit the series so that the storyline won’t get affected. better for the series to air next year than this year if it can have proper time to careful editing.
When will Ruco and Linda’s series air then?
The one that breaches 70s – current era timeline?
It’s a pity that they tend to butcher Linda’s series so badly each time 🙁 Bad slots every year 🙁
Perhaps they may only award the tv queen to her when her contract is almost up 🙁
brother keeper will br aired at a good slot this year! don’t worry it will air in autumn season as the lighting ceremony ceremony series right before either on call 2 or will power. linda and ruco will be front liners for the award!
more expectation, more disappointment.
I am most excited at Will Power since this could be where the actors are at their element but after Bullet Brain I am sorta brain dead in this sort of things. As for hippocratic Crush 2, let’s start a betting pool on who
1. gets to be the patient on the operating table and the lover who will operate on that patient
2. who dies
3. or maybe no one dies
4. which family of the doctor will be sick and all those drama
For me the 1st part hit an all time low when they killed off the disabled brother. THAT was low!
Can’t they film in TVB itself and make some sets etc? Why bother the doctors and patients?
Oh oh oh I got one!!!
Last scene … wheeled into the operating table is…
Henry : Aren’t you… Paul? Have you jumped hospital, Paul?
Lawrence Ng : I am NOT Paul this time. I am…nameless for now but it will be some hotshot English name that befits a senior doctor such as I
Henry : But you were Paul like for so many seasons in Healing Hands..
Not Paul : This is NOT healing hands. And you as Bowie Lam has defected!
Henry : Maybe I am guest starring! Whatever it is, don’t kill me! I may want to be NOT Henry in Hippocratic Crush 3.
Funn Lim,
You have very creative comments.