[TVB-M] Family Man

**BluAzn** · #1 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 01:08 PM

Chinese Name: "Jute Sai Ho Ba"
Year: 2002

# of Episodes: 20

Cast:
Chun Pui as Ko Hoi (father)
Jay Lau Kam Ling as Ko Yuk Yee (Wasabi, oldest sister - "Dai Mui")
Flora Chan Wai San as Ko Pui Yee (Tracy, 2nd sister - "Yee Mui")
Sonija Kwok Sin Yee as Ko Bo Yee (Bobo, 3rd sister - "Sam Mui")
Myolie Wu Hung Yee as Ko Chui Yee (Polly, youngest sister - "Sai Mui")
Moses Chan Ho as Siu Hin Wah (Kelvin)
Michael Tong Man Long as Dai Gwong Ming
So Jee Wai (from old-school HK band Grasshoppers) as Wong Jun Kit ("Kit Lo", husband of Wasabi)
Supporting Cast:
Cheng Jee Sing as Lui Lik (Nick)
Tsang Wai Kuen as Hui Sing Chi (Ken)

Plot Summary:
Ko Hoi is first saxophonist in the police band, with a happy and warm family. He is the father of four daughters (Wasabi, Tracy, Bobo, and Polly), whom he regards as complete treasures. As a young policeman, he impressed his supervisor and had the chance of being promoted. Unfortunately, his wife passed away during this time and Ko Hoi then rejected the offer of promotion, knowing that he could have a dangerous job, since he must now play both the father and mother roles in the lives of his young daughters. Ko Hoi has raised his daughters to adulthood, but still adores them and treats them as children. The young women have always appreciated their father and refer to him as "jute sai ho ba" (something along the lines of "the greatest father of all time").

Aside from taking care of his daughters, Ko Hoi also worries incessantly about the future of their romantic possibilities, love lives, and general happiness. The oldest daughter Wasabi is slightly unreasonable and has a quick temper, constantly arguing with her husband Kit Lo who does not make a lot of money but nonetheless loves Wasabi very much. Second daughter Tracy has been dating boyfriend Ken for several years, and is even working in a company jointly owned by them. Due to ambition and being a workaholic, Ken has not considered marriage as a future with Tracy, much to her chagrin and even more so her father's. Third sister Bobo has extremely high standards for men, is extremely picky and this is why the man by her side constantly changes. Youngest sister Polly is in university, and being pretty and cute, has a whole flock of guys constantly after her.

Enter Kelvin and Ming, who are best friends but completely different. Kelvin is a smooth-talker with excellent human relations skills due to his experience as a sales manager. Ming is soft-spoken, earnest, and honest. He is ambitious but unlucky in the career field, only working as a simple office worker. These two young men enter the lives of the Ko women early on in the series. Kelvin happens to be the cousin of Ken, and becomes a shareholder in the company that Ken and Tracy own. Shortly after, however, Ken disappears off the face of the earth, leaving Tracy and Kelvin with an enormous debt that they must pay off! Tracy and Kelvin initially are not fond of each other, as Tracy is not impressed with Kelvin's smooth-talking and seemingly player-boy style, and Kelvin is intimidated by Tracy's rare straightforwardness. Ming, in a stroke of luck, ends up at the press company where Bobo works, and those two also do not have good first impressions of each other. Ming's supervisor is Nick, a chauvinist columnist who is constantly butting heads with Bobo, the head columnist of the "female" columns of the magazine. Ming is not fond of Bobo's quick temper and apparent hatred of men, and Bobo misunderstands Ming for being a chauvinistic pig like Nick.

Out of coincidence, Kelvin and Ming are evicted and end up moving into the apartment unit that just happens to be across from the Ko family's! The four sisters are not happy about this, and refer to the two as "keh leh gwai" (something along the lines of "old and clumsy weirdos"). Kelvin and Ming are not thrilled either, nicknaming Tracy and Bobo "maah laat pow jeung fa" (which means something close to "unreasonable and quick-tempered dynamite flowers"). Kelvin tries to back out of the company and leave Tracy with the debt, but is unable to. Through sticking it out together, they finally get a contract which puts their company back on track. Through this process, Tracy and Kelvin also learn a lot more about each other and begin to develop feelings for each other. Ming and Bobo also become friends after working out some differences and misunderstandings, and Ming even begins to fall in love with Bobo. However, Bobo has fallen in love with Kelvin and declares her love for him. Confused and also dejected by Ken's return, Kelvin accepts Bobo's love and they begin a relationship, much to the disappointment of Ming, who keeps his feelings quiet.

Meanwhile, Wasabi constantly argues with Kit Lo, claiming that he is inferior and does not make enough money to support her. Their marriage is on the rocks, and at this time Kit Lo meets a seemingly perfect and caring woman. Wasabi and Kit Lo get a divorce. Kit Lo realizes, to his horror, that the "perfect" woman he met before is a clingy woman who threatens to beat him up when he disobeys her, and Wasabi realizes that she does indeed love Kit Lo very much. After tricking Nick into being with the clingy woman, Kit Lo and Wasabi get back together. In the meantime, Kelvin and Bobo break up, and Kelvin sets out to pursue Tracy, who is unsure of her feelings. However, when she leaves on a plane to England, Kelvin boards the plane also and tells her that "the timing isn't right" isn't an excuse to run away from her feelings. Bobo also admits that she has developed feelings for Ming, who is ecstatic.

The father, having worried and worried and done everything in his power to make his four precious daughters happy, is diagnosed with a heart disease and must undergo extremely risky bypass surgery. The daughters are both horrified and terrified for their father, who insists on the operation because this is his only chance at life and continuing to watch after the four girls. However, his operation is successful and the father is healthy again. But the girls must now go their separate ways. Wasabi and Kit Lo go to Mainland China to work on Kit Lo's expanding delivery business. Tracy and Kelvin head to England to work on an important project for their toy company, and Bobo and Ming leave to Shanghai to work for a new press company. Polly also leaves to participate in a student exchange program.

Fast forward one year. The family is together in a backyard enjoying a barbecue. Wasabi and Kit Lo have twins, and Tracy and Kelvin have a son. Bobo is pregnant with Ming's child, and Polly has returned after having completed a Master's degree. Happy happy ending.

Resources from The Family Man (2002) - TVB Reviews - spcnet.tv