With the year coming to an end, that means it’s time to take stock of the past twelve months (well, eleven really) in kdramas. The broadcast stations will be holding their awards ceremonies at the end of the month, and I’m working on my wrap-up of 2009′s offerings — as are some very talented (and prolific!) drama-watching fans — which I’ll post up closer to the end of the year.

But this is your turn to weigh in on what you liked or didn’t. I didn’t do a year-end poll last year (after putting one up in 2007) and people seemed to really want one, so it’s back.

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Read the rest of How was 2009 for you? (1,304 words)

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Post tags: A Star's Lover, Accidental Couple, Angel's Temptation, Boys Before Flowers, Brilliant Legacy, Cain and Abel, Cinderella Man, City Hall, Dream, Friend, Heading to the Ground, Hero, Hon, IRIS, Ja Myung Go, Job Well Done, Loving You a Thousand Times, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen of Housewives, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Strike Love, Style, Tamra the Island, Triple, year in review

SBS’s sageuk Ja Myung Go was supposed to be a 50-episode fusion historical extravaganza, but, as we know, it’s had its share of troubles. The drama took too long to introduce its adult stars (six weeks), including headliner Jung Ryeo-won, and never really caught on. Once the storyline got going in earnest, competitor Queen Seon-deok was kicking its butt in the Monday-Tuesday ratings and Ja Myung Go‘s episode order was cut to 39.

Now that the drama has ended (it aired its last episode today, Tuesday the 21st), its star Jung Ryeo-won expressed her disappointment with her sageuk debut upon its wrap-up. She posted on her mini-homepage, “Farewell, my Ja-myung. I’m sorry, Ja-myung.”

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Read the rest of Jung Ryeo-won says goodbye to Ja Myung Go (212 words)

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Post tags: Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won

Queen Seon-deok, MBC’s historical extravaganza, got off to a decent start today with a first-place premiere at a 16% rating. Ja Myung Go, already nervous, may as well be put on death watch.

In most cases, a first-episode rating number isn’t too important (ratings can change greatly over the course of a drama’s run), but Ja Myung Go is currently awaiting a final decision on whether or not to curtail its 50-episode run by six weeks, or 12 episodes, down to 38 episodes total; it is reportedly monitoring Seon-deok‘s opening numbers closely. Ja Myung Go has been drawing positive response for its acting, but given that its numbers are not rising from its current 10.4% (Story of a Man swung upward just a little bit at 9.8%), I think it was hoping for more than it got. The actors are preparing themselves for an early finish.

The drama to follow Ja Myung Go, Dream, is preparing to begin filming. (It stars Joo Jin-mo, Kim Bum, and Sohn Dam-bi and features Kim Bum as a juvenile delinquent who becomes a mixed martial arts fighter.)

Meanwhile, Seon-deok has drawn positive response for the acting of its leading lady, Go Hyun-jung; the writer has praised Go’s performance as “better than expected.” Her co-star Lee Yo-won will make her appearance a bit later as Queen Seon-deok herself.

Via My Daily, Segye, and Segye again

RELATED POSTS

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• Go Hyun-jung as Lady Mi-shil
• Who’s watching Ja Myung Go?

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Post tags: Go Hyun-jung, Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won, Queen Seon-deok

News is starting to leak that SBS’s Ja Myung Go [자명고] is hurrying to wrap up and will very likely end early, falling short of its initial 50-episode plan to sign off at Episode 39.

Ouch. I actually feel sorry for the drama production, because it’s like they’ve essentially given up on their grand historical series.

Ja Myung Go got off to a weak start, and was soundly beaten by Queen of Housewives, unable to pull itself out of single-digit ratings. It was banking on improving once the adult characters replaced the children about 12 episodes in. After all, the series was heavily promoted with its pretty lead stars, Jung Ryeo-won (My Name Is Kim Sam-soon) and Park Min-young (I Am Sam), playing rival sisters.

However, ratings didn’t pick up much, and now, with 19 episodes broadcast, the drama is pretty much toast.

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Read the rest of Failing Ja Myung Go may call it quits early (351 words)

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Post tags: drama ratings, Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won, Park Min-young

And I ask that as a real question, not in sarcasm, because it seems the large-scale extravaganza is meeting with all sorts of “disheartening” setbacks and “embarrassments,” as several articles point out.

SBS’s current Monday-Tuesday drama Ja Myung Go [자명고] was hyped up as a big action historical series starring Jung Ryeo-won and was expected to do much better than the single-digit ratings it’s pulling in.

On top of that, the drama recently had an on-set accident: On April 21, a torch apparatus exploded at the filming location in Goyang, Kyeonggi province, and set off a fire. The accident injured one staff member and sent that person to the hospital with burns.

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Read the rest of Who’s watching Ja Myung Go? (392 words)

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Post tags: drama ratings, Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won, Park Min-young

So, what’s airing these days?

After a popular phenomenon of a drama ends, people tend to wonder, What next? Even if you haven’t been watching Boys Before Flowers, maybe you’re wondering what else is out there.

So here’s a rundown of all the dramas currently airing, and a list of those to keep an eye on as they beginning premiering soon. I can’t speak for every single drama out there, but I’ve tried to provide most of them with a short description and/or personal impression.

SONG OF THE DAY

Fly to the Sky – “Song For You” from their latest (and last) album, “Decennium.” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Currently airing dramas: A roundup (1,878 words)

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Post tags: Cain and Abel, Cinderella Man, City Hall, Friend, IRIS, Iron Empress, Ja Myung Go, Queen of Housewives, Return of Iljimae, Six Months, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Swallow the Sun, Triple

There are a couple of new dramas on the block, although I don’t know if either of them will make a splash. Both come from MBC, who’s probably sweating bullets now that East of Eden has left the building, and taken with it its high-profile stars, its twisty storylines, its onscreen and offscreen drama — and oh yeah, its consistently solid ratings.

The first of the new shows to air is the Chae Rim vehicle Good Job, Good Job [잘했군 잘했어], which kicked off this weekend. Next will be Monday and Tuesday’s new offering, Queen of Housewives [내조의 여왕].

The reason I think both MBC dramas have a steep uphill climb ahead of them isn’t because they’re both sure to suck. Rather, both look cheerfully good-natured; too bad this is the age of the “makjang drama” — those over-the-top dramas we love to hate but watch anyway (or 욕하면서 보는 드라마).

(No really, it’s practically becoming a genre in and of itself. Evil characters, birth secrets, terminal illnesses, over-the-top violence, convoluted love geometry — this is the era of all of ‘em.)

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Read the rest of Good Job, Queen of Housewives (451 words)

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Post tags: Chae Rim, Daniel Choi, drama ratings, Eom Ki-joon, Ja Myung Go, Job Well Done, Kim Nam-joo, Oh Ji-ho, Queen of Housewives, Seo Hyo-rim

So, who caught the premiere of Jung Ryeo-won‘s new grand historical series Ja Myung Go [자명고]? (It has apparently dropped the “Princess” from its title.)

…Nobody? Well, you’re not alone — ratings were abysmal (4.1%), considering the months of hype leading up to it.

After trying to maneuver its premiere to evade ratings behemoths East of Eden and Boys Before Flowers, Ja Myung Go‘s Monday “special” broadcast pulled in a weak 5.8%. But that wasn’t too upsetting, since specials that air before a drama’s premiere tend to draw low numbers.

But its first episode on Tuesday aired at probably the worst time ever — it had to contend with the ever-increasing numbers for BBF and the grand exit for Eden.

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Read the rest of Ja Myung Go kicks off with a whimper (120 words)

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Post tags: Boys Before Flowers, drama ratings, East of Eden, Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won, Park Min-young

SBS’s upcoming sageuk series Princess Ja-myung, described as a “heroine fantasy sageuk,” has just begun shooting. In the stills shown here, Jung Ryeo-won (top) and Park Min-young show some of their newly developed fighting skills, with Jung playing Princess Ja-myung, and Park as her younger sister, Princess Nak-rang.

In folklore, the story of Nak-rang typically centers around her love story with Prince Ho-dong, with the “ja-myung-go” being a drum that alerted her to invaders. Let’s say this drama takes a bit of creative license in re-creating Ja-myung also as a person. (The drum, it appears, still figures in the story.)

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Read the rest of Fighting princesses Ja-myung and Nak-rang (86 words)

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Post tags: Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won, Park Min-young

Note: The following is taken from a Korean article, so the opinions therein aren’t necessarily my own. Still, it’s a look into the trends we can expect in the coming year of dramas. (For instance: Not one, but TWO figure-skating dramas?)

2009 looks like a bright new year. This year, there are many dramas to be produced and aired that may capture viewer hearts. Last year, the economic slump and the shrinking of the drama market caused many difficulties for drama production, a number of dramas still drew viewer notice.

Last year, the sageuk, which used to be a sure thing, fell back, and professional-themed series like medical- or broadcast-centered dramas came into the spotlight. Also, daily and weekend dramas that were strongly criticized had high ratings with trite characters, sharp contrasts between good and evil, conventional conflicts, extreme plot setups, and so forth. On top of that, there were many dramas looking to score success featuring top stars that failed.

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Read the rest of Drama trends for 2009 (1,390 words)

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Post tags: Cain and Abel, Chae Shi-ra, Cinderella Man, drama production, Go Hyun-jung, Han Ji-min, IRIS, Iron Empress, Ja Myung Go, Ji Sung, Kim Tae-hee, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Yo-won, Min Hyo-rin, Park Min-young, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Shin Hyun-joon, So Ji-sub, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun, Triple, Yoon Kye-sang