I just want to post this for fun since Roger Kwok and Raymond Cho are two of my favorites. I just noticed some certain details about their collaboration and a little of real-life and want to share with everyone–for fun.
TV series they were in together:
- Square Pegs (戇夫成龍): Roger was Ah Wong aka Ting Seung Wong (丁常旺) while Raymond was Bao Gai Chung (包繼宗). It was later found out that Ah Wong was actually Gai Chung and the current Gai Chung was brought home by the uncle in a scheme to gain family assets. Gai Chung was seen at first very jealous of Ah Wong and even looked down on Ah Wong because of Ah Wong’s supposedly retarded state (but it was only because Ah Wong had lost his memory). However, Gai Chung redeemed himself near the end of the series by trying to help the now normal Ah Wong who had regained his memory. Gai Chung was not bad in general but was just jealous of Ah Wong because he could not end up with the girl he loved at first and what was even worse, the girl he loved at first had married Ah Wong. Gai Chung later realized Ah Wong’s good nature and also became more understanding. He and Ah Wong became good brothers so Mr. Bao ended up with two sons.
- Life Made Simple (阿旺新傳): Roger reprised his role as Ah Wong while Raymond had to take the role of Lok Kui Shing (洛渠成) since the meaty rich guy role had gone to Bosco Wong. However, they had retained some of the little details in association with Raymond and his interactions with Jessica’s character, Fung (鳳). Like how Shing accidentally spill water on Fung’s pants that one time and had to buy her a pair of new pants (while in Square Pegs it was her dress/whole outfit). Shing liked Fung in the later parts of the series but also lost to Ah Wong. Contrary to the previous series, Shing was a normal guy next door and lovable in his own way. He was not jealous of Ah Wong or anyone around him but had a very kind heart. He liked Fung but did not go out of his way to sabotage Ah Wong or anything. He later became Fung’s best friend and even supported her final decision in returning to Ah Wong’s side. One of the funniest scenes was during Ah Wong and Fung’s wedding, Shing was drunk and when Ah Wong and Fung were going around to different tables so others could offer them wine and words of congratulations, Shing was actually offering wine and saying his words of congrats to Ah Wong’s mother and Uncle Shui instead. A sad moment for Shing BUT kind of hilarious for the rest of us who were watching.
- The Threshold of a Persona (ID 精英): Roger was Fong Chun Kit (方浚杰) while Raymond was Cheng Pak Yu (鄭柏宇). Both were best friends since whenever. However, their priorities were different from how Pak Yu was willing to cut corners while Chun Kit believed in honest, hard work. Pak Yu’s greed and his way of doing things regardless of method caused him to drift down the wrong path and eventually met his fate. It was very intense between these two, considering how Pak Yu had caused Chun Kit’s wife’s death near the end also.
Conclusion: Raymond can’t win! It was Roger after all. But that was interesting to see them in the past three series together. Possibly the next collaboration will be different? Or not? Whenever that might be.
Real Life:
- Their English names both start with an ‘R’. Roger and Raymond. Great combination, huh?
- Their sons’ English names both start with a ‘B’. Roger’s son is Brad and Ray’s son is Brandon. Coincidence?
Anyway, those are all I know for now. Does anyone want to share more?
Wow, great post — short and sweet!
I’m actually only going to comment on the first 2 series because I haven’t watched the 3rd one yet (watching it now). Anyway, I actually liked both Roger and Ray’s roles in both series, though I have to admit that Ray’s role in “Life Made Simple” was much more endearing — probably because those sweet, lovable characters are the ones that he is best at playing (or maybe I just like seeing him play those characters…lol). The only thing that sucked about “Life Made Sample” is that they added Bosco and gave him the majority of the screen time over Ray (which I felt detracted from the “Square Pegs” original cast concept that TVB was trying to pitch). I mean, it’s not like Ray didn’t have time to do the series, since he was obviously in it, so why reduce his screen time in favor of the ‘new kid on the block’ (Bosco)? And that also meant that Ray ended up alone at the end of the series (since Jessica had Roger and Bosco had Leila), which I thought was a little messed up, since I liked his character way more than Bosco’s. But oh well — nothing I can do except rant about it…
Ok, here are my ‘Real Life’ contributions:
Both Roger and Ray have that ‘babyface’ type characteristic that makes them look younger than they really are. Both are actually in their 40s already, which surprised me when I found out because there was no way I would have guessed. I think this is why they can still play younger characters and it wouldn’t seem too awkward.
Talking about Roger’s and Ray’s sons, I also feel that they have very interesting Chinese names (purely my personal opinion). Both names sound very “majestic” and sound to me like names you would find in the ancient imperial era. Roger’s son’s name is 郭令山 and Ray’s son’s name is 曹保熙.
Hey! Thanks for commenting – as always! I wanted to do a post about them (aside from the typical series reviews) but never got around to it. I decided to merge both together for fun and came up with this.
–
Life Made Simple was quite messed up after awhile. I meant they kept some things similar YET I felt it was so rushed at the end, especially with Bosco and Leila. (She apologized in two shakes and got accepted?) Then there was also the stuffs. I they were trying t do another ‘Bosco-Leila’ collaboration and decided to stick it into this one? (I have no problem with the pairing since they could be cute together BUT last time I checked, ‘original cast’ means NO other substitutes.) But I guess you’re right, I should be glad that Ray didn’t have to be so annoying anymore. But I thought he was robbed too. I think they made it like he had a girlfriend at the end (the phone call he received after talking to Jessica about Ah Wong), BUT that was cheesy. IF I didn’t like Roger so much as well, I wished that Ray and Jessica would’ve ended up together! LOL!
–
You will continue your rant after you skim through TToaP, lol! Even IF Ray was part of the main group and became the main villain, I still felt he was robbed!
–
Thanks for contributions! And you’re right! How could I forget about their appearances. His cute, babyface was the reason why my mom thought that he should’ve ended up with Vivien Yeo in FHII. (Though that’s another story, lol!)Indeed their names do have a ‘royal’ ring too it! Did Roger and Ray used the same baby names book? (JUST KIDDING!)
Hi there, you were absolutely right! They have another pairing in the recent “Awfully Lawful”
Thanks for telling me! I can’t wait to watch it to see their interactions and roles in there.