In virtually every TVB serial the romantic side of the plot is part that drives the serial along while everything else is usually a side dish. It doesn't matter if its a crime drama, period piece, or martial arts. Some serials are able to handle the mixture well, but many end of with a muddled plot (i.e. crimes that are pittifully obvious or complex love triangle in ancient China). Can TVB produce serials that put less of an emphasis on the romantic story and more on other parts of a story?(Think about shows like CSI, 24, or ER).

But when you think about it, if the whole series has no romance then the stories would get boring

csi ect..........are just boring. at the begining u find a crime which only takes like 10 or less minutes and for the rest of the hours, all you do is trying to put the crimmial. i mean come on the storyline is so sh*t. it is so obvious that there find the crimmial at the end so why bothered watching it when u know whats going to happen at the end.

for tv series i have to admmit, most of them i have seem so far all involve love. it is not just asian series that is like this but others such as hollywood sreies are the same. a storyline should always involve mixture of things to make it interesting. solving crime or fighting is good part of the movie but when that happen all the time, it became really boring. really, without it all series will be pretty boring.

The love part in most TVB series are so predictable. They need to hire better TVB writers. The problem is no one has really given TVB any reason to write better. That's why ATV has to step up and give TVB some competition to make TVB panic. Competition will make writers better.

ya, i agree with u, even in hollywood series they're about love in an "explicit way" lets say...

I think they all have love stories, but they don't JUST concentrate on that like korean dramas. Their love story is a bit lighter and they focus more on the storyline as a whole. I remember back in the days they hardly ever kissed. So and so would just get together and start hanging out at each other's house with their family. I think its part of the formula, but not a BIG one. It's definitely a must.

IMHO, in every movie there must be at least some romance, some fighting, some serious stuffs in the movie as this will cater to all category of viewers as some of them like fightng scenes and so on. Therefore in order to capture the viewers, they have to film it this way.

p.s: my 2 cent

I've watched enough TVB series to be able to say that very, very few TVB series talk about love only. There's always another major theme to start off with before they throw in love triangles & all. Whereas if you look at some Korean dramas, or even a few Taiwanese dramas, some series just focus solely on the love btwn a man & a woman. No-one's better than the other, just different.

There are plenty of TVB series where your typical love doesn't play the main role in the series: recently we've had My Family, also Journey to the West...

If anything, I think TVB has to work on their love stories because they are all so predictable, on top of that, these days they just don't seem to be quite as romantic especially when you compare them to K-dramas. I remember the Legend & the Return Condor Heroes series, all the older ancient drama series, the love in them was great. My fave love story of recent times definitely would be Triumph in the Skies... the love btwn Sam & Zoe was simply admirable.

I think several factors can play into this:

One, I think a majority of the people who actually watches TVB series are females/housewives, and I think they would like to watch romance more than say, action and or they are lacking romance in real life

Two, if you hit a couple with chemistry, it really helps the ratings and the serie (making it more interesting to watch). Like Twin of Brothers, it didn't do well with ratings, but the couples are a huge pulling for overseas viewers probably. Or like A Step In the Past, Louis Koo and Jessica....a popular couple with huge chemistry...and ratings did really well. Well, I dont' think it was due to only LJ, but I think they played a big factor lol. I for one, didn't like the storyline of ASITP that much lol.

Three, couple pairings make the series memorable. If you see all of TVB clips for their older series, you see them mention couple pairings alot. If I say Siu Long Nui and Yeung Gor, you'll think Return of Condor Heroes, Hui Man Keung and Ching Ching...The Bund, Guark Jing and Wong Yung...Condor Heroes....Yuk Ying and Suen Bak Yeung....Kau Chong and Sau Ning...etc etc.

Four, romance really helps to move the serie along. If you focus too much on the serious stuff, you can relax with a few romantic scenes where the couple relaxes with each other.

Five, why not use the cast to make a cute or romantic storyline or pairing if you can? It's like playing God, for a serie.

compeltely agree wiht all of you, the tvb series are honestly getting annoying with their love stories. They need to make so other kinda of shows especially sicne super trio is suppsoeedly over now, tvb should knwo that reality shows are the most popular shows now and they shoudl emphasize on them more.

You can't not have love story in a series, it will make the series all boring. I guess then not much people will watch it. And also, in TVB series, you don't see kissing scenes taking up about 50% of the love story. For me, kissing too much just turns me off. Probably because I am living in an Asian country as people say we're more conservative here. Anyway, I believe its the love story that makes the show interesting, so having it is important. But not such a big emphasis on it, unless the show is a romance show.

I'm not saying that TVB serials should not have love story, I'm just saying that it doesn't have the central theme in almost every serial made by TVB. In TVB serial the serial starts with the love story and end with it. Why they make a gritty crime drama focusing on the details of criminal activity, or a serial about Hong Kong life (one that doesn't have multiple love triangles). There are plenty of topics that serials can use including the melodramatic love story, but TVB should spread out more on it's focus.

well i think many ppl like to watch love story seires, if not wht other story line they can bring up ?

yea thats right. atleast virtually most tvb series has a love story to deal wid. why is that?? lol.

All stories need some love

I dont remember watching an entertaining series without love.

i think that tvb love story are sometimes crap because the couples have no chemistry.I think that tvb doesnt have enough love story.

What would TVB do without a love story? Healing Hands is like ER. Even ER has love stories. TVB does have some shows that concentrate on other things but people on the show need love interest otherwise what would there be to talk about? Mostly all American shows have love stories too. It's very common. I for one invest in a love story and want to see how it plays out given that I like the pair.

there always have to be love stories because ,otherwise there will be no plot. there is a love story for a point.

can u name a serie in any language that doesn ahve any sort of love at all? it would be boring with no love story attached to anyhting and i dont think i woudl even want to watch a series like that

i agree that in every serie there's a little bit of love story, it's not bad but it depends on how it is shown on screen! i know that some stories are boring or quite long and we'd rather look the action scenes!

ya there always a nice love story there will be more ppl like to watch it

yes! every series i have watched, there is at least one or two love stories and love triangles! its normal because if there werent love stories, there wont be anything to watch!

everythin to watch or read thats not tvb series.. have a love story.. its like salt ..it has to be in everything in order for it to be good

yupz..it needs to have a bit to drive the show..although it does not haave to be the main attraction

there will be nice if there was some love story too!

i don't think u can compare tvb series with american shows like CSI, 24, or ER.
tvb series tell a story in 20/30 eps that is all well connected too each other and usually a love story is the best thing to keep the story together. it doesn't always have to be a love story but relations between ppl is immenent.

in american show each ep tells its own story/case only the main characters are always the same. u get to know these characters less good because the story/case is not focussed on the ppl.

If u take one of the best american series 'Friends' it also has a love line to drive the main story. I haven't watched the shows u mentioned but i'm sure that all shows have some kind of relation/love story to drive the plot.

not all tvb series are love stories but i believe that at least everyone series gotta have some romance in it to make it look interestin

I've notice this situation with TVB for a while already, but I realise that it really can't be help. That's what audience like. Look at the discussion forums of TVB series. What discussions and questions u see most? Who end up with who. Even before the series is shown, some people are already asking who ends up with who. No matter what the series, viewers still focus on the relationship. TVB depends on rating to get advertisers. That's why they focus on relationships in all their series. They have to cater for the taste of the audience, especially the Hong Kong ones.

Yummy Yummy is a great series that focus on friendship, family and obstacles new entrepreneurs face, but the main complain for this series is that there is not enough focus on the relationships. See the difficult position TVB is in? When they try to do something different, their series flop.

I think people watch TVB series for the love story and the pairings of their fave actors. Unless audience start accepting other type of series, TVB series will continue to focus on love stories. That is TVB's specialty and forte.

Anyway, every country or TV station has it's own style. People who want to watch love story centred series can watch TVB series, people who want to watch series that focus on other theme can watch non-TVB series like CSI, First Wave etc.


Yes, on the surface, very few TVB series talk solely of love. But 99% of the time, the love story will end up playing the main part in a series, while the supposely main theme of the series is relegated to second fiddle status. Doesn't matter if it's a police series, or doctor series, or historical series, the love story will end up being the focus. The Conqueror's Story is one of the exceptions and that's why I like it so much (other than it following the real history closely). It actually focus on the theme of the series.

Sorry but I'll have to disagree with that. Without romance, they can also talk about other things like friendship and things like that.
Love stories aren't always the best either...

I totally agree with that assessment. TVB series is demand driven as it relies on rating (more demand of a particular type of show = more supply of those type of show). I happen to agree that YY is a great show - one I actually look forward in watc hing which is a rarity with TVB series.



I think it would be challenging to develop a series entirely void of romance though not impossible. I'm okay with romance as long as it's not the main theme. Honestly, there's plenty of other things to talk about. I simply hate pure romantic series, unless it happens to be a comedy.

yea i think all tvb series must have a little love story but not all of them r about live story

True...I like plenty of shows like Lawful Attorney...wait no, that showq does have a lot of love...
Let's say...War of the In-Laws...I mean, that show was hardly about love..

what do u mean WOIL not about love? its about how bosco and myolie loves each other a lot and how they stay together and because of love, myolie is fighting with her mother-in-law.

i think having some romance in tvb series will make the serie even better...when there are different issues in the series it should combine with love to make the story more interesting

I would never watch a serie with no romance, hehe. But I find love stories in ancient series are better than modern.

The love story is what most of the audiences tend to watch for in a series and the core/center of the series in general...the focus or theme of the series is usually revolved around the love story b/c interested is generated from the pairings though many may not admit it....Once a series is released, viewers would take a look at the cast list and form their own pairings and the storyline is usually taken second notice...

basically I think MUST (not all) TVB series follow a formula..that's why after wathing one drama after another and another etc. I get sick and have to change to watch something else to pass time!! I guess all dramas must have love/romance but not all have to have the storyline/plot based around it...I thought War and Beauty did reeally well in this aspect, but off course there was way too much focus on Gigi and Bowie's love that it made me a bit annoyed...I mean how did their love become so deep?? I didn't really like all the focus on that, whereas Moses' love triangle was much easier to digest and handle. But overall I think the drama was pretty good and didn't overdo on romance

I hate how TVB dramas always have the leading characters hate each other first and then fall madly in love with each other...I mean how often does that happen in real life?! Its just so annoying how its always used in the formula!! I think the best, funniest hate to love couple/drama was dodo cheng and davo wong in 'lam chun lui oi'...that was good!!

I agree with whoever said it above that ancient love stories and nicer than modern love stories!!

all korean series/dramas are basically about love also. there's always going to be some love thing going on reguardless the genre of the drama.

We all love series. Even the series about the most serious subjects, we always want people to hook up. It's only natural.

yep i completely agree. if there were no relationships in the series, they would be really boring!

I think the trouble with most TVB series are that the romance part ends the whole story in the very end. It's like you'll either see couples breaking up or ending together. Eventhough the plot may start out as being all family or business related, the further you progress the more romance is being brought in, and sometimes in the end everything is pushed towards the side and the romance side of the story takes over.

However excluding the romance of the story would to some measures makes the film less interesting. If you think about it, in reality, you have everything going on at some point, not necessarily everything but yeah. And take Golden Faith for example, i thought the romance, business and family affairs were handled and balanced out really well in that.

And yeah i concur with what some of yous previously mentioned, some of the love relationships are very repetitive and very predictatable. Sometimes you know what's going to happen, yet most of the time you just continue watching, because it's the progress of reaching up to the point where your expectations are shown is interesting and anticipating.

Most films nowadays have at least some lovey-dovey stuff in it. Although TVB does seem to have love as a main point, that's their style. TVB is really popular now so they have no reason to change. you want CSI? Go watch American television. Mainland china mostly does serious films if you're interested.

Almost all series must have a love story. Without it the series will be so boring and not fun to watch

CSI is not that bad. It sort of gives the viewer something to think about while watching it. It also keeps the viewer at the edge of their seats to they will watch the show through the end to find out who the real killer is.

I think because the HK Entertainment industry is all about gossip so every series has to have love stories and rumors otherwise there would be nothing to talk about. A good TVB series must have a good balance between a plot and love. Thats why a lot of series are crappy nowadays and have low ratings. The ones with high ratings are the shows that has a good storyline not just mostly about love.

Yes, i agree. All series have a love story behind to make the story more interesting...

all tvb series has a love story in it.. most of it do actually.. there isn't one without it.. it helps the character build up and to extend the story.. otherwise it be kinda boring..

Well, TVB series are mostly Drama-Series. So it's a genre which consists LOve things in it.
CSI and that kind of stuff, is a whole different genre of series. TVB don't make those series.
And also, I think HK people just love to see drama-series with love.

TVB series ;.......all full with love.....

hm..i think without some sort of love story in a series, tvb will run out of things to write/film. It's rarely to see tvb series without love/relationship unlike american series like Law & Order or CSI.

Definitely not but it's good to incorporate some love scenes so that it won't be so monotonous.