Excellent Star Award 2026

22 January 2026

My personal preference, favourite and recognition for the local TV scene for Calendar Year 2026; as CY2026 is still on-going, this list will be updated accordingly with the premiere of new shows.

2026 opens strongly with the 'realistic' office drama "职不值得 The Grind". Hope Mediacorpse keep up the momentum and produce better dramas than 2025 (which is an extremely low benchmark).

However, "迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least" is definitely below average due to its unrealistic plot and poor character development (especially Desmond Ng's character, who seems more like a terrible teacher from the 1980s than a teacher post-2000; his notorious acts would definitely get him into trouble (receiving complains left right centre from students and parents). for the very first time, I think Tasha acting is mediocre; maybe because she didnt receive majority of her education in Singapore, so her depiction of the teacher role is not realistic. the teens rebellious thrills are also very outdated and does not seem like stuffs Gen A will do. generally feels that the scriptwriter is writing a 1980s school drama than a 2025 drama. The saving grace is, Cheng Jun, Zi Sheng and Gladys Ng act well for their role. a pity that Zhai Siming is downgraded to a useless cameo role.

Personally, I think the best drama of 2026 is "一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere", as there are surprises/twist at almost every episode! Furthermore, Romeo & Jeanette are on point thruout the drama. What I dislike about this drama is when it switched scene from the main couple to the young adults, because with the exception of Jasmine & Bonnie, the rest cant act (worst being the new Star Search girl (the older married auntie who always act as teen); gosh her acting is damn terrible, and its so obvious that she is dubious, Herman is really blind & foolish)!

Although I missed half of the drama as I was in Japan, "业落夕阳 Timeless Memories" is definitely a close 2nd, refreshing plot and great delivery from the cast. Tyler really improves a lot with every drama! His acting is now far more superior than his bff Ze Tong. Together with Richie, both will be the new batch of Lead after the 'Prince' generation.

"孩是老的辣 Kid U Not" looks promising from the teasers, but turns out to be quite a disappointment when it started airing. The first few episodes (when the mains are still kids) is a boring predictable sleepy lullaby. the plot is not creative too, as it reminds me too much of "心里住着老灵魂 Soul Old Yet So Young", but yet not better. However, surprisingly, this show picked up much pace & chemistry after the 3 elder leads took over and it is a very enjoyable show overall. I must say Zoe, Aileen & Marcus acted very well for their roles. althru Zoe has too much awards (& she definitely don’t need another to prove she can act well), I really hope Zoe win 'Best Actress' in "Star Awards" next year, as she is really good. tbh her portrayal of the role is the main reason why I am excited to watch this show every night.

Gosh, after an excellent HK drama ("金式森林 The Fading Gold"), "至死不渝 No Other Way" is extremely underwhelming. it failed badly (trying too hard) in creating morbid stories, but yet turns out to look really amateurish and nothing near scary nor logical. the ann kok story doesn’t feel angsty at all! if she is really angsty, she would kill her husband in way more pervertive ways than just stabbing 52 times (e.g. castrate him alive, gently slashing his throat and let his blood dried out)... her act is too merciful to him yet tiring for herself, so it just feel like a lousy comedy. In fact, the weak plot and slow pace are much more 'terrifying' than any of the murder cases. Hong Ling act well, but it is Yvonne Lim who shouldered the entire show to make it slightly bearable. not sure why, but Sheryl Ang acting is pretty bad here. there is nothing in every episode that makes me want to watch the next, so i abandoned the drama after 3 episodes.

"青春小鸟 I Believe I Can Fly" was already bad to begin with", "青春老鸟 Old & Dangerous" is way much worst. This drama is so bad and cringey till it looks like a 'joke' just there to fill the slot. it is so bad that the teasers are already a huge turn-off. I would very much prefer this slot being reserved for "新闻女王 2 Queen of News 2" than having a lousy local drama just for the sage of having a local production for 9pm.

"家的守护星 Brighter Days" is finally a watchable local drama since "孩是老的辣 Kid U Not", but not without its major flaws. the deadliest would be multiple mistakes on its time setting (1996)! Malaysian Cup fever ended in 1994 (1996 was already S-league era); VHS was already replaced by VCD; dengue wasnt a 'big' municipal issue back in 1996; HDB blocks with LUP lifts; Y2K fashion worn by Sheila, huge 80s TV... whereas huge social phenomenon like Spice Girls, A-mei, tamagotchi are missing!? it seems like the drama is done by Gen-Z who did not do enough homework on 1996! seriously, kidnap in 1996? that would be huge headliner! the time setting seems like a mixture of 1976, 1986, 1996 & 2006. i was 10 in 1996 and clearly remember 1996 does not look anything close to this! so quite painful to tolerate these obvious mistakes. saving grace would be mei xin's acting, the ship series notes and sinalco soft drink. this show is probably Felicia best performance to date. but then it is extremely puzzling why Felicia Chin is the only one who did not died and yet did not portray the older character (production team find her cmi to carry the role or it is too troublesome to have 2 Felicia acting in the same scene??) also, if you need another actress to take over the middle-age version, at least find someone of similar height (e.g. Lina Ng), coz it hideous to notice the obvious shrink in height of the character. not forgetting that the plot can also be quite illogical. for example, if the children are doppelganger of their parent, how is it possible that they cannot recognize each other?

I am extremely speechless for "神之手 In His Hand". it is so bad that I cant tolerate it beyond 5min... Man-zeh (Queen of News) is right that if you failed to captivate audience with the golden 7min rule, nobody will give you a damn! what makes the production team thinks audience would enjoy watching 5min of rise & shine and a whole fridge of tomato??? don’t tell me these are the most important scene/image of the entire drama??? lmao... every night when I on the TV at 9.55pm to wait for 10pm News, all I see is dark, slow-motion silent scenes. the Taiwan actor's acting is damn bad. he makes Tyler's acting appear like god-tier acting. & please, perhaps don’t do another Taiwan collabo, none were anything near great.

the current 9pm drama is also funny... seems like all female characters are taking fake MC monthly for menstrual pain... Mediacorpse ah, can try to put in some effort with your script or not?

Best Drama:
职不值得 The Grind
一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere
业落夕阳 Timeless Memories
孩是老的辣 Kid U Not

Best Actor:
许瑞奇 Richie Koh (职不值得 The Grind)
叶荣耀 Noah Yap (职不值得 The Grind)
邓伟徳 Tyler Ten (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
陈罗密欧 Romeo Tan (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)
邓伟徳 Tyler Ten (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
陈建彬 Marcus Chin (孩是老的辣 Kid U Not)
陈罗密欧 Romeo Tan (家的守护星 Brighter Days)

Best Actress:
何盈莹 He Ying Ying (职不值得 The Grind)
欧萱 Jeanette Aw (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)
郑惠玉 Zoe Tay (孩是老的辣 Kid U Not)
陈丽贞 Aileen Tan (孩是老的辣 Kid U Not)
林湘萍 Yvonne Lim (至死不渝 No Other Way)
陈凤玲 Felicia Chin (家的守护星 Brighter Days)

Best Supporting Actor:
福地祐介 Fukuchi Yusuke (职不值得 The Grind)
陈泰铭 Rayson Tan (职不值得 The Grind)
黎沸揮 Roy Li (职不值得 The Grind)
蔡程俊 Cai Cheng Jun (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
陈子盛 Tan Zi Sheng (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
黄超群 Brian Ng (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
张奕恺 Nick Teo (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)
朱厚任 Zhu Houren (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
刘谦益 Richard Low (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
David Matthew (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
王昱清 Wang Yuqing (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
章证翔 Zen Chong (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
翟思铭 Zhai Siming (孩是老的辣 Kid U Not)

Best Supporting Actress:
陈丽贞 Aileen Tan (职不值得 The Grind)
胡煜诗 Jernelle Oh (职不值得 The Grind)
鐘琴 Kym Ng (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
李嫣儿 Jazliyana Lee (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
黄慧燕 Gladys Ng (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
沈家玉 Jasmine Sim (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)
罗美仪 Bonnie Loo (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)
马艺瑄 Sora Ma (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)
许美珍 Cynthia Koh (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
美心 Macy Chen (业落夕阳 Timeless Memories)
黄慧燕 Gladys Ng (孩是老的辣 Kid U Not)
美心 Macy Chen (家的守护星 Brighter Days)

Best New Artist:
黄慧燕 Gladys Ng (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
蔡程俊 Cai Cheng Jun (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
陈子盛 Tan Zi Sheng (迷茫又无惧的我们 Last but not Least)
黄慧燕 Gladys Ng (孩是老的辣 Kid U Not)

Best Theme Song:
不值得 / 梦飞船 Dreamz FM (职不值得 The Grind)
寻光 / 罗美仪 Bonnie Loo (一路惊魂 Highway to Somewhere)

Best Overseas Drama:
金式森林 The Fading Gold
爱回家之开心速递 Come Home Love: Lo & Behold
多情城市 Golden City
Ghost Doctor
新闻女王 2 Queen of News 2

Worst Drama:
至死不渝 No Other Way
青春老鸟 Old & Dangerous
神之手 In His Hand

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