Although Tamra the Island has finished airing, gallivanter and myself have volunteered to continue Javabeans’ efforts to offer recaps to Dramabeans readers. So, in the next weeks, we’re hoping to share detailed recaps, thoughts and opinions on this little treasure of a drama.

Now a side note for Tamra: Unfortunately the powers of MBC decided to cut the original 20 episodes to 16 episodes and by Episode 10 we start seeing the weird effects of crazy editing to keep the storylines flowing. What we’re also hoping to do is recap the original episodes once the DVD release comes out. It’ll be interesting to do a comparison between the editions and look at how much more of the characters/plot/themes we see in an extra 4 hours of viewing time- watch this space!

Otherwise, it’s easy to write about Tamra retrospectively but this could spoil it for first time readers/watchers so we’ll try to recap as we watched it the first time round, keeping the surprises and discoveries fresh.

We really hope you enjoy the recaps; happy reading!

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On October 8, the 14th Pusan International Film Festival, or PIFF, opened in Busan. (Yes, the city takes a different official spelling than the film festival. Blame inconsistent Romanization.)

As the largest film festival in Korea, it drew a large list of attendees, as you can see from the long list of red-carpet walkers. It was definitely a star-studded opening night, and even included one familiar Hollywood face (Josh Hartnett).

This year’s PIFF features its largest lineup to date, screening 355 films from 70 countries, and closes on the 16th.

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Despite fan furor, the decision to cut Tamra the Island down to 16 episodes still stands, but the MBC drama will be exported abroad with its 20 episodes intact. This mirrors the scenario for MBC’s similarly chopped Strike Love, which was cut to 16 in Korea but exported to Japan with all its original episodes.

Because MBC’s decision came relatively late, Tamra’s production team will be working to cut the remaining material down to size for the remainder of its MBC run. The drama’s first ten episodes were aired intact; beginning with the upcoming weekend, however, Episodes 11 through 16 will show re-worked material of the story that had originally been planned for Episodes 11 to 20. Tamra the Island had filmed much of its show prior to broadcast, but not all of it; the production now has some extra time to complete the filming for the last several episodes according to their original plan, even though those portions will not air in Korea.

What a weird, illogical mess. I’m thinking that if you’re a fan, you may want to wait for the complete version from the overseas broadcasts. Or a DVD release. (The drama has been licensed to air in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand.)

The fans, meanwhile, are still furious and the campaign to save the show’s original vision is still raging; there are now more than 10,000 posts opposing the decision on the drama’s homepage and street protests have been organized. However, I doubt it will have an effect: If there was the least shot of getting MBC to change its mind, it was dashed over the weekend, when even in the midst of all this attention the drama failed to improve its 5% ratings. Sons of Sol Pharmacy, in the meantime, crushed its competitor as its story heads into its last phases, breaking the 40% ratings mark.

Via Hankyung

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Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 43 Comments →

Im Joo-hwan

When MBC announced that Tamra the Island was getting cut and ending early, they pissed off fans and even spurred them to publish a large ad in a daily newspaper protesting the decision. (As I said before, the ratings are low but this is a mania drama, meaning that the fans it has amassed are passionate — and vocal.)

The ad, which appeared on September 3, took the broadcasting industry to task for its vice of kowtowing to ratings numbers. It was organized and signed by members of the fan cafes for actors Hwang Chan-bin (who plays William) and Lee Sun-ho (who plays Yan).

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Geez, what is MBC’s deal? First they butchered Strike Love’s ending — which already had a more fleshed-out ending filmed — and now they’re cutting their low-rated but well-received weekend drama Tamra the Island.

According to Group Eight, the drama’s production company, “We received the report from MBC that the broadcast will end with the 16th episode. As we prepared for 20 episodes, this is disappointing.”

Fan response is largely opposed to MBC’s move, saying that even if extensions are out of the question, to curtail a 20-episode drama to 16 episodes is absurd; furthermore, the drama’s own development will be impeded. Many statements opposing the decision are being posted on MBC’s drama homepage, and as of the source article’s printing on September 1, it had received 1,700 responses in protest. A further 1,179 were posted on another site, Agora.

Tamra has been lauded as a “premium drama” and called a fresh trendy sageuk, despite the ratings that have lingered around the 5% mark. That’s low, to be sure, but as I understand it, most of the drama had been filmed in advance. That means that a shortening of the drama’s run will require a lot of rushed editing. One broadcast station source expressed dismay that high-quality dramas have been unable to grab ratings numbers, and said, “If the broadcast stations cling too much to ratings numbers, they will cause adverse effects on the development of dramas.”

Via Asia Economy

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• My Name Is: Seo Woo
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