Virtues of Harmony: Difference between revisions

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* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: If you're looking for historical accuracy in the context of Ming Dynasty China, much less of other lands outside of China, you've come to the wrong place.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: If you're looking for historical accuracy in the context of Ming Dynasty China, much less of other lands outside of China, you've come to the wrong place.
* [[Disney Villain Death]]: Subverted with Fo Yim Yim. She survives the fall and goes insane, but it turns out later that she isn't so insane.
* [[Disney Villain Death]]: Subverted with Fo Yim Yim. She survives the fall and goes insane, but it turns out later that she isn't so insane.
* [[Double in Law Marriage]]: It turns out that Gou Yi Hong is the missing Crown Prince and Princess Sam Tin's younger brother!
* [[Double In-Law Marriage]]: It turns out that Gou Yi Hong is the missing Crown Prince and Princess Sam Tin's younger brother!
* [[Everyone Is Related]] / [[Tangled Family Tree]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in one episode when everyone's trying to figure out how to address Ah Tai after she marries into the family.
* [[Everyone Is Related]] / [[Tangled Family Tree]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in one episode when everyone's trying to figure out how to address Ah Tai after she marries into the family.
* [[Everythings Better With Princesses]]
* [[Everything's Better With Princesses]]
* [[Everythings Sparkly With Jewelry]]
* [[Everything's Sparkly With Jewelry]]
* [[Evil Is Petty]]: Played with in several characters.
* [[Evil Is Petty]]: Played with in several characters.
** Lam Yuk Lou at times
** Lam Yuk Lou at times
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** Baak Hap
** Baak Hap
* [[Fake Nationality]]: The 'Persian Prince' is actually played by an Australian actor, the 'Russian Queen' speaks English, etc.
* [[Fake Nationality]]: The 'Persian Prince' is actually played by an Australian actor, the 'Russian Queen' speaks English, etc.
* [[Family Unfriendly Aesop]]: It is better to be married than to become an aging power-hungry spinster. Princess Sah Sah, Fo Yim Yim, I'm talking to you.
* [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]]: It is better to be married than to become an aging power-hungry spinster. Princess Sah Sah, Fo Yim Yim, I'm talking to you.
* [[Fish Out of Water]] / [[Naive Newcomer]]: The Princess in Chi Lik Gung village and the Gam family in the Imperial palace. The Emperor himself very briefly when he [[King Incognito|goes out on the town]].
* [[Fish Out of Water]] / [[Naive Newcomer]]: The Princess in Chi Lik Gung village and the Gam family in the Imperial palace. The Emperor himself very briefly when he [[King Incognito|goes out on the town]].
** Imperial Consort Bou when she is learning proper palace etiquette.
** Imperial Consort Bou when she is learning proper palace etiquette.
* [[Four Girl Ensemble]] / [[Four Temperament Ensemble]]: The "Four Great Beauties" is comprised of Lam Yuk Lou, Sek Mei, Gam Yat, and Wan Ying Gei
* [[Four Girl Ensemble]] / [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]: The "Four Great Beauties" is comprised of Lam Yuk Lou, Sek Mei, Gam Yat, and Wan Ying Gei
* [[Freudian Slip]]: Happens on occasion
* [[Freudian Slip]]: Happens on occasion
* [[Henpecked Husband]]: Gou Yi Hong to Ah Yat and Ah Yuet to a degree to his two wives.
* [[Henpecked Husband]]: Gou Yi Hong to Ah Yat and Ah Yuet to a degree to his two wives.
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* [[My Biological Clock Is Ticking]]: The family's aunt Wan Ying Gei's biggest worry is to bear a child for her husband soon, even though she's ''thirty''.
* [[My Biological Clock Is Ticking]]: The family's aunt Wan Ying Gei's biggest worry is to bear a child for her husband soon, even though she's ''thirty''.
* [[No Biological Sex]]: Eunuchs are constantly referred to and refer to themselves as "neither man nor woman".
* [[No Biological Sex]]: Eunuchs are constantly referred to and refer to themselves as "neither man nor woman".
* [[Non Identical Twins|Non Identical Triplets]]
* [[Non-Identical Twins|Non Identical Triplets]]
* [[Power Trio]]: Yau Nim Fu, Gam Yuet, and Gou Yi Hong
* [[Power Trio]]: Yau Nim Fu, Gam Yuet, and Gou Yi Hong
* [[Punny Name|Punny Names]]: Several, not including the ones mentioned in the page summary
* [[Punny Name|Punny Names]]: Several, not including the ones mentioned in the page summary
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* [[The Unfavorite]]: Ah Yat, according to herself.
* [[The Unfavorite]]: Ah Yat, according to herself.
* [[Values Dissonance]]: Well it ''is'' medieval China.
* [[Values Dissonance]]: Well it ''is'' medieval China.
* [[Will They or Won't They]]: The standard setup between Ah Nin and the Princess, Ah Tai and Siu Yuen
* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: The standard setup between Ah Nin and the Princess, Ah Tai and Siu Yuen
* [[You Look Familiar]]: Several actors are recycled throughout the series as different townsfolk.
* [[You Look Familiar]]: Several actors are recycled throughout the series as different townsfolk.
* [[Zany Scheme]]: Would not be a sitcom without one.
* [[Zany Scheme]]: Would not be a sitcom without one.

Revision as of 22:45, 8 January 2014

Virtues of Harmony (2001-2005) (皆大欢喜, literally Everyone Is Happy) was one of Hong Kong’s TVB station’s longest running sitcom series (over 700 episodes spanning two seasons in four years). Originally planned at 150 episodes, good ratings allowed Virtues to have another 200 episodes. The first season (the first 327 episodes) was a period piece, set in the Ming Dynasty. The second season can be considered a modern spinoff, placing most of the original cast in modern-day Hong Kong. Notable aspects that separate this series from a normal sitcom was its (usually) long-term continuity, naming and visual puns, and mix-ups and misunderstandings involving Chinese superstition.

Yau Nim Chi (游念慈) is the matriarch of the Gam family and the owner of a restaurant called Dung Mat Yuen (洞蜜园, a homophone of 动物园 “zoo”) who has a sketchy history and holds the family together. She has three adult children: oldest son Gam Nin (金年, homophone of 今年 “this year”), second son Gam Yuet (金月, homophone of 今月 “this month”), and youngest daughter Gam Yat (金日, homophone of 今日 “this day” or “today”), who are triplets. Gam Nin was a fifth-level government official working in the capital who gets demoted to a ninth-level magistrate in his hometown, Chi Lik Gung village (池力共镇) after insulting the princess. Gam Yuet is the most spoiled and sickly of the three, who works occasionally at the family restaurant but tends to be lazy and play rather than work. Gam Yat as the youngest and only daughter is both bratty and spoiled, likes to argue, likes to be right, and likes to add fuel to the fire.

Nim Chi’s younger brother, Yau Nim Fu (游念富), a proud man who aims to be highly masculine and jealously guards the secret to his famous noodles, and his slow but honest, loving, and dangerously loyal wife Wan Ying Gei (云影姬) live with the family, as well as Lam Yuk Lou (林玉露), Gam Yuet’s bossy and petty wife who constantly bickers with the other women, especially her sister-in-law. Eventually in a twist of strange circumstances Gam Yuet chooses a second wife: Sek Mei (石美), the daughter of pork sellers who values honesty and expects high moral standards from others. A huge source of conflict comes from Ah Lou and Ah Mei vying for their husband’s attention. Soon after Gam Yat marries Gou Yi Hong (高尔康), the village’s poorest man and an unlucky scholar, after one wacky courtship and one huge misunderstanding, after which Ah Yat tries to mold him into the perfect husband.

To complete this family, there’s the runaway Princess Sam Tin (深田公主), who fled the imperial palace with her servant and eunuch after the Emperor misguidedly accepts the Persian prince's proposal for her. They ends up in Chi Lik Gung village and after she breaks a statue of herself which she thought was unforgivably unlike herself, Ah Nin sentences her to manual labor. She chooses a false name for herself, Gung Yan Sou (恭欣素), and by chance Nim Chi mistakes her for the daughter of the family’s savior. Their savior rescued Ah Nin from falling down a mountain 20 years ago and Nim Chi promised him that she would find his daughter and make sure she is well-raised. Because she lost all her money, the princess and her servant move in with the Gam family.

And that’s just the beginning of the story. And characters. Many, many characters.

The second season, Virtues of Harmony II, retained most of the same cast members, changes some of the pre-existing relationships, and adds new characters like Ah Lou’s family. Although set in modern Hong Kong, some imagine spots do take place in period settings, from imperial China to wartime Shanghai to fantasy literature. This season ran for over 400 episodes between 2003 and 2005.

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