Here we are, Part 5!

As girlfriday said in her review, I’d also like to thank guest bloggers Dahee Fanel and thunderbolt for participating in this year’s year-in-review roundup. A particular thank-you goes out to GF herself for being so game to jump into this whole world of crazy with me, and I think you’ll all agree when I say that Dramabeans is better for her addition to it. I never fail to get a huge kick out of her wicked humor, or for Dahee’s frank and bold insights, or thundie’s thoughtful eloquence. We don’t always agree, but that’s exactly why I love hearing the differing points of views.

Most of all, thanks to the DB readership — that means you! — who have been so supportive, vibrant, and often laugh-out-loud funny. We don’t take you guys for granted, rest assured, and are honored by the community you’ve built here. It’s like a second home, which sounds like a metaphor but actually isn’t because with all the hours I spend here, it really IS one.

So here’s the last of the reviews! With that, we bid adieu to the past year and look forward to lots more laughs, craziness, and yes, head-pounding-WTF-ery in the new year. Bring it on, 2011.

SONG OF THE DAY

Standing Egg – “First Christmas.” The song’s a day or two late, but no matter: Hope your Christmas (or other seasonal holiday) was merry! [ Download ]

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Read the rest of 2010 Editors’ Picks [Year In Review, Part 5] (5,374 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 379 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Baker King Kim Tak-gu, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee House, Eom Ji-won, featured, Giant, Jang Hyuk, Jejoongwon, Joseon X-Files, Jung Bo-seok, Kim Gab-soo, Kim Hyun-joong, Lee Mi-sook, Micky Yoochun, Moon Geun-young, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Personal Taste, Rain, Runaway, Shin Mina, Sohn Ye-jin, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, year in review, Yoo Ah-in

This has been an exceptional year for kdramas. Just ask Kim Gab-soo, if you can catch him in an idle moment, that is. The man appeared in ten dramas this year, a number that is mind-boggling in itself and one which is bound to make Bae Yong-joon’s fans wail.

But it isn’t just the sheer volume of Kim Gab-soo awesomeness that we could feast on that makes 2010 a heady year. No, for me it was how many dramas were jostling for first place that makes this year especially exhilarating. Not since 2007 have I seen such quality or liked so many dramas in a span of just twelve months. Altogether I watched more than twenty but will exclude from this year-end review the ones that I dropped or put on hold after 1-3 episodes. That leaves me with fifteen dramas, arranged from least-liked to the one that owns my heart this year.

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Read the rest of Heady with a chance of ho hum [Year In Review, Part 3] (9,579 words)

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Post tags: Chuno, Coffee House, Comrades, Dr. Champ, featured, Giant, Jejoongwon, Joseon X-Files, Mary Stayed Out All Night, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Oh My Lady, Secret Garden, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, Wish Upon a Star, year in review

It’s December, and you know what that means around these parts: Time to reflect on the past year and see how the dramas stacked up! And boy, were there a lot of them.

As in previous years, I am planning a multi-part series (with special guest bloggers, natch!) to wrap up the year, which we’re busily writing up now — keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks! If you want a refresher on how previous years have gone, here’s this handy tag to take you right to them.

But before we tell you what we thought about the dramas of 2010, this is YOUR turn to weigh in and vote for your favorite shows, couples, bromances — and, yes, your big disappointments — in what we’re calling the Beanie Awards. They’re in your hands; give ‘em out with care!

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Read the rest of 2010 Beanie Awards: Vote for your favorite dramas of the year (1,194 words)

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Post tags: Bad Guy, Baker King Kim Tak-gu, Chuno, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee House, Comrades, Daemul, Dong Yi, Dr. Champ, featured, Giant, God of Study, I Am Legend, Jejoongwon, Joseon X-Files, Mary Stayed Out All Night, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Oh My Lady, Pasta, Personal Taste, Playful Kiss, Prosecutor Princess, Road No. 1, Runaway, Secret Garden, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, Wish Upon a Star, year in review

This week saw the finales of two Monday-Tuesday dramas, KBS’s comedic Birth of the Rich and SBS’s medical-themed period drama Jejoongwon. The former enjoyed enough of a response to extend its series by four episodes, for a total of 20. The latter began in January and wrapped up its four-month-long broadcast with Episode 36.

Both dramas have fallen in viewership behind MBC’s Dong Yi in recent weeks, which has broken the 20% mark, but viewers have expressed overall satisfaction with their endings.

Warnings to spoiler-phobes: Details about the endings will be mentioned!

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Read the rest of It’s finale week for Birth of the Rich, Jejoongwon (541 words)

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Post tags: Han Hye-jin, Jejoongwon, Ji Hyun-woo, Lee Bo-young, Lee Shi-young, Nam Goong-min, Park Yong-woo, The Birth of the Rich, Yeon Jung-hoon

KBS premiered a new drama today, the light comic drama The Birth of the Rich, to replace God of Study. Although the first episode numbers were modest at 12.1% (TNS Media), the drama received generally positive reception for its imaginative and “manhwa-like” story and its refreshing cheeriness.

Also earning some praise is lead actor Ji Hyun-woo, who plays a man who grew up poor but clings to the belief that his father is a chaebol who will claim him later. He has a comic meeting with Lee Bo-young, an heiress who lives frugally (and whose reception was a bit more tepid than Ji’s). Nam Goong-min reportedly acquits himself well as a bad guy, as does Lee Shi-young playing a spoiled heiress. (I hadn’t been too eager to catch this series, but with mostly warm comments, I’ll have to check it out to see if it’s worth a whirl.)

In the absence of God of Study and its mid-20% numbers, MBC’s Pasta rose to first place with a series high of 19.7%. It’ll likely remain strong for the remainder of its run; it wraps next week with Episode 20. Not much changed for SBS’s historical drama Jejoongwon, which held with a 13.3%. Meanwhile, SBS’s bright and comedic Wish Upon a Star solidified its stronghold with a 19.0% rating.

Via TV Report, E Daily

RELATED POSTS

• God of Study ends on a ratings high
• Seo Woo makes a surprise visit to Pasta set
• Poster released for Birth of the Rich
• Ji Hyun-woo and Lee Bo-young in Birth of a Rich Man
• Pasta: Episode 1

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 30 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: drama ratings, Jejoongwon, Ji Hyun-woo, Lee Bo-young, Pasta, The Birth of the Rich

Han Hye-jin‘s character takes to the ice in an upcoming episode of Jejoongwon, the Joseon-era medical drama airing on SBS. These stills show her wearing traditional hanbok clothing along with old-fashioned ice skates (the series takes place in the late 19th century). In the drama, Han’s character is a daughter to a government official who is always the first to acquire Western items of interest, which is how she is among the very first to try skating on ice.

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Read the rest of Han Hye-jin skates in Jejoongwon (100 words)

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Post tags: Han Hye-jin, Jejoongwon

Week 2 has yielded more of a disparity between the new Monday-Tuesday shows — while Week 1 was pretty close between all the contenders, it seems the viewers have by now selected their favorites, and the numbers reflect those choices. AGB Nielsen numbers put KBS’s school drama God of Study firmly ahead of the competition with a 21.2% rating for its third episode, leaving its rivals, SBS’s historical medical show Jejoongwon and MBC’s trendy series Pasta, duking it out for second place with a respective 13.1% and 12.8%.

I’m not terribly surprised and I don’t begrudge any one series success over the others, because quality-wise I think all three are solid. They’ve all got their charms and flaws, so this probably boils down to a matter of taste (and buzz, and casting). I suppose in a business sense this is more of a disappointment for Jejoongwon (which went in with more buzz and anticipation than Pasta). The question is whether the numbers will level off here, or if the latter two will fall further.

As for me, I’m sticking with Pasta, and keeping an eye on God of Study. Sorry, Jejoongwon, you’ll have to take a backseat for now, since I’m swamped and I’ve got another sageuk on my plate at the mo’. But what a promising drama season it’s shaping up to be; there’s a nice variety of offerings and a good number of prospects, depending on your preference.

Via Joy News, OSEN

RELATED POSTS

• New KBS dramas post strong re-broadcast numbers
• God of Study: Episodes 1-2
• Pasta: Episode 1
• The new Monday-Tuesday lineup: First impressions

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: drama ratings, God of Study, Jejoongwon, Pasta

As I’ve been saying recently (I sound like a broken record, I know), today saw the rare circumstance of four new drama series all premiering on the same night. There’s a lot of interest to see which one(s) will emerge victorious, but so far there’s no clear winner, as the numbers came out more or less even.

I usually use TNS Media numbers, which put God of Study on top with a 15.1%, followed closely by Jejoongwon with 14.9%, then Pasta with 12.2%. However, AGB Nielsen numbers (which are usually pretty similar) flip the top two, giving Jejoongwon the edge with 15.1%, then God of Study and Pasta almost even at 13.4% and 13.3%, respectively. In the earlier hour, Wish Upon a Star brought in 11%, which was a 1% increase from the premiere of its predecessor, Angel’s Temptation.

I had a hard time deciding which drama to see (and possibly recap) first, and I know I won’t be able to recap them all even if I wanted to. So rather than pick one arbitrarily, I managed to watch all four premiere episodes, and have come up with my first impressions on each.

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Read the rest of The new Monday-Tuesday lineup: First impressions (1,882 words)

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Post tags: God of Study, Jejoongwon, Pasta, Wish Upon a Star

December 23 was production press conference day for SBS’s upcoming medical period drama, Jejoongwon. The cast came dressed in character in their 1880s attire.

In addition to leads Park Yong-woo, Yeon Jung-hoon, and Han Hye-jin, also featured are Sean Richard; a new actress with a famous name, Kim Tae-hee; and former Misuda (Chitchat With Beautiful Ladies) panelist Baillie Catherine Dewar, who hails from New Zealand.

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Read the rest of Jejoongwon’s production press conference (338 words)

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Post tags: Han Hye-jin, Jejoongwon, Park Yong-woo, press conferences, Yeon Jung-hoon

Not bad, eh? Here are a couple new promo posters for SBS’s upcoming Jejoongwon [제중원], which features Park Yong-woo, Han Hye-jin, and Yeon Jung-hoon as medical students in Korea’s first school of modern medicine. The tagline on both posters reads, “Saving the country through medicine.” (The smaller text on the bottom reads, “Joseon’s first modern hospital.”)

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Read the rest of Jejoongwon’s newest promo posters (63 words)

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Post tags: Jejoongwon