After a pretty meh 2008, I was ready for the drama landscape to fire back up with 2009. And while there were a number of misses and disappointments — isn’t there always? — I was pretty satisfied with the dramas I watched in 2009. I still don’t think there were as many top offerings as, say, 2007, but I found a number of series to entertain me and satisfy my drama craving. There were a few selections early on that got me pumped for the year and things lagged during and after the summer months, but all told, I had an entertaining year.

(Okay, this is LONG. I tried to contain myself, really.)

SONG OF THE DAY

IRIS – “Empty” by Juni [ Download ]

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Read the rest of All Told, A Pretty Fun Year [Year In Review, Part 4] (7,596 words)

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Post tags: Boys Before Flowers, Cinderella Man, Dream, Heading to the Ground, Hero, Hon, IRIS, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Style, Swallow the Sun, Tamra the Island, Triple, Will It Snow For Christmas, year in review, You're Beautiful

And to think that I headed into 2009 feeling so hopeful, too.

2008 was an awful year for K-dramas. That year ended with me feeling like I’d just swum through an ocean of excrement, and I figured that I’d need to soak myself in some good dramas for at least another year before I’d manage to wash the stink off of me.

Alas, that was not to be the case.

Thinking back on which dramas I saw in 2009, it occurred to me that, goddammit, I’m a lot more resilient than I’d thought. It awed me that I’d managed to watch crap like Cain and Abel and Everybody Cha Cha Cha all the way through, without even any fastforwarding! A year ago, this would not have been possible. A year ago, my stomach would have protested three seconds in, and I’d have had to be rushed to the doctor’s, only to be told (again) by dear old Dr. C that my condition is a complete mystery to him.

But this year, I discovered the secret to watching bad dramas without ending up gagging over a toilet. That secret has been spread so thick over my digestive organs that no amount of stress or disgust can penetrate it. We’ll get to what that secret is later, but the point of all this rambling is, I’ve discovered other reasons for watching dramas besides their innate quality. Call it a survival instinct. Reasons for drama-watching are a lot more complicated than I’d once thought.

So for this year’s write-up, I’m dividing the categories into the various reasons I watched the dramas in the first place. It’s going to be kinda embarrassing, but honest. I’ve found that honesty is always best in the end, whether people like it or not. As my mom likes to say: “If I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll turn your legs black and blue.”

SONG OF THE DAY

Broccoli, You Too? – “2009년의 우리들” (Us in 2009) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Duds and Delights of 2009 [Year In Review, Part 1] (6,376 words)

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Post tags: Accidental Couple, Boys Before Flowers, Cain and Abel, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Friend Our Legend, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, Queen Seon-deok, Smile, Style, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Will It Snow For Christmas, year in review, You're Beautiful

With the year coming to an end, that means it’s time to take stock of the past twelve months (well, eleven really) in kdramas. The broadcast stations will be holding their awards ceremonies at the end of the month, and I’m working on my wrap-up of 2009′s offerings — as are some very talented (and prolific!) drama-watching fans — which I’ll post up closer to the end of the year.

But this is your turn to weigh in on what you liked or didn’t. I didn’t do a year-end poll last year (after putting one up in 2007) and people seemed to really want one, so it’s back.

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Read the rest of How was 2009 for you? (1,304 words)

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Post tags: A Star's Lover, Accidental Couple, Angel's Temptation, Boys Before Flowers, Brilliant Legacy, Cain and Abel, Cinderella Man, City Hall, Dream, Friend, Heading to the Ground, Hero, Hon, IRIS, Ja Myung Go, Job Well Done, Loving You a Thousand Times, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen of Housewives, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Strike Love, Style, Tamra the Island, Triple, year in review

There have been several discussions on this site about this topic, so I found the following article pretty timely. I both agree and disagree with the points outlined below, but regardless of my personal take on the matter, I’m certain there is enough room for convincing arguments on both sides of the issue…

“Who’s to blame when characters are criticized?”… “Incomprehensible” lead characters, damaged dramas

“I can’t understand my character myself, so how can I act in a way that viewers would sympathize? It’s disappointment upon disappointment.”

This is the confession of Ryu Shi-won, who was thrown into confusion at his incomprehensible character in SBS’s Style, which ended on September 20. With twenty years of acting experience, he found his character’s sudden changes difficult to handle. And it’s not just with Ryu Shi-won. Jung Il-woo, who is currently appearing in KBS’s My Fair Lady, expressed disappointment for similar reasons.

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Post tags: drama production, East of Eden, Jung Il-woo, Lee Da-hae, My Fair Lady, Ryu Shi-won, Style

I stopped watching Style a while ago (I couldn’t take it anymore, it got on my nerves), but I’m still keeping an eye on the news about it, since it’s holding steady in the ratings in the mid-upper teens. (It hasn’t yet broken 20%, and has recently slipped into second place behind KBS’s weekend drama Iron Empress.) It doesn’t surprise me that the drama is now being criticized for its excessive shilling of products — as the article below points out, product placement in and of itself is fairly common these days, but when it crosses the line, viewers will notice that the drama starts feeling empty of actual story.

“A magazine 100% free of advertising? Are you joking?”

That’s a line of dialogue that magazine editor Park Ki-ja (Kim Hye-soo) fires at Seo Woo-jin (Ryu Shi-won) in SBS’s drama Style. Replace the word “magazine” with “drama” and you’ll hit the mark regarding Style.

Watching Style, with its fancy visuals, is like watching an hour of advertising. To some extent, it’s unavoidable to show what the characters like to drive, wear, eat, and use. However, Style is also coming under fire for this display and the characters’ conspicuous dialogue.

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Read the rest of Style criticized for excessive product placement (432 words)

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Post tags: drama production, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jia, Style

I tend to agree with viewers of SBS’s Style that, despite its title, the fashions and feel of the drama lack a certain stylish flair. (Kim Hye-soo is looking fierce, but everything and -one else feel somewhat bland.) However, the drama sure isn’t skimping on the parade of luxury cars, and are adding yet another in this weekend’s upcoming episode.

Thus far, Kim Hye-soo’s fashion editor character, Park Ki-ja, has been seen driving around a Maserati Quattroporte S, valued at approximately $130,000. Her romantic interest, the famous macrobiotic chef played by Ryu Shi-won, has equally fancy wheels with the Maserati GranTurismo S, valued at approximately $140,000. However, as though that’s not enough, one of the Maseratis gets upgraded in an upcoming episode to a Ferrari.

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Post tags: Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jia, Style

As announced, weekend drama Style has some upcoming star cameos in the works, and it looks like they’re using them all up in the same episode. The crew shot the scene (a party for the fictional Style magazine’s 200th issue) on August 10 and has released some behind-the-scenes images. As we know, Kang Ji-hwan is one of those stars, but joining him on the faux red carpet were members of pop group 2NE1, singer Bada, actress Cha Ye-ryun, and others.

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Post tags: 2NE1, Bada, Cha Ye-ryun, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jia, Lee Yong-woo, Sandara Park, Style

Aww, craaaap. Now I have to keep watching Style!

I’d pretty much decided to put SBS’s Style on the back burner — not because it sucks, but because I’m just not interested enough to invest that many more hours into it — but I may have to stick around long enough to catch Kang Ji-hwan‘s cameo appearance. He’ll be playing what sounds like a version of himself, in the role of a big-time movie star.

Kang’s appearance comes about through his relationship with the director, Oh Jong-rok, who directed him several years ago in the tearjerker drama series 90 Days’ Time to Love. He is also slated to appear alongside Style lead Lee Jia in the telecinema project, which airs on SBS this fall, so his appearance here is in support of both.

Kang explained taking on the part: “Style is a fun drama and I was going to visit the set in support of the director, but he suggested, ‘If you’re going to come, you should appear in it too.’ That’s how it came about. It’s a party scene, so I had fun filming it.”

The scene takes place as Kang’s actor character attends a party celebrating Style magazine’s 200th issue, which doubles as the inaugural party for editor Park Ki-ja (Kim Hye-soo). The scene will take place in Episode 6, which broadcasts August 16.

Via My Daily

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• Coming soon to a television near you?
• Style: Episode 1
• Kang Ji-hwan celebrates Japanese fan club anniversary
• Drinking interview with Kang Ji-hwan (Part 2)
• Drinking interview with Kang Ji-hwan (Part 1)
• Kang Ji-hwan is still thirsty for success

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Post tags: Kang Ji-hwan, Style

So, Style. SBS’s new Saturday-Sunday drama is off to a great ratings start (mid-to-upper-teens), and given its competition (Friend, Our Legend and Iron Empress), it’s likely to stay that way.

I have mixed feelings about this show so far. It’s somewhat watchable, although the degree of one’s enjoyment is probably tied closely to how appealing one finds the characters. That’s one of my big blocks: there is not one character I like. I don’t hate them either, but there’s a slickness to this drama that coats the surface with its superficial sheen and makes it difficult to see the heart inside. If there is one. Still, there are pleasant, light parts that make up for some — but not all — of the weirdness of the plot.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

SONG OF THE DAY

House Rulez – “Maldives” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Style: Episode 1 (2,698 words)

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Post tags: first episodes, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jia, Lee Yong-woo, Ryu Shi-won, Style

With Brilliant Legacy out of the picture, KBS’s cheery family drama Sons of Sol Pharmacy has reclaimed the top spot as the number 1 weekend drama after ten weeks of being pushed aside by the now-wrapped Brilliant Legacy.

Sol Pharmacy‘s Saturday episode recorded a 26.3% just as its storyline gets more interesting in the Dae-pung and Bok-shil area. On the other hand, a new contender, SBS’s Style, premiered well with a 17.6%. That number made it number 1 in its time slot, and number 2 among the weekend dramas overall.

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Read the rest of Sol Pharmacy reclaims top weekend spot (241 words)

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Post tags: drama ratings, Friend, Iron Empress, Job Well Done, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Style