On one hand, I’m a little bummed that The Return of Iljimae has been postponed, just when I was getting excited about it.

On the other hand, the drama that will take over the time slot intended for Iljimae is General Hospital 2. I wasn’t at all into the idea of this show — I don’t love medical dramas — even with its cast lineup:

Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl, Flowers For My Life)
Kim Jung-eun (Lovers in Paris)
Ahn Jae-ryong (Goodbye Solo)
Ryu Seung-soo (Mixed-up Inveestigative Agency)
Lee Jong-won (East of Eden)
Do Ji-won (Love Me Not)
Ryu Jin (Capital Scandal)
Go Jun-hee (What’s Up Fox)

But on the other hand (yes, that’s three rhetorical hands), General Hospital 2 is being directed by Noh Do-chul — who was behind two wonderful quirky series: Soulmate and Hello, Franceskca.

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Read the rest of General Hospital bumps out Iljimae (510 words)

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Post tags: Cha Tae-hyun, directors, Kim Jung-eun, Noh Do-chul, Return of Iljimae

 
Hehe, note that with Taereung National Village, I said I’d found a series to watch, not the series to watch. The great thing about watching shows that have long since finished airing is that now, I can watch without worrying about keeping pace with the new episodes every week. This was the second show whose first episode held my interest long enough for me to finish without stopping it halfway through.

 
Hello Franceska is funny. (The title, 안녕 프란체스카, could be read as either “hello” or “goodbye,” but I’ve seen it more readily translated as “hello,” so that’s what I’m using.)

Vampire comedy. Great two-word summary, huh?

Actually, what makes Hello Franceska entertaining isn’t so much the premise (pretty good), but its execution.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Peterpan Complex – “안녕.” (“Goodbye.” Or I suppose, possibly “Hello,” but the song takes the goodbye meaning. Ironic, since I chose hello over goodbye just above, isn’t it? It’s all about context.)
Trying something new: zShare download

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Read the rest of Hello Franceska / 안녕 프란체스카 (1,965 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 43 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: first episodes, Hello Franceska, Jung Ryeo-won, Noh Do-chul, sitcoms

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BASIC INFO:
Director(s): No Do-chul, Sun Hye-yoon
Screenwriters: Jo Jin-kook, Park Eun-jung, Nam Ji-yeon
Broadcast period: 2006 March 13 – 2006 June 26
Episode total: 12* (see note at bottom)

Official MBC Website: http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/soulmate/soul/index.html

(Torrents and subs available at d-addicts.com.)

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

SONG(s) OF THE DAY

A universally praised aspect of the show is its amazing, eclectic, perfectly selected soundtrack. There are too many songs featured to even list properly in one post, but these are a few key tracks:

Nouvelle Vague – “This Is Not A Love Song.” This serves as kind of the anthem of the first episode. [ Download ]

Mon Murmure – “Jazz Cocktail.” This gives you an idea of the playful nature the show sometimes adopts. [ Download ]

Lasse Lindh – “The Stuff” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of MBC Comedy-Drama “Soulmate” (1,000 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 166 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Lee Soo-kyung, Noh Do-chul, Otani Ryohei, Philip Choi, Sa Kang, Shin Dong-wook, Soulmate