Studio Dragon, the major broadcast production company in Korea, reported that this year its produced number of episodes shown has dropped by more than half since last year. The studio is losing money. It is not a surprise since its majority owner, CJ&E, the vertical integrated entertainment company, bombed in the 2023 box office with 5 of 6 films produced losing large sums of money. And with a reported backlog of 100 series pre-produced, the Korea drama industry may be heading towards its own creative ice age.

Actors have always supplemented their careers with side jobs such as endorsement deals. But even brands have cut back on full endorsement deals to have lower paid “brand ambassadors” or SNS pay-to-promote ads with influencers. Now, many actors are finding new or revived pursuits:

In recent years, famous actors have become directors (Lee Jung-jae, Jung Woo-sung); singers (Park Eun-bin, Han Ji Min); songwriter (Jeon So Min); and fine artists with exhibitions (Ha Ji Won, Park Gyuri). But the current film box office king, Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), in 2022 became the writer-producer for the Roundup film franchise which debuted this week its fourth installment at a star-studded premiere at COEX.

I also expect more actors to move into other ventures, such as starting their own YT channels or business ventures.

Variety show Running Man aired its 700th episode and I can & can't believe it's lasted so long. Even if it's peaked, I feel like losing it would be so painful since it's so iconic.

I don't watch many variety shows but I miss the Running Man of the past which involved more physicality and games. I get it; the members have aged and can't/shouldn't be as physical since it affects their bodies but I'm missing that type of stuff.

Nowadays, are there even shows in that vein anymore?

yoyoyo
so now we are the "Opera theater department library" bc we are next to it.
and we have a "hole in the wall" aka the return box

it got so cold but I put my winter clothes away so I wear random stuff as scarves or hats & look like a hobo

I feel rich today, sold a lot of stuff in the gallery
art project coming on nicely, might have pictures this weekend. it is very tricky to cut out the parts. but I might get the dress done sooner than the jacket.

watching midnight studio, please give Ki Woong uncle some lines why put them together if they dont have dialogue. im on ep 10 (havent finished cause it is hard)
Our Blooming Youth bc everyone is and I was curious, also, I appreciate the quiet honesty & genuine immersiveness in Hyungsiks´ acting. also, badass female capers are always a joy. yes we need a spinoff, Bones: Joseon or something

"can you find me this book about gray hair with an o in the authors name?"
we did.

trouble with swindlers in Estonia - massive. Old people are fooled to take their money in cash to a parcel machine. How are people so naive and stupid? there are also sms schemes & letters that seem like court orders etc. it is really getting out of hand. some people have lost over half a million euros. and they cannot be caught! HOW

I am so happy Taemins´ Bubble is back up! Even tho it crashed in seconds. I am thinking of sending him a scarf.

I saw a video about how vocals or being truly good vocalists is becoming less & less important with each kpop generation and it makes me sounds like a boomer but it made think "see, the past WAS better!" Haha

Obviously, that's not entirely true (and as a black woman, I would rarely ever chose to go back in time) but it just sucks that some things just seem to be getting worse and/or more mediocre and people just accept it cause we don't have any other choices or options. The video mentioned how kpop has always been more focused on aesthetics and appealing to the masses but there still used to be actual skills honed and involved. Now it's just about becoming influencers and brand ambassadors.

I literally just thought about a western cartoon I liked called Star vs The Forces of Evil and thought "damn, that was a good show with a message" and where's more shows like it? (I wasn't 100% satisfied with how it ended but what can you do)

They get cancelled or shelved or cut or not produced because head honchos don't think they're bankable enough. Hollywood keeps making sequels and comic movies because it's "safe" even if the quality is getting progressively worse and there's diminishing returns. All because of money!

One of the reasons I've watched kdramas is because at least you see the entire series and it won't (typically) end on a cliffhanger. But now, even dramas are being affected by some not even seeing the light of day.

I don't understand money, math, and business but it's so disheartening.

Happy Friday, Beanies! Today's playlist is kinda all over the place – it was supposed to continue silly performances theme from last week, now in a form of TV stages, but vibe keeps going off and I'm too lazy to fix it back... But there certainly IS a lot of silliness! And lame dancing. And tragic outfits... In short, all pleasures in one place, enjoy!

We're starting with this, because Disney vlog last week reminded me how much I love LYN in suspenders – they make him even more ridiculously vertical than he already is, bless))) This show – and Season3 in particular – are always fun to rewatch, he had such a good stage chemistry with everyone! Song is called “First love” and it's in Cantonese – cannot judge how well he did in that regard, but otherwise sounded amazing as usual still cannot dance tho. Plus, that flower necktie pin, awww! In other hand, producers love to pair him up with tiniest ladies possible, aren't they? She's barely reaching his shoulder even with heels on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnbTu8sTD20

When I first stumbled upon his episode of c-version of MASKED SINGER, I was dumbfounded – this is like the worst identity mystery ever in TV history! The only saving grace is him going there after debut when he was still relatively unknown because he'd last 5 seconds max unrecognized nowadays, and that's only before opening his mouth))) His costume lol – poor stylists, they did all they could, but it was a losing game since the get-go. Btw, I wanna know who the other guy is - his voice is really good too and they made a great duo. Title is “How to say I don't love you” (OG artist was coincidentally a part of judge's panel lmao, how ballsy of them!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfwx4lb3yOs

Solo performance as well because I can't get enough of this madness. Btw, that costume looks super heavy and hot, idk how he managed to film for hours in it, let alone perform multiple times... Song's called “Red roses” and sounds way too angsty for such title:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xPA0Ddnp3E

While this stage is not really ridiculous or funny, he's still wearing a neon hot pink AND a cast on his leg – from that infamous AJTL injury. Actually, the amount of times he performed in that state leaves me conflicted between admiration and anger because damn, can't he rest a bit? Answer is obviously “ha-ha... nope”, so what can I do... Song's title is “Beyond” or “Transcendence” at least no dancing is detected this time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKlQYDSJp2U

Tonight, I'm getting onto plane number one of ten that I'll be flying over the next six weeks. Well, *I* won't be flying them. I'll be flying in them.

Here are the dramas I'm queueing up:

🇰🇷🎭 Crazy Love (recommended by @hopefulromantic and is, as I recall, @kathryn51 's all-time favorite drama)

🇰🇷🎭 Wild Romance (recommended by @midnight and is also something like her all-time favorite drama)

🇰🇷🎭 Busted S1 (recommended by @hopefulromantic and also, just today, @britney )

🇰🇷🎭 The Spy Who Loved Me (recommended by @attiton as it seems the sort of show I'd like; the alternative here is Royal Secret Agent)

🇰🇷🎭 The Verge of Insanity (recommended by a large number of Beanies, including @leetennant @kurama and @reply1988 on the "Underrated Dramas" Drama Chat the other week)

Where would you start??

Hi DB Open theaders!

It’s been a minute since I’ve done this. Let’s see if I remember how it works.
The week has been strange in my real life world, so drowning it out with kdramas. Yes, that sounds incredibly healthy, right?

Favorite show this week was Lovely Runner. Byun Woo-seok is just LOVELY, isn’t he? And being 33, totally age-appropriate in my book. He’s the same age as all my favorites (kpop idols and actors, except Gong Yoo, of course). Which also makes me SO GLAD that he had the foresight to do his military commitment early in his 20’s because he’s on FIRE and I can’t imagine he won’t be able to book any show he wants after this one. He’s only a couple years younger than Kim Young Kwang and some other model turned actors, but it did take him a bit longer to become a great actor. And that’s totally alright with me! I’m glad to have someone new to fawn over. (Really, I’m been fawning over him for a few years, just waiting for his start to rise).

Second favorite show: Queen Of Tears. My secretary (who I got turned on to kdramas a few years ago) finally started this one on my recommendation and she usually only binges dramas. She came to me this morning and was like, “What do you like about this drama? It’s depressing and she’s D-Y-I-N-G!” I told her it gets better, but she refuses to watch it until she knows Kim Ji-won will live.

Third favorite show: Eye Love You. Finished this very cute, but just inherently “Japanese” drama. Why the wide eyed overacting, Japan? I loved uri Korean ML, and my husband loved uri Japanese FL, but it just dragged by the end.

Some happier memories this week:
Daughter and son are at a residential high school out of state. It’s an academically rigorous program that one has to gain acceptance and interview weekend was last weekend which my daughter participated as a student leader.

Daughter: Mom, I pretended to be an extrovert (just acted like all my friend) and just made all the kids feel uncomfortable and made all the parents feel like their kid was like everyone else.
Me: So who did you meet?
Daughter: Oh, this Korean kid and his dad.
Me: AND?????????
Daughter: Just his dad kept telling me all his kid’s test scores and I was like, oh, I got that too, and yeah, I play that instrument too, and yeah, he needs to pick up that secondary instrument and we could put him in an ensemble, and yeah, I want to be a doctor too, and basically made his dad realize his son wasn’t any different than any of us “average” kids here.
Me: You probably burst is bubble a bit.
Daughter: Just trying to scare them straight mom. He’ll probably just want to come more. I also told him how amazing the teachers are.

Moral of the story: Maybe I can get that Korean son-in-law!
2nd Moral: Math Genius started playing golf now and yeah, I’d like him as a son-in-law too. Daughter is a golfer too.
3rd Moral: I am so glad I’m here and she’s there so that I’m not that annoying Asian mother who sets her...

I was looking over the Again My Life weecaps and it once again made me miss the recaps of yore. I also wondered if we currently have any beanies that know Korean or picked up on the references in Again My Life such as the "saved in my heart". When I first saw that moment in the show and Hee Woo's reaction to it, I didn't get it and weecaper didn't mention it so I didn't really think about it; just chalked it up to a korean thing that goes over my western head. This year I learned the reference was due to it being Park Jihoon's catchphrase that he created/originated years in the future (based on the timeline of the show at that point).

Min Soo's character confuses me so much haha. Even after all this time.

Eye Love you is now on Viki. Which means properly translated- Much fuller Japanese translation, and complete Korean translation. It's not like there was a large amount of Korean, but there was enough to drag the viewing down.
Personally, I would not recommend watching it on Netflix. The combination of the story and the half translation slows the story down too much. (Or if you must, have it on silent in the background to enjoy Chae Jong Hyeop's beautiful smiles. There are quite a lot of them, unlike Castaway Diva where he spent most of the time looking troubled)
( I do think there is enough Korean in it that it should at least have a listing or a tag on here as well)

This is not a rec, because I haven't listened to it yet. But Spotify just rec'd a new to me podcast around Korean and Chinese dramas it looks like.
Some of the episode topics look interesting and like things ove seen discussed occasionally on DB.
Such as: My Dearest unpacked through a Confucian lense.
Autistic Coded characters: Lan Wangji in The Untamed
Also looks like some crossover eps with other pods and some interviews with people who live in Korea or who have visited.
The pod is called Afternoona Asks.

Hello everybody 💐 Just two words about the extraordinary drama "Kill Me Heal Me" it is a “Must-Watch” , love it love it love it allllllll BUT extraordinarily exceptional performance in the two last episodes ! Why ? For those who did not watch yet then you have to watch to get to know what I mean ☺️

Has DB been loading very slowly for you guys? I can still check my notifications, which'd take me to a specific post/comment, but I can't go to anyone's or my fanwall (that's why I have to ask you guys here).