This is my first year voting because I live-watched a bunch of shows for a change, and am currently juggling 4, which is seriously bogging down my RAM -- and annihilating my sleep. ;-)

After careful consideration, I've decided to bestow my own awards, based solely upon the completed and still-running dramas I've watched in 2016:

1. Most Difficult-to-Kill Good Guy (Sageuk Division):
Prince #4 Wang-So of Goryeo - MLSHR
Runners-up: Taoist Yo-Gwang of Joseon - MOTW
Kim Byung-Yeon of Joseon - MDBC

2. Best New Sageuk Warrior:
Gong Yoo as Kim Shin - GOBLIN

3. Rube Goldberg Prize (Goryeo Division):
Royal Astronomer & Prognosticator Choi Ji-Mong - MLSHR

4. Least-Convincing Avon Lady:
(tie) Heo Jun & Dong-Rae - MOTW

5. Lily Munster Memorial Tresses Award:
Bewitching Herbalist Seo-Ri - MOTW

6. Best Eunuch Bromance (Ensemble):
Eunuchs Jang, Ma Jong-Ja, Do-Gi, Sung-Yeol, and Hong Ra-On - MDBC

7. Dr. Benjamin Spock Parental Unit Tough Love Award:
Mr. Oh Kyung-Soo & Mrs. Hwang Duk-Yi ("Plain" Oh Hae Young's folks) - OHYA

8. Least-Effective Monarch (Joseon Division):
(3-way tie) King Soonjo - MDBC
King Sunjo & King Myungjong - MOTW

9. Good Help Is Hard To Find Award (Goryeo Division):
Damiwon Bath Attendant Chae-Ryung de' Medici - MOTW

10. Best Guyliner & Freudian Accessorizing with Mom:
#3 Prince Wang-Yo of Goryeo - MLSHR

11. Cutest Bear Hunter, Regular Army (Goryeo):
Mrs. Park Soon-Duk

12. Mother / Step-Mother of the Year (NOT!) Award:
(photo finish) Heo Ji-Ya (Park Do-Kyung's mom) - OHYA
Queen Kim - MDBC
Queen Yoo & Queen Hwang Bo - MLSHR
Queen Sim, Queen Yoon, Heo Ok's mother & Poong-Yeon's mother - MOTW

13. Prolific Paterfamilias Consolation Prize:
King Wanggun of Goryeo - MLSHR

14. Breakout Performance:
(3-way tie) Hong Jong-Hyun as Prince #3 Wang-Yo of Goryeo - MLSHR
Kwak Dong-Yeon as Kim Byung-Yeon & Jin Young as Kim Yoon-Sung - MDBC

15. Asclepius Award - Psychiatry
(tie) patient Park Do-Kyung's Inappropriate Psychiatrist & consultant Dr. Yoda - OHYA

16. Asclepius Award - Medical Research
Heo Jun - MOTW

17. Asclepius Award - Surgery
(tie) The Power Rangers - BEAUTIFUL MIND
Doldarned Hospital Farm Team - RDTK

18. Anti-Asclepius Prize for Most Evil Hospital Executive:
(tie) Kang Hyun-Joon - BEAUTIFUL MIND
D'oh Yoon-Wan, MD, Geosun U. Medical Center - RDTK

19. Florence Nightingale Memorial Nursing Award:
(4-way tie) Ms. Jang Moon-Kyung, RN & Mr. Yang Sung-Eun, RN - BEAUTIFUL MIND
Ms. Oh Myung-Sim, RN & Mr. Park Eun-Tak, RN, Doldarned Hospital - RDTK
Honorable Mention: Doldarned Hospital ER Bouncer Mr. Goo - RDTK

20. Hunkiest Purveyors of Stuffed Pasta Products:
The Mandoods of Hong Mandoo Restaurant, Seulgi, Korea - MLIOH

21. Special Commendation with Oak Leaf Clusters to Dr. Kang Dong-Joo's Mom for her Homestyle Mandoo That Put Junior Through Medical School - RDTK

22. The Energizer Bunny Zombie Electronics...

"I will never die" Injwa. OMG I lost it at that.

I didn't vote for a lot of them. I realized that I haven't watched a lot of dramas this year. I'm quite sad that Dragons wasn't included for this year so I couldn't vote for best sageuk. It only half aired last year.

It felt like my whole year was about Dragons, Signal, and about four dramas. lol

People are sleeping on Oh My Geumbi though. Baby is awesome.

Oh great, I get to see how out of step with the greater drama community I am again.

I wish I could have voted for Lee Jinki (Onew) in the Breakout Performance category. He is even in the picture next to Key!
I still loved Kwak Dong-yeon though... :)

awesome! love all the extra comments beside each choices.
n ps: i voted cancer for the villain.
Noticed you didnt include vote for favorite ost.

anyway was great looking at the list of dramas that i watched, didnt watch and might watch.

thanks db for another reviewfull and commentfull 2016!

Dramas I honestly forgot existed:

Moorim School
Pied Piper
Goodbye Mr. Black (and I watched this one)

Ok, I'll out my votes--

Best:
W--Two Worlds (obviously)
Marriage Contract
Signal

W: Two Worlds just blew my mind, it had the perfect combo of acting, philosophy and style. ^^ So much love for that drama. Seriously, so much love. Marriage Contract got me bawling multiple times, and Signal is just the definition of flawless execution on a copper caper. Thank you, 2016! Please let 2017 be as good!

Bravo Dramabeans staff! You never fail to have me clutching my sides from laughing too hard. <3

I honestly don't think any of those nominees had a breakout performance this year. While all of them were good, none of those were signature roles which people would forever associate them with, like Park Bo Gum in I Remember You or Ji Soo in Angry Mom or Lee Jong Suk in I Hear Your Voice. Kim Go Eun in Cheese in the Trap was the closest, but because everyone was so bitter at how that drama imploded, people are reluctant at giving her credit.

Besides Lee Soo Hyuk, everyone on that poll deserved biggest waste of talent, but besides Park Hae Jin, I can't sympathize with them when they were the ones who chose those projects. I have given up on KeyEast for doing right by Lee Hyun Woo, and Lee Jun Ki's leading ladies will be his demise. Hwang Jung Eum in Lucky Romance takes the cake for being the most idiotic idiot of ever.

Looking at this is just stressing me out over all the dramas I still need to finish.

what else is missing: The Ajumma Squad (Audrey, Vivian, Cleopatra) from Best girlfriends!

Most Starkly-Beautiful Death Scene:
Lady Hae and Wang-Wook (Park Shi-Eun and Kang Ha-Neul) - MLSHR

Alas, the heartbreaking music was overused later in the drama. It should have remained Lady Hae's swan song.

Most Erotically-Charged Non-Kissing Scene (Sageuk):
(IU and Lee Joon-Gi) Hae-Soo traces Wang-So's facial scars - MLSHR

Most Erotically-Charged Non-Kissing Scene (Modern):
(tie) (Soo-Ae and Kim Young-Kwang) Hong Na-Ri gets an eyeful of Ko Nan-Gil's tattoos &
(Kim Young-Kwang) Nan-Gil kneading dough - MAN LIVING IN OUR HOUSE

"Be Still, My Heart" Award (Rainy Day):
(Lee Joon-Gi and IU) Wang-So shelters Hae-Soo with his cape - MLSHR

"Be Still, My Heart" Award (Sunny Day):
(Lee Joon-Gi and IU) Wang-So claims Hae-Soo as "my person" - MLSHR

Most Subtly-Expressive Depiction of a Character Incapable of Feeling Others' Emotions:
Jang Hyuk as Lee Young-O, MD - BEAUTIFUL MIND

Tragically-Misguided Dad Award:
Heo Jun-Ho as Lee Gun-Myung, MD - BEAUTIFUL MIND

Loled so hard at the Drinking Solo bits. Gong Myung would've hated his hyung's guts with or without the relationship.

This year has been great! So many lovely dramas with wonderful portrayal of friendships. Seems that almost all good things comes in 3s : Noryanjin trio, weightlifting trio, Fantastic trio, Loser Married men trio. It was so heartwarming to see the characters of the drama go through the ups and downs of life alongside their friends. As much as romantic partners and family can render the same support, in some instances the support is because of obligation or filial piety. With friends, they're the ones who choose to stand by you, with no romantic, sexual or familial ties.

Going into the Christmas month with warm and happy feelings from all these <3

Wow!! So many noble idiots and idiotic drama acts this year. Can't believe you're making us choose just two!! #dramaworldproblems

How come Gong Hyo-jin is not between candidates for best characters, only JJS? It wasn't one man show in the least...

I don't think romantic doctor kim should be categorized as underrated since it's the highest rated show in it's time slot? Correct me if i'm wrong though :)

So... voting for best kiss means I need to have seen all of them, right? I think I need to go Youtube a few things, for proper voting knowledge. Of course. *Ignoring the logic flaws, opening a new tab*

Have watched most of the dramas this year, so it was pretty difficult to pick from this list. Am glad sleeper hits such as Dear My Friends, Age of Youth and 1% of Anything are getting some Beanie love. No mane of glory honors this year though? Which should really go to the cast of MLSHR, along with best eyeliner and BB cream innovator award.

Sucks for the in-between year dramas such as SFD and Reply 1988 since I think these were not included on most categories last year. Hoping Beanies remember Goblin for next year's Beanie awards!

It's strange (okay maybe not so strange) how I hardly finished/watched many dramas this year. The few I did complete, are definitely not the 'popular' or 'cool' ones that were a general hit.

Dramas like Signal looked okay and I got a few episodes in until I realized, I just didn't get the hype. Maybe one day though.

Didn't like/finish Descendants, Doctors, W, Moonlight by the Clouds and many other fan faves.

Instead, I liked the really off-key kinds of dramas like Moorim School, Goodbye Mr. Black, Master: God of Noodle....Because, just because.

2017 dramas are definitely looking much better. Can't wait.

So sad that we aren't getting those 'classics' coming up any more. You know, dramas that can be the next Secret Garden, It's OK That's Love, Master's Sun and even a really sumptuous sageuk mainstay like Empress Ki. Again, so sad.

Memorable dramas of 2016: (it's "memorable" instead of Best, as I skipped many dramas this year esp. Signal).

- OTTWTTA - no words can sum up this drama and the experiences as a viewer, and lessons about marriage that this drama provides. Plots does not need to be complicated, no revenge, no spoken confrontations, just unspoken gestures, emotions display all over the screen that are well received, well respected by the leads... I love it most for 2016.

- Police 38 - an underdog team winning a twisted win with an unexpected sacrifice. Nice surprice, nice humor, great teamwork, great betrayals. Mijoo has the best crush (or one-sided love) of 2016, unfortunately Jungdo and Papa Bear have one of a kind bromance that surpasses everything. =)))

- Descendant of the Sun - the hype, glad a drama can draw that much attention. Big Boss and Beauty is love.

- Marriage contract - such a melodrama with cancer and single-parenting, nice ending with hope of the family that fight to stay together.

SPOILER ALERT!

I was introduced to the land of South Korea by W-Two Worlds, so that wins for me, but seriously W was the best. The characters were believable (and made me cry) (a lot), the romance was believable (and made me cry) (a lot), and to be honest I just really loved it. Other ones I watched were:
Shopping King Louis - I loved Oska--er, Mr. Cha. Louis was really nice at the end.

Legend of the Blue Sea (on-going) - This one is nice and funny. More light-hearted than I would think, but I like it.

Goblin (on-going) - This is REALLY good! I love Goblin and the Grim Reaper's chemistry, or lack of it, and CANADA! I didn't realize Quebec was so gorgeous.

Moorim School - I actually don't think it was that bad. It would've been better if it wasn't cut from 20 episodes to 16, but I liked it.

And some others, but here are non-current ones:

You're Beautiful - I'm only on episode 4, but it's funny--except for the emos. I'm watching it with my mom, and I told her she was watching it because she was an "이모", an aunt on the mother's side in Korean, pronounced 'emo'.

Doctor Stranger - It looked so good. The acting IS so good, but the plotting is just. so. bad! I don't know if I'll continue this (I'm not done).

Pinocchio - This was, I think, written better than W, and it's really, really good! (But I like W better.)

Faith - Again, still watching this, and the doctor lady is really annoying but I like the rest of it!

And more, but I can't remember them all. Any suggestions?