A week from its premiere, KBS’s new Wednesday-Thursday drama Man of Honor held its production press conference, with its main cast in attendance: Chun Jung-myung, Park Min-young, and Lee Jang-woo take the main three roles. Already I can see the Baker King-esque dynamic in the stills; nothing like a rich-boy-poor-boy rivalry in childhood to up the ante in adulthood, is there?

(Side note: Nice of them to keep the same hairstyles for their childhood counterparts, for ease of identification — but I’d hate to be the kid who stuck with the same haircut for over twenty years.)
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Read the rest of Man of Honor’s production press conference (556 words)

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Post tags: Choi Myung-gil, Chun Jung-myung, Lee Jang-woo, Lee Jin, Man of Honor, Park Min-young, press conferences

Three weeks to go until the Baker King Kim Tak-gu team’s follow-up drama, Man of Honor, premieres on KBS. The sizable cast convened on the 10th for a table read, and while the three main leads are Chun Jung-myung (The Duo), Park Min-young (City Hunter), and Lee Jang-woo (Smile, Dong-hae), there are a ton of other names involved, including:

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Post tags: Choi Myung-gil, Chun Jung-myung, Man of Honor, Park Min-young

I have not followed the drama Stormy Lovers, but I admit my interest is piqued by the latest news that the MBC drama is being cancelled, cut short by more than half its run due to low ratings.

Stormy Lovers is a daily drama, which means it airs Monday Through Friday (in the 8 pm hour). In my wholly unscientific recollection of past daily dramas, because of the steady dinnertime audience, it’s not unusual for dailies to pull in 30%+ ratings, and sometimes even 40%+. (Examples: You’re My Destiny, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Smile Donghae.) So it’s disappointing that Stormy Lovers has been resting in the 5% to 8% range. Even if I recall reading quite a bit of criticism about the bad acting of lead actress Choi Eun-seo (of Personal Taste, in her first leading role).

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Read the rest of MBC cuts another drama short, angers people (318 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Choi Eun-seo, Choi Myung-gil, drama ratings, Hwanhee, Jung Bo-seok, Jung Chan, Lee Jae-yoon

KBS premiered a new Monday-Tuesday drama this week, Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang (KBS World title: Taming of the Heir), to replace Princess Has Returned. Contrary to the historical costuming above, this drama is a contemporary piece but has sageuk bits woven through it, since the story references the folk tale upon which it is based (“Princess Pyeong-gang and the Fool On-dal”) in a comic way. This, I think, is the drama’s highlight, which I’ll go into more below.

The drama probably won’t make a dent in Queen Seon-deok‘s continuing domination. Still, I love Nam Sang-mi, who I think has a lot of charm despite some middling performances. I find her most winning in comedy fare, and have been wanting to see her try more of it following Bad Family. She was adorable there, and she carries over a lot of similar plucky humor here.

I don’t think Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang is going to be a great drama, but there’s something about it that caught my interest. It’s cute if you like goofy, over-the-top romantic comedies. It’s not the best of the genre, but its fusion-sageuk angle has viewers calling it fresh and fun, and it’s a light counter to the other Monday-Tuesday programming out there.

SONG OF THE DAY

Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang OST – “나란 남자” by MC Mong [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang: Episodes 1-2 (3,616 words)

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Post tags: Cha Ye-ryun, Choi Myung-gil, first episodes, Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang, Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Heung-soo, Nam Sang-mi, Seo Do-young

KBS’s current Monday-Tuesday show, Princess Has Returned [공주가 돌아왔다], has been pretty unremarkable (in ratings and in response) and ends on a similarly quiet note this week. On the other hand, I’m looking at the show to take over its slot next week with some interest — Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang [천하무적 이평강] seems to have come together rather under the radar, but now it’s got me perked up in interest.

The drama blends together sageuk elements with the contemporary in its reimagining of the classic folktale of Princess Pyeong-gang and the Fool On-dal. The fusion drama stars Nam Sang-mi (Time of Dog and Wolf) and Ji Hyun-woo (My Sweet Seoul).

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Read the rest of Nam Sang-mi is the Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang (707 words)

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Post tags: Cha Ye-ryun, Choi Myung-gil, Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang, Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Heung-soo, Nam Sang-mi, Park Ki-woong, Seo Do-young, Yeon Mi-joo