New SBS drama 'Entertainer' disappoints viewers
Ji Sung singlehandedly strives to salvage show
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By Park Jin-hai
The new SBS drama “Entertainer” drew a lot of attention from media and viewers before its premiere this week. The perfect timing of the premiere which followed on the heels of the much-hyped “Descendants of the Sun,” and the casting have been interesting enough to draw attention.
Starring Ji Sung, last year’s MBC Drama Award winner for his performance in “Kill Me, Heal Me,” and Hyeri, a member of K-pop group Girl’s Day who silenced the controversy around her casting in tvN’s hit drama “Reply 1988” by helping make the show a great success, SBS’ new drama was expected to fill the viewers’ void left by the megahit drama “Descendants of the Sun.”
Despite the mix of promising elements, however, when the drama finally premiered, it fell short of what viewers expected_ especially so by the raised standards of today’s viewers, who have already tasted various choices in recent TV hit series, such as “Signal” and “Descendants of the Sun.”
“Entertainer” has the weakest viewership ratings against KBS and MBC dramas in the same times slot. It kicked off on Wednesday, garnering only 6.2 percent of viewers, overtaken by the first episode of a special program on “Descendants,” which gained 17.7 percent of viewers, and “Goodbye, Mr. Black," which seized 8.1 percent, according to data by Nielsen Korea. When the second episode was aired on Thursday, it didn’t get any better, the drama’s rating virtually remaining in the same place at 6.6 percent.
One of the biggest faults comes from its too predictable story line. The drama is about the world of the entertainment business, where actor Ji Sung plays the character Shin Seok-ho, a former director of a top management agency, who is forced to start from scratch, bringing a rookie band to stardom.
Hyeri plays the sister of talented musician Haneul, played by boy band CNBLUE’s drummer Kang Min-hyuk. She will be the love interest for Shin.
During the press event for the drama, Hong Sung-chang, producer of the drama, said, “In the past, I used to say my new dramas are both enjoyable and touching. But, these days, it became really hard to say so. Entertainer is the rare case that I am confident to say that it strikes two birds with one stone.
“Most of all, actor Ji’s irreplaceable great performance will be outshined throughout the drama.”
His words have proven half true so far.
Beyond the mundane plot, viewers managed to focus on the drama mainly because of Ji, a seasoned actor who previously played a millionaire suffering dissociative identity disorder with seven different identities in “Kill Me, Heal Me” and clinched the Actor of the Year.
“The first episode has been a one-man show for Ji Sung, who took his part extraordinarily acting out a big shot in show biz fallen to nothing,” said a netizen on local portal site Naver, while many of others said, “Although the story has been too predictable, Ji has been the only reason I stayed tuned. I cannot say that I will be a loyal viewer for the drama.”
Placed on the hot seat has been the performance of its heroine Hyeri. The idol group member, who captivated many viewers with her simple character role Deokseon in last year’s “Reply 1988,” seems to have revealed her own limitations as an actress.
Throughout the show, Hyeri’s Geurin character reminds viewers of Deokseon, interfering in viewers accepting her new character.
Hyeri said that she has been under immense pressure not to let fans down with her new role in “Entertainer.”
“I went through much deliberation on choosing my next TV role after Reply 1988,” she told reporters at SBS headquarters during a press event. “I had been under a lot of pressure when I started on this show. I’m trying to differentiate Geurin from Deokseon. At first glance, the two may seem similar because both are outgoing. But as a person who knows Deokseon pretty well, I am confident that I can eliminate her specter in Geurin’s character.”
It seems that now the ball is in the court of the producers, who have the responsibility to clad Ji with his most fitting clothes: in this case, a more finely webbed story structure and hooky lines and synergy with costars. Because, it looks like a tall order for Ji to singlehandedly salvage the drama all the way to the end, after all.