2007 was a rich year for drama-land. There was something for everyone, whether your tastes ran toward dark thrillers (Devil), intense dramas (White Tower), heart-warmers (Thank You), off-the-wall eccentrics (Mixed-up Investigative Agency), trendy fare (Coffee Prince), romantic comedies (Dal Ja’s Spring), and so on.

2008, on the other hand… not so much.

Every drama has its good and bad points, but it’s a lot easier to decide how you feel about one when those qualities are expressed in the extreme — i.e., very good, or very bad. When everything is a muddle in the middle, though, it’s harder to draw the lines.

That’s why in contrast to last year’s “Best” and “The Rest” designations, this year I don’t really distinguish “good” versus “bad” — or even “favorites” and “hated dramas” — and can only grade on a spectrum. I call that spectrum “MEH” with the extreme poles representing “generally watchable” and “generally unwatchable.” It’s just been that kind of year.

SONG OF THE DAY

Painter of the Wind OST – “색” (Color) by JOO [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Finding Merit in the Mediocre [Year in Review, Part 4] (4,967 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 75 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Star's Lover, Beethoven Virus, Bulhandang/Robbers, East of Eden, Gourmet, Hong Gil Dong, I Love You, Iljimae, Love & Marriage, On Air, One Mom, Rivals, Strongest Chil Woo, Tazza, The Last Scandal of My Life, The World They Live In, Three Dads, One Mom, When Night Comes, Who Are You?, year in review

The K-drama world rolled into 2008 still riding the high that was 2007, a year in which a startling number of quality dramas were made, and enjoyed. Maybe it rolled in too fast. It ended up getting smothered by the waves of its previous success. In fact, you could say that it even got hit on the head by a stray surfboard, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Depressing enough intro for ya?

But seriously, 2008 was a dark year for the K-entertainment industry, with not only dramas, but also movies suffering and generally showing poor quality. And not only that, but the economy went kablooie, and we suffered a sobering amount of tragic K-celebrity news.

Personally, this was a supremely frustrating year for a longtime and devoted K-drama fan like me. Before this year, I always gave dramas the benefit of the doubt, and would usually watch at least a certain number of episodes before I passed judgment on them, and decided to continue or discontinue watching. But this year, with every stomach-churning dud, I became more and more impatient, and started going through drama episodes like a vulture searching for roadkill. And boy, did I find a lot of roadkill.

I’m pretty sure 2008 was a record year for me in terms of abandoning dramas. And to think that I used to be the girl who would finish every drama she started, no matter how bad or how boring they were! But the older I get, the less patience I have, and the more critical I become. Besides, I’ve now realized just how precious my time really is. I don’t want to waste it on useless pap, thankyouverymuch.

Still, despite all that, there were a small handful of quality dramas this year. None of them quite matched the heights of some of the dramas of 2007, but still, any kind of quality was more than welcome in this gloomy year.

SONG OF THE DAY

La Dolce Vita – “사랑 꽃” (Love Flower) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Dahee Fanel’s 2008 Review [Year in Review, Part 3] (4,255 words)

© Dahee_Fanel for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 57 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Star's Lover, Beethoven Virus, East of Eden, guest bloggers, I Love You, Iljimae, Kingdom of Wind, La Dolce Vita, My Sweet Seoul, On Air, Rivals, Spotlight, Strongest Chil Woo, Tazza, The Painter of Wind, The World They Live In, When Night Comes, Who Are You?, year in review

How should one convey bad news in writing? By creating a buffer first. Avoid traumatizing your audience with the bad news all at once, but instead cushion the blow so that you can maintain goodwill. That textbook approach (business communication, by the way) would be dandy if the crop of 2008 dramas I watched was anything like the stellar quality of 2007. But no, this was a harvest to make one downright grumpy.

This time last year, eight dramas vied to be in my Top 3. Even the ones that disappointed weren’t half bad and at least I finished them. Not this year. I picked up around twenty dramas and dropped at least fifteen. “Dropped” is putting it mildly. I ran from some of them like a kid fleeing an apparition: hands in the air and hair standing on end. As the year wore on, my patience wore thin and my grumpiness increased.

So, no, I can’t use the buffer approach when reviewing this year’s dramas. Hedging doesn’t work for this grumpy cookie. I will present to you the worst dramas first, followed by the so-so ones, and then the few gems of 2008. Even though the year was overcast and gloomy, the sun broke through the clouds occasionally and when it did the effect was glorious. Let’s get the bad news out of the way and we can enjoy the good stuff, shall we?

SONG OF THE DAY

Jin Yi-han – “This is the Moment” which he sang (live!) in Episode 3 of Who Are You. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of A Grump Reviews 2008 [Year in Review, Part 2] (4,881 words)

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Post tags: Beethoven Virus, Bulhandang/Robbers, Conspiracy in the Court, East of Eden, Gourmet, guest bloggers, Hong Gil Dong, I Love You, Kingdom of Wind, La Dolce Vita, On Air, One Mom, Rivals, Strongest Chil Woo, The Last Scandal of My Life, The Painter of Wind, The World They Live In, Three Dads, One Mom, Who Are You?, year in review

Like MBC before it, KBS has also released its list of year-end acting award nominees.

And while Hong Gil Dong (above) wasn’t the most prominent drama featured among the contenders (that would have to be the daily drama Mom’s Dead Upset, which brought in a whopping four nominations just in the Daesang category), it’s the one I watched and enjoyed in what I thought was a rather lackluster list. (Also! Kang! Ji! Hwan!)

The (very long) list of KBS actors is topped by a subset of nine Daesang contenders, which includes the aforementioned crowd of Mom’s Dead Upset veterans as well as Song Il-kook in the sageuk Kingdom of the Wind, Kim Sang-kyung in the sageuk Great King Sejong, and Kang Ji-hwan in the fusion-sageuk Hong Gil Dong. (A big sageuk year, no?)

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Read the rest of KBS nominates (practically everyone) for acting awards (690 words)

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Post tags: awards, Hometown of Legends, Hong Gil Dong, Jang Geun-seok, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Ji-soo, Lee Hana, Lee Jong-hyuk, Park Min-young, Rivals, Sung Yuri, Women in the Sun, You're My Destiny

I was thinking how I’ve been watching lots of first episodes of dramas these days, but haven’t found anything to dive into since the end of Who Are You? It’s starting to feel like going on a string of disappointing first dates — measuring up expectations versus performance, anticipation versus letdown, etc.

You know, there’s that date you’re really looking forward to, so you get dressed up and put on your heels and makeup and count down the hours, and he turns out to be a total dud. Or the date you agreed to because it was easier to give the guy your number than to try to invent an excuse not to because those excuses always come out embarrassingly half-assed — like you say you don’t have a phone and then it rings, or something — but then you end up having a good time.

I didn’t exactly intend to go off on an extended metaphor, but when I thought about all the recent dramas I’ve caught, they all seemed to fit (more or less).

SONG OF THE DAY

G.O.D. – “Falling” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of First-date dramas (1,378 words)

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Post tags: Bulhandang/Robbers, Coffee Prince, Hong Gil Dong, I Love You, Iljimae, La Dolce Vita, On Air, ranty/ravey, Rivals, Spotlight, stuff I dig, The Last Scandal of My Life, Tokyo Showers, Who Are You?, Why Did You Come To Our House, Yi San

Phew, lots to talk about today:

• Get ready to welcome Go Soo back from the military! He completes his mandatory service this week; he’ll be released on the 25th and plans to have a fanmeeting that very day in Seoul. He gets back to work immediately in a play (read here) which premieres in May.
• On Air, which is doing very well in the ratings, has its next batch of all-star cameos lined up. They’ve already featured Lee Hyori and Jeon Do Yeon, among others; now they’ll feature Shin Dong Wook, Lee Dong Kyu, and comedian Kim Jae Dong. The series has been extended three episodes for a total of 23.
• As for other extensions, On Air’s timeslot competitor Who Are You? has been rumored to be extended by one episode to 17 total, and while I think this may be likely, I’m not ready to get excited until I see it confirmed somewhere outside the fan message board. (No offense to fans — they often have the earliest info, but I’d rather play it safe with an official statement.)
• Chae Rim suffered an injury over the weekend while filming for her new series Rivals. In a scene where her character argues with Lee Jin Wook’s bratty presidential-son character in a ramen restaurant, Chae Rim slipped on some fallen ramen on the ground and hit her hip on a sharp corner (of, I assume, a table). She was taken to the hospital, but no bones were broken and the injury appears to be manageable.

• Choi Jin-yi, the lead singer of rock band Rumble Fish, is set to go solo with her first single “Brilliant Days” (she’d already recorded a song with the group MC The Max earlier this year). Wait, Rumble Fish is still together, right??
• Singer-actor Lee Ji Hoon (Hello Miss, New Heart) takes his next role starring with Girls Generation pop star Yoon Ah in the upcoming KBS daily drama You’re My Destiny. He’s also set to release his sixth album (his first in four years) on May 13.
• At the wrap party for their film I Feel Good on the 18th, stars Eugene (Three Dads, One Mom) and Lee Seon Kyun (Coffee Prince, White Tower) engaged in an impromptu mini song battle. While singing karaoke, the two were prodded on by continuous encores, so they complied and sang four or five songs. In the film, she plays an pop-singer idol; it also stars Lee Soo Kyung (Soulmate, Golden Age of Daughters-in-Law) and Lee Minki (Mixed-up Investigative Agency, Dal Ja’s Spring), who were also in attendance, along with approximately 100 staff members.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Rumble Fish – “으라차차” (eu-ra-cha-cha) [ Download ]

RELATED POSTS

• Rivals (KBS)
• Who Are You: Episode 13
• News bites: April 13, 2008
• Broadcast delays for Who Are You?, On Air
• On Air: First impressions
• Anticipating Go Soo’s comeback
• Eugene and Minki back together

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chae Rim, Eugene, Go Soo, Lee Ji-hoon, Lee Seon-kyun, On Air, Rivals, Who Are You?

Rivals isn’t necessarily a bad show… but there’s something about it that smacks of the ridiculous. Chae Rim is pretty good and so is the subtler Lee Jong Hyuk; they have good chemistry despite a really obvious setup. But there’s something that reminds me really strongly of Air City, and it’s not just the Lee Jin Wook connection — and those of you who suffered through that series alongside me will know that’s not a good thing in my book. It’s over-the-top and tries really, really hard — and while it hits the mark half the time, that means it misses the other half.

I will say, though, that if it does prove to be bad, at least Rivals shows signs of being the fun-bad type. I laughed a lot in the first two episodes — although probably in all the wrong places. Rivals is funny partly because it takes itself so seriously, but it should really let itself in on the joke.

SONG OF THE DAY

Oriental Funk Stew – “날아” (Fly) [ zShare download ]

 
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Read the rest of Rivals (KBS) (1,603 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 34 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chae Rim, episode recaps, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Jong-hyuk, Rivals