With a special broadcast kicking off the East of Eden extravaganza, eyes have turned to the upcoming Monday-Tuesday ratings rivalry, although Tazza won’t be making its debut until Gourmet ends in a few weeks.

Oddly enough, Eden chose to air a one-hour special on Monday, and plans to air both Episodes 1 & 2 on Tuesday, which they see as a method for grabbing viewers.

Thus it’s probably premature to draw conclusions based on ratings data on Day 1, but no matter how you slice it, the numbers were a severe disappointment to the high-budget, way-overhyped East of Eden. Some have even gone so far as to call its 6.2% first-day ratings (the special, mind you, not Episode 1) a “crushing defeat.” It came in last place, although just by a hair.

More Monday-Tuesday ratings nonsense >>

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New KBS romantic-comedy series Love Marriage isn’t a sageuk, but lead actress Kim Min-hee dresses up as famed courtesan Hwang Jini for a scene in the upcoming drama.

The role has previously been enacted by actresses Ha Ji-won in the drama series and Song Hye-gyo in the big-budget film version, both pictured below. Kim Min-hee wears the gisaeng’s trademark elaborate hairstyle and elegant hanbok in these just-released stills. The similarity to previous Hwang Jinis is no coincidence; the fashion designer behind this look was also the same one who designed the hanboks for the drama Hwang Jini.

In the series, this particular scene takes place at a “couples matching party” themed around 19th-century Korean royalty. Kim Min-hee, the couples manager, dresses for the occasion and even gives a performance on a classical instrument, the gayageum, pictured below.

Love Marriage starts on August 25, and I’m looking forward to it! It may sound familiar in that it’s a trendy drama centering around opposites who attract (she’s a lively and quirky matchmaker; he — Kim Ji-hoon — is a buttoned-up divorce attorney) but I don’t care; this kind of show is usually right up my alley.

Kim Min-hee, Song Hye-gyo, and Ha Ji-won as Hwang Jini

Via EDaily

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If that ain’t the picture of “triumphant return,” I don’t know what is.

The sizable cast of upcoming epic drama East of Eden held its production press conference on August 21, and trotted out all most of its big names (and it has many, although some were either not in attendance or weren’t photographed — no Lee Mi-sook?). The event was held at the drama’s open set location in South Gyeongsang province (located on the southeastern part of the peninsula, near Busan).

Everyone looks healthy and happy, although pretty-faced Song Seung-heon seems a little, um, smirkier than usual, doesn’t he? (I don’t think it’s his best look.)

The drama premieres August 25 on MBC (it’s a Monday-Tuesday-er).

The cast is, from left to right: Park Hae-shin, Han Ji-hye, Yeon Jung-hoon, Lee Da-hae, drama PD Kim Jin-man, Song Seung-heon, Lee Yeon-hee, and Jo Min-ki. (Too bad they didn’t decide to pose under their poster images, like some sort of performance-art onscreen-versus-reality juxtaposition. Or, you know, just for fun.)

More cast pics beyond the jump >>

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Okay, this I find really cute.

Apparently it’s been recently noted that drama PD Jang Tae-yoo, formerly director of SBS’s War of Money and now behind the lens for The Painter of Wind, looks eerily similar to Painter star Park Shin-yang. (He totally does, no?)

The series is already the source of a lot of attention, not least because of the fact that the Jang-Park combo helped lead War of Money to be a hit “national” drama with ratings that broke the 30% viewership mark. (And let’s not forget that other big-name star in her gender-bending debut, Moon Geun-young.) Let’s see if the like-faced duo can sustain their success a second time ’round.

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Some more stills are released of Kim Myung-min taking up the conductor’s wand in upcoming MBC drama Beethoven Virus.

Scenes were shot over two days on August 12 and 13 at the Seongnam Arts Center Opera House as Kim Myung-min commanded a “project orchestra” comprising unruly amateur musicians (in the drama, it’s done purposely to take his character down a peg or two). Performed during these scenes are Rossini’s William Tell Overture, the Gabriel’s Oboe Overture, Beethoven’s Choral (Symphony No. 9), and others.

Beethoven Virus premieres September 10.

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(Yeah, the headline’s a bit of a stretch. But I couldn’t resist.)

Wha–? Lee Seon-kyun is going to be in MBC’s figure-skating trendy drama Triple?

I mean, I guess it kind of makes sense. He’d starred in director Lee Yoon-jung’s earlier series Taereung National Village (part of MBC’s Best Theater anthology). Following that, he’d agreed immediately to appear in Coffee Prince when she was planning that series. Now that she’s planning her next series, why not cast an actor with whom she’s had a good working relationship? This’ll be Lee Yoon-jung’s third drama series, and the third time she teams with Lee Seon-kyun.

Still, Triple seems like an odd choice, at least at first glance. (He should be moving on and doing hard-boiled crime thrillers and spare indie dramas with guys like Jang Dong-gun!) In this drama series, he’s been cast in the role of an ad agency exec who’s described as straightforward and honest with a sensitive side (so, like most of his roles then). The drama stars rookie actress Min Hyo-rin as its young figure-skating lead, but Jung Il-woo has been removed from the casting list (he was to play a speed skater) following his jump to another MBC series, Iljimae.

I’ll probably be watching Triple when it airs in January, but I’m on the fence as to whether it’ll be candy-coated fun, or a train wreck in the making.

Via Hankyung.com

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