The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (TV series)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Chinese: 網中人) is a TVB television series, premiered on 1 September 1979, starring Chow Yun-fat, Carol Cheng, Simon Yam, Susanna Au-yeung and Liu Wai-hung. The theme song, sharing the same name as the series, was composed and arranged by Joseph Koo, with lyrics provided by Tang Wai-hung, and was sung by Teresa Cheung.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Promo poster
網中人
GenreDrama
Written byWong Jing
Ng Ho
To Leung-tai
Tsang Suk-kuen
Tang Wing-hong
Ko Tin-ngok
Chan Lin-sam
Fung Chi-keung
Lee Tang
Hoi Tik
Directed byNg Yun-chuen
Tsui Yu-on
Lai Kin-kwok
Chan Hung-kai
Clarence Fok
Leung Choi-yuen
StarringChow Yun-fat
Carol Cheng
Simon Yam
Susanna Au-yeung
Liu Wai-hung
Lee Tao-hun
Shih Kien
Cora Miao
Wong San
Tang Pik-wan
Kong Ho-oi
Benz Hui
Kwan Hoi-san
Lee Heung-kam
Lung Chi-man
Opening theme"網中人" ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") by Teresa Cheung
ComposerJoseph Koo
Country of originHong Kong
Original languageCantonese
No. of episodes80
Production
ProducerLee Tim-sing
Running time60 minutes (80 episodes)
Production companyTVB
Original release
NetworkTVB Jade
Release1 September (1979-09-01) –
21 December 1979 (1979-12-21)

Plot

edit

Ching Wai (Chow Yun-fat) is a fresh graduate from university, and is hired by a jewelry company called Yu-Fook, and he rises up the career ladder quickly, due to his superb performance, and he forges a relationship with the Director's daughter, Fong Hei-man (Carol Cheng). The story continues smoothly, until an incident occurs. To pay his mother's (Tang Pik-wan) gambling debts, he embezzles company funds and is reported by the cunning Yuen Kei-cheung (Lee Tao-hung). Ching is sent to prison, where he meets and befriends a gangster chief Lung Koon-sam (Shih Kien), who helps him both in and out of prison. Ching gets a job at another jewelry company, and collaborates with Lung to expose Yuen's wrongdoings. Eventually, Yuen is caught, and Ching proposes to Fong.

Ching Chan (Liu Wai-hung), is also another main character. Known as Ah Chan, he is an idle immigrant from the Mainland. He is forced to care for the Chings when Ching Wai is sent to prison. Unfortunately, Ching Chan commits a crime and is jailed, but manages to forge a family with his love Cheung Mei-po (Kong Ho-oi).[1]

Impact on vernacular language

edit

The show also left a lasting impact on Hong Kong vernacular vocabulary. The term Ah Chan (阿燦), which is a pejorative term for mainland Chinese, traces its origins to this series, from the character Ching Chan.[2]

The term is used to describe new immigrants from the Mainland, seen as lazy, laid-back and idle, unable to adapt to the fast pace of Hong Kong life.[3]

The term only fell out of widespread usage after the 1997 handover.

Cast

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ SUPER, myTV. "網中人". www.mytvsuper.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  2. ^ Ma, Kit-wai; Tsang, Chung-kin (2010). Yingshi Xianggang: shenfen rentong de shidai bianzou_ 影視香港:身份認同的時代變奏 [Hong Kong Films: The Changing Era of Identity] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong. pp. 27–49. ISBN 978-962-441-586-5.
  3. ^ "Why use of word 'cockroach' for Hong Kong protesters is baffling". South China Morning Post. 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
edit