A House is Not a Home

Set in late 1970s Hong Kong, A House Is Not a Home follows the fallout inside an extended family when personal ambitions, romantic ties and old loyalties start to fray. The series concentrates on everyday conflicts rather than action, letting conversations, betrayals and shifting alliances reveal characters bit by bit. Major players include a strong-willed matriarch, younger heirs trying to assert themselves, and neighbors whose choices ripple back into the household. Episodes focus on moral choices and social pressures, with each installment building on emotional consequences instead of plot twists, so viewers learn who people are through their reactions and decisions rather than sudden revelations.

The show premiered on 1 August 1977 on TVB, created by Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee and Kitty Ip Kit-Hing. Its production featured familiar TVB talent of the era, with Liza Wong Ming-Chuen, Chow Yun-Fat, Nam Hung, Tang Pik-Wan and Simon Yam in central roles. The theme song, credited to Joseph Koo and Wong Jim and sung by Roman Tam, was integral to the release and publicity.

There are no widely reported international awards tied to the series, and major award records from the period are sparse. The program is better remembered for viewership and its place in TVB history than for trophies, though it did earn lasting recognition among Hong Kong audiences.

The theme song, sometimes known by its Chinese title 家變, became a cultural touchstone, often played on radio and at retrospectives of 1970s Cantonese television. The show helped raise the profiles of several cast members who later became household names, and its scenes and melodies still appear in discussions about classic Hong Kong melodrama.

Critical reception at the time leaned positive among viewers, and the series has been described in retrospect as a staple of 1970s Hong Kong drama. Its main themes center on family duty, changing social expectations and the cost of personal ambition, presented in an approachable, dialogue-driven style that favors character development over spectacle.