No interest in starting a fight on the recap page but honestly KES has literally said in interviews that she could write good dramas but doesn’t because when she writes quality nobody watches. She said outright she’d rather write popular crap. Any notion that she cares more for art than ratings contradicts not only the evidence of her work but also her own words. How much clearer can it be then a writer saying outright, “I do not care about quality, I only care about ratings”.
She’s probably panicking right about now. Because it’s possible that the KES Formula to Glossy Nonsense that has served her well for a decade is past its prime. And if that’s the case I may be interested in what she writes next for the first time in forever.
Because she can write. She just actively chooses not to.
She decided people didn’t want complex dramas with something to say and she should
just write the kind of dramas she’s been writing since. The funny thing is, City Hall’s ratings were pretty good by today’s standards but I guess for pre-2012 it wasn’t seen that way.
I don’t think The King is anywhere near becoming a flop. I think The World of the Married airing just an hour after it has its effects too but obviously the show is very lackluster rn. I have a feeling it will pick up in ratings after TWOTM ends, they air at different times but I guess at some point they overlap (when the king ends and twotm starts a few 10 to 15 min overlap there) but also if I were a viewer who needs to watch a show on TV, I may not want to watch two dramas on a single day especially when I know one is better than the other and more dramatic. So I do think the audience is choosing to watch one over the other and this will change when TWOTM ends gaining The King the viewers.
Also I think KES deviated or experimented a little with Mr Sunshine. It wasn’t sth she writes like Dots or Goblin. I wasn’t invested because of the lackluster middle part which is KES’s weakness but she did put some effort in that show. There was cheese but less of it, a very understated romance as much as I remember. So if she has to write differently it’ll probably be sth like Mr sunshine provided I’ve never seen City Hall which everyone praises. She is actually really good at world building. I give her props for doing the whole fantasy setup in both Goblin and The King. So yeah she definitely has the tendency to write great. And I think she learnt the hard way that unfortunately in order to earn a livelihood in this industry you have to write what sells rather than write what you’re passionate about and what you want to tell. This is sad, I know but I totally get her. This is a cut throat industry where you can only prevail if you make hits and she understood that formula and probably left behind what she wanted to do(if i remember in her interview that’s what she said, she had to choose between sth she wanted to do and sth she realized works). And it’s not always the writer’s choice. The pds tell you to write that way or alter your story too. I’m in no way defending her writing, I’m not fond of it. But as a human I’m respecting her choice. That’s basically just survival. I know if I ever want to write a philosophical slice of life drama it’ll gain way less viewers than a romance drama and I may not be able to get to write another drama if my passion project fails even if it’s a masterpiece (lol). Second chances in this industry hardly come by no matter what country it is. Though I still hugely respect Korea for making shows like Misaeng, My Ajusshi and Dear my friends who even despite average ratings (except for Misaeng) made their way to the screen and I think they were passion projects too. So KES just deciding that she’s going to write a show that just hooks the viewers even if it suspends any logic but brings her ratings which in return gets her more projects to work on, well I can’t appreciate her for that(because I want her to write better and know that she can)but I understand her. Also the stability she has gained by writing the same old stuff…
gives her a chance to write what she wants and people will watch it only because of her name. I was annoyed at her interview years ago too that why would she write crap for us to see until I realised I wasn’t her audience anyway. The ones who bring her the numbers are and they like this stuff anyway. When you come across people who are so not enthusiastic about anything other than commercial stuff in the industry that’s when you realize that oh I just may have to change my writing style to ever fit in or make it because at the end producers care less about your passion and more about the value of your product and how much money it’ll generate them. In my country we had an outrageous misogynist show leading the ratings over a beautiful philosophical show and nobody cared about the latter no matter how great it was. That’s how it is everywhere. But by Mr Sunshine I guess KES definitely wanted to write sth she cared about and now that she has a pile of hits under her name, even if that deviated from her usual formula, people watched it for her name.
Lol I never knew I’ll write sth so long on KES but yeah these standards annoy me, the fact that mostly entertaining and commercial stuff works annoys me. But that’s how it is mostly. So when KES says that yeah people watch dramas for entertainment she’s talking about the majority that watch her shows, not everyone but she knows her formula works so she comfortably works like that while getting thousands(millions) of wons and prestigious awards.
So far i’m skipping comments on the recaps. All the theories (some I’ve read are really great tho) are giving me a headache. Personally i have low expectation of this drama since I’m not a fan of LMH, so i just enjoy the bits and pieces i like and don’t think too much about the other parts.
Did she really say that kk? If she did, at least I admire her courage in being so honest. I don’t like her style but I do like elements in some of her shows. I was thinking she imagined Mr Sunshine was one of her good shows, don’t have any opinion because I didn’t get past the second ep but it just seemed like she tried harder with that.
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
May 5, 2020 at 8:18 PM
No interest in starting a fight on the recap page but honestly KES has literally said in interviews that she could write good dramas but doesn’t because when she writes quality nobody watches. She said outright she’d rather write popular crap. Any notion that she cares more for art than ratings contradicts not only the evidence of her work but also her own words. How much clearer can it be then a writer saying outright, “I do not care about quality, I only care about ratings”.
She’s probably panicking right about now. Because it’s possible that the KES Formula to Glossy Nonsense that has served her well for a decade is past its prime. And if that’s the case I may be interested in what she writes next for the first time in forever.
Because she can write. She just actively chooses not to.
Kairoskat 💐
May 5, 2020 at 8:44 PM
KES writernim…bring back dramas like City Hall and On Air. Maybe those dramas were ahead of their time.
marina
May 5, 2020 at 10:16 PM
She is the writer of City Hall?!!! Omg! What went wrong?!
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
May 5, 2020 at 10:31 PM
She decided people didn’t want complex dramas with something to say and she should
just write the kind of dramas she’s been writing since. The funny thing is, City Hall’s ratings were pretty good by today’s standards but I guess for pre-2012 it wasn’t seen that way.
february
May 6, 2020 at 3:52 AM
Ahead of their time indeed.
wapz
May 6, 2020 at 3:47 AM
I don’t think The King is anywhere near becoming a flop. I think The World of the Married airing just an hour after it has its effects too but obviously the show is very lackluster rn. I have a feeling it will pick up in ratings after TWOTM ends, they air at different times but I guess at some point they overlap (when the king ends and twotm starts a few 10 to 15 min overlap there) but also if I were a viewer who needs to watch a show on TV, I may not want to watch two dramas on a single day especially when I know one is better than the other and more dramatic. So I do think the audience is choosing to watch one over the other and this will change when TWOTM ends gaining The King the viewers.
Also I think KES deviated or experimented a little with Mr Sunshine. It wasn’t sth she writes like Dots or Goblin. I wasn’t invested because of the lackluster middle part which is KES’s weakness but she did put some effort in that show. There was cheese but less of it, a very understated romance as much as I remember. So if she has to write differently it’ll probably be sth like Mr sunshine provided I’ve never seen City Hall which everyone praises. She is actually really good at world building. I give her props for doing the whole fantasy setup in both Goblin and The King. So yeah she definitely has the tendency to write great. And I think she learnt the hard way that unfortunately in order to earn a livelihood in this industry you have to write what sells rather than write what you’re passionate about and what you want to tell. This is sad, I know but I totally get her. This is a cut throat industry where you can only prevail if you make hits and she understood that formula and probably left behind what she wanted to do(if i remember in her interview that’s what she said, she had to choose between sth she wanted to do and sth she realized works). And it’s not always the writer’s choice. The pds tell you to write that way or alter your story too. I’m in no way defending her writing, I’m not fond of it. But as a human I’m respecting her choice. That’s basically just survival. I know if I ever want to write a philosophical slice of life drama it’ll gain way less viewers than a romance drama and I may not be able to get to write another drama if my passion project fails even if it’s a masterpiece (lol). Second chances in this industry hardly come by no matter what country it is. Though I still hugely respect Korea for making shows like Misaeng, My Ajusshi and Dear my friends who even despite average ratings (except for Misaeng) made their way to the screen and I think they were passion projects too. So KES just deciding that she’s going to write a show that just hooks the viewers even if it suspends any logic but brings her ratings which in return gets her more projects to work on, well I can’t appreciate her for that(because I want her to write better and know that she can)but I understand her. Also the stability she has gained by writing the same old stuff…
wapz
May 6, 2020 at 3:59 AM
gives her a chance to write what she wants and people will watch it only because of her name. I was annoyed at her interview years ago too that why would she write crap for us to see until I realised I wasn’t her audience anyway. The ones who bring her the numbers are and they like this stuff anyway. When you come across people who are so not enthusiastic about anything other than commercial stuff in the industry that’s when you realize that oh I just may have to change my writing style to ever fit in or make it because at the end producers care less about your passion and more about the value of your product and how much money it’ll generate them. In my country we had an outrageous misogynist show leading the ratings over a beautiful philosophical show and nobody cared about the latter no matter how great it was. That’s how it is everywhere. But by Mr Sunshine I guess KES definitely wanted to write sth she cared about and now that she has a pile of hits under her name, even if that deviated from her usual formula, people watched it for her name.
Lol I never knew I’ll write sth so long on KES but yeah these standards annoy me, the fact that mostly entertaining and commercial stuff works annoys me. But that’s how it is mostly. So when KES says that yeah people watch dramas for entertainment she’s talking about the majority that watch her shows, not everyone but she knows her formula works so she comfortably works like that while getting thousands(millions) of wons and prestigious awards.
february
May 6, 2020 at 3:52 AM
The fact that she’s aware of this *smh
And yes City Hall was one of a kind.
parkchuna ❤️🍉
May 6, 2020 at 3:57 AM
So far i’m skipping comments on the recaps. All the theories (some I’ve read are really great tho) are giving me a headache. Personally i have low expectation of this drama since I’m not a fan of LMH, so i just enjoy the bits and pieces i like and don’t think too much about the other parts.
mugyuljoie is preciousss
May 6, 2020 at 4:48 AM
I’m finding it less painful than Melty but I wouldn’t be watching if WDH weren’t in it. I wonder if Netflix will bring her more fans or antis?
Lixie
May 6, 2020 at 6:48 AM
Did she really say that kk? If she did, at least I admire her courage in being so honest. I don’t like her style but I do like elements in some of her shows. I was thinking she imagined Mr Sunshine was one of her good shows, don’t have any opinion because I didn’t get past the second ep but it just seemed like she tried harder with that.
Mani-chan
May 6, 2020 at 10:42 PM
This may not be the point but I love her honesty in this matter