Virtues of Harmony
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Virtues of Harmony (Traditional Chinese 皆大歡喜, Simplified Chinese 皆大欢喜, Pinyin: Gai Dai Foon Hei) was a sitcom produced by TVB. It starred Nancy Sit, Frankie Lam, Bondy Chiu, Michael Tse, Cutie Mui, Bernice Liu, Joyce Chen, Yvonne Lam, Johnny Tang, Louis Yuen, etc. There are 770 episodes altogether in two series and it ran from 2001 until its conclusion in February, 2005.
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[edit] Virtues of Harmony I
The first season of Virtues of Harmony is a 327 episode costumed TV drama comedy. The plot goes through the lives and stories of these characters. It is a very family oriented show with a series of highly comedic moments intertwined with light drama.
The writers of the show used many Cantonese homophones that have different meanings in modern time. Since the story is set in an era centuries ago, the modern puns make the dialogues rather funny. For example, the restaurant run by the family is called Dong Mud Yuen (洞蜜園 lit. honey cave garden), but the homophone is a Cantonese pun for "zoo" (動物園). The town they live in Tsi Lik Gong Zhen(池力共鎮) is a homophone for magnetic resonance (磁力共振). Even the names of the characters are homophones of some other funny puns. For example, Gam Fu Yan's three children are named "Gam Nien", "Gam Yuet", and "Gam Yat"; while the character for Gam means gold, it sounds identical to another character that when used with characters for year (nien), moon or month (yuet), and sun or day (yat), the three characters' names mean "this year", "this month", and "today". Most of this humour is lost when the show is viewed by non-Cantonese speaking audience.
[edit] Plot
The sitcom is set during the prosperous Ming dynasty and centers around the Gam family. Nancy Sit stars as Gam Nim Tsi, head of the Gam household. Gam Nim Tsi was once a notorious bandit but when the sitcom starts nobody is aware of her past, not even her children (step-children). As the sitcom begins, Gam Nim Tsi is the owner of the most popular restaurant in the village, named 'Dong Mud Yuen'.
Dong Mud Yuen is famous for its noodles which are cooked by Nim Tsi’s stepbrother, Yau Nim Fu (played by Louis Yuen). Only Yau Nim Fu knows Gam Fu Yan’s past as a bandit and how she came into the family. Yau Nim Fu is married to Wan Ying Gei (played by Yvonne Lam).
Gam Nim Tsi has three children, who are actually her stepchildren. They are triplets named; Gam Nien (played by Frankie Lam), Gam Yuet (played by Michael Tse), and Gam Yat (played by Joyce Chen).
Gam Yuet (Michael) is married to two women, Sek Mei (played by Cutie Mui) and Lam Yuk Lou (played by Bondy Chui). Not long into the sitcom, Gam Yat (Joyce) marries Gou Yee Hong (played by Johnny Tang). Eventually, Gam Nien (Frankie) marries Princess Sum Tien (played by Bernice Liu). Also After That they move into the kingdom to live with the princess and her father, the King. Gam Nien ( Frankie) has some marital problems at first with princess Sum Tien ( played by Bernice Liu.)
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[edit] Virtues of Harmony II
Virtues of Harmony II is a modern spin-off from the first season of Virtues of Harmony. After the highly successful first series, TVB has decided to create the follow-up modern version of the series. With the same cast, same production team, and extremely gifted writers, the sequel to is considered to be just as good.
[edit] Show statistics
- Chinese Title: 皆大歡喜
- English Title: Virtues of Harmony II (Modern Version)
- Chinese Pronouns Title: Gai Dai Foon Hei (Cantonese), Jie Da Huan Xi (Mandarin)
- Vietnamese Title: Tình Người Hiện Ðại
- Released: May 2003 (Hong Kong) || June 2003 (Chinese) || September 2003 (Viet)
- Episodes/Tapes Length: 443/111 (Chinese) || 296/148 (Viet)
- Producer: Tsui Yu On
- Genre: Modern Comedy/Light Drama
- Year: 2003-2005
- Company: TVB
[edit] Cast
| Nancy Sit | Bondy Chiu | Cutie Mui | Yvonne Lam | Joyce Chen |
| Frankie Lam | Bernice Liu | Michael Tse | Louis Yuen | Johnny Tang |
| Lee Kwok Lun | Kingdom Yuen | Helen Ma | Johnny Ngan | Stephanie Che |
| Lau Dan | Steven Ma | Hawick Lau | Linda Chung | Chan Man Na |
| Lam King Kong | Yu Yeung | Rain Lau | Yau Ching | Jojo Shum |
| Albert Lo | Lam Wing Tung | Robert Siu | Teresa Ha | Yu Mo Lin |
[edit] Gueststars
| Lawrence Yan | Myolie Wu | Deno Cheung | Chan Ling Lei | Tang Chi Fung | |
| Lai Lok Yi | Griselda Yeung | Nancy Wu | Rebecca Chan | Ellesmere Choi | |
| Wai Ka Hung | Karen Lee | Matt Yeung | Cindy Au | Wong Chak Fung | |
| Claire Yiu | Iva Lo | Gilbert Lam | Maria Chen | Lai Suen | |
| Amy Ang | Lo Yuen Yan | Jessica Chung | Law Hok Lam | Stephanie Wang | |
| Chiu Ching Yee | Ivy Tam | Jacky Wong | Patricia Liu | Sam Chan | |
| Jaffery Wong | Mimi Chu Mi Mi | Ronald Cheng | Mark Kwok | Mary Hon | |
| Angela Tong | Chan San Chung | Rubyanne Choi | Halina Tam | Raymond Lam |
[edit] Couples within the show
- Frankie Lam & Bernice Liu
- Michael Tse & Bondy Chiu
- Johnny Tang & Joyce Chen
- Steven Ma & Linda Chung
- Louis Yuen & Yvonne Lam
- Lee Kwok Lun & Kingdom Yuen
- Johnny Ngan & Helen Ma
- Yu Yeung & Chan Man Na
[edit] Special Awards/Achievements
- TVB Anniversary 2001 Top 13 Favorite Roles... Nancy Sit (Yau Nim Chi)
- TVB Anniversary 2002 Favorite Couple/Group Award... Bondy Chiu, Joyce Chen, Yvonne Lam, Cutie Mui
- Next TV Awards 2002 Top 10 Programmes... #5 Virtues of Harmony (Ancient Version)
- Next TV Awards 2003 Top 10 Programmes... #10 Virtues of Harmony (Ancient Version)
- Next TV Awards 2004 Top 10 Programmes... #8 Virtues of Harmony II (Modern Version)
- Next TV Awards 2005 Top 10 Programmes... #7 Virtues of Harmony II (Modern Version)
- Fairchild TV Top 10 Dramas In Last 10 Years... Virtues of Harmony (Ancient Version)
- Astro Wai Lai Toi Drama Award 2004 Favorite Character... Nancy Sit (Yau Nim Chi)
- Metro Radio Black and White Television Characters Awards 2004... Nancy Sit (Yau Nim Chi)
- TVB Weekly Magazine Popular Show... Virtues of Harmony II (Modern Version)
- Longest TVB Costume Series... Virtues of Harmony I (327 episodes)
- #2 Longest TVB Modern Series... Virtues of Harmony II (443 episodes)
- #2 Longest TVB Drama... Virtues of Harmony (I & II) (770 episodes)
[edit] Storyline Overview
Since the Kam family of the Ming Dynasty made a vow under the wishing tree to be together forever for every generation, in the blink of an eye we arrive in Hong Kong in 2003. Yau Nim Chi has become the owner of a HK style cafe which called "Tung Mut Yuen"(the Cantonese homophone of "Zoo"), Chi was a police officer in her youth and after marrying the "Tung Mut Yuen" cafe owner Kam Wah, she left her position to look after the three young children that Wah had with his previous wife. The eldest son was Kam Nin, second son Kam Yuet and youngest daughter Kam Yat (their names are Chinese puns of "this year", "this month", and "this day" respectively) and although they were not borne from Chi, they see her as their natural mother and the family lived together harmoniously. After Wah died, Chi took on the role of father and together with Wah's sister Kam Sa Sa, they continued to look after the cafe and although it is a small business, they had a comfortable life; eighteen years later, Nin, Yuet and Yat have grown up and each has their own successes.
Eldest son Kam Nin works in a fashion company as Merchandising Manager and although he is appreciated by his manager Wong Sheung, he is considered as competition by another Merchandising Manager in Ka Yan Company, Man Kwai Fei. The two have their own stances and in work are always fighting to win each other, whilst the smooth and cunning Sheung watches over but does nothing, so as to allow the two to show their talents whilst he reaps all the rewards. Sheung has an only daughter Wong Yee or Joey who has been spoilt from an early age and has never been through any hardship and studied fashion design at a top school in England. On one occasion, when returning to Hong Kong on vacation, she gave up her studies for the sake of an argument and decided to find herself a job, Sheung is very concerned that her naivety will lead her to be tricked, so he secretly arranges for her to work in his company and they reach an agreement that they will keep their connections a secret as she is sent to be a fashion designer in his company. With no social experience, Yee sees her work as a plaything and is forever leaving her work to the very last moment before the deadlines, causing much frustration for Nin, who does everything by the rule book and wants to fire Yee, at this time, Sheung steps in to say that she has a three year contract with them and he cannot fire her, Nin doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.(In fact, Nin had fallen in love with Joey at first sight because he was mesmerized by her sweet sincere smile. He never knew that he would see her again at Ka Yan Company working under him! They had some ups and downs with Joey mistakening Nin of being a rude and uptight person when he tried to reason with her to take her job seriously. However, Joey soon learned that Nin is actually a sweet, nice, and thoughtful guy and this is when she started to have feelings for him. Through misunderstandigs, they finally got together. Unfortunately, the day when they first became a couple, Joey got into a car accident and lost only her memories of Ah Nin. The last thing she remembered of Nin was that she hated him with all her guts and that Nin is a horrible person. At this time, Joey's admirer who is also Nin's best friend, Sam came back from his work. He realized the situation Joey is in and took advantage of that. He persuaded Joey that they were a couple and Nin is also trying to stop them from being together. Although Joey trusted his lie, she have dreams of Nin, but doesn't see his face in the dream. Soon, she realized that she is starting to have feelings for Nin all over again, but doesn't know what to do with Sam. She became confused with Nin and Sam and decided to go to England to free her thoughts. At the airport, the last thing she did was call Nin and tell him she is leaving, but she received his voicemail. This was because at the same time, he was trying to call her. They were both at the airport though they missed each other there. Nin was sad and decided to quit his job at Ka Yan Company and go to Shanghai to freshen his mind as he can never love another woman like Joey again. Besides, Ka Yan only reminded him more of his love. Thus, the couple split and never came back.
Second son Kam Yuet also works in Ka Yan Company as a Merchandiser but he is under the supervision of Nin's nemesis Fei, who sees him as a problem and takes every opportunity to criticise his work. Yuet has a girlfriend in the company who is also a Merchandiser called Lam Yuk Lo, Lo has always seen Yuet as a likely candidate for marriage and is very controlling over him, but he is willing to bear with this. Lo is very petty and is a little woman and has a sworn sister at work Shek Mei, although the two have differing personalities, when Lo joined the company three years ago, she quickly became good friends with Mei, who has been neighbours with Yuet since she was young. Mei's parents Shek Tai Chuen and Chan Kiu are old workers at Tung Mat Yuen so Mei grew up with the three Kam siblings and is particularly close to Yat with whom she often discusses her feelings. Yat has seen very early on that Mei is attracted to Yuet, but she has never let on her feelings to him and when she saw that Lo started dating Yuet after joining the company, then she can only put her feelings away in her heart. Because Yat is aware of Mei's feelings for Yuet, she does not have any good feelings towards her sister-in-law-to-be and often argues with her.
Kam Yat has had a love for acting since she was very young and after her A-levels, she entered the TV station's acting school, after graduating she has only had bit parts in her shows, but this has not wained her enthusiasm towards acting and because she is immersed in the world of the media, she has seen many faces of human nature and she has a deep hatred for those people who mask their true selves and have fake personalities. Ko Yee Hong is a designer at Ka Yan Company and also Yat's neighbour and his appearance and character gives people the impression that he is a homosexual, but Yat is adamant to go against these opinions by saying that Hong is just pretending to be gay so that girls will put their guard down and he can take advantage of them, she vows to break through this false image of his. In reality, Hong is not really homosexual, but he is also not as Yat thinks pretending to be gay to take advantage of girls, it is actually just that Hong is very picky and petty and a lover of beauty and perfection which makes him give people the wrong impression about his sexuality, including his natural father Shek Tai Kei.
Kei is the brother of Shek Tai Chuen, with an artiste name of Man Wong Kei he was a star of the films of the seventies where his first film gained him Best Actor award at the Sri Lanka Film Festival and gained him a period of notoriety. At the time, Kei was brainwashed by his success and he threw away the present given to him by his devoted fan Kam Sa Sa, she found out about his bad behaviour and changed her opinions on Kei, until this day Kei's career has taken a downward turn and now takes on the odd role for "mature" actors at the TV station, Kei still doesn't know that that fan who he hurt so many years ago is the same Sa who is the neighbour who keeps arguing against him.
It is not only Kei who is not at peace with Sa, there is also Wan Ying Gei who was a high school classmate of hers, at the time the two were like sisters, but later they became enemies and after so many years, they treated each other as strangers until later Gei married into the Kam family and became their Auntie and the reason for their disharmony is finally revealed. (The reason they became enemies was because their classmates held a voting to see who would die still virgin and with no future. When Sa and Gei found out that they were the only finalists for this, they got scared. In order to not let themselves win the award for being "lo goo por" or "old maid" in the future, they voted for the other self. When both found out that the other betrayed the other, they became very furious and became sworn enemies).
For twenty years, Chi has watched her children grow up and worked with Sa to manage the cafe and take it to its current success and she takes pride in this. However, Chi has still one wish unfulfilled and that is to find Law Tin Fu, who is the brother of the three children's natural mother Law Bing. When Fu was lost, he was only a baby and Chi only knows that he had a birthmark on his body and has no other way of recognising him, so after so many years she has not had any news of him.
On the day of Chi's 48th birthday, after an incident with an error in a tenancy contract, an unwanted guest arrives at the Kam Family who is nasty tenant Lau Gam. Gam's irresponsible behaviour causes much trouble for the Kams. Eventually, as a result of a major argument with the family, they find that Gam is their long lost uncle of thirty years Law Tin Fu and the tranquility of the Kam family is about to be met with some great waves!
