SETTV has had more hits than misses for me this year. Just the incredible one-two Friday night punch of In a Good Way followed by Pleasantly Surprised (Love Myself or You) has been sublime drama nourishment for the eyes and soul. Pretty people playing interesting characters with a story line that doesn’t insult my intelligence, where do I sign up and can I have some more? I find it hilarious that SETTV knows the general adage that most drama watchers are women so in announcing the second half line up of its upcoming dramas the network doesn’t even bother to bring along a single leading lady. Not one. Instead SETTV trotted out George Hu (Love Forward, Love Now), Lin Yo Wei (Two Fathers), Chris Wang (Inborn Pair, Love Family, Love Me or Leave Me), and Lego Lee (In a Good Way) to announce the next three dramas on the agenda. George will be headlining the 8 pm daily drama called Happiness Voucher (幸福兌換券) and I’m already inclined to give it a shot since it doesn’t have the word love in the title.
The first drama to hit the airwaves will be Lin Yo Wei pairing up with Mandy Wei for the Sunday night drama to follow Fall in Love with Me. The Lin Yo Wei-Mandy drama is called Say Yes Once Again (再說一次我願意) and is about a couple who have a shotgun wedding followed by a quickie divorce and then fall their way back in love again. Basically K-dramas year of the divorced couples getting back together has seeped over to TW-dramas. Such a pass for me in cast and concept. Finally the Friday night slot after Pleasantly Surprised will be filled with a two male lead-two female lead combo drama called 22K’s Worth of Security (22K小確幸) and is described as a post collegiate drama about rookies in the real world work force and their lives and loves. Basically a In a Good Way ensemble crossed with Office Girls workplace drama. The two male leads are Chris Wang and Lego Lee and the leading ladies are still in talks since this drama will be the last of the bunch to premiere sometime in early October.
George plays against type in Happiness Voucher as the guy who has a short term interest in anything and is pretty hard to get along with. He was asked if his leading lady would be rumored girlfriend and frequent costar Annie Chen but George only said that her name wasn’t on the cast list he saw. Either Annie is still in talks or another leading lady has been cast, who knows. I hope to god it’s not Annie, I like her I really do but her doing another drama with George is like beating a dead horse to the ground. I don’t mind if she reunites with Chris since they were wonderful in Inborn Pair. It’s not reuniting onscreen couples that I object to, it’s the one-track fixation of WeiNi fans that kill the George-Annie combo for me these days.
Mandy is no stranger to the Sunday night time slot as she was in the Sunday night drama before FILWM called Déjà Vu and holy god did I hate that piece of shit. Hated her character, hated her costar Yao Yuan Hao‘s acting and his character, and hated the terrible back-to-the-future storyline. I honestly find Mandy has minimal to zero charisma and have no clue why SETTV is promoting her as a leading lady. Bring back Nikki Hsieh! The only good thing to come out of this press conference was knowing that Yao Yuan Hao is nowhere on the horizon in any upcoming SETTV drama. Thank god for little blessings. Also Chris mugging the hell out on stage was most entertaining.
I’m annoyed the press is already asking “who is THE male lead” question between Chris and Lego wanting to fan the flames of some ego jostling. I know which guy I personally like better but honestly it’ll come back to their characters and which one resonates more with me in the drama that matters. Their leading ladies will also influence the equation since a winning leading lady with great chemistry is going to tip the audience interest one way or another.
SETTV press conference:
The really depressing thing about this is that it basically confirms my worst fears: We can kiss goodbye to any IAGW movie, and accept that the lame-as damp squib open ending is what we’re stuck with, a teaser for a promise never to be fulfilled.
basically… I’m happy for Lego coming out with a new drama but I’m kinda want the IAGW movie more than a new drama, such a tease, hate you SETTV D::
I almost forgot about the movie version… but if they don’t film it now it’s very unlikely that it’s gonna happen anytime in the future. Such bad news 🙁
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I was really looking forward the movie :(…..
Cant believe it. I didnt watch the last ep of iAGW as I hate the ending hoping for a movie for a happy ending so now gone case…. 🙁
I liked In a Good Way, it as the exception to the rule of TW dramas.
Pleasantly Surprised… meh…. that’s the same as ever, same cliché characters, girls who can’t stand on their own feet (literally), love rivalries, bla bla bla. Mind you, I kind of like the lead actors but the drama still feels like the same as every single TW drama (except IAGW).
I wish TW dramas (and K dramas too) would give more new actors a chance, the recycled pairings are just a bit too much after a while. They need a bigger pool to draw from.
Jasper Liu is adorable but had to drop Pleasantly Surprised due to the exact reasons you stated above. Made the switch to The Way We Were / 16 Summers.
Yes The Way We Were is a much better TW drama. Even though it’s similar to In A Good Way it’s also very different in the whole atmosphere. Tbh, only this year Korean started their reunions which I do like because those actors/actresses somewhat marked the Hallyuwave for me and it’s nice to see how much their actings/chemistry bloomed. Even though Korea is smaller than China/Taiwan/HK they actually give newbies roles and switched partners a lot more than Taiwanese. Whereas I feel China/Taiwan recycled a lot more.
I’m not feeling Pleasantly Suprised, first few episodes were nice but then it lost this extra something. Is anyone still watching You Light Up My Star?
@heo: I watched the first few episodes (like 5 or 6?) of You Light Up My Star but have since dropped it. I understand that the story they are trying to tell isn’t silly or trivial and that the director seems to have put a lot of effort into it but I am not feeling much. Are you watching it? Is it getting better?
Re. The Way We Were, I am like completely smitten with Leroy Young as Fang Wei De by the end of episode 2. Nuff said.
Unless the lightning department is responsible, methinks that the make-up artist went a lil’ overboard on Lego’s face, and to a lesser extent, on George’s.
That’s what I was thinking too. The hair styling on Lego is also quite unflattering compared to the three other dudes.
Agreed. His hair color should have been darker especially with this pale rose/white outfit which strikingly contrasts with the other leads’ dark style. He kinda looks like Grandpa hanging out with some of his sons/grandsons. >.<
I’m glad Lin Yo Wei is back but that plot sounds rather redundant, and I totally agree on Mandy Wei, boring just about covers her.
I really hate it when the drama I want to watch is a daily drama that is probably gonna be dragy and long. I like george hu but not enough that I’ll watch a long and boring drama for him
Hmmm…I like IAGW and PS so I’ll look out for the next dramas since I do like the male leads
Like others have said does this mean that a in the good way movie is not going to happen because I thought it was basically confirmed and was going to start filming soon
Oh boy. Yay Chris. 🙂 urgh I really find Mandy Wei to be completely bland. I don’t know what it is about her that is completely bland, but that she is. That’s enough to get me to skip the Sunday offering. I haven’t watched a settv Sunday one in a long time. I am rather excited at lego/Chris drama but I will have to see how it plays out first. I am not a big fan of fan wars over who is the lead type of thing. Hope they get their own trajectories.
I Like Dark Lego, not Light Lego.
It seems like George and Lego should be besties, not rivals. Seriously, nobody beats Lego in my book. Depending on the female lead, of course, but I don’t know how she could pick George, I think he’s adorable…He’s just not Lego.
At first I thought all 4 of them were going to star in a drama together. I woulda die of happiness lol. But then I wouldn’t know who to root for… hahaha. Well, I will most likely check out all of them to see but I’m looking forward to Lego and Chris’ drama the most 😀 Even though Lin Yo Wei was so endearing in Two Fathers, this new drama sounds eh eh. I just want Two Fathers sequel so we can get a more satisfying ending… sigh.