The upcoming High Kick Through the Roof, the new MBC sitcom brought to you by the makers of Unstoppable High Kick, started filming this month and has already put in its first all-nighter.

The family sitcom’s first day on the set was August 20 at the Ilsan Dream Center in the city of Goyang. (The first outdoor shoot was on the 12th.) All of the main players were present, which includes grandparent characters Lee Soon-jae and Kim Ja-ok, parents Jung Bo-seok and Oh Hyun-kyung, and the younger cast including Daniel Choi (The World They Live In), Seo Shin-ae (Thank You), Shin Sae-kyung (Queen Seon-deok), Hwang Jung-eum (We Got Married), Julien Kang (Dream), and new singer AJ.

The show is being called “High Kick 2,” although it’s not really a sequel and employs all new characters. What it has in common is its PD Kim Byung-wook, who is known for creating “syndromes” (pop-culture sensations) with his sitcoms, which may lack grand visual tableaux but are bolstered by interesting stories about ordinary families that draw in viewers.

High Kick Through the Roof will premiere on September 7.

Via No Cut News, Review Star

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Post tags: High Kick Through the Roof, Lee Soon-jae, Seo Shin-ae, Shin Sae-kyung, sitcoms, Unstoppable High Kick

…but it IS “through the roof.”

The producers of Season 2 of Unstoppable High Kick have decided to christen the new show with a different name; rather than calling it “Season 2,” it’s being tentatively renamed High Kick Through the Roof [지붕뚫고 하이킥]. (They are entertaining other options, but “Through the Roof” is a top contender.)

This name change is probably a good idea when considering that while Through the Roof is using a similar format to its predecessor as well as one of its main actors (grandpa Lee Soon-jae), the new series is not a spinoff, or even a sequel. It’s simply a similar setup being produced by the same folks of the original, but employs different characters and storylines.

Still, expect to see some familiar faces from the original: For insance, Kim Hye-sung, who played the smart, well-adjusted “Min-ho” in the first season, will be making a cameo in Through the Roof. It’s being reported that “most of the main actors of Unstoppable High Kick will be making cameo appearances” throughout the sitcom’s planned 120 episodes. (This ought to come in handy for ratings purposes — a reunion with Kim Hye-sung, as well as Jung Il-woo, Park Min-young, and Kim Bum? I bet they won’t all come back at once, but one can hope.)

Episode 1 airs on September 7.

Via Asia Economy, Today Korea

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Post tags: High Kick Through the Roof, Kim Hye-sung, Lee Soon-jae, Unstoppable High Kick

I wasn’t excited to hear about the upcoming Season 2 of family sitcom Unstoppable High Kick, which would cast an entirely new crop of actors (the only exception being veteran Lee Soon-jae, the grandpa of the original series, who will be in the second season as well).

But I may have to rethink it now that the rest of its cast has been announced, and among them are Thank You’s precocious and adorable Seo Shin-ae, The World They Live In’s endearing screw-up Daniel Choi, and up-and-comer Shin Sae-kyung (most recently of Queen Seon-deok and Ogamdo).

The story has 19-year-old Shin Sae-kyung and 10-year-old Seo Shin-ae playing sisters who, on account of their debt-ridden father, come to Seoul on the run. The two sisters enter Lee Soon-jae’s household as maids, while Daniel Choi plays Lee Soon-jae’s son.

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Read the rest of High Kick 2 fills out its new cast (212 words)

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Post tags: AJ, Daniel Choi, Jung Bo-seok, Lee Soon-jae, Oh Hyun-kyung, Seo Shin-ae, sequels, Shin Sae-kyung, Unstoppable High Kick

Hmm….. When it was announced that the popular family sitcom Unstoppable High Kick was thinking of another season, I was skeptical that it would actually happen, if only because a great part of its charm was its hot young cast of new faces, and they’ve all gone on to bigger things. They include: Jung Il-woo (Return of Iljimae), Kim Bum (Boys Before Flowers), Kim Hye-sung (Boy Meets Boy), and Park Min-young (Ja Myung Go).

And yet, production is indeed under way for a second season, and will bring back gruff grandpa Lee Soon-jae — but switch the rest of the actors. Among them are Jung Bo-seok (La Dolce Vita, Dae Jo Young) in the dad’s role (acted in the original by comedian Jung Jun–ha) and Oh Hyun-kyung (First Wives Club) in the mom’s role (originally acted by musical actress Park Hae-mi). Grandma Na Mun-hee will not return, and the season will start fresh with new storylines. The series is currently auditioning for its new set of fresh faces.

Season 2 is not yet on MBC’s official fall schedule, but it looks like a promising follow-up to the currently airing sitcom Tae-hee, Hye-gyo, Ji-hyun.

I don’t know about this. I have a lot of affection for Unstoppable High Kick, but without any of my favorite characters returning, it seems like just a weak excuse to slap a successful name onto a new sitcom, doesn’t it?

Jung Bo-seok, Oh Hyun-kyung

Via JK News, OSEN

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Post tags: Jung Bo-seok, Lee Soon-jae, Oh Hyun-kyung, sequels, sitcoms, Unstoppable High Kick

(…and yes, also his buddy Lee Min-ho.)

Many interviews of celebrities tend to focus on the same topics and therefore feel kind of interchangeable — actors are coached in polite responses and you end up getting a lot of careful, generic comments like, “It was a pleasure working with the director” or “Thank you for your support, I promise to try my best to bring you better work in the future.” Or they’ll talk about their “ideal woman” (or man) and list off some hobbies.

But I like it best when they talk about their work, as this following interview does with Jung Il-woo, star of the currently airing Return of Iljimae, which is a drama I am loving. It’s particularly interesting to take a look at Jung because he has managed to leapfrog, it seems almost overnight, from a lightweight teen idol into a budding serious actor, which I find curious and fascinating. This interviewer shares the same eagerness to get behind that abrupt transition.

Jung Il-woo: “Both Iljimae and I are
maturing out of chaotic events”

Published March 17, 2009 // From 10asia.co.kr

In early 2007, when I [interviewer Choi Ji-eun] first met Jung Il-woo, he was the rebellious high school student Lee Yun-ho in the MBC sitcom Unstoppable High Kick [거침없이 하이킥]. Though he was a first-year university student, his high school uniform seemed to suit him better, his pure smile captured the hearts of the nation’s females, and, perhaps unused to the spotlight shining on him, he was a little reticent and seemed shy. Two years went by.

During that time, Jung Il-woo stepped down as a teen star and took one of the roles among many leads in the omnibus film My Love [내 사랑], and returned as Iljimae in the MBC drama Return of Iljimae [돌아온 일지매], on which he spent more than six months filming in advance. Time goes by quickly, but Jung Il-woo’s steps are not hasty. What are the thoughts of this 23-year-old young man, who became a top star as a 20-year-old youth, and what has he learned? That was the reason I wanted to meet Jung Il-woo again, who had become an adult so suddenly through Return of Iljimae. And this time, the Jung Il-woo I met was no longer bashful.

SONG OF THE DAY

Return of Iljimae OST – “마지막 영웅” (Last Hero) by Shin Min-chul (of T-Max) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Jung Il-woo talks about acting, fame, and the future (2,930 words)

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Post tags: interviews, Jung Il-woo, Return of Iljimae, Unstoppable High Kick

Apparently the folks at MBC had been looking to revisit their hit family sitcom from 2006-07, Unstoppable High Kick, according to some reports. However, an MBC rep stated on the 16th that a Season 2 is looking unlikely. My question is: Was anybody expecting one?

The show had pulled in high ratings, and though it was built around three generations of one family, the new faces made it particularly popular with the young set. I had heard they were considering making it into a High Kick movie, but that didn’t work out.

The rep explained that while they’d like to make a Season 2, the greatest difficulty would be in reassembling its cast. The older actors would probably be easier to get back (Lee Soon-jae, Na Mun-hee, Jung Jun-ha, Park Hae-mi), but one crucial leg of the love triangle in the middle generation (and youngest generation), Seo Min-jung, got married, had a baby, and moved to the States.

And then there are the youngsters, who were all unknowns back then and now all budding stars in their own right. (By the way, if you’re a new fan of Kim Bum, you’ve gotta see how adorable he is in High Kick, particularly because he and Kim Hye-sung love each other — they’re best friends — so unabashedly it’s a scream. The characters are both straight, but their bro-love is played up for laughs.) For instance:

(I took this fanmade vid from youtube; credits and thanks to shykiwi1132.)

A quick rundown of the young stars now: Jung Il-woo is headlining his own drama, Return of Iljimae. Kim Bum is experiencing a fresh wave of popularity for Boys Before Flowers. Park Min-young is about to kick off her new drama, Princess Ja-myung. And Kim Hye-sung has been busy with film work and a role in Kingdom of the Wind.

It’s possible that PD Kim Byung-wook will helm a new sitcom instead, though the MBC rep didn’t completely rule out the possibility of a High Kick 2. But really, two years after it shot to popularity, is anybody thinking about the show anymore?

Via Star News

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Post tags: Jung Il-woo, Kim Bum, Kim Hye-sung, Park Min-young, sitcoms, Unstoppable High Kick

I admit the first thing that struck me about Kim Hye Sung was his adorable baby face. But although he’s part of the newest generation of good-looking, trendy young stars, he seems to be slowly differentiating himself from his peers and taking some personal care (and risks) into his acting choices. He’s one I’ve got my eye on for the future.
 

“Kim Hye Sung’s transformation from pretty boy to hot-tempered youth to gay lover”

By the time 2003’s hot uljjang trend had blown over, some new stars had appeared on the scene: uljjangs. [What’s an uljjang?] The first-generation ulljangs included Park Han Byul, Gu Hye Sun, Nam Sang Mi. Second-generation ulljangs: Kim Ok Bin, Bae Seul Gi, Lee Yeon Hee. And also Kim Hye Sung and Kang Eun Bi.

They rose to fame not via television or movies, but through the internet, causing a shake-up of the currently existing star-making system. Uljjang stars weren’t discovered through television station tests, new-actor auditions, talent agencies, or streetside castings; they were made into stars by audiences and consumers themselves.

Five years later. …

SONG OF THE DAY

Deb – “Dopamine” [ Download ]

 
(...)
Read the rest of When Boy Meets Boy (798 words)

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Post tags: homosexuality, Kim Hye-sung, netizens, uljjangs, Unstoppable High Kick