It's a Wonderful Life () is a Singaporean Chinese New Year 2013 drama. It was telecast on Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp Channel 8. It stars Ha Yu, Lin Meijiao, Chen Liping, Huang Wenyong, Elvin Ng, Julie Tan and Paige Chua as the cast of the series. It made its debut on 21 January 2013 and consists of 20 episodes and was screened every weekday night at 9:00 pm. It was also Huang Wenyong's final drama.
Overview The plot revolves around Li and Hao families and several couples and deals with family and getting along with in-laws.
Cast Cast Role Description Ha Yu Xu Bin (younger) Hao Huixian 郝辉先 An ex-gambler Ha Yu Aloysius Pang (younger) Hao Huihuang 郝辉煌 Late twin brother of Huixian, moved to Canada. Lin Meijiao Amy Chen Daizhu 陈黛珠 Hao Huixian's wife Suffered memory loss after Dimwit accidentally hit her head in ep 3 Elvin Ng Gu Zhiji 顾志己 "Stone" 石头 A down and out artist. Huixian's stepson, Amy's son married Ping'an in episode 20 Julie Tan Hao Ping'an 郝平安 Married Zhiji in episode 20 Huihuang's daughter, grows up in Canada Returns to Singapore. Dennis Chew Bai Baoxiang (Carl Bei) 白宝乡 A property agent. Resembles Nana's late husband. Xiaorou's wife Adeline Lim Wen Xiaorou 温小柔 Baoxiang's wife. Works in Jewellery shop Zen Chong Li Siyuan 李思源 Tuition teacher Isabella's husband Li Yunshun's only son Paige Chua Isabella "1386" Siyuan's wife Huang Wenyong Li Yunshun 李运顺 Fan Wenxiang's husband Chen Liping Fan Wenxiang 范文香 Li Yunshun's wife Ivan Lo Li Tinghuan 李庭欢 "Huanhuan 欢欢" Siyuan and Isabella's only son Zhou Ying Zhong Jingyi 钟静宜 Works in a laundry industrial site. Xiao Qi's girlfriend Desmond Tan Hao Fuqi 郝福齐 "Xiao Qi 小齐" Huixian's son A Celebrity Brandon Wong Ma Lin Shu 马林竖 "Potato 马铃薯" Xixi's husband Sora Ma Zhang Xixi 张细细 Potato's wife Wang Yuqing Dimwit 傻佬 A rag-and-bone man. Pamelyn Chee Nana 娜娜 A client of Baoxiang. Wallace Ang Ken Nana's assistant who wants to blackmail Nana.
Production Filming started on 23 Jul 2012 and is expected to end on 31 Oct 2012 possibly due to Beyond'''s early filming. Out-of-studio filming locations included Ang Mo Kio, Tiong Bahru, Commonwealth, Haw Par Villa, East Coast and Marina.
Trailers first screened on 9 Jan 2013.
The drama used a new credits roll, which will change in the next few dramas. Bloopers (without audio) are shown during the ending credits of each episode.
Initially, a sequel of Love Thy Neighbour was to be filmed and aired as the Chinese special but was scrapped as Chin would not be available due to her studies. This series, however, still featured a number of artistes who appeared on Love Thy Neighbour, including Ha Yu, Brandon Wong, Huang Wenyong, and Lin Meijiao, among others.
Release BroadcastIt's a Wonderful Life aired in conjunction with Chinese New Year 2013. It was the first drama to be broadcast exclusively in Malaysia after its first telecast of two weeks, it debuted on Astro Shuang Xing on 6 February and ended its run on 5 March 2013.
Talkshow A talkshow, It's More Than A Wonderful Life, talking about Singapore's everyday lives was released. It is hosted by Guo Liang and Quan Yi Fong with appearances from the cast of the drama (Chen Liping, Paige Chua, Zen Chong, Dennis Chew and Brandon Wong).
Reception The series is one of three drama serials to tie-in for 3rd-highest-rated drama serial in 2013 (the other two are Break Free and The Journey: A Voyage), with an average viewership of 835,000, breaking the record set by Beyond'' (with 834,000). Despite this, it has only two nominations for Star Awards 20.
See also List of programmes broadcast by Mediacorp Channel 8 Aloysius Pang Huang Wen Yong
References
External links It's a Wonderful Life on MediaCorp website