Well, MBC may have cut down its underperforming Heading to the Ground not once but twice, but perhaps it’ll fare better in Japan: the soccer drama will air beginning in January under the slightly altered title No Limit: Heading to the Ground.

The drama may have had a dismal run in Korea, but with U-Know Yunho’s (and DBSK’s) popularity in Japan, hopefully the show will meet with a happier reception there. A source explained, “Because of Dong Bang Shin Ki’s popularity in Japan, there have been several talks with Japanese broadcasters ever since Heading to the Ground began broadcasting in Korea. Currently, we are in the final stages of making the contract.”

No Limit: Heading to the Ground will air one special broadcast on December 23 on the channel KNTV, then begin weekly broadcasts on January 24. Its Korean run ends this Wednesday with Episode 16, following a four-episode cut from its initial twenty-installment order.

Via Star News

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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

 
RELATED POSTS

• IRIS’s strong start endangers Heading’s ending
• The business of kdrama extensions and cuts
• Heading’s abrupt story changes prompt viewer complaints
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• Heading to the Ground’s press conference day
• Heading interview with U-Know Yunho

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Uh-oh. MBC may be getting ready to let that axe fall for the third time this year. I’m reading conflicting reports about its soccer drama Heading to the Ground, but it’s not looking good.

KBS’s blockbuster drama IRIS has just premiered with a very strong rating in the 20% ballpark. (Official ratings aren’t out yet, but the preliminary report places it close to 20%. UPDATE: The number was a whopping 24.5%. As it just aired four hours ago, no I haven’t seen it yet, but I plan to.) That means that the poorly performing Heading, which has several weeks still left to go, is now essentially dead, with Iris and You’re Beautiful getting most of the attention.

One report says that Heading will end early and allow Hero, the Lee Junki vehicle, to begin a week earlier than planned, which would give MBC more to work with in the Wednesday-Thursday ratings battle. That would mean that the 20-episode Heading would need to wrap up by its 18th episode instead. However, Star News reports that MBC has “strongly denied” the curtailment rumors. In a phone interview on the 14th, the MBC source said, “Rumors of cutting it early are ridiculous” and that the drama would end as planned.

As you know, MBC cut Tamra the Island and Strike Love, but strongly denied rumors of cutting Friend, Our Legend, which went on to complete its original run. I’ll be keeping an eye out to see which side prevails.

Via Star News, Today Korea

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Viewers are apparently unhappy with the recent events of MBC’s Heading to the Ground, and I can’t say I blame them — because, doth mine eyes deceive me? Has the drama’s main star U-Know Yunho actually been packed off to a mental hospital?

The drama is now halfway through, and despite the soccer theme, the story shifted abruptly in Episode 5 to center around a mental ward, after Bong-kun (Yunho) suffered an accident. He had been saving Hae-bin (Go Ara) from falling into the Han River, and ended up in the hospital with amnesia.

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Heading to the Ground; Dream

2009 was supposed to be the year of the sports drama revival, and it has had its share of sports-themed series, with at least another still to come. Unfortunately, they’ve all tanked.

The two currently struggling on the air are SBS’s fighting drama Dream, which has settled around the 4% mark for the bulk of its run, and MBC’s soccer series Heading to the Ground, which kicked off with a 7.2%, which dropped to an inauspicious 5.6% for its second episode and heads into its second week today.

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