oh...my gosh! this drama was SO good!!! i absolutely LOVED it!!! it was absolutely, positively HILARIOUS!!!!! i haven't seen a drama that good in a long long long long time. i think i loved everything about it. [well, not everything, but pretty darn close]
well, first off, i guess i should give some background about the drama. it's set in the 60's. i love that era. :pleased: it's supposed to be a satire about the booming hk film industry at the time and therefore has many many many references to the events of that time period. i got some of it, but very little. i only wish i knew more about that time period's film industry. like there was this one part where the opera actors were doing the end scene of "princess cheung ping" ["trường bình công chúa"]. i got that. i was so proud of myself. :pleased:
well anyway, the four main characters in the drama were the four hottest actors of that time and, i've heard, were loosely based on the hottest four actors in hk in the 60's. gallen played lei kei (lý kỳ), who was based on lui kei. francis played tse yuen (tạ nguyên), based on patrick tse yin [fyi, he's nicholas tse's dad. :shocked: *hehe* cool, huh? and he was in shaolin soccer. keep ur eyes peeled]. jessica played siew fong fong (thiệu phương phương), based on josephine siu fong fong (thiệu phương phương) [i don't know what the difference between the actress' and the character's names is...they both translate to the same thing in viet]. maggie plays cheng po chu (trình bảo châu), based on connie chan po chu. now, i don't actually know any of these real actors, but from what i've heard and read, gallen and francis did a superb job portraying their respective actors. their voices, mannerisms, and everything! just goes to show that they did their hw! 
but what else would you expect from such veterans? maggie did a pretty good job, but jessica didn't hit siu fong fong. 
poor jessie. it's ok. i liked her character best anyways. 
now i guess on to the characters/actors:
francis: now, i know he's a veteran actor. i've heard. but i've only seen him one other time: in triumph in the skies. and i HATED him. well, not exactly hated. he was pretty good as an actor. i just didn't really like his character and mannerisms. and his HAIR! it was horrid! anyways, he has this habit of opening his mouth to take a breath or sigh or something when he's trying to think....i don't know. i can't describe it. i think you'll know what i'm talking about if you've ever seen him act. it's pretty obvious. in any case, it bothers(ed) the hell out of me. however, i really liked him in this drama!! he was a little weird, but i thot he portrayed a "diva" [*hehe* sorry...i don't know what the male equivalent for diva is 
] very very well.
gallen: gallen is also a veteran actor. i've actually seen gallen a lot. he's actually one of my favorite actors. and he definitely delivered in this drama. i thot he was awesome! so funny!! *keke* at first, i thot his talkingn was kinda weird, but i hear lui kei was like that, so meh... anyways, my heart really went out to his character. i felt so sorry for him sometimes. actually, most of the time. he was more talented, more good-looking, more ambitious; but somehow, he always ALWAYS got the short end of the straw. poor guy!! some **SPOILERS** i really felt bad for him when yuen, fong, and he were at the party for mr. law and yuen and fong were singing onstage and kei was in the back singing for yuen. yuen was getting all the applause even tho it was really kei's voice. *sigh* and i felt even worse when he started going after fong even tho she was already going out with yuen. and that was so cute!! the "little bee"!! awwwwww!!!! ^-^ it would've totally worked on me! that was one of my favorite parts in the drama. *kekeke* [more on that later ]
][ EDIT ][: i watched a little clip of this drama in cantonese, and gallen sounds much better
jessica: she was very cute in this drama. both as siew fong fong and ah ping. i think i can see that her acting has improved over the years tho. i think she's better now. not that she was bad in this one tho. pretty darn good. at first i wasn't used to the voice that dubbed hers, but i got used to it. i ended up thinking it fit her character pretty well. lol. she is SO cute when she pouts! i loved it when she was mad at francis. ^-^ especially when she was all jealous of him and maggie. *kekeke* and when she found out that she was a year older than him and thot that he was gonna break up with her. *kekeke* [fyi, she was 26 and he was 25, but she thot he was 27] oh, and i loved her clothes!! ^-^ i think jessica always gets the best clothes in every drama that she does. of course, i may be a little biased but really, she does get pretty nice clothes. of course, fong's clothes are nice since she's a big movie star, but even ping's clothes were nice. they were cute and simple. reflected ping's personality very well. and jessica pulls off the clothes so well. miniskirts were in at the time and it's a great chance for her to show off her gorgeous long legs. makes me so jealous! lol.
*sigh* i hate having to keep saying this, but this girl cannot cry. it's so sad. otherwise, she would be such a well-rounded actress... i think the only instance i've seen her cry is dif4, but i can't really say that because i've never seen it...i think i'm gonna make that my project over winter break. i'll get war and beauty and detective investigation files 4. so excited! *hihihi* oh! and she speaks a little english in here!! all she says is "that's right", but still, you can kind of hear her perfect british accent. so cute!! ^-^
maggie: oh this girl has definitely improved since 1997. lol. sorry to say. i mean, she wasn't bad here, but she seemed like more of a novice. maybe cuz she looked so young...i don't know. either way, i thot she was pretty cute in this drama. but her character was so gullible and impressionable and...childlike, it was kind of annoying. but it matched her face. lol. she looked REALLY young. well, not that young. she was supposed to be 19 and she looked about that. well anyway, she also has a little mannerism that bothers me: she has a tendency of doing this nodding thing when she talks. i mean, i've noticed it before...but it seems really excessive in this drama. i would like to say that she just got rid of it as her career progressed, but the earliest drama i've seen her in is cold blood warm heart (1996) [i absolutely loved her in that drama {mostly for one scene, but still. that scene left a very good impression on me}], but i dind't notice the nodding thing. maybe cuz she only had a small part. anyway, chu's clothes were pretty nice, too. but i didn't like her everyday clothes as much as fong's/ping's. plus, her legs weren't as nice. both girls are soooo thin tho. it's like daaaym! lol.
one last thing about the actors: my how they have aged!! gallen and francis look much older now, imo. jessica looks more or less the same. maybe a bit older. maggie doesn't really look older either. just...more mature. lol. here, maggie looks like she "chua dut hoi sua" [i.e. barely an adult], but now...actually, she does look older. lol.
random comment: **SPOILER** it was so sad when yuen got cancer...but then almost immediately, they flash forward 30 years and just killed it. lol. so sad 30 years later...[i don't mean like *boohoo* sad. i mean like *rolls eyes* sad. it's rather ironic. lol.]
another random comment: i wish i could've seen it in cantonese! then i could've seen a the NG's!!! i love watching NGs...*pout* i only got to see the second one and the last one...booo :bitter:
yet another random comment: **SPOILER** i was kinda disappointed that fong didn't go to hollywood, but i was very happy when she found yuen at the beach and they hugged.
i was pretty satisfied with the ending. altho...i think it could've been shorter. the whole thing was probably about 2 tapes. i think they could've cut it in half. it was a little draggy...i was just waiting for it to end, but it was still good. oh, and *hehe*. notice the satiric stab at tv series at the end. kinda ironic since old time buddy is a tv series.
some things i don't get:
~ do people REALLY look that different with and without glasses? how is it that after so long, no one could tell that fong fong and ah ping were the same person?? *sigh*...i guess she had different hair...and no makeup...and drastically different clothes... and i guess some of them did notice some similarities sometimes... well, i still don't completely buy it, but for the sake of the drama, i guess i'll just leave it alone. lol. but after everyone found out that fong fong and ah ping were the same, why doesn't she dress up as ah ping anymore? cuz as far as i can tell, she had been dressing up as ah ping since...forever. so why stop suddenly? the only time she had the short hair and glasses after that was when she was sleeping... :confused: oh w/e
~ what's up with chị nhặm [the manly opera singer]? i never got that. was that a blow at chinese opera? [reminds me of joyce koi] and i never got the relationship between the 2 opera singers either. were they lovers? sisters? what?
~ why was yuen in a wheelchair a little bit after kei left? they never gave an explanation. we just saw him coughing...and then suddenly he's in a wheelchair...and then he's fine...and then he has brain cancer...:wtf: was that when he supposedly "had a cold"? even so, what kind of a freakishly strong cold virus would put you in a wheelchair? iono. maybe they should've spent a bit more time explaining that. or maybe they just cut it out of the dubbed version... in any case, i felt that the whole part before they flash forward was too rushed
some of my favorite parts:
~ francis and jessica [as fong fong and ah ping]!!
~ how jess kept pranking francis to get revenge for him calling her ugly. *kekeke* so hilarious!!! especially the one in the shower! man...good stuff
~ when jess is mad! *hehehe* so cute!
~ "little bee"! [even tho it nearly broke up jess and francis] so cute! especially how jess kept trying to make francis jealous. i especially like the scarf bits. where she just gets it, and when she's visiting the opera teachers/actors. good stuff. and the music box. so pretty. and i like the song that it played.
~ how gallen thot maggie brought him bad luck and tried to avoid her like the plague. i didn't like it so much after they got together, but it was nice that he always had a unfailing believer
~ when gallen had to play the tree!
~ gallen's first audition. so over-the-top! *hahaha*
~ the music!! the themesong kicks ass! [i also like the piano versions of the themesong. very sweet ] and the background music [in restaurants or in the homes and stuff] and subsongs were all very nice too. i remember recognizing "take 5" and "nguoi tinh alisan" and "tequila" and "babyface" and the song they played during the video clip at the awards show set the mood really well too. basically, the entire soundtrack was very well chosen.
~ i love the (movie) posters and the old photos on the walls at the studio. and near the end, of course. again, how i wish i knew more about old hk cinema.
~ when the makeup guy came up with the "new look" for fong fong and francis walks in. HILARIOUS!!
~ the way the little yuen-fong-chu love triangle was revealed. so funny. i totally didn't see that coming. [but my mom did. >.<] and how yuen chose fong. so sweet
~ when francis pretended to cheat on fong fong with fa. i liked how fong picked up 2 pairs of nylons and 4 bras. LoLoL! and her pulling his ears.
~ the video clip at the awards ceremony. actually, the whole awards ceremony.
i usually base a drama's goodness on how much i think about it when i'm not watching it and after it's over. i was definitely rushing home everyday to watch this drama and thinking about it during work and whatever it is i was doing, but i have to admit, i didn't think about this drama too much after it was over...so i was beginning to wonder why i wanted to give it such a high score...but i was just watching part of it over with my mom, and it's still just as funny and just as good. i think the only reason it didn't stay with me after it was over is that this drama lacks a bit in the "sadness" area. there's not too much that really tugs at your heartstrings or really touches you. there's not really anything for you to root for. i mean, it's there [like the theme of brotherhood, which i liked ], but the moments are rather fleeting. it's more of a comedy. [as opposed to, say, square pegs, which was both (semi-)funny and touching and had me desperately rooting for ah wong and choi fong *sighs dreamily*]
bottom line: wonderful! must see!
-- ][ EDIT 12.06.04 ][ --
I just saw some pix of Patrick Tse, and OH MY GOD!! THE RESEMBLANCE IS UNCANNY!! I was so frickin creeped out! Tse Yuen, towards the end, looked EXACTLY like Tse Yin. I don't know if it was just the pictures or what, but they could've been twins! (or at least brothers or father and son) I also figured out who he was in Shaolin Soccer. Again, very very good job by Francis portraying his demeanor. I phu.c sa't dda^'t. Lui Kei does not look like Lei Kei, but from Lui Kei's poses, I gather that Gallen also portrayed Lui Kei to the tee. As far as I can see tho, Siew Fong Fong and Cheng Po Chu were not much like Josephine Siu and Connie Chan. However, Josephine and Connie didn't really seem to have any distinguishing characteristics. Patrick Tse and Lui Kei were really...odd. lol.
Anyhow, on one last note, Josephine Siu really reminds me of Thanh Nga (the viet actress from the 60's/70's? I think she was one of the most famous actresses before '75).
-- ][ EDIT again 02.18.05 ][ --
I just saw some pix of Connie Cheng at some events recently, and...she frickin looks like Maggie! Especially the older version of Maggie in the series. I was a little creeped out. lol. TVB was spot on in their casting this time around. ^-^