There are lots of awards handed out, for sure, but at least SBS has some strong shows this year, with great performances all around in the competition. Go Hyun-jung stacks up another Daesang for her turn as the first Korean female president in Daemul, which if I’m to go based on all the parodies, involved lots of shouting in the rain. There’s a performance by Noh Min-woo, a THREE-way tie for Best Couple, and of course, some red carpet hits and misses.

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Read the rest of 2010 SBS Drama Awards (1,983 words)

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Post tags: awards, Choi Jin-hyuk, Go Hyun-jung, Ha Ji-won, Ham Eun-jung, Han Chae-ah, Han Hye-jin, Hong Ji-min, Hwang Jung-eum, Hyun Bin, Joo Sang-wook, Jung Bo-seok, Jung Seok-won, Kang Sung, Kim Jung-eun, Kim So-yeon, Kim Soo-hyun, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Hee-jin, Lee Jong-seok, Lee Seung-gi, Lee Soo-kyung, Min Hyo-rin, Moon Chae-won, Park Jin-hee, Philip Lee, Shin Mina, Shin Sung-rok, Yoo Min

MBC hosted its awards ceremony for the 2008 Acting Awards on December 30. Let me first reiterate that I think these end-of-year broadcast-station awards are mostly meaningless. That said, this year’s Daesangs were TOTAL WEAKSAUCE, MBC. Top honor (the “Daesang” grand prize) went to…

Oh, you mean it was split this year? Between Beethoven Virus‘s much-lauded epitome of awesomeness, Kim Myung-min, and East of Eden‘s overblown and overrated Song Seung-heon?? I mean, I could understand going for the sentimental vote and awarding deceased Choi Jin-shil (she got a lifetime achievement instead), but Song Seung-heon winning acting awards is in itself a joke.

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Read the rest of 2008 MBC Acting Awards (1,572 words)

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Post tags: awards, Bae Yong-joon, Beethoven Virus, Choi Jin-shil, Dennis Oh, East of Eden, Han Ji-hye, Han Ji-min, Jang Geun-seok, Ji Sung, Jung Il-woo, Jung Jun-ho, Kim Min-jung, Kim Myung-min, Lee Dong-gun, Lee Hana, Lee Jia, Lee Jun-ki, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Yeon-hee, Moon Sori, New Heart, Seo Shin-ae, Shin Sung-rok, Song Seung-heon, The Last Scandal of My Life, Yoon Eun-hye, Yoon Jin-seo

Three Dads, One Mom is… not a good show.

You know how sometimes you might be watching a drama, say, and something happens in the latter part of the drama that is exactly like what happened earlier in the drama? For instance, the mother of the rich hero tries to buy off her son’s poor girlfriend, or a misunderstanding causes a rift between two people. Or two people arrive at the same crowded venue looking for each other and just barely miss each other as they walk by, oblivious to the other. These are just examples of overused and super-trite occurrences that I may put up with once in a drama, but when they appear again later, it’s irritating because clearly they are out of ideas.

Anyway, it’s like that for Three Dads, only instead of occasionally, it’s every single episode, and the repetition is in triplicate form. It’s bad enough for a contrivance to push along your plot, but when that contrivance continually happens THREE TIMES in a row, it’s aggravating. There’s very little story going on (who needs story when you can just repeat stuff three times?).

Plus Eugene is really starting to get annoying — it’s partly her, and it’s partly her stupid character. (How they squandered such talents in their supporting cast I will never know.) So given that the two problematic roles are the lead female and the lead male…

I considered following along and recapping the series anyway just for the fun of it, but I can just see the initial humor of the situation degenerating into frustration. There’s a fine line between “so bad it’s fun(ny)” and “so bad I want to shoot something.”

SONG OF THE DAY

As One – “Zza Zza La!” from their latest “Sponge Remake 2008″ single.
[ Download ]

 
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Read the rest of Three Dads, One Mom: Episode 4 (1,713 words)

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Post tags: Eugene, Jae Hee, Jo Hyun-jae, Shin Sung-rok, Three Dads, One Mom

I wasn’t sure I’d be continuing to cover Three Dads, One Mom (and I’m still not convinced), but I had time to watch it tonight with its competition postponing its episodes for the day. (The drama received a hefty ratings bump as well, nearly tripling from its very low premiere numbers of approx 5% to somewhere in the 14% vicinity. The true test will be seeing if the upward bump sticks, or was a mere blip because of a lack of counterprogramming.)

I think I’ve also narrowed down my issues to the drama. Sorry to say, his name is Jo Hyun Jae. That’s not the only aspect that gives me pause, but it is the most prominent. I don’t hate him — I want to like him, really — and the problem isn’t that he’s a bad actor and incapable of better. It’s precisely that he IS capable of doing better that makes it seem more glaring that he’s kinda phoning it in. I know it’s just a simple romantic comedy, but Jae Hee and Shin Sung Rok are playing equally simple characters and yet they’re throwing themselves into their roles with gusto. Jo Hyun Jae seems to be coasting along.

Eugene, on the other hand, may not be the world’s most skilled actress, but she’s cute as a button and her slight overacting seems to fit with the drama, so I’m not too bothered. Yet.

SONG OF THE DAY

Three Dads, One Mom OST – “Everything” by Eve [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Three Dads, One Mom: Episode 3 (1,835 words)

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Post tags: Eugene, Jae Hee, Jo Hyun-jae, Shin Sung-rok, Three Dads, One Mom

Finally caught the first two episodes of the new KBS Wednesday-Thursday drama Three Dads, One Mom, and have a bit of a mixed reaction. On one hand, there’s a very cute quality to the drama, helped in no small part by its appealing cast — and while they’re not quite superstar-famous, all four main cast members are fairly established and known names.

There are some things I like about the series and the setup; there are other things I don’t. Right now, I’m not sure which way the balance tilts. Eugene is adorably gorgeous as the one mom amidst three possible dads, best-friend bachelors played by Jo Hyun Jae, Jae Hee, and Shin Sung Rok. Their interactions, laced with a healthy dose of good-natured male camaraderie, are one of the more appealing aspects of the drama for me. I’ll wait to see how things develop before making a final judgment; for now, I plan to catch a few more episodes.

SONG OF THE DAY

Instant Romantic Floor – “Same Thing (Song For Me)” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Three Dads, One Mom: Episodes 1 & 2 (1,721 words)

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Post tags: Eugene, first episodes, Jae Hee, Jo Hyun-jae, One Mom, Shin Sung-rok, Three Dads