News bites: January 28, 2023

15 January 29, 2023January 28, 2023

by tccolb

tvN has dropped new stills of our spunky talent manager Go Bo-kyul (Hi Bye, Mama!), who won’t be resting until her bias Kim Min-kyu (Business Proposal) succeeds as The Heavenly Idol. The fantasy rom-com premieres this February 15, taking over the Wednesday-Thursday slot following Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2. Newsen]

ENA released a fun first poster for their upcoming supernatural drama Delivery Man, which stars Yoon Chan-young (All of Us Are Dead), Minah (My Absolute Boyfriend), and Kim Min-seok (Lovestruck in the City). The story follows our protagonists as they run a special ghost only taxi service, which will be opening their doors come March. [Sports Donga]
Speaking of cabs, SBS has been revving up their promos for Taxi Driver 2 and the latest stills allow Kim Eui-sung (Under the Queen’s Umbrella) a turn in the spotlight – not that we can ever get enough of a dark and moody Lee Je-hoon (Move to Heaven). Written by Oh Sang-ho with PD Lee Dan (Our Beloved Summer) directing, the vigilante taxi team will be returning with Season 2 on February 17. [SBS]

Our sad prince Park Hyung-shik (Sountrack #1) is finally showing a little bit of a smile in the new stills for tvN’s Our Blooming Youth, featured alongside our disguised heroine Jeon So-ni (Dr. Brain). Also starring Pyo Ye-jin (Taxi Driver), Yoon Jong-seok (Crime Puzzle), and Lee Tae-seon (Next Door Witch J), the fictional sageuk will be coming to our screens on February 6. [Maeil Kyungje (1), (2)]

Netflix has been pushing out more promos for upcoming film Unlocked as well, including new posters and stills of our three leads: Chun Woo-hee (Be Melodramatic), Im Shi-wan (Summer Strike), and Kim Hee-won (Big Issue). Written and directed by rookie filmmaker Kim Tae-joon, the mystery-thriller releases on February 17.[News1]

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1 Gikata

January 29, 2023 at 4:18 AM

1 - given that it sometimes takes YEARS for an idol group to make it... good luck, girl, sincerely)))

2 - ghost bar, ghost hotel, ghost taxi, what's next - ghost baths? Oh wait, Spirited Away already did that. Ghost gym? Ghost beauty salon? Ghost night club? *Oingo Boingo starts playing* Ok, the last one sounds promising, I'd totally watch it)))

4 - it looks more like he's holding back laughter to me - I mean, his eyes... FL looks sooo tiny in that gat tho. I'd avoid wearing it around people who may doubt her cover up...

5 - poster makes it seem as if it's FL who stalks Siwan's character and not vice versa. And KHW stalks them both lol.

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hacja

January 29, 2023 at 12:37 PM

As far as the Heavenly Idol, we here in the U.S. already have "the hip hop pastor" and "the rapping bishop" so the kpop priest is a natural next step. Plus, I'm sure the God of Celebrities be able to overwhelm the Satan of Scandal to create another worshipful experience for kdrama fans. I'll certainly be on my knees before this show, even if I'm moaning with my head in my hands begging my wife to shut off the t.v.

As for the ghost services, wouldn't the ghost nightclub be looping Don Mclean's "Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie?" (This is very much a stupid, 1970s joke, so if you don't get it, don't worry. It means you are a younger and better person than I am.)

But in all honesty, you're not thinking outside the spectral box. Ghost insurance sales, ghost tax accountant, ghost life coach--now those would make for an exciting 16 episodes!

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Gikata

January 29, 2023 at 1:46 PM

I'm slightly embarrassed that I had to google it - turns out I knew the song, but not its artist or title, so thanks for enlightening. Very 70's indeed. Anyway, I'm pretty sure such club's repertoire heavily depends on the generation the ghosts... eh, guests in question are from, so the music there should be pretty diverse time-wise - 80s, 70s, further back... hell, some of them would probably enjoy some Beethoven over all the things we mentioned)))

Ghost insurance seems a bit complicated for an obvious reason, but then again, there are so many paid services in this world that don't make any logical or ethical sense either...

P.S. And I'm not THAT young, thankfully. Me and The Wall's epic falling happened less than a week apart)))

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hacja

January 29, 2023 at 3:00 PM

I'm truly sorry, and I mean this sincerely, to have caused you to look up this awful song with its pretentiously incomprehensible lyrics with words stuck in just because they rhymed. Especially since you were born at the end of my youth, as part of a more enlightened generation than mine!

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

January 29, 2023 at 3:10 PM

Now now I love American Pie and its tribute to the end-of-era Day the Music Died (1959) as 1950s post-war recovery gave way to the tumultuous and revolutionary 1960s both in music and in American life.

But I admit his bizarre, possibly drug-induced final verses where he positions the death of 50s rock-pop idols like Buddy Holly and the rise of more complex bands such as the Rolling Stones as Satan's fiery victory over the Catholic trinity to be.... well you know drugs in this industry are eternal.

Gikata

January 29, 2023 at 5:54 PM

Oh, I've heard more than enough awful songs in my life (some even directly serenaded to me to make it worse), don't worry. This so called enlightened generation of mine mainly likes music so terrible that I'd prefer drugs-inspired word salad nonsensical rock ballad over their usual playlist anytime)))

welh

January 31, 2023 at 9:46 AM

My junior high science teacher spent an entire class going over all of the meanings to each of the American Pie lyrics which were very important reminder of his youth; breaking away from his parents big band musical taste to the rebellious nature of early rock n roll and how things can suddenly change - - - innocence lost. On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson, were all killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. Don McLean was inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame.

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hacja

January 31, 2023 at 10:30 AM

This reminds me a lot of some of my high school acquaintances, who would sit around the cafeteria arguing about the meaning of the lyrics of Emerson Lake and Palmer and other prog rock songs, convinced they were poetry. Which they were, of course. Really, really bad poetry!

But I've come to conclude in my old age that I shouldn't be snobbish about these things, either in songs or kdramas. If people appreciate and derive meanings of personal significance from inane or pretentious cultural productions, then more power to them!

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Gikata

January 31, 2023 at 2:59 PM

As someone who majored in language and literature I can attest that no matter how structured and rules-heavy poetry may be, at the end of the day it's still VERY subjective just like any other art. If it doesn't resonate with you emotionally, it doesn't matter how objectively good or clever it's written (unless you're taking an exam focused on this topic lol). And vice versa, of course.

2 ladynightshade wants to be gazed at by namgoong min

January 29, 2023 at 9:28 AM

1. I can’t believe Go Bo-kyul’s last role was way back in Hi Bye, Mama!. Excited for this drama and especially for her comeback.

2. So ghosts haven’t switched over to Uber yet. Interesting.

3. I feel like we’ve been getting promos for season 2 since forever. About time the show actually started.

4. Least convincing crossdresser ever. She really just put on a gat and called it a day.

5. Love Shi-wan in those glasses. Too bad he’s in his creepy era and not his swoony one.

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Gikata

January 29, 2023 at 11:28 AM

4 - Nah, that goes to Lee Yubi in Scholar (not the least because stylists didn't even bother to hide her... eh... feminine curves). I can also name a few equally tragic examples in c-dramas, but I've been under impression that realism in their shows was never a goal to begin with.

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3 jerrykuvira

January 29, 2023 at 9:55 AM

Awwwwn. Kim Eui-song's smile got me. And the mood transition is just on point.

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ys

January 29, 2023 at 12:01 PM

Got me, too. He went from being pegged as the always-bad-guy to the surprisingly soft and righteous and likable character who is scared of Pyo Yejin in Taxi Driver 1, then went back to bad guy in Queen’s Umbrella. I’m glad to get him back as good guy in Taxi Driver 2.

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4 MikeyD signed up

January 29, 2023 at 10:30 AM

Chun Woo-hee has mostly done movies. Its interesting to see her steering her career more towards dramas.

Go Bo-kyul was a perennial at playing supporting characters back when I first got into K-dramas. I don't think I've seen her in a leading role. In 2021 she won a best actress award for "Drama Stage Season 4: Proxy Emotion", which apparently never got streaming distribution.

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5 DancingEmma

January 29, 2023 at 10:17 PM

This better be as funny as I hope it will be otherwise….I suppose we had to have a gruesome deity in it too by the prevailing rules of the KD world but as long as the entire story isn’t overtaken and consequently derailed by that, I’ll tolerate it.