Hong Kong TV Series
New Episodes Every Night
No Need to Wait All Week

There is always a theme song to start Hong Kong TV Series. Sometimes, there may be a recap of the previous episode. But they are definitely different from those in the US that I know.

Found this on YouTube

I don't remember watching this one. But I want to show you the typical introduction of every episode.

A Typical Hong Kong TV Series

Most HK TV Series have 20 episodes. Each series is broadcast every night from Monday to Friday for an hour a night. Hong Kong people don't have the patience to wait for a week for the next episode.

In other words, a TV series will be over in a month.

Sometimes, the NO. 1 Hong Kong TV station, TVB, celebrates the anniversary. There will be some special series. Those TV series may have 100 episodes. And, of course, they broadcast it every night during the week.

These TV series have brought a lot of attention to some Hong Kong actors and actresses that have became Hollywood Stars, such as Chow Yun Fat.

Not all Hong Kong TV series are broadcast in Hong Kong (we only found this out after moving to Canada in 1995). Some are sold overseas. People in "Chinatown" anywhere in the world see more than what we see in Hong Kong.

Story Varieties

What I really like about Hong Kong TV series is that they can cover many different stories at different times in the history. They could be drama, comedy, horror, detective and so forth.

That's why even I am not big on any Hong Kong movies, I am always addicted to the TV series.

The stories they cover could be based on true stories that have happened in Hong Kong. The MUST for me, are usually those HK TV series based on some well-known Chinese novels and classics. To read the series of those novels and/or classics, it may take up to a few months. Plus, it needs your imagination of the costumes, manner, environment and so forth in the past which is hundreds and years ago. With these TV series, it helps you easily to visualize how each character would have looked like and more.

For instance, if it is about a story in the Qing dynasty, the costumes will be of the same period as in the Qing dynasty as well as the background and everything.

Also, with the special effects and Kung Fu performance, you can't beat it.

Other than locally produced TV series, there were also American dramas with the Chinese translation. It was very popular in the mid 1980s. I still remember sitting in the living room with my family watching Charlie's Angels and Dallas. Yep! They spoke in Cantonese.

The Changes

Then, in the 1990s, Hong Kong started to import some Japanese TV dramas. Since last decade, you can watch Korean, Mainland China and Japanese produced TV series. Some of them were so popular that it led to a lot of sales of books and DVDs.

But local TV stations still actively produce HK TV series and broadcast them during prime time. But, now, you have more varieties to choose from.

Some TV series can switch to Mandarin and/or English versions. You will know before the show comes on. All TV's in Hong Kong have this function set up for switching the language. It is similar to the "SAP" button in the States.

What is happening?

In the past, when it came to the last episode of a popular Hong Kong TV series, people would skip a lot of activities and entertainment. Just by looking at the crowd in the restaurants, it would tell you something.

Well, not anymore....

This is a real life, funny story that I want to share with you.

It was the final episode of that TV series my mom has been watching for a few weeks.

My sisters took her out to dine in a restaurant that night. Guess what?  You will not believe what my mom did.....

She took out her iPad my sister bought for her a few months ago. She went on to the TVB website. Stood her iPad in front of her and watched that episode live while they were eating.

Haha.....

My sister told me that when the wait staff saw my mom, his facial expression told everything, "Wow...you look quite cozy there."

This story is so funny. But it also tells us something. You can watch Hong Kong TV series live without worrying about missing it. And you can watch it for free. Isn't that awesome?

Hong Kong TV Channels

To learn more about the Hong Kong TV series, click on the links below to check out the top 2 Hong Kong TV stations:

1. TVB - This is the number 1 Hong Kong TV Station. All TVs in Hong Kong are pre-set to switch to this channel once the TV is turned on. Many famous Hong Kong movie stars started their careers with this TV station.

It owns an English channel as well. It is called Pearl. But there are a lot of re-runs. And most of the shows came from the U.S. and are at least a season behind.

My dad used to run TV commercial of his food products with this station. So, when it comes to its anniversary, we were always invited to join their celebration.

I was very young. But my memories are still fresh and crisp about going through many studios of their old building on Broadcast Drive, Kowloon Tong, seeing the familiar faces of the TV stars and eating hor d'oeuvres. It was like dreams come true for a little kid. How exciting.

2. HKATV - This TV station has changed ownership countless times. On many occasions, if there are some good actors and actresses, they are hired by their competitor, TVB, pretty quick. It also has an English channel.

Return from Hong Kong TV Series page to Main Hong Kong Movie Star page

Return to Facts About Hong Kong Homepage