I’m probably one of the few people out there totally and completely worn out from the King Flower journey. It’s both a feeling of intense satisfaction and utter depletion. That’s what a Terry-less existence does to me, but as usual the drama churn moves on and this Sunday SETTV unveils its next Sunday night idol-drama offering Love Around. Starring George Hu and Annie Chen, this one is an exercise purely to reunite them in a drama with a story that comes across as tailor written for them without any greater purpose. Annie and George did the daily drama Love, Now late last year which garnered great ratings in its time slot and their combustible onscreen chemistry made them a popular pairing that only fanned more fires when rumors started leaking that they were dating in real life as well. Throw in some scorned former lady love scandal involving Gui Gui (who costarred with George in Summer Fever), this had all the makings of a juicy tabloid love triangle. Things have since then calmed down and neither George nor Annie have ever confirmed a relationship though they publicly admit to working well with each other.
The second leads for this drama are Elleya Tao and Jack Lee, neither of whom have ever made an impression with me and are clearly here to fill in some blanks. SETTV is playing it safe after the Chris Wu/Terry runaway train ordeal in KF, ain’t nothing or no one in LA going to touch the OTP. Hilariously enough, Chris Wu guest-starred with Annie in her even earlier daily drama Inborn Pair with Chris Wang and he totally stole the other Chris’ thunder as well. He’s deadly and needs to be kept away from drama leading men. George plays the reformed son of a former gangster clan while Annie is a plucky radio DJ. They are both dumped by their respective exes at the start of the drama and find themselves constantly bumping into each other and hanging out to get over their heartache. Of course they will fall in love, but watching the long 7-minute trailer I was totally underwhelmed. Bii’s track “Come Back to Me” was the best part of it, and I love seeing the return of kick-ass George unleashing some action moves. Other than that, it was a big fat yawn. I’ll check it out this Sunday and see if the actual episode changes my mind.
George plays Zhou Zhen, whose girlfriend breaks up with him because he’s from a gangster family and she doesn’t want her future tainted because of his unsavory family connections. Annie plays Liang Xiao Shu, a talkative and quick to help radio DJ whose boyfriend cheats and dumps her publicly. The OTP then meets cute and helps each other commiserate their pathetic dating situation and exact revenge on their respective exes. I kinda like George’s character but Annie’s already grates on me with her pluckiness and the over-acting. I think the only Annie drama character I ever liked her was Yi Jie in Inborn Pair, which actually had two of the best written down-to-earth drama characters around. No histrionics ever with those two. Here it feels like histrionics all around, from everyone involved. It’s also hilarious to see Terry’s MIA dad from KF show up here as George’s gangster patriarch.
Long 7-minute Preview for Love Around:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyDj8MyPms
For those of you who have only seen George in Love, Now, he’s actually a real life martial artist and when he first started acting was always in fighting roles, such as Love at First Fight or K.O. San Guo. He also got to unleash some moves in Hayate the Combat Butler with Park Shin Hye. I actually like his character description here, a righteous former gangster who who faced with injustice lets his deadly side out.
Short Previews for Love Around:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjXAL5Ttf14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WFJRputa8E
Er… I am going to watch it even if it sucks.Which I hope it doesn’t.I just coo whenever they are screen.on
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me too…love George so much…Can’t stay away from his eyes. Definitely check it out!
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Awww…loved this pair in Love, Now. But you’re right, the long preview was definitely underwhelming, although I liked Annie’s character. It was George’s character I found a little boring. Maybe he lightens up after spending time with the bubbly DJ?
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YAWNNNNN the directing is… pretty sad lol i almost busted a gut when the ex threatened to hit annie with a rock… like DID you not see this guys moves? why couldn’t he just kick it out of his hand?… Annie’s acting is ok laaa George feels like a pleasant surprise in several moments (and he’s quite swarmy)… but oh boy… it’s just so hard to take SETTV dramas seriously again when they like to add silliness to everything
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He’s eye candy, she looks cute, but is annoying in the trailer. The long trailer does the opposite of what it’s supposed to do — entice you to watch the drama. It’s boring.
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Don’t be too quick to judge from the trailer…George and Annie had great chemistry in Love, Now and had thousands upon thousands of Chinese fans the world over glued to their tvs for 71 episodes. People said the same things about L,N in the beginning and look what happened. A little comedy adds to the serious undertone of this drama. The over the top acting of Annie is probably because she got dumped and cheating by one’s significant other is hurtful, and she is supposedly had too much to drink. George is cute in this role, and looking forward to seeing more of his martial art ability. Personally, I think they took this drama because their fans were clamoring to see them together again. Acting is not an easy profession and one can’t please everyone all the time. At least Annie can dress up in this one and George can be grumpy if he pleases. Ha!
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Omg Omg Omg I recently started watching love Now and man I was inlove with every single shot ! Mrs koala u r offially the best blogger there is ! How can u always read into my mind ! The best gift I would have for a birthday is this love George Nd Annie ! Love u ! Love drama
Pls pls pls recap that ! Drop any thing else and recap it !
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Let me Add another comment after watching the preview ! These guys were born for each other ! Epic epic
George
WHY SO SEXY and the shades just to kill me!?
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love George as always.. i like L,N but definitely fall for IP, but then this one… oh my God.. their chemistry is super duper lovable! i love love love how his eyes meet annie’s… i hope they are dating in real life..
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he’s actually better in acting than in picture….he becomes more attractive
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Haaaa! And I watched to the point in the preview where I saw Nai Nai. Yeah…She’s (like) the only grandma in Taiwanese Dramaland. Boy, does that lady have a ton of grandchildren! ;)~
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there’s no boring drama or tv series if annie and George together they’re the best couple.goodluck wishing you both get an award.love around are highly recommended.
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Can’t wait to see the full episodes of love around. Oh loved George and Annie page so much.
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