Where to Watch Pearl Princess (1998)

Summary

Princess Pearl, also known in Singapore and the Philippines as My Fair Princess, is a Chinese-language television series adapted from Chiung Yao's novel series of the same title. Produced by Taiwan Pleasant Communications Limited Company and Hunan TV, the series centers around the legend of Princess Huanzhu during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Although some characters, the plot premise, and certain sections of the story are based on historical events and figures, considerable artistic license was employed. Fans may often abbreviate the series' pinyin name of Huánzhū Gégé into "HZGG". The series was split into three seasons. The first season was produced in 1997 and broadcast in 1998. The second was broadcast in 1999, and the third in 2003. Princess Pearl enjoyed the highest viewership of any television drama in Chinese history. Seasons 1 and 2 received up to 54% and 65% of audience shares respectively during broadcast, and became the television series with the most reruns broadcast from the 1990s to today. Princess Pearl went on to receive similar phenomenal popularity in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand. However, Season 3 suffered backlash in popularity, partly because most of the original cast had been replaced by different actors and actresses. The majority of the cast decided not to renew their contracts and left the series, which led to a major recasting of characters for the third season. The third season flopped in terms of ratings.