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[Beanie Rec] Single parents finding love


Ahoy, Beanies! It’s time to gather your collective genius for a recommendation series that features you and your drama knowledge. Each week we’ll drop a drama conundrum and leave it up to you to provide a drama rec, and the appropriate rationale behind it, be it long or short. Respond below!
 

Please Send a Fan Letter had a cute first couple of episodes. I especially enjoyed the father-daughter dynamic, but it made me realize that I can’t think of many K-dramas that feature a single parent falling in love. Can you help recommend some more dramas that include romantic plot lines for single mothers and fathers?


Have a very particular drama itch that needs scratching? In need of a Beanie Rec? Email us at hello @ dramabeans.com and we’ll feature your topic in a future post.
 
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    One Spring Night also has a single dad played by Jung Hae-in

    There is a family drama called Five Enough. Both of the couple are single parents. It has 54 episodes

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    One Spring Night is my favourite example for sure!

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    Five Children yay!

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    Yes FIVE CHILDREN was one of the better recent weekenders, although most of us love it most for the secondary romance of the Golfer Couple.

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    Don't include me in most of us. I found all the threads engaging and, by the end, liked all the characters, as I was supposed to. Also, So Yoo Jin, the female lead in Five Children, appears in My Healing Love (no longer on Viki, unfortunately), in which Yeon Jung Hoon plays the single father of a daughter -- the beautiful Kwang Sun Hee playing the mother who abandoned them. There were a number of single parents in that drama, one thread involving So Ju Yeon at the start of her career.

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    One Spring Night is a recommend !

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    Young lady and gentleman I think was a weekender I have not seen it. Bravo, My life (2022) week day drama 120 episodes. Welcome to Waikiki, Marriage contract.

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    Omg how could I forget! Welcome To Waikiki & Marriage Contract, I absolutely love those two!

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    YOUNG LADY AND GENTLEMAN was the most successful weekender of the last two years in terms of ratings and, yes, the titular Gentleman was the widowed single father of three children.

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    I can’t believe I felt out my absolute favourite, Answer Me 1988!
    Had the one of most sweetest single parent interactions I’ve seen on television!

    Kim Sun-young & Sun-Woo

    Choi Moo-sung & Taek

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    *left

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    That’s so true how could we both miss that one.
    I was thinking Oh, my baby had a single dad for the second male lead so not sure it counts.

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    I feel like if it had a romance it counts no?

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    Spoilers but Kim Sun-young & Choi Moo-sung get married at the end of the drama. The were seriously so lowkey in their romance but it was super sweet

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    City Hall (I'm nearly sure this doesn't count though, but it is never wrong to suggest City Hall)
    Two Weeks
    One More Happy Ending
    One Mom and Three Dads
    Oh My Lady
    Hospital Playlist

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    Great examples!

    Apart from Two Weeks which I haven’t seen, I like all of them - not to mention City Hall is one of my all time favorites. That (adopted?) son of Jo Gook is almost non-existent in the drama though.

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    Yes he was adopted, and yes he had absolutely no effect on the story. I was only looking for an excuse to recommend that show :D

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    OH MY LADY is actually one of my favorite romcoms, and definitely belongs on this list. It is worth a re-watch and if you have not seen it before you are in for a treat.

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    You wouldn’t think Chae Rim and Choi Si-won could be a pair but Oh My Lady makes it work. A lovely drama indeed.

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    One Spring Night with Jung Hae-In as single father was really good.

    There are characters who are single parent but it's a small part in the story like Hospital Playlist, On the Verge of Insanity, Romance is a Bonus Book (I'm still trying to understand why they made her being a single mother, she didn't care so much...), Be Melodramatic,

    The Cdrama Go Ahead was nice for that.

    There are movies like Baby and Me with Jang Keun-Suk or Scandal Makers with Park Bo-Young.

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    I can’t believe I didnt mention Go ahead as it is my favourite Chinese drama

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    The fathers really let me a good impression in this drama.

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    i loved RIABB and the whole "she's a single mom" thing had zero relevance. The daughter was at boarding school and occasionally video chats the mom. She might as well have been the cool aunt to a niece. And while falling in love with and dating the ML, she didn't think about whether her daughter would be okay with it.

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    Healer would count if Choi Myung-hee & Chae Chi-soo hooked up in the end lol

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    Bossam Steal the Fate (Father/Son). A lovely and engaging drama. Welcome to Waikiki (Mother/Baby Daughter). A very funny drama When the Camellia Blooms (Mother/Son). Good and interesting drama. Hmm. I'm still trying to think of a drama with a father/daughter relationship with the father falling in love. There are lots of single dad dramas, but the dads are not the main characters and don't seem to be falling in love. I'll probably think of one just after I hit he submit button!

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    Oh My Lady

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    I'll put it on my ever expanding K-drama list. Thanks!

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    Side bar re BOSSAM. Good pick. Go Dong Ha, the little guy who played Jung Il-woo’s slightly annoying son Cha-dol (AHBUHJI!!!) had a coffee truck sent to JIL and Yuri on the set of GOOD JOB. Classy. Here is the story with pics. You also get to see how awful JIW was costumed as Ba-woo. Yes I won’t let it go lol.
    https://www.soompi.com/article/1540343wpp/jung-il-woo-and-girls-generations-yuri-thank-child-actor-go-dong-ha-for-his-sweet-gift-to-the-set-of-their-new-drama

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    Ha! I actually found the young son very charming. As for the styling, it was I would say a bit over the top for sure, particularly the hair! I wonder if all that hair and layers of costume was to make JIW look just a bit larger. He is a rather slender, elegant looking actor and the character was supposed to be rather gruff, tough and big. JIW pulled off that character well, and perhaps the styling was part of that success. Also, I was thankful that the main male character had facial hair. I find all those clean shaven kings, princes and other historical male characters kind of annoying as it seems to cater to current taste as opposed to historical taste. Those clean shaven faces pulls me out of the historical story. The idea of clean shaven historical characters could be its own discussion! But, in keeping with the parent/child theme, Jung Il Woo played a single father finding love which I thought was quite wonderful. A kind of second chance drama when love effects not just the two lovers but children as well. Thanks for the link, a really fun read!

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    A recent drama with a single father with a daughter would be last year's successful weekender YOUNG LADY AND GENTLEMAN (of course said gentleman also came with two sons as well so maybe it does not count).

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    Oh my! I just checked the number of episodes! My list keeps growing!

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    So it's not technically a mother-daughter situation, but I think Hello, Me! had some of those vibes.

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    Well if we are going for viibes, I feel like Pick Up The Stars counts. The parents die and the older sister has to be responsible for her five siblings. The kids are adorable and it has Kim Ji-hoon is all I’m saying. It’s mostly a cute drama but I watched it ages ago and I think there is a random murder makjang plot-line thrown in there too

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    It was very unconventional because of the main story line involving a serious illness, but Oh My Geum-Bi had a single father-daughter relationship rarely captured in dramas (with excellent cast performances).

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    Great pick, I completely forgout about that one!

    It reminds me Oh Ji-ho also played a single father in Couple or Trouble and My Little Baby (with Lee Soo-kyung as a single mom).

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    Marriage Contract has such but it isn't central to the theme of the story. But instead of the parent's story with regards to this recommendation here, it's the familial love that grows between the man and the child of his contract wife and the single mom falling in love. Two heartwarming meals finding their way to become one. Lee Seo-jin and Shin Rin-ah sold the chemistry.

    One Spring Night is the one that comes to mind in all my recap experience. It is just that good.

    Honorable Mentions Hospital Playlist's Ik-joon and Song-hwa.

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    Weekenders: Five Children, Shall We Live Together, Never Twice
    Daily dramas: The Smile in Your Eyes (currently on air), Be My Dream Family (10/10. You reaaaally should watch this show).

    Other shows:
    Waikiki
    Reply 88
    The Great Show (kinda)
    When My Love Blooms
    Chef Moon

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    I totally agree on BE MY DREAM FAMILY.

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    The kids are one of may favorite things about kdramas.

    Thank-you - My gateway kdrama - had the heartwarming single mom Gong Hyo Jin shepherding precocious daughter played by Seo Shin Ae and her grandfather with dementia. Enter self-destructive doctor love-interest played by Jang Hyuk. I loved this drama and all its quirky characters.

    And I guess the next drama I found, Robber, had a single mother with the cutest daughter and love interest con-man also Jang Hyuk.

    And another early drama, Sang-doo Let's Go to School had the cutest relationship between wayward father Rain and his sick daughter, with love interest (also with Gong Hyo Jin) .

    Also Two Weeks -which someone mentioned - had the combo of thriller plus cutest ever father-daughter interactions

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    Thank You was such a warm, gentle watch

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    Probably one of my Lee Seung Gi dramas that doesn't exist.

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    It’s one of mine 😅

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    I can only add Terrius Behind Me to above mentioned dramas. If I remember correctly the heroine was ruthlessy made a widower in the first ep by truck of doom and left alone with adorable twins. As much as I loved seeing So Ji sub babysitting it always rubbed me the wrong way that they killed the dad for the sake of the story...And I think there was romance🤔

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    The worst past was they didn't say to the kids that their father was dead (in my memories).

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    Ugh.. yes! He was on the longest "business trip" ever! Or smth like that😃

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    Yes, they just kept saying he was away and then kind of forgot about him! I think there was a better way of dealing with that 😅

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    I just rewatched that recently! He actually was murdered by an assassin because he saw the assassin killing someone.
    There are hints of romance but not much. Still a super cute show though.

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    I can think of a few supporting cast single parent romances: the one with the divorced eldest sister in You Are the Best Lee Soon Shin was nice, and I like that the parents of adult leads got some romance in Wild Romance and Lie to Me.

    I'm only halfway through Hometown Cha Cha Cha but I'm hoping the single dad cafe owner gets to date.

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    Off the top of my head:
    Uncle- one of the main characters is a divorced mother with a son who starts dating a single father whose daughter is in the same class as the boy.

    When the Camellia Blooms

    Thank You- Another Gong Hyo-Jin drama from way back (2007). She is a single mother who has a daughter who contracted AIDS through a botched blood transfusion. Jang Hyuk stars in it as well. Very emotional drama. I remember crying a lot.

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    Oh my gosh, Thank You was 😭

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    Omg, I know. I watched this in my early twenties when not much could move me to tears, but I was an absolute wreck with that drama.

    Now, 15 years later, I cry at everything, lol.

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    YES--When the Camillia Blooms!

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    On the Way to the Airport. He was divorced instead of single but I don't think that's cheating.

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    I just thought of a Father/Daughter (single dad falling in love). My Liberation Notes!

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    Revolutionary Sisters. If you make it all the way through that very long (and pretty awful) drama you will find the widower dad character eventually gets a new girlfriend.

    Its already been mentioned. My Liberation Notes, after the 3 year time jump you find the elderly widower dad has remarried. Oh, and lets not forget the guy with the teen daughter dating one of the sisters

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    The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop (Laurel Tree Tailors).

    There’s a single mom who gets into a romantic relationship with the washed-up folk singer she idolized when she was young. It was great to see her grown daughter cheering on Mom and her new boyfriend!

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    Prime Minister and I was the first drama that came to my mind. I liked the drama but wasn’t fond of the pairing of Yoon-ah and Lee Beom-soo.

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    In Was It Love, the single mom is wooed by no fewer than FOUR different men. One is her college sweetheart, who had no idea she was pregnant with their daughter at the time they broke up. One of the other suitors is a gangster and single dad whose son is a classmate of the woman’s daughter. I enjoyed the show up until its unsatisfying, completely unnecessary time-skip ending.

    I’m not positive, but in Fated to Love You I seem to remember that the single-mom sister of the FL ends up in a relationship—possibly with an employee of the company run by the ML…? Does anyone remember the details?

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    Our Blues!

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