Doctors, horses, body swaps: New ratings battle

94 October 2, 2012October 2, 2012

by javabeans

Out with the old, in with the new: There’s a brand-new ratings three-way in dramaland, with two new dramas premiering this week in the Monday-Tuesday slot. And wouldn’t you know it, the results didn’t quite shake out as expected.

Oohlala Spouses was KBS’s new entry, with its rom-com hijinks replacing Haeundae Lovers. Over on MBC, The Horse Healer took over the top slot from medical drama Golden Time. And on SBS, we’ve still got sageuk drama Faith hanging in there as it enters the second half of its run.

All eyes were on The Horse Healer to run away with the prize, for multiple reasons: It’s a grand-scale sageuk, and audiences like those; it’s got a large production budget (20 billion won); it’s taking over a winning timeslot; and the cast is chock full of name stars such as film actor Jo Seung-woo, Lee Yo-won (who starred in Queen Seon-deok to uber-hit ratings), Sohn Chang-min, Lee Sang-woo, Kim So-eun, and more. And yet, The Horse Healer could only muster a last-place premiere. Its number was 8.7%.

Oohlala Spouses was definitely the one I was looking forward to given its uproarious premise and promotional teasers/posters/previews (also: I miss good comedies—where did they go?), but I didn’t expect it to be the first-place finisher off the bat. For one, rom-coms as a genre tend to play second fiddle to sageuks; it’s not my personal preference, but that’s just the dramaland way. Also, while Oohlala’s stars are well-respected and talented (Kim Jung-eun, Shin Hyun-joon), they don’t quite have the buzz factor or fresh youth of a Jo Seung-woo or an Lee Min-ho.

Yet whaddaya know, it pulled out a double-digit premiere (10.9%) and claimed first place. Aww, yeah. Faith, meanwhile, stayed more or less level with a 9.3%.

That was Monday. Tuesday’s episode was even better for Oohlala (go, shenanigans, go!), which made a nice jump to 14.5%. Faith stayed level again with a 9.5%. But despite the slight uptick, this time that only rated third place, because The Horse Healer also ticked upward to 9.7%.

It’s worth noting that these numbers are all pretty close anyway, so there’s no overwhelming winner or loser. Contrast that with the Wednesday-Thursday shows, where there’s a much clearer hierarchy. (Nice Guy looks like it’s going to keep growing from its mid-teens ratings, perhaps on its way to filling the void left by its predecessor Gaksital, which broke 20%. Arang and the Magistrate holds steady in the lower-teens ratings, while To the Beautiful You has spent the entirety of its run in the 4%-5% range.)

Another caveat: I suspect that The Horse Healer will find its audience, despite its slow start. Yesterday the headlines were all doom and gloom about the big blockbuster coming in last place. (Though really, it was last place by less than a percentage point.) Today, the mood is more optimistic, and this is a show with 48 episodes more to go. There is plenty of time. (SO MUCH TIME. Oy, 50 episoders.) Though I can’t help rooting for Oohlala to at least keep its lead for its 16 episodes; then it can hand it off to the horse doc. As for Faith… yeah, I see why it’s at 9%, and that seems about right to me. It’s a fun show to think about… but sometimes more so than to actually watch. Yes, even with the beauty that is Lee Min-ho. Oh right, and Kim Hee-sun ain’t exactly shabby either.

Via TV Daily, Sports Chosun

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51 befuddled

October 3, 2012 at 8:02 AM

For me, I love Faith, oohlala looks hilarious, and I have little interest in the Horse Healer. I just don't have much interest in horses, so of the three, I'd pick the other two first.

If I remember right, one of the earlier blog posts here mentioned that oohlala might turn out to be akin to Can't Lose, but even more hilarious. Right after the first episode though, that came back to me and I have to say that Can't Lose was definitely more lighthearted- because the problems that broke this couple up are definitely more serious. Finding your husband cheating like that... it's such a final deal breaker IMO that I'll be curious to see how the couple might end up getting back together even if they gain understanding through the body-swapping.

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52 Yoori

October 3, 2012 at 8:32 AM

I've lost faith in Faith, and yes, even with LMH and KHS. It has lost its 'epiciness', if you will, for me. I've stopped a while back...

A&M is mystical and cute but I feel like the story of evil mom is totally dragging the series. I was expecting a whole lot more of evilness and 'drama' going on between the mysteries of A&M ..

OhLaLa Couple .. I just started yesterday and within 30mins; I cried, laughed, cursed at the cheating husband, and everything else. It was the drama I had least expectation for but it totally delivered by episode 2! I've mentioned in Soompi and I'll say it again: Of all body swapping dramas, SHJ killed it! He is sooo spot on as his wife that it's freaky! I'm loving it ..

Nice Guy ... is killing my heart (in a good way). 'nough said!

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53 lorac

October 3, 2012 at 10:39 AM

As for me, it's reached the point where the only one reason to watch Faith is... Lee Min Ho. But you know, I was so starved for storyline that I had to start watching “City Hunter” again just to remember what good storytelling is all about.

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54 kkongchi

October 3, 2012 at 11:25 AM

It kind of makes me wonder if people are beginning to tire of the MBC anniversary sageuk formula. It seems like ever since Dae Jang Geum they've been trying to recreate that show's success, but the issue is they're trying to recreate the success by simply copying the DJG epic sageuk formula.

The Horse Healer sounds like exactly the same story except with horses instead of cooking and a male lead instead of a female. Last year it was Dong Yi, which had the same plucky heroine constantly getting into trouble and always finding a way to get out of it. Except Hyo Joo, bless her heart, is really a pretty bad actress and plays the exact same character in every drama (or movie). My friend calls her "Mary Sue Joo". I know Dong Yi did well ratings wise, but it didn't do well critically, and it seems like most people have kind of forgotten it. It doesn't have the staying power of DJG, and it looks like Horse Healer won't either.

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bd

October 6, 2012 at 10:12 PM

I lay part of the blame on the writers and the PD; HHJ was over-doing the same annoying mannerisms that her younger counterpart did, and it was annoying when Kim Yoo-jung (came away not impressed w/ KYJ's acting, but then realized that it wasn't her fault when she turned in a powerhouse performance in TMTETS).

Only actors that didn't overact in DY were Ji Jin-hee, Bae Soo-bin, Park Ha-sun and Jung Jin-young.

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55 Mikey

October 3, 2012 at 7:07 PM

Where can I watch Horse Healer online with Eng Sub? Not even mentioned on DramaFever.

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56 Anya

October 3, 2012 at 9:05 PM

I just finish watching Ohlala ep 1 last night, and I was uterly shakin;. It's really easy to give advice, be a director on someone else dilemma BUT if your wearing the shoes they are in, it's quite a different story. So for short, when hubby came home from work last night,
I was a little extra sweet. Thanking God now and in advance that I would never ever go throught that extra marital affair like this drama. It's just so painful, especially she actually witness it and on their onw apartment. Goodness, that's thoroughly evil, you know!