TV home from home (I)

It may not surprise you to learn, based on my penchant for a particular kind of foreign film, that I also watch foreign TV. Now I know I moved back to Blighty a while ago (4 years, 26 days ago - but who’s counting?) but Hong Kong will always be a part of me and it’s hard to let go of the amusement you got used to having around for 11 years.

For this reason, I still watch the odd HK drama. The local Hong Kong channel TVB does me quite nicely, seeing as it’s like the Beeb but on a much smaller budget but has a larger pool of actors to pick from. The normal routine is that TVB produce a drama to be shown five nights a week. This runs for 21 or 30 episodes, or if it’s particularly dramatic or written to be a flagship show, then it’s 50 episodes. That’s it - end of story. But if it the ratings were really good or public reception was impressive, then a while later (like 6 - 12 months later) they’ll produce another series and call it ‘2’. And so it goes.

Not all HK dramas are gold - you can’t churn out constant hits. However, the better ones stick with you.

I’m currently watching The Exorcist’s Meter (降魔的). The usual faces have been cast, not least of all the stellar Kenneth Ma (馬國明) as the central character, Siu Ma. He’s a taxi driver with an unusually blessed, if hand-to-mouth, life. When he accidentally pees on the wrong statue (it’s a long story), he releases a genie who’s determined to pay him back by giving him his most important wish. However, this leads to all kinds of ghostly and demonic shenanigans - Hong Kong style. You have the long-suffering mother (except whose mother is she?), the long-dead brother, the neighbour who’s as superstitious as the Ghost Facers and a kindly uncle who’s based his entire life on scientific fact and doesn’t believe in Fung Sui nonsense, never mind ghosts and demons. Add in a TV personality who only got into her tenure on the local equivalent of Most Haunted whilst trying to be a real reporter, a huge question mark over his real parents and of course the demon-hunting genie, and you have some compelling TV. You won't get a more ‘local’ kind of story on HK TV, and I’m really enjoying the mood whiplash between Siu Ma taking the piss out of his cumbersome genie millstone one minute and then him inadvertently picking up ghostly passengers the next. Typical family arguments, hardships that normal people go through just trying to survive - it’s all there and it makes me miss HK at times. But then it also makes me giggle a bit.

Knowing the nation as I (used to) do, it’s easy for me to slip into this TV world and understand the context. It may be challenging for newbies to get their head around (especially if the only travelling they’ve done it between TV channels), but I’d highly recommend this as a bit of fluff that may well stay with you for a bit afterwards. I’m only up to episode 13 but having it on a service where I can binge watch it definitely helps!

That’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll be back soon with more waffle of the entertainment kind.

Soopytwist.