“Rosy Business 2” Receives Complaints
TVB’s Anniversary series, No Regrets (aka Rosy Business 2) <巾幗梟雄之義海豪情>did not have a smooth sailing since its launch. In its first week of broadcast, the average ratings was thirty-one points (about 1.98 million viewers) and peaked at thirty-four points (approximately 2.17 million viewers).
TVB received complaints about No Regrets, protesting that the story was too negative and sensational. The Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority also received a complaint that one dog-meat eating scene was especially disturbing.
Appearing at a charity event, Tse Shuet Sum, who portrays a villainess in No Regrets, pointed out that the series received over onemillion online clicks, demonstrating its popularity. Leaving an impression with the audience was a good thing.
Source: the Sun
Jayne: Does the World War II backdrop have anything to do with the ratings not meeting expectations for “No Regrets”? Series from this era tend to focus on the same themes of national pride, espionage, suffering, and tragedy. Sometimes I do feel that current Hong Kong audiences do not necessarily respond well to overly tragic dramas and would prefer a simple comedy such as “Can’t Buy Me Love” instead. We’ll have to wait and see how ratings continue to perform.
Jayne, as we mentioned in one of the older postings regarding the anticipation of the broadcast of this series, the themes behind war and the portrayal of the Japanese are not always popular with the audience, especially among the HK and China audience. I personally thought the story has been great and an epic one so far, but I guess the HK audience likes more happiness in the themes and stories. They like silly ones like CBML which I thought was exagerrated from beginning to end, or “everyone ends up good and happy” like HOG and MR. I’m sure No Regrets will have a great storyline, but you can also predict that each character will go through a lot of struggles and hardships and many will have sad endings. Sometimes the higher the expectations on the series, the more picky and disappointed the audience may be. It’s hard to satisfy everyone’s tastes.
Hope the ratings get better, and so far I think Sheren and Pierre’s acting shine the most.
yes, the higher the expectations, the pickier the audience get. complain of the dog-eating scene in no regrets? don’t ppl in guangzhou eat that the last time? come one, they even eat civet cats. how come nobody complained about the dog-beating and dog-eating scenes in rosy business?
i have faith in the script, and i’m liking what i see so far. there are many ppl who complain that they can’t make it home on time to watch, so i think timing has an effect on the ratings, but i read news reports saying that views on mytv can let this drama add an additional 18 points.
this is only the beginning. i am sure that the ratings will continue to rise.
I had a feeling that this would happen since this has happened a lot in the past with many series. When the audiences’ expectations are way too high, the series usually doesn’t meet their original expectations. Then as a result, the audience gets disappointed. However, it is still a bit early so I think the audience still needs to give this series a chance.
I personally don’t like series/dramas done during the WW2 time period and when the Japanese are ruling. It really depresses me… But that is just me.. Tragic series can be good too while comedies can be annoying and stupid to watch at times too.
The story was too negative and sensational also can protest? This is a story set in WW2. What do they expect? Happy family singing together like in CBML?
As for being sensational, I thought HK audience like it? See how much they love the noisy-OTT emo-argument in every episode Moonlight Resonance?
As for the dog eating scene, isn’t there a dog eating scene in RB1 too? It’s a show, it’s not real. Does this complaint person live in a dream world where everything is rosy?
I am not a fan of the WW2 and Japanese occupation period either.. 1) It was a really depressing time in our history and 2) I feel that this time frame has been way overused by TV series.. I feel like every time TVB or some other station runs out of ideas, they will just make a series using this time period as their plot which is just lazy and unoriginal thinking on the director and script writer’s part..
Actually the online rating is not accurate. You can click a thousand times if you want to. I do not like the Japanese era of the serie because that period was the darkest period in the history of China. Maybe that was the reason of the low rating. Next I also hate this era because of the powerful gangters and nothing the cop can do symtom. No justice and killing all the time. Although I know this is a good serie, but I can’t bring myself to watch it.Sad to say I only watched the first episode. Perhaps I am like those Hongkong people who like watching comedies only.
Hi, I’m new here.
I’ve been catching this series online and I have to say, it’s been pretty captivating so far. I guess the 8.30 time slot does affect ratings…you lose viewership from the “casual” audience who watch the show just because the tv is on during/after dinner. And maybe they shouldn’t have done so many trailers? They spoil the show and increase disappointment since the juiciest scenes are already shown to the audience. Anyway, hope the feedback gets better because I do like the whole cast very much.
I think it’s too early to worry about the ratings. Don’t forget the first week ratings for Rosy Business was only 28 followed by 30. It wasn’t until a month in that ratings started to skyrocket.
I too am not a fan of the WWII era but I don’t really mind it. I believe the setting is crucial in setting he theme of he series. No Regrets is a tragedy and what is a more tragic time than the Japanese occupation? I don’t see this as lazy writing as this era is not really used much by TVB. The last series set in this period has to be at least 2 years ago. This may have an influence on the ratings as many of you have said people like comedies like CBML more than tragedies. However, at the end of the day it’s usually the tragedy that delivers the better acting and story despite the ratings. When was the last time a comedy won an Oscar…never. I think the strong acting will bring in viewers eventually and allow No Regrets to sweep TVB’s anniversary awards just like Rosy Business did. RB was not the top rated series of 2009 but it was number one when it came to awards and history is likely to repeat itself.
I don’t know what make ppl make noise on the dog-eating scene? Ok, it’s culture, they don’t eat dogs in HK now. But please, during the bad time of WW2, wat they don’t eat? Dog, cat, rat, etc., whatever can help them to have energy to continue their lives.
Moreover, I think dog is nothing different to pig and cow. They happily eat pig and cow everyday, and complain about dogs. If they don’t want to be unfair, stop eating any kind of meat! Or better, stop eating because tat means they won’t hurt anything. Good for the environment.
I agree 100% with Fox. Nothing different between pig, cow, and dog. When you are close to dying of starvation, you’re gonna eat whatever’s available.
WWII can be a good story and a captivating one if written well. It was a time of fear, of war, of dread, of sadism, of evil and yet of heroism, of brotherhood, of survival. Depends on which side you wish to concentrate on. TVB has never done a WWII series proper have they?
Oh you cant eat dogs! Too cute! That being said, rosy business had dog napping, dog killing, dog eating with fur, bones, blood and all, how come this particular one got complaints and got highlighted as such? MOre gory than in Rosy Business itself?
I must say the poster is a big too intense and a bit too made up.
And I kept forgetting to post this. Was there a modern truck disguised as olden day truck in episode 1? I swear that small lorry looks way to modern to be in that era.
One must wonder whether the people who are complaining about the consumption of dogs in No Regrets are that obtuse or just plain drama queens. The series is set in the 1930’s Guangzhou, dog eating was a common practice and still is today. The scenes with dog eating is a historical depiction of common day life. It’s not a promotion to chop up a dog and eat it grinning. If you can’t appreciate the writers effort to offer a bit of authenticity to their work then you should stick to watching vapid, plagiarized garbage. I happen to enjoy No Regrets very much, it’s been a long time since TVB has filmed such an intense and controversial series with depth. To the people complaining, you are the reason why HK television is often superficial and tedious.
that’s right. perhaps the taste of hk people have already changed. maybe they enjoy frivolous dramas that don’t require them to think much.
sometimes, i think they complain too much. here’s a good drama (one of the best to offer this year, besides AFOS) for them to appreciate, yet they don’t. no wonder tvb is going downhill.
boo to tvb, and boo to the hk people who are getting too superficial and seeing things only at face value.
Ha ha, Hannah, you took the words right out of my mouth. I wonder what crap TVB is going to put out next year. Haih
I thought by the end of week 1 things got quite intense in a good way.
By the end of week 2 it sort of hit some notes where I started to think how unbelievable certain parts were. Its a snap back into reality that reminds you some things are overdone…
The HK audience? Oh please, if they were the critics they pretended to be, they’d realise long ago TVB now makes 70% crap, 20% passable fluff and only 10% you would not hesitate or be afraid of being in indefinite self-embarrassment to recommend to a friend.
i think i’m going to give tvb a miss in 2011, unless something spectacular comes out. when i see the sales presentation, i just want to shake my head. not even one series interests me at all, which is pretty sad. 🙁
Me too!
Based off the first episode, this series has commendable cinematography and lighting techniques for a mere TVB series. It can be seen that a lot of thoughts and budget went into this grand production compared to normal TVB practice.
How many watched and got impressed by the filming quality? How many complained? LOL 😛
LOL all the recent comments so far really resonated with my own feelings on TVB productions. The HK viewers should stop complaining and just enjoy the show. You can see the high (by TVB standards) production values and how much money they poured into this show. I sometimes wonder, don’t HK audiences get tired of the same TVB sets (look at all their shows set in the modern day, all the rooms, buildings, camera angles are recycled big time) and formulaic story lines?
NO Regrets is a solid production with great writing, beautiful sets, and very intense acting.
What’s the matter with HK viewers? Are they so materialistic that all they care about is seeing nice apartments, nice cars and exaggerated story lines??? For once we have a solid production and a great story, plus excellent acting…people just enjoy the show. Yes, it’s sad and dark but that’s what happened, it’s a good reminder for us all what our people went through and we should appreciate where we are now Nd what we have. No Regrets is a great show…wish them much success.
Just putting it out there, but does Fala’s character with her diary keeping remind anyone else of Anne Frank and her diary?
Also, the way Sheren’s character interacts with the Jap army (cosying up to them in return for favours and pardons) seem take a leaf out of Schindler’s List? Just my observation..
@CY-those are great observations. I see the similarities too. I hope the series can focus more on the characters and the hidden heros that took action in times like these rather than on the war itself where everyone is just killing one another. Schindler’s List was an excellent movie, and yes, I remember at the beginning of the series, it shows Sheren saving hundreds of children on the train, and if I am not mistaken, there were Japanese troops on there too, so she probably spent most of her money to bribe them.
Did anyone see episode 20 yet? whao sheren did VERY well in this one. looking forward to upcoming episodes.
@Aly: Yea, i know what you mean. I don’t like it when they just show soldiers killing each other, I prefer to see how humanity shines through during this tough time than the other way around. War can make both men and monsters. Yup, I remember that scene too, she most probably had, like how Schindler used almost all his money to save the Jews to the point he actually died a poor man.. But still, he did an amazing thing and his name will live on forever in their hearts.
Yea, episode 20 was good, her character is really smart and Sheren pulled it off real nicely.
hi all,
was wondering if u guys can help me at all? i am based in china and i have been watching ‘no regrets’ on tudou in cantonese ( i dont understand mandarin) and for some reason today, they have deleted them all of the website.
is there any other stream website that i could watch it on in china?
its a bum in china as a lot of the streaming website that works in uk and the us does not work over here.
hopefully i be able to get some help from you all..
thank you
Why not trying to use pps to watch?
what is pps? how do i use it?
This is a great drama. I really enjoy it from the 1st episode until now (in the 20s?). However I am a bit disappointed as the drama doesn’t match with two things. First being Wayne (1st episode) and the Imperial Japanese Army using a 1990s to 2000s Suzuki 4WD lol. 2nd being when Nancy Wu said her mother was from Malaysia (during the 30s to 40s Malaysia was known as Malaya).
Consuming dog meat is disgusting? Tell the audiences not to criticize others just because they don’t eat dog meat, humans have their own taste and not to be subjected to others will.
Okay, about the ratings, No Regrets broadcast at 8:30. Most HK people aren’t even home, either they have work, hanging out, or just not their curfew. & no i didn’t make this up, the people who actually wants to watch this said in the TVB website forum.
Second, the HK audiences are just used to watching TVB’s drama, which is somewhat simple, a bit comedy like, but never too realistic.
some of the people might hate no regrets but i don’t care coz i love no regrets so much!!!In fact i hate CBML
I think the storyline is realistic.
HK audiences have no depth; no appreciation for quality, meaningful storylines. HK audiences like silly (stupid rather), happy-easy, no-brainer films. They complain about TVB not producing quality dramas yet they don’t appreciate it when it’s finally done. No Regrets is ‘second to none’.
Your level of exposure, the degree of observation are important when arguing subjective opinions about what is good, great, second to none and so so; in my view the last episodes were amateurish letdowns that could have been avoided.