The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a TVB television series, premiered on 1 September 1979, starring Chow Yun-fat, Carol Cheng, Simon Yam, Susanna Au-yeung and Liu Wai-hung. The theme song, sharing the same name as the series, was composed and arranged by Joseph Koo, with lyrics provided by Tang Wai-hung, and was sung by Teresa Cheung.

Plot

Ching Wai (Chow Yun-fat) is a fresh graduate from university, and is hired by a jewelry company called Yu-Fook, and he rises up the career ladder quickly, due to his superb performance, and he forges a relationship with the Director's daughter, Fong Hei-man (Carol Cheng). The story continues smoothly, until an incident occurs. To pay his mother's (Tang Pik-wan) gambling debts, he embezzles company funds and is reported by the cunning Yuen Kei-cheung (Lee Tao-hung). Ching is sent to prison, where he meets and befriends a gangster chief Lung Koon-sam (Shih Kien), who helps him both in and out of prison. Ching gets a job at another jewelry company, and collaborates with Lung to expose Yuen's wrongdoings. Eventually, Yuen is caught, and Ching proposes to Fong. Ching Chan (Liu Wai-hung), is also another main character. Known as Ah Chan, he is an idle immigrant from the Mainland. He is forced to care for the Chings when Ching Wai is sent to prison. Unfortunately, Ching Chan commits a crime and is jailed, but manages to forge a family with his love Cheung Mei-po (Kong Ho-oi).

Impact on vernacular language

The show also left a lasting impact on Hong Kong vernacular vocabulary. The term Ah Chan (阿燦), which is a pejorative term for mainland Chinese, traces its origins to this series, from the character Ching Chan. The term is used to describe new immigrants from the Mainland, seen as lazy, laid-back and idle, unable to adapt to the fast pace of Hong Kong life. The term only fell out of widespread usage after the 1997 handover.

Cast