Wow, cable’s not messing around. Talk about going after the heavy-hitters. This time cable network jTBC has scored A-lister Chae Shi-ra to star in their upcoming sageuk drama Queen Insoo. Chae Shi-ra (Empress Cheon-chu, Emperor of the Sea) has pretty much reached the level of stardom where you only play queens, so it’s no surprise that she’ll be taking on another royal figure. Idol-turned-actress Ham Eun-jung has also been added to the cast to play her younger counterpart, after a successful run on her first sageuk, King Geunchogo. I’m glad she’s stretching her acting wings, because I’ve seen a marked improvement from Coffee House to Dream High, and learning from veterans like Chae Shi-ra will only make her better.

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Read the rest of Chae Shi-ra to headline cable drama Queen Insoo (236 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 34 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chae Shi-ra, Ham Eun-jung

Last one!

The 2009 KBS Drama Awards were also held on December 31, and as with the other two station awards ceremonies, there weren’t a lot of surprises, particularly with the Daesang, which went to Lee Byung-heon. (Lee was outstanding in IRIS, but I think he practically had the Daesang in the bag even before the drama aired — no way KBS was going to score a big star like him and not reward him. Refer to: Song Seung-heon’s MBC Daesang last year.)

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Read the rest of 2009 KBS Drama Awards (1,770 words)

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Post tags: awards, Chae Shi-ra, Choi Chul-ho, Gu Hye-sun, Jeon Hye-bin, Ji Jin-hee, Jo Ahn, Jung Jun-ho, Kim Ah-joong, Kim Hye-jin, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Seung-woo, Kim So-eun, Kim So-yeon, Kim Sung-eun, Kim Tae-hee, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Da-hae, Lee Min-ho, Moon Chae-won, Moon Jung-hee, Oh Man-seok, Yoo Hana, Yoo Sun, Yoon Eun-hye, Yoon Sang-hyun

Ratings battles are always part of the trials and tribulations of television dramas, but is the experience better or worse when one is going up against one’s own sibling? It’s not a common scenario, because while there are several sets of famous siblings in the biz, like Kim Tae-hee and Lee Wan, it’s rare that they’re both in dramas simultaneously, much less in the same timeslot.

But now, we have not one but two sets of siblings in this situation. Older sister Chae Shi-ra is currently heading the KBS weekend sageuk series Iron Empress [천추태후], but will soon face competition from her own little sister, Chae Kook-hee, who has been cast in SBS’s Style [스타일], which premieres August 1.

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Read the rest of Sibling rivalries take to the small screen (300 words)

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Post tags: Chae Kook-hee, Chae Shi-ra, Iron Empress, Queen Seon-deok, Style, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Uhm Jung-hwa, Uhm Tae-woong

Note: The following is taken from a Korean article, so the opinions therein aren’t necessarily my own. Still, it’s a look into the trends we can expect in the coming year of dramas. (For instance: Not one, but TWO figure-skating dramas?)

2009 looks like a bright new year. This year, there are many dramas to be produced and aired that may capture viewer hearts. Last year, the economic slump and the shrinking of the drama market caused many difficulties for drama production, a number of dramas still drew viewer notice.

Last year, the sageuk, which used to be a sure thing, fell back, and professional-themed series like medical- or broadcast-centered dramas came into the spotlight. Also, daily and weekend dramas that were strongly criticized had high ratings with trite characters, sharp contrasts between good and evil, conventional conflicts, extreme plot setups, and so forth. On top of that, there were many dramas looking to score success featuring top stars that failed.

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Read the rest of Drama trends for 2009 (1,390 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 33 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cain and Abel, Chae Shi-ra, Cinderella Man, drama production, Go Hyun-jung, Han Ji-min, IRIS, Iron Empress, Ja Myung Go, Ji Sung, Kim Tae-hee, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Yo-won, Min Hyo-rin, Park Min-young, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Shin Hyun-joon, So Ji-sub, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun, Triple, Yoon Kye-sang

I mentioned in the previous post about Go Hyun-jung’s new sageuk that the upcoming year would showcase three prominent sageuk dramas starring three famous actresses, and the first of those has just revealed its posters. (The other two dramas are Go’s Queen Seon-deok for MBC and Jung Ryeo-won‘s SBS series Princess Ja-myung. I’m going to put my bets on Cheon-chu being the big winner, although Seon-deok has some experienced names behind the cameras.)

Here’s our first glimpse at the official posters for KBS’s Empress Cheon-chu, starring the awesome veteran actress Chae Shi-ra (Emperor of the Sea, Invisible Man Choi Jang-soo), looking ready to kick some historical ass. (Looks a lot like Song Il-kook’s Jumong poster, doesn’t it?)

The drama will take over the weekend slot from recently ended Great King Sejong; it’ll premiere on January 3.

Via Newsen

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• Go Hyun-jung to take on her first sageuk

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chae Shi-ra