TVB’s No Reserve <巾幗梟雄之諜血長天> will no longer be staying on the shelves to collect dust. The World War II epic, which was shot in 2013, will be premiering this October on TVB’s streaming service, myTV SUPER. The 30-episode drama series, helmed by the now-retired Lee Tim-sing (李添勝), was originally tagged to be TVB’s anniversary drama for 2013. However, the series was later pulled from broadcasting after it allegedly failed to pass Hong Kong TV censors. According to news reports at the time, No Reserve contained some explicit content and mature themes that were deemed unsuitable for public broadcast. One of them included a sodomy scene involving Wayne Lai’s (黎耀祥) character. Rumors at the time said TVB censors demanded that all the violent scenes in the series to be cut before it could be eligible for broadcast. The rumors went as far as saying that No Reserve was trimmed down from 30 episodes to 15. However, with the launch of myTV SUPER — TVB’s own version of Netflix — earlier this year, TVB has opened up to an entire new market of consumers. Due to the more lax censorship rules of the Internet, TVB was able to push out drama productions with more mature content. Their latest series Come with Me <性在有情>, a comedy drama about sex, was able to air on myTV SUPER with no censorship setbacks. TVB’s Deputy General Manager Felix To (杜之克) confirmed to the media that No Reserve will be getting a myTV SUPER broadcast this year. He said, “The rules are more lax on the Internet. Rather than cutting up No Reserve to make it suitable for television, why not just air the complete, uncut version of it on myTV SUPER? It is a grand production after all, and people are getting worried about whether or not it would see the light of day, but TVB would never waste their sources.” Felix To added that TVB will take advantage of the new myTV SUPER platform and will consider producing dramas with more “fresh” content. In regards to the broadcast news of No Reserve, Wayne Lai said, “It’s a good drama, just the subject matter is rather dark. All the actors on the show did a really good job.” Mentioning that the launch of myTV SUPER would give rise to more dramas with bold subject matter, Wayne said, “That’s great. The audience is always complaining about watching the same dramas over and over again. It’s not good for dramas with potentially triggering content to air on primetime television anyways. It would receive complaints for sure. With this new platform, we can try newer things.” What kind of dramas would he like to do? “I don’t have anything particular in mind. A good drama isn’t about its subject matter. You also have to consider the characters as well as the script. Take Nirvana in Fire <琅琊榜> for example. The ratings are suffering, but I think it’s an excellent show. Maybe because the script is too intricate and the Hong Kong drama-goers aren’t used to it.” Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), who also stars in No Reserve, is happy to hear that her show will be getting an airdate. She said, “The subject matter is quite daring, but it is a drama after all, so there are limits. Everyone worked really hard on the show, and I’m happy that it’s going to be released soon! The most important thing is for Tim Gor to be happy!” No Reserve, the third installment to TVB’s highly successful Rosy Business <巾幗梟雄> franchise, also stars Edwin Siu (蕭正楠), Sire Ma (司馬賽), Susan Tse (謝雪心), Lee Shing-cheong (李成昌), and Lau Kong (劉江). Creds: Oriental Daily
Smh.. good for them to take it off the shelves. But to get internet treatment I think it's a "downgrade". But to get the uncut version..then I'd rather prefer that.
finally! i've have been waiting for this since it started filming. dumb ass people running tvb. they held this back for a long time. they promoted a lot of stupid shit dramas instead of this.
It's not because they dont want to broadcast it but because of its content isnt suitable for HK people viewing.
