They weren’t kidding when they said this rom-com would be heavy on the sweet. It’s frosting and cupcakes and pastries galore, for new Channel A drama Panda and Hedgehog, promising light romance set in the world of a pastry shop. It stars Yoon Seung-ah (The Moon That Embraces the Sun) and Donghae (It’s Okay Daddy’s Girl) as the titular panda- and hedgehog-esque personalities. Why a panda and a hedgehog, you ask? Why for PUNS of course!

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Read the rest of Sugar and puns for Panda and Hedgehog (345 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, Choi Jin-hyuk, Donghae, Yoon Seung-ah

Despite having a pretty dismal track record for drama programming, cable station Channel A is giving it another shot with Panda and Hedgehog, a series starring Super Junior idol-turned-actor Donghae and Yoon Seung-ah (The Moon That Embraces the Sun).

It’s a “sweet, lively” romantic comedy where our panda and hedgehog are metaphors for our couple’s personalities, which means Ms. Panda is peaceful and plodding, while Mr. Hedgehog is prickly and sharp (Donghae will even sport spiky hair to make the hedgehog analogy complete—yunno, in case you don’t get it). So, it’s basically every rom-com setup ever, just with new symbology.

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Read the rest of Cable drama Panda and Hedgehog serves up sweet romance (451 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, Choi Jin-hyuk, Donghae, Yoon Seung-ah

Another round of Variety Roulette is here!

This time we tackle We Got Married, the show where stars pretend to be newlyweds in front of the camera. It’s a show that girlfriday watches regularly but which I’ve only caught in snippets, never watching a full episode from start to finish. It takes some getting used to the premise when you’re entering it cold, but hey, that’s the name of the Variety Roulette game, right?

SONG OF THE DAY

Super Junior – “Walkin’” [ Download ]

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Post tags: Donghae, Eunhyuk, featured, Ham Eun-jung, Kang So-ra, Kyuhyun, Lee Jang-woo, Leeteuk, Sohn Eun-seo, Super Junior, Variety Roulette

So 1 Night 2 Days is ending soon, which happens just as I was getting into this whole variety world, which is so close and yet so far from the world of scripted television. (Even allowing that yes, variety can be scripted too.)

With the overwhelming number of variety programs out there — seriously, a ton — it can be pretty daunting trying to find out what show does what and when, and what its themes and formats are. So Girlfriday and I thought we might take a crack at all the variety shows out there and pick up random episodes in a series we’re calling Variety Roulette: No preplanning, no following special guests, just pick an episode and dive in.

We plan to take a look at as many different shows as we have time for, and are starting off with one particular hit talk-show offering, SBS’s Strong Heart. Keep your eyes peeled for more installments to come in the future! What shows or what episodes we’ll pick, we have no idea. We’ll go where the wind takes us.

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Read the rest of Variety Roulette: Strong Heart (3,482 words)

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Post tags: Choi Min-soo, Choi Siwon, Donghae, featured, Im Soo-hyang, Kang Ho-dong, Kim Heechul, Lee Seung-gi, Shindong, Super Junior, Variety Roulette

It’s been a while since I wrote about It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl, but, as noted in this prior thread, despite the many obvious flaws, the drama has had an inexplicable hold on me — and some of you, too.

The drama ended a week and a half ago quietly (its finale ratings were in the vicinity of 11%, a series high), and truth be told, it’s not a show to have a lasting impression. But for whatever reason, I found its 17-episode run easily watchable despite its numerous weaknesses.

Since I don’t relish the idea of doing a straight recap of the past 14 episodes, the following is more an overview of the series as a whole, which will include spoilers. Fyi!

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

SONG OF THE DAY

It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl OST – “가슴이 말해” (My Heart Speaks) sung by Kang Sung, the actor who plays Jin-gu. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl: An overview (3,349 words)

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Post tags: Choi Jin-hyuk, Donghae, featured, It's Okay Daddy's Girl, Kang Min-hyuk, Kang Sung, Lee Hee-jin, Moon Chae-won

With this week’s episodes completing the introductory, premise-establishing phase of new SBS drama It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl, I feel like I can now make a judgment call, when I’d been holding off after last week’s broadcast of Episode 1 — I’d felt the story was still incomplete because of the pre-emption of Episode 2 and wanted to hold off.

These new episodes essentially confirmed my initial impressions — that the drama is pretty flawed and at points feels tired, but is sustained by its tight relationships and some heartfelt (and heart-tugging) acting. I don’t think it’s nearly as strong as its timeslot predecessor Dr. Champ, but it does fall into line with the one before that, I Am Legend, in terms of tone and similar set of strengths/weaknesses. The good: Solid acting and lots of conflict built into the premise. The not-so-good: Stock baddies and ho-hum directing don’t elevate the overall work into being more than the sum of its parts.

I don’t think I’ll continue recaps though I intend to keep watching, because there are a few characters I’m really liking. And thankfully, two of those are our leads, Moon Chae-won and Choi Jin-hyuk.

SONG OF THE DAY

Byul – “오늘 참 아프다” (Today is quite painful) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl: Episodes 2-3 (2,703 words)

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Post tags: Choi Jin-hyuk, Donghae, featured, It's Okay Daddy's Girl, Kang Min-hyuk, Moon Chae-won

It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl is set to premiere on SBS (as soon as Dr. Champ ends this week), and is in the thick of filming. With rising star Moon Chae-won (Brilliant Legacy) in the lead and peppered with a hot (albeit inexperienced) young cast of idol singers, I’m hoping Daddy’s Girl proves to be a light, sweet watch.

The preview, which you can see below, suggests a range of tones, from lightly comedic to serious and dramatic. It starts out showing Moon Chae-won’s character’s close relationship with her father, who spoils her. (She sees him as a source of unending cash flow and pouts when he can’t come to a promised shopping trip with her.)

However, he gets into an accident where the other person dies, and that throws our heroine’s family into chaos. At the end of the preview, she says as though trying to convince herself, “It’s okay, Daddy’s Girl.” The rest of the drama will show her pulling herself back up and growing into a mature adult.

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Read the rest of Character stills and preview for It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl (580 words)

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Post tags: Choi Jin-hyuk, Donghae, It's Okay Daddy's Girl, Jeon Tae-soo, Kang Sung, Moon Chae-won

Now that we know Moon Chae-won will head the upcoming SBS drama It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl, it’s time to turn our attention to the boys. All are relative newbies to the acting sphere, two of them coming from the idol-pop-star world (gulp), but let’s hope they surprise us with hitherto-untapped acting talent.

Daddy’s Girl features an immature young woman named Chae-ryung, played by Moon Chae-won, who’s forced to grow up when an accident throws her household into ruin.

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Read the rest of The boys of It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl (629 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 50 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Ja-hye, Donghae, Jeon Tae-soo, Kang Min-hyuk, Moon Chae-won