Beauty and the Boss (TV series)

*Beauty and the Boss*
Beauty and the Boss
Also known as	愛美麗狂想曲
Genre	Romance; Comedy; Drama; Fantasy;
Written by	Lai Ka-ming; Ho Pui-chung; Wong Bing-yi; Yeung Hou-yin;
Directed by	Lam Wai-dang; Wong Tsz-yoon; Chan Yim-kei; Ng Koon-yu; Ng Koon-jing; Wong Lap-gong;
Starring	Ali Lee; Moses Chan; Edwin Siu; Raymond Cho; Jeannie Chan; Harriet Yeung; Zoie Tam;
Opening theme	"Love is Beautiful"; by Hana Kuk
Country of origin	Hong Kong
Original language	Cantonese
No. of episodes	30
Production
Executive producer	Marco Law
Production location	Hong Kong
Running time	approx. 45 minutes per episode
Production company	TVB
Original release
Network	myTV Super; TVB Jade;
Release	2020 –; 2021

Beauty and the Boss (Chinese: 愛美麗狂想曲; lit. Amelia's Rhapsody) is a Hong Kong television series created and produced by television network TVB. Executive produced by Marco Law, it exclusively premiered on myTV Super OTT streaming service in December 2020 as the platform's original series before being broadcast on TVB Jade from 22 March 2021 to 30 April 2021 for 30 episodes. With romantic comedy as the central theme and a cast starring Ali Lee, Moses Chan, Edwin Siu, Raymond Cho, Jeannie Chan, Harriet Yeung, and Zoie Tam, it chronicles the lives of a group of colleagues and friends working at the fictional public relations company, Skywise Strategy Group.

Cast

Ali Lee as Amelia Wong Lai-mei: a married woman for ten years who later divorces her husband after finding out he has an extramarital affair.^[1]
Moses Chan as Matt Mak Tsz-fung: local branch CEO of Skywise Strategy Group^[1]
Edwin Siu as Tong Yan: a partner at Skywise. He has a sissy personality with an ambiguous sexual orientation.^[1]
Raymond Cho as So Chak-kei: an account executive at Skywise. Grieving over his wife's death many years ago, he started having an uncommitted sex life.^[1]
Jeannie Chan as Lee Siu-yung: she works at Skywise and has a boyish personality.^[1]
Harriet Yeung as Kiki Choi See-ki: Vice Director at Skywise who suffers from hypersexuality.^[1]
Zoie Tam as Ho Yu-yan: she initially works at the rival public relations company, Blue Rain who later joins Skywise after meeting and befriending Siu-yung.^[1]
Matthew Ho as Rex Cheng Yu: CEO of a mobile game development company who has a crush on Amelia^[1]
Ashley Chu as Mandy Man Ching: CEO of Skywise's Greater Bay Area^[1]
Claire Yiu as Shum Wai: Matt's ex-wife
Telford Wong as Chau Cheuk-hin: Amelia's stepson
William Hu as Chau Ka-ming: Amelia's husband who later is divorced
Iris Lam as Lam Nam: works at Skywise
Anthony Ho as Pang Yu-ngan: works at Skywise
Fei Wu as Tsui Fei: works at Skywise
Stitch Yu as Lam Nga-ting: works at Skywise
Virginia Lau as Cheung Yuet: a model and Matt's girlfriend
Hugo Wong as Hon Lui: a financial higher-up. He is married and later develops an extramarital relationship with Yu-yan
Jackson Lai as Wong Lam: Siu-yung's senior during their school years whom she has a crush on

Synopsis

Amelia Wong has been married for ten years, becoming a housewife. One day, she finds out her husband has an extramarital affair and decides to get a divorce, realizing that she has misspent her youth with a failed marriage. Through her good friend, Kiki Choi, an executive at the public relations company Skywise Strategy Group, Wong is employed there as a secretary. Here she befriends a group of good colleagues. During the process, Amelia falls in love with her boss Matt Mak, while taking the initiative to search for a journey of love, finding oneself, and finding one’s dreams.

Production and background

Principal photography took place approximately from June to October 2019.^[2]^[3] Utilizing romantic comedy as the backdrop, Beauty and the Boss focused on a female-based theme, highlighting the modern women in the working world and their pursuit of love and happiness.^[4] Executive producer Marco Law expressed:

This story is a story of personal growth. The characters in the show have gone through all kinds of things. There is always something you dream of in life. You need to jump out of your comfort zone, break your routine, keep exploring, and keep moving forward in order to achieve your ideal and life goals.^[1]

Music

The tracks were produced by Joseph Wei, Alex Lau, and Herman To and released under The Voice Entertainment Group.

*Track Listing*
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Love is Beautiful (愛很美麗)"	Sandy Cheung	Alan Cheung,	Hana Kuk	3:01^[5]
2.	"Falling in Love"	Wayne James	Kwong Jing-yan, Nick Wong	Kayee Tam	4:00^[6]

Reception and ratings

Sam Ngou-ming from Ming Pao Weekly described Beauty and the Boss as a "healing drama about life".^[7] Law Ji-wang from UlifeStyle noted "its plot to be realistic and down-to-earth accompanied with warm, unconventional dialogues".^[8] Law and an editor at Hong Kong Economic Times also emphasised on the inspirational life quotes at the end of each episode which "resonated with the audience".^[9]^[10] Meanwhile, Tung Yan-hei from HK01 praised each character to have their own "full and distinctive" color.^[11]

Week	Episodes	Airing dates	Average ratings^[a]		Ref.
Week	Episodes	Airing dates	Hong Kong	Macau	Ref.
1	1 – 5	22–26 March 2021	23.6 points	16.5 points	^[13]
2	6 – 10	29 March–2 April 2021	23.5 points	16.5 points	^[14]
3	11 – 15	5–9 April 2021	22.7 points	16 points	^[15]
4	16 – 20	12–16 April 2021	24.6 points	17.2 points	^[16]
5	21 – 25	19–23 April 2021	24.1 points	17 points	^[17]
6	26 – 30	26–30 April 2021	24.5 points	17.2 points	^[18]
Average Total:			23.8 points	16.7 points	^[18]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Results	Ref.
2021	54th TVB Anniversary Awards	Best Television Series	Itself	Nominated	^[19]
		Most Popular Female Character	Ali Lee (for Amelia Wong)	Won	^[20]
		My Favorite Actress In A Leading Role (Malaysia)	Ali Lee	Nominated	^[21]

Notes

^ According to Hong Kong's Nielsen TV rating system, each rating point represents about 64,200 viewers.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "《愛美麗狂想曲》女人當自強" [Beauty and the Boss character description and overview; theme emphasizes women's self-reliance]. TVB Weekly (in Traditional Chinese). 20 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
^ "同翠如備咗案未？蕭正楠陳瀅新劇好多親熱戲" [Raymond Cho and Edwin Siu will have many intimate scenes in Beauty and the Boss]. Oriental Daily News (in Traditional Chinese). 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
^
"陳瀅剪走長髮捐畀有需要小朋友" [Jeannie Chan cuts off her hair and donates it to children in need]. Oriental Daily News (in Traditional Chinese). 15 October 2019. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- "解凍蒲頭？李佳芯只想做演員：拍好啲劇" [Ali Lee just wants to be an actress and make quality dramas]. Oriental Daily News (in Traditional Chinese). 11 November 2019. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
^ "《愛美麗狂想曲》時下女性為幸福而努力" [Beauty and the Boss emphasizes the modern women who strive for their own happiness]. TVB Weekly (in Traditional Chinese). 2 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
^ "Love Is Beautiful (Theme from TV Drama Beauty and the Boss) by Hana Kuk on Apple Music". Apple Music. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
^ "Falling In Love (Ending Theme from TV Drama Beauty and the Boss) by Kayee Tam on Apple Music". Apple Music. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
^ Sam, Ngou-ming (25 December 2020). "【岑傲明視評】《愛美麗狂想曲》：天使愛美麗" [Beauty and the Boss Television Series Review]. Ming Pao Weekly (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ Law, Ji-wang (30 April 2021). "【愛美麗狂想曲】大結局眾人感情何去何從陳豪李佳芯夢想與愛情兼得劇情寫實觀眾收貨" [Beauty and the Boss Television Series Review]. ULifeStyle (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ Law, Ji-wang (1 May 2021). "【愛美麗狂想曲】重溫全劇30句片尾金句語錄李佳芯獨白溫暖人心引觀眾共鳴論盡兩性關係的幸福" [Revisit the golden inspirational life quotes of Beauty and the Boss]. ULifeStyle (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ "【愛美麗狂想曲】片尾語錄超入肉人生金句：謊言可傷害人亦可保護自己" [Beauty and the Boss inspirational life quotes]. Hong Kong Economic Times (in Traditional Chinese). 30 April 2021. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ Tung, Yan-kei (30 April 2021). "愛美麗狂想曲．劇評︱感情戲令角色更豐滿金句不斷悟出人生道理" [Beauty and the Boss Television Series Review: Emotional drama makes the characters fuller and the golden sentences emphasises on the truth of life]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ Nip, Amy (9 August 2013). "Slide in television ratings is no drama, says TVB". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^ Lam, Seun-ging (9 April 2021). "收視滯後報告｜《愛美麗狂想曲》首周平穩李佳芯成收視殺手鐧?" [TV Ratings Report for the week of 22–28 March 2021]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
^ Lam, Seun-ging (21 April 2021). "收視滯後報告｜《大步走》收視異動有望至20點星期六日變新戰場" [TV Ratings Report for the week of 29 March–4 April 2021]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
^ Wong Tsz-hang (17 May 2021). "收視滯後報告｜綜藝節目成功拉高收視《大步走》令人失望" [TV Ratings Report for the week of 5–11 April 2021]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ Wong Tsz-hang (15 June 2021). "收視滯後報告｜《伙記辦大事》破收視紀錄成功靠綜藝拉高？" [TV Ratings Report for the week of 12–18 April 2021]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ Wong Tsz-hang (6 May 2021). "收視滯後報告｜從數字看《開心大綜藝》一個月播一次可能更好？" [TV Ratings Report for the week of 19–25 April 2021]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b Lam Seun-ging (11 May 2021). "收視滯後報告｜《愛美麗》一早播晒照收得平均23.8點成今年冠軍" [TV Ratings Report for the week of 26 April–2 May 2021]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ "TVB頒獎禮最後5強名單出爐《星空下的仁醫》包攬11項提名" [54th TVB Anniversary Awards: Kids' Lives Matter was nominated among Top 5 in 11 categories]. Bastille Post (in Traditional Chinese). 20 December 2021. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^ "Netizens Say Linda Chung Was "Robbed" Of Best Actress Award, Slam TVB For Giving It To Rosina Lam Instead". Today Online. 4 January 2022. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
^ "TVB Jade Power: Top 5 Finalists of TVB Anniversary Awards (Malaysia)" (in Traditional Chinese). TVB via Facebook. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.