KBS premiered a new Monday-Tuesday drama this week, Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang (KBS World title: Taming of the Heir), to replace Princess Has Returned. Contrary to the historical costuming above, this drama is a contemporary piece but has sageuk bits woven through it, since the story references the folk tale upon which it is based (”Princess Pyeong-gang and the Fool On-dal”) in a comic way. This, I think, is the drama’s highlight, which I’ll go into more below.

The drama probably won’t make a dent in Queen Seon-deok’s continuing domination. Still, I love Nam Sang-mi, who I think has a lot of charm despite some middling performances. I find her most winning in comedy fare, and have been wanting to see her try more of it following Bad Family. She was adorable there, and she carries over a lot of similar plucky humor here.

I don’t think Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang is going to be a great drama, but there’s something about it that caught my interest. It’s cute if you like goofy, over-the-top romantic comedies. It’s not the best of the genre, but its fusion-sageuk angle has viewers calling it fresh and fun, and it’s a light counter to the other Monday-Tuesday programming out there.

SONG OF THE DAY

Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang OST – “나란 남자” by MC Mong [ Download ]

INVINCIBLE LEE PYEONG-GANG Episodes 1-2 >>

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KBS’s current Monday-Tuesday show, Princess Has Returned [공주가 돌아왔다], has been pretty unremarkable (in ratings and in response) and ends on a similarly quiet note this week. On the other hand, I’m looking at the show to take over its slot next week with some interest — Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang [천하무적 이평강] seems to have come together rather under the radar, but now it’s got me perked up in interest.

The drama blends together sageuk elements with the contemporary in its reimagining of the classic folktale of Princess Pyeong-gang and the Fool On-dal. The fusion drama stars Nam Sang-mi (Time of Dog and Wolf) and Ji Hyun-woo (My Sweet Seoul).

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Nam Sang-mi, Park Ki-woong

Park Ki-woong (Story of a Man) is the latest to join the cast of KBS’s drama Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang [천하무적 이평강], which has already cast Nam Sang-mi (Gourmet), Ji Hyun-woo (My Sweet Seoul), Cha Ye-ryun (A Star’s Lover), and Seo Do-young (Friend, Our Legend).

Pretty decent cast, actually. Not so sold on the story…

The drama is the modern-day reimagining of the tale of the Fool On-dal and Princess Pyeong-gang, which somehow takes on the topic of golf (er?); Nam Sang-mi and Ji Hyun-woo fill the lead roles. Nam’s character is Pyeong-gang, the resourceful daughter of a golf course planner, while Ji plays On-dal, the son of a rich family. They strike up a romance despite their class differences and a lot of bickering. (I’m not sure how this is related to the original tale of On-dal and Pyeong-gang, unless it’s a reversal.)

Meanwhile, Park Ki-woong may finally be moving away from his prior image as a guy who was famous for not a whole lot (he admits to not understanding how to work on his acting until his recent noteworthy turn as an adorable autistic financial genius in Story of a Man). Previously known more for his cute and quirky appearance than anything, I’m going to guess he owes SOAM at least a little for this latest character, who is also autistic and speaks with a stutter due to a traumatic memory of losing his parents at a young age in a landslide. He finds comfort in music and rap. (Park is currently busy studying his character and practicing his rap/dance moves.) The character later falls in love with divorcee Yeon Mi-ju (bleh), but the family opposes the match because of their age difference.

Are you wondering how the story fits together? So am I. I’m not so sure about the writer-director combo, since Park Kye-ok wrote the frustrating Cain & Abel and Lee Jung-seob directed Hong Gil Dong, which was written and acted better than it was directed.

Unbeatable Lee Pyeong-gang began filming on October 1 and will premiere on KBS Mondays and Tuesdays following Princess Has Returned on November 9. Good luck going up against Queen Seon-deok!

Via Joy News, Newsen

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Following MBC’s Acting Awards on the 30th, the 31st saw awards ceremonies for the other two stations. First up: 2008 SBS Drama Awards. (KBS coming up next!)

The big news is that the SBS Daesang was awarded to the very young but very talented Moon Geun-young for her gender-bending role in the gorgeously shot historical drama Painter in the Wind. It had been widely speculated that her co-star, shunned star Park Shin-yang, might not appear after being shut out of the nominations and criticized for his exorbitant asking fees, and he in fact did not show. (I think Park’s management did not handle the War of Money pay situation well, but making a point to blackball him from SBS seems like scapegoating to me.)

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