Heading to the Ground; Dream

2009 was supposed to be the year of the sports drama revival, and it has had its share of sports-themed series, with at least another still to come. Unfortunately, they’ve all tanked.

The two currently struggling on the air are SBS’s fighting drama Dream, which has settled around the 4% mark for the bulk of its run, and MBC’s soccer series Heading to the Ground, which kicked off with a 7.2%, which dropped to an inauspicious 5.6% for its second episode and heads into its second week today.

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With casting complete, production is proceeding for MBC’s soccer drama Heading to the Ground [맨땅에 헤딩], which recently held its first script reading in Ilsan, Kyunggi province.

Among the actors present were the drama’s lead star U-Know Yunho of idol band Dong Bang Shin Ki, who had just arrived from a trip to Japan, as well as Go Ara (Who Are You), Lee Yoon-ji (Pure 19), and Lee Sang-yoon (I Love You, Don’t Cry).

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I had a mixed reaction to today’s premiere episode of the SBS drama Dream. Perhaps viewers agreed, as the first installment drew a low 5.4% rating against MBC’s Queen Seon-deok (32.7%) and KBS’s The Man Who Can’t Get Married (8%).

Note that this number was marginally better than its predecessor Ja Myung Go’s opening number (4.1%), but lower than its finale last week (7.2%). But I’ve said many times that a first episode rating number doesn’t necessarily mean much; it speaks more to the anticipation, not the quality.

SONG OF THE DAY

Bobby Kim – “Maybe” [ Download ]

DREAM Episode 1 >>

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Ha! Just days after refuting the rumors, it has been announced that 23-year-old DBSK singer U-Know Yunho is indeed making his acting debut in the soccer drama Heading to the Ground [맨땅에 헤딩].

The singer, born Jung Yun-ho, takes on the character of “Cha Bong-kun,” a role recently vacated by Kim Rae-won because of Kim’s mandatory army obligation. To achieve the impossible goal of making it as a national player, the character pours all his passion into realizing the dream. While he “has nothing to his name, the drama tells the miraculous success story of passionate soccer player Cha Bong-kun.”

U-Know Yunho said of the role, “I really like the character of Cha Bong-kun. Reading the script, my heart overflowed with emotion. I want to act that feeling with sincerity.”

Heading to the Ground follows the Wednesday-Thursday horror drama Hon on MBC and premieres on September 9. No confirmation yet on the casting of his love interest, although Go Ara remains in contention

Via My Daily, Newsis

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Go Ara

After a brief rocky period for the producers, Go Ara’s name has risen as top contender to lead MBC’s soccer drama Heading to the Ground [맨 땅에 헤딩 -- and if anyone has a better translation, I'm all ears!].

The drama production had been imperiled once its lead star Kim Rae-won had to drop out to enlist in the army this year. I read last week that the production was having a hard time finding a replacement actor, and the tone of the news was not good for the drama.

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