A few things about You’re Beautiful:

1. Trademark Hong sisters comedy. In my book, this is a good thing.
2. Yes, it goes overboard a little. But because of the abundant sense of humor, this lands it in corny-awesome territory for me, not corny-embarrassing.
3. Jang Geun-seok (and the rest of the group, actually) is perfectly cast.
4. Park Shin-hye is ADORABLE. So is Lee Hong-ki.
5. I think I have found my drama crack for the year.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

FT Island – “바래” (Wish). Gotta have an FT Island in honor of Hong-ki, right? [ Download ]

YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL Episode 1 >>

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Looks like the Hong sisters scriptwriting team enjoyed writing for Jang Geun-seok in their drama Hong Gil Dong, because the young star has just been cast as the lead in their new drama series. The writing duo (Hong Jung-eun, Hong Mi-ran) are following up their string of hits (Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, My Girl, Fantasy Couple, Hong Gil Dong) with the idol-themed series You’re Beautiful [미남이시네요].

You’re Beautiful follows teenage pop idol group members and their growth, love lives, and conflicts as they progress in their careers. Jang plays a young simple country boy who becomes part of a idol boy band.

When the project was first announced, there was some speculation as to whether the production would cast actual idol stars in this drama, perhaps as a natural springboard for some pop singers wanting to make the crossover into acting (such as DBSK’s Yun-ho in Heading to the Ground).

Of course, that also led to worries that we’d be faced with another case of idol stars making awkward acting debuts when headlining dramas (see: Kim Hyun-joong in Boys Before Flowers, Se7en in Goong S). I think Jang Geun-seok is the perfect choice, given that he’s about the closest thing we have to an idol star who can actually act. As we know, the guy enjoys a spectacle, has outlandish fashion sense (see exhibits A, B, and C), can sing (pretty well, actually), and has attempted to rap (somewhat less impressively). He’s halfway there already!

You’re Beautiful is scheduled for its premiere in October. It will follow SBS’s current Wednesday-Thursday series Swallow the Sun, and marks Jang Geun-seok’s next drama project follwing last year’s Beethoven Virus.

Via E Daily

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• Hong Gil Dong: Episode 1

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Clockwise: 2NE1, 2PM, Wonder Girls, Shinee

Hmmm. With the idol-group trend on the rise lately, and a new idol group popping up seemingly every month, SBS is planning a television series all about them. (No, the above-pictured stars aren’t (necessarily) in it.)

In contrast to all those variety shows featuring pre-existing idol stars (which are more like reality shows), this one is a drama about a fictional group — and it’s written by the scriptwriting duo the Hong sisters (Hong Mi-ran, Hong Jung-eun), who brought us Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, My Girl, Fantasy Couple, and Hong Gil Dong. (As far as drama scriptwriters go, they’re among the more famous.)

The drama will be called You’re Beautiful [미남이시네요] and will look at the birth of and behind-the-scenes life of an idol group as the members encounter various developments, setbacks, and loves. In that sense, it’s sorta like what the 2006 MBC series Over the Rainbow did — which, ironically, was written by the other group of Hong sisters (Hong Jin-ah, Hong Ja-ram). Only, hopefully this drama will showcase the Hong sisters’ trademark quirky characters and zippy comedy (Over the Rainbow was rather slow and painful, wasn’t it?).

The drama has not yet begun casting and is being planned to broadcast sometime this fall on SBS.

So now the question is: Will it star any actual idol stars?

Via Hankook Ilbo

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Obviously I love Kang Ji Hwan, but I didn’t have to add any superlatives to the following praise given by Hong Gil Dong’s writing team, the Hong sisters. Normally I take these kinds of end-of-series interviews with a pinch of salt (because the comments are almost always going to be positive — who wants to alienate co-workers? — and therefore robbed of meaning), but in this case I find myself in total agreement.

Of course, that could be my bias taking over.

Hong Gil Dong’s sister writers Hong Jung Eun, Hong Mi Ran: “Kang Ji Hwan is an actor to be thankful for”

“As writers, it’s a fortunate thing to meet with an actor who acts with his all his passion and emotions like Kang Ji Hwan.”

In a recent interview with Newsen, sister scriptwriters Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran of KBS2’s Wednesday-Thursday drama Hong Gil Dong talked of feeling grateful toward actor Kang Ji Hwan as the main character who showed strong acting and bore the responsibility for leading the drama through its end. …

SONG OF THE DAY

Yi Sung Yol – “새벽, 아침의 문” (Dawn, the door to morning) [ Download ]

 
More on Kang Ji Hwan >>

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So I was thinking about the ending of Witch Amusement, and of how much more I enjoyed the director’s prior two series, 2005’s Delightful Girl Choon Hyang and 2006’s My Girl. And since both of those were written by the Hong sisters screenwriting team, Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran, I naturally thought to their first series after My Girl: Fantasy Couple (환상의커플) (aka Couple or Trouble), which ended its run in December 2006.

It also reminded me of an interview with Fantasy Couple’s PD, Kim Sang Ho, which I’d read months ago and found endlessly fascinating, regarding the process of actually producing these dramas. It also shed some light on the behind-the-scenes issues that explained some of the choices they made in the drama’s storyline. It was so interesting (to me) I’d posted up the translation on soompi, so I’m reposting it here behind the cut.

SONG OF THE DAY

Fantasy Couple OST – “Want U” by Ji Young Sun [ Download ]

There are some spoilers ahead about Fantasy Couple, so be forewarned >>

Filed under: Drama Reactions & Reviews by javabeans - 19 Comments →