The first new Hong Kong drama to welcome the Lunar New Year is the period comedy Short End of the Stick <公公出宮>. Regarded as a sister production to 2012’s The Confidant <大太監>, the 35-episode drama follows a group of eunuch servants who are expelled from the palace after the fall of the Qing Empire. Short End of the Stick premieres on Monday, February 9, 2016, ahead of the debut of K9 Cops <警犬巴打>. Synopsis The Imperial Qing Empire falls, officially ending the era of Emperors. Three palace eunuchs Lee Siu-kung (Wayne Lai 黎耀祥), Dan Tin (Power Chan 陳國邦), and Chan Siu-fung (Raymond Cho 曹永廉) are expelled and demoted to peasantry. As they struggle to make a living for themselves beyond the palace borders, they come across the con artist Chui Tsun-sing (Edwin Siu 蕭正楠), who disguises himself as a eunuch to gain their trust. A string of unfortunate events lead them captured and later sold as servants to the Kams’, a rich family led by a matriarchy. The family’s leader Kam Heung (Nancy Wu 胡定欣) owns a rice shop, and though she presents herself as a wealthy and powerful businesswoman, she struggles to find balance in her life due to the weight she has to carry on her shoulders. The Kam family’s eldest daughter Kam Dai-nam (Rosina Lam 林夏薇), who enjoys cross-dressing, constantly stirs trouble for the family due to her exploits, creating more problems for Kam Heung to deal with. Kam Heung is pressured by the committee of their village to find a groom so the family name could be carried on. Kam Heung eventually finds her way to Siu-kung, and marries him. Meanwhile, the family’s arch nemesis Tsui Dai-fu (Lee Shing-cheong 李成昌) has his maidservant Wong Lin (Natalie Tong 唐詩詠) befriend the Kams so she can spy on Kam Heung’s older brother Kam Cheong (John Chiang 姜大偉), Dai-fu’s love rival. At this time, Kam Heung pressures Siu-kung to sire a child with her, but Siu-kung could not fight up enough courage to tell her that he is castrated. The eunuchs do everything they can to fix the situation they’re in, but the more they try, the messier it gets. Creds: ihktv
