Entries in the 'Triple' Category

Triple is officially awesome

Posted on September 25th, 2008

…and it hasn’t even aired yet!

That’s it. Triple has just shot up — over Song Hye-gyo and Hyun Bin, over the Korean Hana Yori Dango — as my new most anticipated drama. Because on top of casting Lee Seon-kyun, then following with Yoon Kye-sang, they’ve now rounded out their lead trio with…

…Kang Ji-hwan!

I don’t know if I could’ve picked a dreamier ideal dream lineup. Sure, there are a few other actors I’d put in my “top picks” bag, but these three are at the top of the list of those still doing dramas.

And lest I sound like a hormonally driven fangirl (which, hey, don’t judge), all three are actually — gasp! — good actors.

They all bring a different kind of energy, which should be interesting to see together. Kang Ji-hwan has done both slapstick and tearjerker — he can be goofy and comically spot-on, but turn on a dime into heart-wrenchingly intense. Lee Seon-kyun has spent much of his recent career playing to type as the reserved, thoughtful introvert. And Yoon Kye-sang can be both outrageous and wonderfully emotive.

Kang Ji-hwan will take on the role of a short-track speed skater (talk about upgrading, huh?), while Yoon Kye-sang and Lee Seon-kyun are ad-agency execs. With the three male stars being so much older than young newbie actress Min Hyo-rin, who barely registers a blip on the radar in comparison, I’m starting to think (hope?) that the tone of Triple won’t skew quite as young (read: green and awkward) as previously feared.

Now we can only wait to see what Coffee Prince producer/director Lee Yoon-jung whips up. For the first time, I look on Triple without dread.

Via OSEN

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Maybe Triple will be watchable after all

Posted on September 10th, 2008

Wait, what in the hey-what-now?

Yoon Kye-sang has been cast in the figure-skating trendy drama, helmed by the director of Coffee Prince, Triple?

First, talented director Lee Yoon-jung managed to sway Lee Seon-kyun (Coffee Prince, My Sweet Seoul) into joining her for this latest drama venture, featuring a young and inexperienced new singer in her acting debut, Min Hyo-rin of the “luxury nose.” Now she’s got Yoon Kye-sang (Who Are You?, Crazy in Love) onboard as well.

(I loved Yoon Kye-sang in Who Are You? Was it a groundbreaking or even artistically challenging drama? No. But it was poignant and often engagingly funny, and he was the best thing in it.)

Yoon Kye-sang is described as taking the lead male role, but it doesn’t sound like he’s taking Jung Il-woo’s recently vacated spot as a speed skater. Instead, he’s one of three employees in an ad agency (another being played by Lee Seon-kyun).

Huh. Triple just jumped up from being an embarrassing guilty pleasure to being a shameless guilty pleasure. Although I’m still not sold on Min Hyo-rin. Can we ditch her and just have our two lovely leading men fall in love instead? It’ll be like Coffee Prince: What Could Have Been if the Girl Who Looked Like A Dude Was Actually A Dude (on Skates).

Triple is scheduled for a January premiere on MBC.

Via DongA.com

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Triple-teaming the Triple team

Posted on August 19th, 2008

(Yeah, the headline’s a bit of a stretch. But I couldn’t resist.)

Wha–? Lee Seon-kyun is going to be in MBC’s figure-skating trendy drama Triple?

I mean, I guess it kind of makes sense. He’d starred in director Lee Yoon-jung’s earlier series Taereung National Village (part of MBC’s Best Theater anthology). Following that, he’d agreed immediately to appear in Coffee Prince when she was planning that series. Now that she’s planning her next series, why not cast an actor with whom she’s had a good working relationship? This’ll be Lee Yoon-jung’s third drama series, and the third time she teams with Lee Seon-kyun.

Still, Triple seems like an odd choice, at least at first glance. (He should be moving on and doing hard-boiled crime thrillers and spare indie dramas with guys like Jang Dong-gun!) In this drama series, he’s been cast in the role of an ad agency exec who’s described as straightforward and honest with a sensitive side (so, like most of his roles then). The drama stars rookie actress Min Hyo-rin as its young figure-skating lead, but Jung Il-woo has been removed from the casting list (he was to play a speed skater) following his jump to another MBC series, Iljimae.

I’ll probably be watching Triple when it airs in January, but I’m on the fence as to whether it’ll be candy-coated fun, or a train wreck in the making.

Via Hankyung.com

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Casting roll call: Iljimae, Triple

Posted on July 9th, 2008

Lee Seung-gi has left the cast of MBC’s upcoming Iljimae, only to be replaced by… Jung Il-woo?

On July 9, his management issued the reason: “Because Iljimae kept being pushed back and will film in China for a month, it will add difficulty to his shooting for 1 Night 2 Days. His departure from the drama was achieved through mutual agreement on both sides.”

Now the two Iljimae leads will be played by Jung Il-woo and Yoon Jin-seo (Beastie Boys), which MBC plans to air in November.

I call BS, since he seemed willing enough to leave 1 Night 2 Days (which is, after all, merely a stint on a variety program versus headlining his own big-name drama) before SBS’s Iljimae came out starring Lee Junki. Perhaps they’d held out hope that SBS’s drama would flop and are now using 1 Night as their excuse to back out. MBC’s drama, directed by Goong PD Hwang In-roi, had originally boasted an advantage over SBS, securing the licensing rights to the books upon which the story of Iljimae is based, but now it’ll face an uphill battle trailing such successful competition.

That means Jung Il-woo will leave his role in MBC’s upcoming ice-skating drama Triple, directed by Coffee Prince PD Lee Yoon-jung and co-starring “luxury nose” possessor and rookie singer Min Hyo-rin (he as a speed-skater, she as a figure-skater). Triple has now been pushed back to next year.

And… I no longer care to watch Iljimae. I’d been hoping that MBC’s version would provide an interesting variation, particularly since I didn’t love the SBS version. And yet, while I would happily watch Jung Il-woo in a cast of young trendy actors doing a fluffy ice-skating drama, I really don’t think he’s gonna be able to pull off a sageuk hero.

In other casting news, Moon Sori (Legend, Forever the Moment) has been selected to lead MBC’s new weekend family drama Golden Years of My Life, also starring Lee So-yeon (Why Did You Come To Our House?). The drama is drawing attention with its writer-director combo: Surgeon Bong Dal-hee writer Lee Jung-seok and Trap of Youth PD Kwan Rok-eui. It follows the currently airing Woman of Matchless Beauty, Park Jung-geum.

Meanwhile, Seo Hyo-rim (little sis from Insoon is Pretty) has been cast with Song Hye-gyo and Hyun Bin in their upcoming KBS2 series The World They Live In, directed by Full House (and Insoon) PD Pyo Min-soo. The drama starts filming at the end of July and plans to air in November.

Finally, Moon Jung-hee, currently in SBS’s Friday drama My Sweet Seoul, has lined up her next project as SBS’s new morning drama Daughter-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law, to follow Aquarius. She’s the daughter-in-law who works through issues with the new in-laws in this “warm” family drama, starting July 21.

Via OSEN, Star News, My Daily, Sports Chosun, No Cut News

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Seung-gi - “미련한 사랑” (love that won’t let go) [ Download ]

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Jung Il Woo scores a “Triple”

Posted on May 4th, 2008

I’m not sure how I feel about this.

Pretty boy and recent university entrant Jung Il Woo — last seen in the movie My Love opposite Lee Yeon Hee and the family sitcom Unstoppable High Kick before that — is making his return to television in the upcoming MBC figure-skating drama being produced and directed by Coffee Prince PD Lee Yoon Jung, titled Triple.

The series is currently in the process of finalizing casting for its female lead, while Jung Il Woo is already starting script readings and physical training. The sixteen-episode miniseries centers around Jung’s character, a short-track speed skater, and a female figure skater, as well as their two coaches (one female and one male, naturally!).

It’ll be nearly a year and a half since his last TV project (High Kick), and he’s started skating practice. He’s already encountered minor injury while training, which is the reason he sported a slight limp at last week’s Baeksang Arts Awards.

Okay, I admit the series sounds like it could be unbearably cheesy. Like, total cotton-candy puff-fest. But also potentially OMG-so-girly-awesome like a Meg Cabot novel. It could be awful like the late-1990s ice-hockey kdrama Icing (anyone remember that?), or awful like Disney’s predictable Ice Princess. But you know what? I watched both.

Via No Cut News

SONG OF THE DAY

Maya - “Maria” [ Download ]

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