After a relatively quiet run, KBS’s weekend drama Hot-Blooded Salesman (or simply Hot Blood) ended yesterday with a 9.0% rating (AGB). While not a flop, it’s a bit of a disappointment for the drama starring Park Hae-jin, Chae Jung-ahn, and Choi Chul-ho.

The plot of Hot-Blooded Salesmen largely featured the rivalries between the characters as they sought to sell cars and make money, and the drama earned positive response for its depiction of the competitive spirit and drive of its cast. Like War of Money and the stalled project Big Fish (Daemul), this is an adaptation from a manhwa created by Park In-kwon.

The finale’s rating was about on par with its overall numbers, and while the drama had its fans, it seems to have had a low-key run. I’ve caught it on and off on KBS World, and it’s not a bad drama; it has a nice, warm tone that is not overtly comic but has some lighthearted moments. Park Hae-jin’s portrayal of his character’s passion and motivation makes you root for him, and there’s some fun camaraderie. However, the drama ultimately didn’t grab me or make me interested enough to follow regularly. It also ran against some solid competition with SBS’s upbeat Smile and MBC’s Assorted Gems.

Via Star News, Arts News

RELATED POSTS

• Tentative starts for new weekend dramas
• Preview videos for Hot-Blooded Salesman
• Chae Jung-ahn in Hot-Blooded Salesman

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Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, Hot-Blooded Salesman, Park Hae-jin

Two new dramas premiered this weekend, to mixed reactions: MBC’s Creating Destiny starring Eugene, above, and KBS’s Hot-Blooded Salesman, starring Chae Jung-ahn and Park Hae-jin.

Perhaps Tamra fans will feel vindicated (or further insulted?) to know that the drama that replaced it (after Tamra was unceremoniously slashed) pulled in even lower numbers; Creating Destiny only managed a very low 3.5% for its first outing.

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Read the rest of Tentative starts for new weekend dramas (395 words)

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Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, drama ratings, Eugene, Hot-Blooded Salesman, Ki Tae-young, Park Hae-jin

Hot-Blooded Salesman [열혈장사꾼] is the new KBS drama series starring Chae Jung-ahn (Cain & Abel) and Park Hae-jin (East of Eden) as, well, hot-blooded salesmen. Specifically, car salesmen. In these stills and preview clips (watch below), Chae gets into character showing off a sexier image than her usual elegant one.

These new stills come from scenes recently filmed in Seoul’s Kangnam district at a foreign car dealership. The scene in which Chae wields a sword (shown in previously released stills) depicts the younger, more innocent version of her character acting the part of a hero. Following her entree into the business world, however, she becomes cold and successful as a famous car dealer.

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Read the rest of Preview videos for Hot-Blooded Salesman (77 words)

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Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, Park Hae-jin

Finally, news of a new KBS weekend drama! (The historical series Iron Empress has occupied the slot for many months, and is finally heading to its close. I, for one, am happy to see another contemporary offering take its place.)

The show to take that prime-time slot in October is called Hot-Blooded Salesman [열혈장사꾼], and stars Chae Jung-ahn (Cain & Abel, Coffee Prince), Park Hae-jin (East of Eden), and Choi Chul-ho (Partner, Queen of Housewives).

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Read the rest of Chae Jung-ahn in the Hot-Blooded Salesman (268 words)

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Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, Choi Chul-ho, Hot-Blooded Salesman, Park Hae-jin

Awards!

The 45th Baeksang Arts Awards were held on the evening of February 27, which means: lots of awards for film and television stars, and lots of clothes to gawk at.

There were no real surprises in the winners list; they’re mostly a variation of the same lists we’ve been seeing from the other ceremonies in the winter awards season. Some film winners include A Movie is a Movie and My Dear Enemy, while acting honors went to many of the Daesang winners from earlier awards, like Kim Myung-min, Moon Geun-young, and Sohn Ye-jin. Oh, and a little actor going by the name of Lee Min-ho took home one of the newcomer awards — but a stumble on the red carpet keeps him humble.

Check out all the winners (and the clothes!) beyond the jump:

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Read the rest of 45th Baeksang Arts Awards (1,953 words)

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Post tags: Andre Kim, awards, Gong Hyo-jin, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Jang Geun-seok, Joo Ji-hoon, Joo Jin-mo, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Joon, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Myung-min, Lee Min-ho, Lee Tae-ran, Moon Chae-won, Moon Geun-young, Park Bo-young, Park Hae-jin, Park Shi-yeon, So Ji-sub, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Chang-eui, Yoon Eun-hye

On January 15, the Asia Model Festival Awards were held at Seoul’s COEX Convention Hall. The event took “Asia is One” as its slogan, probably to explain a few of the awards handed to (pan-)Asian actors (read: non-Korean) like Joe Cheng and Hayashi Tantan.

I’m not really sure about how they decided on the winners, which include both actors and models, but as with so many of these events, it’s not so much about the relevance as it is about the pretty.

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Read the rest of Asia Model Festival Awards (706 words)

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Post tags: Andre Kim, awards, Han Ji-hye, Kim Daul, Kim Jae-wook, Lee Da-hae, Oh Ji-ho, Park Hae-jin, Seo In-young

All right, we’ve seen MBC’s Acting Awards (met with much criticism) and SBS’s awards, so now we close out the broadcast station awards with the 2008 KBS Acting Awards.

No real surprise (or controversy) for KBS’s Daesang, awarded to veteran actress Kim Hye-ja for her role in the popular series Mom’s Dead Upset. Personally, I don’t know that Kim was outstanding in that drama specifically, but there’s no doubt she’s built up an impressive, long-running career and therefore this was probably more of an opportunity to give her a lifetime-achievement-ish Daesang.

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Read the rest of 2008 KBS Drama Awards (781 words)

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Post tags: awards, Bae Jong-ok, Choi Jung-won, Eom Ki-joon, Han Ji-hye, Jang Geun-seok, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Hye-ja, Kim Ji-soo, Lee Hana, Lee Yoon-ji, Park Hae-jin, Park Min-young, Shim Eun-kyung, Song Il-kook, Sung Yuri, Yoon-ah