披荆斩棘的哥哥 - Call Me By Fire

披荆斩棘的哥哥 (Call Me By Fire) is a 2021 variety show out of Zhong Guo. The premise of the show is 33 "brothers" whom come from different walks of the entertainment industry come together to form a 17 member final group. In essence, it is a survival show format.

The show is a spin-off of the "sisters" show, Sisters Who Make Waves (乘风破浪的姐姐). But the format is vastly different. Instead of eliminations every week, elimations came more sporatic. The groups also had repeating "Captains" through the entire show.

The chatter online were that these folks were beyond their prime and trying to get attention. I love it. Get attention, get work again! I love some of these 33 folks and watched them for years. My favorite is Jerry Yan, whom they focused on a lot in week 1, but went more low key later on. Terry Lin started out as annoying to me, but ended up being one of my favorites at the end. The Canto group was so funny.

There were folks I was not as familiar with so I fast forwarded through their segments. That's the beauty of watching via Youtube. The ads sucked doe.

Youku did a similar show called Shine! Super Brothers (追光吧哥哥) with 21 brothers that was in a more dance and sing kind of way. I also liked that show. It's all about getting away from the real world for a brief moment every week and Call Me By Fire did it in spades.

花漾 - Ripples Of Desire - Upcoming

花漾 (Ripples Of Desire)is an Taiwan movie release last month in December 2012. It stars a lot of famous people from Taiwan entertainment. And a couple of HK veterans help the cause.

Jerry! That's enough for me to watch this movie.

就想賴著妳 - Down With Love - Upcoming

就想賴著妳 (Down With Love) is about to start broadcasting in Taiwan on January 24th. It is is the highly anticipated return of Jerry! From the 4 teasers, it looks like its going to be a lot of Jerry style. You can tell from the restaurant scene and the near accident.

I am not an Ella fan. But this will be the first time watching her in a series. If I wanted to watch average looking people live out "drama", there are plenty of reality shows here in the states. But it is what it is, Ella is very popular in Taiwan. Maybe this series will make me a fan.

In any case, F4 or S.H.E. fans take note, Down with Love is starting and let the fandom rejoice.

The title is loosely translated to "want to catch you" to me. To each there own as they've named it "Down With Love".

言承旭 - 多出來的自由 -- Jerry Yan - Freedom

Jerry Yan's Freedom was released in June 2009. I picked it up about a month after. Mainly because it made it to my vendor our here in LA a little late.

In all, if you're a Jerry Yan and know his voice, you'll like the CD. If you're a casual listener and not familiar with Jerry, I don't think you'd like it.

Jerry's does not have a strong voice. And a couple songs highlighted this weakness.

Check out the clips on YouTube and see if you like it.

白色巨塔 - The Hospital

白色巨塔 (The Hospital) is a 2006 drama out of Taiwan. The 3 main stars are Jerry Yan, Janine Chang, and Leon Dai. Among the many supporting cast members are Linda Liao, Ryan Tang, Cheryl Yang, Saya, Pally Jian, and Josephine Hsu. The series has 39 episodes.

I watched this drama 1.5 times. First in 2006 when it made it to DVD here in Los Angeles. Than again on and off during 2008. I put on the first 25 or so episodes while washing dishes. So, for me, the best parts came in the first 25 episodes. The series has an extremely high production value including a star studded cast. Emotions were high and drama was at the center. The first episode had me liking Jerry Yan's Yi Hua right away. I was stricken by Janine Chang and Linda Liao. I have a vague remembrance of the drama on TV here in LA. I can't remember if it was LA18 or a cable channel.

The drama is about life in "The Hospital". Apparently, there are a lot of politics and an hierarchy to adhere to. Yi Hua is a prodigy of sorts. The youngest to ascend to his position in the hospital. Yi Hua is good natured and keeps his patients number one. However, the top position in the Hospital is going to open us soon as the person there is retiring. Politics and jostling of positions starts. Yi Hua seems to be at the center of lots of the politics. All the while, Yi Hua is trying to get back into the life of Janine Chang's character, Guan Xin. Yi Hua and Guan Xin were a couple in college. But when Yi Hua went to the army, Guan Xin went to another man. Ever since, Guan Xin has rejected Yi Hua. However, for Yi Hua, Guan Xin is still the love of his life. A president's daughter is admitted. 2 sides, surgery and internal medicine duke it out for the honor of treating the president's daughter.

Wow. That's drama for you. High drama. Intense moments. Yelling, crying, amazing scenery shots. Great music. Its got it all. If you wanted the epitome of Taiwanese Drama production in 2006, look no further than "The Hospital".

A sidenote on the OST. I picked it up via YesAsia and it doesn't contain the Jerry Yan version. Sucks.

This is among my favorite series and I think I'll be watching parts of it every 3-5 years. Writing up this review has me interested in it again.

心星的淚光 - Starlit

心星的淚光 (Starlit) is a 2009 drama out of Taiwan. The drama stars Jerry Yan, Terri Kwan and Alice Tzeng. It runs a quick 22 episodes (47-49 minutes each). I was surprised at how fast I got through it.



Jerry Yan plays Ah Yue. Terri Kwan as plays Xiao Lu. Alice plays Rui Zhan. Zhang Xi Xi plays Da Hong. These are the major players in the drama and they all put on quite a show.

Xiao Lu is on assignment in Taiwan from Beijing. Xiao Lu takes some time out to take pictures in Jioufen. Ah Yue is walking by when Xiao Lu is in the middle of the street. Xiao Lu can't move and Ah Yue pushes her out of the way, but gets hit by the bus. After the hit, Ah Yue falls on the ground and the bus runs over his hand. Taken to the hospital and Xiao Lu follows. But Xiao Lu's plane is leaving and she does not want to miss her flight back to Beijing. Xiao Lu leaves her information, but through the magic of dramas, it is lost.

Well, Ah Lu recovers, but his hand can no longer return to the way it was. Which was that of a piano prodigy. Now that Ah Yue was lost everything he's lived his life for, he takes to the road. Two years later, Ah Yue ends up in Shanghai. Through the magic of dramas, Ah Yue and Xiao Lu bump into each other. You know how it goes from there...

Well, I was impressed and really dug this drama. The story, formula, etc. have all played out someway in other dramas. But there was something about all the played out clichés and drama magic that didn't turn me off. I am also not a big fan of Terri Kwan. But somehow, none of that seemed to bother me. Jerry is Jerry and played the character well. The rest of the cast somehow made everything work for me.


Zhang Xi Xi (章西西) was the biggest surprise for me. I'm not sure if I'll see her in any other dramas as she's a China actress and isn't going to be many idol dramas from Taiwan. But 章西西 was someone I hoped had a bigger supporting part. Maybe 章西西 will have a big supporting role in Always Smile! Check out this blog page for more of 章西西. I am a fan!

The drama actually spends only 3-4 episodes in Taiwan. The rest is in Shanghai. The majority of the secondary cast seemed native to China and not Taiwan. All but 2 the major parts were played by Taiwan based actors. Maybe this is the future for Taiwan dramas that want more penetration in China's emerging market.

But I must warn that the ultimate subject matter is quite depressing. Doom and gloom is a heavy subject. The first half is the chase, the second half is the doom and gloom.

籃球火 - Hot Shot

I finally finished the 16 episode Taiwanese drama 籃球火 (Hot Shot) starring Jerry Yan and Alan Luo. This is one of those series that I relegated to watching when I am washing dishes and when I am waiting for a Netflix DVD.

The series is about Alan trying to play basketball. Alan eventually lands on a college team and falls for a girl that reminds him of a friend from his childhood. Jerry is a basketball star in Taiwan and has recently transferred to the same school. Jerry and Alan end up on the same team and going after the same girl. Jerry and Alan soon become good friends, but the affairs of 2 generations before affect their lives.

The basketball is paired with the logic of wuxia quite liberally. The references to these guys playing in the NBA are used to emphasize that skillz are abundant. It was a novel concept and quite annoying at the same time. As a baller since my junior high days and religiously watching the Lakers. That whole basketball mixed with wuxia didn't enhanced the story for me. Instead, it made is more unbelievable and cheezy.

The story was quite interesting away from basketball and the comedy was ok. The hype for this series was quite high. I don't think it lived up to the hype.

Not the best of dramas for Jerry and Alan. There are better Jerry and Alan dramas.