Honestly, this has to suck for Heading to the Ground: Not only did MBC already cut the broadcast down by several episodes due to poor ratings, it has made an additional cut. What seems worse (to me) is the way in which they approached the matter, because viewers found out from a notice that ran after this Thursday’s episode that read, “The last episode will air next Wednesday.” Viewers were surprised to have the show end earlier than expected; this means there’s only one more episode, and MBC will broadcast a foreign documentary on Thursday.

The soccer drama starring idol star U-Know Yunho in his acting debut was initially supposed to wrap on November 12 with Episode 20. After two episodes were shaved from the series and one episode was postponed due to sports, the Episode 17 finale was moved up to November 5 to allow Hero to premiere a week earlier than scheduled. With the additional cut, the drama will now end on November 4 with Episode 16.

Heading to the Ground got off to a rough start with criticism for its star’s weak acting, which was followed by a slew of complaints over its confusing storyline that had nothing to do with the drama’s purported theme of soccer. Its ratings lagged in the 3%-4% range, and when competitor drama IRIS came along it drove a nail into the coffin; right after IRIS’s 25% premiere, MBC announced the first cut to Heading. You’re Beautiful has held steady with 9%-10% ratings; Heading’s most recent episode drew a 3.7%.

I get that Heading is not performing well, and it sounds like it’s riddled with flaws, but I do wish MBC would take more care with its underperforming series. A show may be subpar, but these last-minute scheduling changes only handicap the series further, and thus never gives it the chance to be the best version of itself. Then again, sounds like Heading may just need to be put out of its misery.

Via Segye

 
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Lee Yoon-ji, Jung Yun-ho, Go Ara, Lee Sang-yoon

Heading to the Ground is nearing its air date, and held its production press conference on the afternoon of September 2 at Seoul’s Hyatt Hotel. The MBC series stars U-Know Yunho (aka Jung Yun-ho) in his acting debut, along with Go Ara, Lee Yoon-ji, and Lee Sang-yoon.

Man, these dramas premiere and end in such quick succession that it’s hard keeping track of the latest, isn’t it? The horror series Hon is about to hand off its Wednesday-Thursday timeslot to the new soccer drama, after it finishes with its tenth episode this week.

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The MBC soccer drama Heading to the Ground [맨땅에 헤딩] recently released its first stills from the set, and follows with these latest shots of the two leads on a romantic date.

The scene shows Jung Yun-ho and Go Ara’s characters — a humble soccer player and a rich team owner’s daughter — walking by an outdoor fountain. In the drama, Ara plays a young agent who recognizes his athletic talent, but loses in her attempt to convince him to her side. As a result, she drinks a large amount of alcohol despite not being much of a drinker, and becomes tipsy.

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MBC’s Heading to the Ground is still in the early stages of filming, and the production has now released stills of the drama’s recent rainy-day shoot.

The scene features the show’s star Jung Yun-ho (U-Know Yunho), who trades in his idol polish for a humbler image as he films this scene standing barefoot in the rain. While he gets soaked as he drags his pojangmacha food cart along, co-star and love interest Go Ara remains dry.

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Don’t call him U-Know Yunho anymore; the DBSK idol star wants to be known under his real name, Jung Yun-ho, as he takes on the lead role — and his acting debut — in the MBC soccer drama Heading to the Ground [맨땅에 헤딩].

(Not that this is new; lots of singers using stage names have switched to their real names for film and drama roles, seeking a more serious image as legitimate actors. The most famous example is probably Rain, who acts under the name Jung Ji-hoon.)

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