Sunday, December 31, 2006

TVB 2006 Year in Review

There were many incidents that happened in the HK entertainment industry for the year 2006. For example, Gillian Chung's changing room pictures exposed, Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung's secret marriage, Ella's molestation by a fan incident, Lydia Shum's surgery, etc.

Now, here's a look back at what happened to TVB in 2006.

January

"Jade Solid Gold" hands out music report cards on the "Best Top Ten Awards Presentation".

"Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion" ratings hit rock bottom. It was the lowest-rated series. Also, thanks to that series, TVB has discontinued filming ancient series.

Ron Ng holds his first mini concert and invites Jade Kwan, Niki Chow, Bosco Wong, and Bernice Liu as performing guests.

TVB and a toy company collaborate to release merchandise such as dolls, bags, pencil cases, etc. based on the characters of Ah Wong and Ah Ho from "Life Made Simple".

February

TVB starts to film the situation comedy series "Welcome to the House".

The successful game show "15/16", hosted by Sammy Leung and Kitty Yuen, begins to film.

March

TVB announced that they will film a HK version of Sam Soon/BJ's Diary series in May, starring Myolie Wu. TVB's first consideration for the role was actually Jessica Hsuan.

April

Shirley Yeung receives the 42nd Chicago Television Award for 'Best Outstanding Artiste' as a blind girl.

《向世界出發》 "On the Road" premieres.

"La Femme Desperado" premieres and will eventually become the year's highest-rated series.

May

TVB's big production "Dance of Passion" premieres. Too bad the series was too highly promoted. The series was literally described as 'big thunder, no rain'. Ada Choi was the only one praised for her acting skills, and Kenny Wong was the only one who received all the fame.

After last year's collaboration with Universal Music and the release of "All About Men", TVB, together with Gold Label, released "Lady in Red".

"Beautiful Cooking" premieres.

The last episode of "La Femme Desperado" breaks record with ratings of 41 points. "Femme" was also the first series to have a one-hour special and the only series to release an alternate ending.

June

Myolie Wu appears at the costume fitting of "To Grow with Love" with her weight weighing at 143 lb. Myolie started to gain weight at the end of April and has gained over 30 lb. Jack Wu also gained weight, while Selena Li had to lose 10 lb. to make it more obvious that Myolie was an overweight girl.

"Bus Uncle" becomes the talk of the town, and TVB takes advantage of this, using it to promote the World Cup and "Men in Pain".

Sammy Leung and Kitty Yuen stop hosting "15/16" due to the radio station voting of 'Most Want to Molest Hong Kong Female Artiste'. Music companies felt that, with such a title, it would influence people to actually commit such a crime.

"Forensic Heroes" premieres. Bobby Au Yeung continues to be the 'Lucky General' and brings in good ratings. The series would become the year's second-highest rated series.

Wong He breaks Korean artiste's record and climbs Mount Everest at the elevation of 6318 meters for TVB Pay Channel.

"Welcome to the House" adds an additional 120 episodes.

July

In order to celebrate Hong Kong's 10th-year handover back to China, TVB announces that they will collaborate with CCTV to film a 60-episode long series 《風雲歲月》.

Insects and critters roam TVB sets!

"The Academy 2" starts filming. Why would TVB have a sequel? Why would they have part 2 and cast Sonija Kwok, Joey Yung, and Kenny Kwan? The best cast ever! Looks like I'm not going to watch this, since they are breaking up Ron and Tavia.

TVB Pay Channel's entertainment station officially broadcasts.

TVB's second annual Mr. Hong Kong title goes to Francois Huynh.

The final episode of "Forensic Heroes" receives 43 points in ratings.

Roger Kwok and Cindy Au wed after a love marathon of 7 years.

TVB signs Taiwan's 22-year-old Mike He as a TVBS-managed artiste.

Myolie Wu signs a $1,200,000 HKD deal with a slimming company. Myolie went from the slimming 110 lb. to a whopping 152 lb. to film "To Grow with Love".

August

Sammy Leung and Kitty Yuen resume work and continue to host "15/16".

Louisa So crowned as 'Beautiful Cookery Goddess' on the finale of "Beautiful Cooking". Vanessa Yeung was the first runner-up. Ella took home the title as 'Hell's Cookery Goddess'.

Miss Hong Kong 2006 winners: Aimee Chan, Janet Chow, and Koni Lui.

Sam Lee hosts variety game show 《遊戲天王》.
Kevin Cheng holds his mini music concert after not having one for 11 years and invites Niki Chow, Karen Tong, Miriam Yeung, Raymond Lam, and Ivana Wong.

TVB holds "Personal Rights, Dignity Hong Kong's Matter" event to protect HK artistes' personal rights.
Kevin Cheng wins the gold award at "Children's Award Presentation 2006" for "KERORO".

September

Yoyo Mung caught playing badminton with Ekin Cheng. Yoyo exposes her identity as Ekin's girlfriend on his birthday when she bakes him a cake. With their relationship out in the public, Yoyo gains popularity.

TVB 'gold grass' veteran Kwan Hoi San and Pao Fong pass away. Kwan was 81 years of age, while Pao was 84 years of age.

TVB releases 2007 calendar.

TVB and CCTV's co-production 《風雲歲月》 holds costume fitting and press conference. The cast members include Damian Lau, Lawrence Ng Wai Kwok, Michael Miu, Joe Ma, Raymond Lam, Ron Ng, Jessica Hsuan, Sheren Tang, Charmaine Sheh, Myolie Wu, Toby Leung, Gigi Wong, Maggie Chan, Power Chan, Mary Hon, Felix Lok, Lau Kong, Ellesmere Choy, and Rocky Cheng.

Michael Hui hosts TVB's HK version of "Deal or No Deal".

Myolie Wu loses 20 lb. in one month's time and finishes off the filming of "To Grow with Love".

October

Jessica Hsuan's contract as a TVB-managed artiste expires at the end of October and decides not to sign, thereby ending her 13-year service with TVB as a managed artist.

TVB 39th Anniversary Light Switching Ceremony.

Anniversary series "To Grow with Love" broadcasts. The first episode peaks at 33 points. Although the series gained a lot of media coverage while it was still in the filming process, the series is a "big thunder, little rain". People on the internet bashed the series as insulting to overweight people and that Myolie is only cute and nothing else. Myolie's weight (124 lb.) hopes to be 115 lb. on Anniversary night.

In order to make their brand image more youth-oriented, TVB held a "TVbeople Recruit Operation". Anyone between the ages of 18 to 25 years of age is eligible to sign up. The winner will receive a 2-year artiste contract and will get 365 seconds of air time each year for a promotional clip.

November

TVB holds the second annual "All Singers for TVB Anniversary". The male singers bring home the championship after losing out last year.

Charmaine Sheh and Kevin Cheng respectively win 'Best Actress' and 'Best Actor' at the TVB Anniversary Awards.

TVB Sales Presentation 2007.

Clarie Yiu and Thomas Lam tie the knot on November 11th, 2007.

Anita Yuen gives birth to 8 lb. baby boy.

Flora Chan reveals that she will return to TVB and film in February 2007.

Kenneth Ma steals the spotlight on "TVB 2nd Annual Artistes Dinner" with imitation of Ekin Cheng. Since Yoyo and Ekin have started dating, they have often been the object of jokes. Kenneth impersonated Ekin with his singing and bald look on stage, grabbed onto Yoyo's hand, and sang to her. The clip on YouTube reached 30,000 hits in its first week.

Anniversary series "Dicey Business" broadcasts. The cast members are praised for their acting skills. Bobby Au Yeung shows off his crying abilities.

Margie Tsang returns to film for TVB with rumoured boyfriend Kenneth Ma.

Every artiste from TVB accompanies Sir Run Run for TVB's 39th anniversary show.

TVB awards its loyal employees with a 'Long Service and Outstanding Employee Award'. Roger Kwok is awarded with a gold medal for his 20 years of service with TVB. Yu Mo Lin is awarded for her 10 years of service and will retire next year.

TVB's 'God-Son' Hacken Lee marries longtime girlfriend, 1992 Miss HK winner, Emily Lo, and holds a multimillion dollar wedding.

December

Bowie Lam refuses to record the finale of TVB's variety show 《江山美人》 with Wong He. Sources say Bowie cannot withstand Wong He's comments about Buddhism. Wong He denies this and says that they will both film together in Jonathan Chik's 80-episode long drama in January. Ha Yu replaces Bowie to finish the show.

Yumiko Cheng loses her pants and reveals her t-back (thong) at TVB's annual "Tung Wah Charity Show 2006" in an acrobatic performance. Yumiko failed her first attempt to perform the stunt. In her second attempt, Chin Ka Lok accidentally pulled off Yumiko's pants [due to the slippery fabric] and revealed her t-back. The clip was quickly uploaded onto YouTube and was viewed over 6,000,000 times by surfers. The media suggested that the accident was a publicity stunt.

Winnie Yeung gives birth to 7 lb. baby boy.

TVB decides to give a Christmas bonus to its artistes as an encouragement.

Bobby Au Yeung is officially known as the 'Sequel King', as "Forensic Heroes" will film a sequel in July 2007.

Esther Kwan is to return to film for TVB. She is to film a sitcom, which will be aired in March 2007.

*Elliot Yue returned to film "The Brink of Law" after immigrating to Canada. Louise Lee returned this year to film "Heart of Greed" after "A Kindred Spirit" ended in 1999. Maggie Chan also returned to film 《風雲歲月》; her last series with TVB was "Untraceable Evidence II".

That is the wrap for 2006.

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