Moments of Endearment | |
---|---|
外父唔怕做 | |
Genre | Comedy Drama |
Developed by | TVB |
Written by | Ng Lap Gong 伍立光 Bao Wei Cung 鮑偉聰 Lau Jun Yin 劉俊賢 Au Kit Yee 歐健兒 Ng Sum 伍少寶 Chan Ho Bun 陳浩斌 Leung Man Wah 梁敏華 |
Directed by | Lam Suk Fan 林淑芬 Law Kit Qi 羅健祺 Chow Sui Wah 周小樺 Leung Gwok Bun 梁國斌 |
Starring | Nick Cheung 張家輝 Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅 Paul Chun 秦沛 Louisa So 蘇玉華 Michael Tse 謝天華 Kingdom Yuen 苑瓊丹 |
Opening theme | Let Me Fly (讓我飛) by Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅 |
Country of origin | Hong Kong |
Original language | Cantonese |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Production | |
Producer | Mui Siu Ching 梅小青 |
Production location | Hong Kong |
Camera setup | Multi camera |
Running time | 45 minutes (each) |
Production company | TVB |
Original release | |
Network | TVB Jade |
Release | 21 December 1998 15 January 1999 | –
Moments of Endearment (Chinese: 外父唔怕做; pinyin: Ngoi Fu Ng Pa Jo) is a 1998 till 1999 Hong Kong modern comedy drama produced by TVB, starring Nick Cheung, Miriam Yeung, Paul Chun, Louisa So, Michael Tse in main roles and Kingdom Yuen, Evergreen Mak, Sherming Yiu, Mary Hon, Kwok Fung, Chan Man Na, Joseph Lee Kwok Lun, Felix Lok in supporting roles. The Chinese title of the drama literally translate to "Not Afraid to be The Father-in-law". The series is produced by well known and long time TVB producer Mui Siu Ching. It began airing weekly on TVB's Jade channel from December 21, 1998 till January 15, 1999, in its 7:30 to 8:30 PM time slot with 20 episodes total.[1]
Moments of Endearment is both Nick Cheung and Miriam Yeung's first roles as the main leads. Previously Nick Cheung starred as 3rd or 4th co-star in a series. Mirium Yeung was a newcomer at that time with only minor roles in previous TVB dramas. The series also brought recognition to Michael Tse as an actor, he previously became popular in the Hong Kong "Young and Dangerous" film franchise and was known for his role as triad member "Ah Yee". His role in Moments of Endearment as the cowardly and feminine guy "Ah Fai" showed that he can be a versatile actor who can take on other kinds of characters.
An overly protective widower father who learns to let go of his only child/daughter when she gets married. A grown daughter who has just returned home after studying abroad, falls for her dad's young co-worker and gets married right away. The father feeling lonely and bored with his only child out of the house falls in love with his younger female boss who also has an overly protective father that is worst then himself.
Chung Ji Wai (Paul Chun) is a widower who is excited that his only child Chung Lok Yee (Miriam Yeung) is finally returning home after studying abroad for so many years. To mark the special occasion he goes to his bank vault to get his prized abalones he has been saving for a celebratory meal. On a bus ride to work that same morning he meets Chan Yau Chung (Nick Cheung), a well mannered young man. Wai sir as he is called by all his co-workers is the most senior sales rep at the insurance company he works for. He also manages the most under performing sales team in the company. His team has not been able to make their sales quota for months and is usually looked down upon by the other sales team. His boss Elaine (Louisa So) decides to add the new person in the company, which happens to be Chung to his sales team. Wai sir is happy with the addition of Chung on his team since Chung is bright and ambitious.
At the airport Wai sir and Chung run into each other. Wai sir is there to pick up his daughter Yee, while Chung is there to pick up his best friend Fai (Michael Tse) whose mannerism are very feminine. Seeing Chung and Fai together, Wai sir immediate misinterpret the two to be in a same sex relationship when in fact Fai has a girlfriend named Virginia that takes him for granted. When Yee arrives Wai sir is extremely happy to see his daughter again but to his disappointment he meets Sue who is the friend Yee had written to him about. Wai sir had originally thought Sue was a girl because of the name but Sue turns out to be a guy, Yee's boyfriend to be exact. Wai sir immediately dislikes Sue but hides it from his daughter in order to make her happy. Wai sir not trusting Sue, has his nephew Ying Wai follow Sue around, they soon find out that Sue has another girlfriend on the side. He tells his daughter but Yee does not believe him, disappointed in her father she goes to Sue's house to find someone to console but instead catches him in an intimate situation with his other girlfriend.
Wanting to cheer his daughter up from her heartbreak Wai sir buys two tickets to a dance ball, a few days before the date of the ball he injures his foot. Not wanting the tickets to go to waste he ask Chung who he thinks is gay to take Yee to the ball in his place instead. Chung falls in love with Yee on the night of the ball after spending time chatting together and seeing how pretty she looked that night. When Wai sir's team finally makes their sales quota he decides to invite his entire team to his home for a BBQ celebration. At the BBQ, Chung and Yee become more close and Yee soon falls for Chung too.
Chung and Yee start dating secretly, but Wai sir finds out about the two. He does not approve of the relationship because he is overly protective of his daughter. Wai sir's disapproval of Chung going out with Yee causes conflict at their workplace. Not deterred by Wai sir's thoughts on their relationship Chung and Yee continue dating without Wai sir's approval. When Wai Sir falls ill Chung helps Yee take care of him, seeing how Chung is a devoted and caring boyfriend Wai sir finally gives his approval to their relationship. But later on Chung and Yee go through a scare of losing each other and decided to get married quickly. With his married daughter moved out of the house, Wai sir felt lonely and dives into his work. Being hard at work he gets close to his boss Elaine, the two soon start dating but her father is even more overly protective than Wai sir. Soon he goes through what Chung went through when he dated Yee.[2][3]
Moments of Endearment was well received by audiences. The drama made household names of Nick Cheung, Miriam Yeung and Michael Tse. With the popularity of Michael Tse character as the feminine Fai, TVB offered Tse an artiste contract with the television station. Even though the two main leads have since become major stars in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China TVB has never released Moments of Endearment on DVD or VCD, fans can only re-watch the drama during rebroadcast or on streaming websites.