''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' () is a

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

television series, premiered on 1 September 1979, starring

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: '' A Better Tomorrow'', '' A ...

Carol Cheng Carol Cheng Yu Ling ( Traditional Chinese: 鄭裕玲; born 9 September 1957), is a Hong Kong film/television actress and host. Arguably one of the most famous celebrities to have emerged during the British colonial period, Cheng made her break ...

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...

, Susanna Au-yeung and

Liu Wai-hung Liu Wai Hung (; born 9 December 1957) is a former actor in TVB with his famous nickname "Ar Chan" (阿燦). Liu was born in Hong Kong with family roots in Shunde, Guangdong, China. He joined TVB in 1977. In the firm ''The Good, The Bad And The U ...

. The theme song, sharing the same name as the series, was composed and arranged by

Joseph Koo Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, MBE, GBS (born 3 February 1933), is a Hong Kong composer, who is considered one of the most respected composers in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career. Early life Koo h ...

, with lyrics provided by Tang Wai-hung, and was sung by Teresa Cheung.

Plot

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)

Impact on Vernacular Language

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

Cast

as Ching Wai (程緯) *

as Fong Hei-man (方希文) *

as Ho Chun (賀雋) * Susanna Au-yeung as Au Hiu-wah (區曉華) * Liu Wai Hung as Ching Chan (程燦) *Lee Tao-hung as Yuen Kei-cheung (阮其昌) *

Shih Kien Shek Wing-cheung (1 January 1913 – 3 June 2009), better known by his stage name Shih Kien, Sek Kin, or Sek Gin or Shek Kin(), was a Hong Kong–based Chinese actor. Shih is best known for playing antagonists and villains in several early Hong ...

as Lung Koon-sam (龍冠三) *

Cora Miao Cora Miao () is a Chinese actress who worked predominantly in Hong Kong cinema, Hong Kong films. During her career she was nominated for four Hong Kong Film Awards and four Golden Horse Film Festival, Golden Horse Film Festival awards, winning one ...

as Ho Ying (賀縈) *Kong Ho-oi as Cheung Mei-po (張美寶) *Wong San as Ching Chiu (程照) *

Tang Pik-wan Tang Bik-wan () (27 September 1924 – 25 March 1991) was a former Chinese actress and a Cantonese opera singer from Hong Kong. Tang is credited with over 280 films. Early life On 27 September 1924, Tang was born as Tang Cheuk Fu. Tang Bik Wan ...

as Ng Sau-ying (吳秀英) * Benz Hui as Chu Pak-keung (朱柏强) * Kwan Hoi-san as Fong Wai-ho (方維灝) *

Lee Heung-kam Lee Heung-kam (13 January 1932 – 4 January 2021) was a Hong Kong Cantonese opera and TVB actress. Career She joined the entertainment industry when she was 14 years old. Since 1960, she became known for being an antagonist in many Cantonese o ...

as Yeung Hing-wan (楊慶雲) *Lun Chi-man as Ching Fun (程芬)

References

External links

Official website
1979 Hong Kong television series debuts 1979 Hong Kong television series endings TVB dramas Cantonese-language television shows {{HongKong-tv-stub