TVB Hopes for New Franchise Potential in “BB” Series
2018 TVB drama Who Wants a Baby? <BB來了> was both a ratings and critical hit, successfully putting Liu Chun-shek (廖晉碩) on the list of rising producers to watch. Now with the second installment already filming away, TVB believes that a new franchise can be seen in this series about parenthood struggles.
Who Wants a Baby?, Chinese title literally translated to “BB is Here”, starred Ali Lee (李佳芯) and Lai Lok-yi (黎諾懿) as a young couple struggling to manage their family and social lives as they care for their infant daughter. Realistic and relatable, the drama quickly became a ratings hit, becoming TVB’s third most-watched TVB drama of 2018. Ali Lee also won TV Queen for her role.
TVB was quick to green light a second series, temporarily titled “BB on Top” <BB大哂>, led by an all-new cast featuring Kenneth Ma (馬國明) and Eliza Sam (岑麗香). Though by no means a direct sequel to the first series, producer Liu hopes to be able to continue the “BB” series as a franchise, much like the Forensic Heroes <法證先鋒> and Heart of Greed <溏心風暴> franchises.
“While the first series was about a couple learning to be parents for the first time, this [new installment] will focus on older kids, about two years old,” said Liu. “We want to talk about these kids transitioning into school.”
The second installment not only comes with a larger budget, but also more production challenges. Liu explained, “It’s relatively easier to find baby actors. The baby from the first series was played by several different babies, but it’s harder to find replacement actors for a child that is two to three years old. On top of that, every parent in this series have children about the same age. It’s definitely a challenge to find those actors.”
The recent COVID-19 outbreak makes the talent search even more challenging. “We haven’t chosen our child actors yet. We’re going to try to film that last. We will control the filming environment as best as we can. We will require all actors to sanitize and clean their hands before interacting with the children. All of the staff are wearing face masks as added protection.”
Source: HK01.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Really? I like the heart of the original one but the first several episodes were difficult to get through.