Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Romance series set to dominate small screen for coming weeks
From left, posters for MBC series “The Story of Park's Marriage Contract,” SBS' “My Demon” and ENA’s “Tell Me That You Love Me" / Courtesy of MBC, SBS and KT Studio Genie
By Lee Gyu-lee
A string of romance series, from romantic comedy to melodrama, will fill the lineup of dramas in coming weeks.
MBC is rolling out a new fantasy romance series, “The Story of Park's Marriage Contract,” on Nov. 24.
The 12-part series, based on the web novel of the same name, revolves around a girl from the 19th century, Park Yeon-woo, who slips through time to the modern day.
On the day of her wedding, her husband dies of a chronic disease, making her a widow. One day, she is abducted and gets thrown into a well. She wakes up in a completely different era in 2023 and meets a rich heir, Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk), who looks exactly like her husband.
When Kang asks her to be his fake bride, she agrees to the contract marriage, entangling herself with her late husband’s lookalike in the modern era.
The series is led by Park Sang-hoon, whose previous work was the 2018 action series “My Secret Terrius.”
Actors Kim You-jung and Jung Woo-sung are set to make their small screen returns with SBS’ new series “My Demon” and ENA’s series “Tell Me That You Love Me.”
The fantasy rom-com series “My Demon,” which will start to air on Nov. 24, is about an arrogant, coldhearted heiress of a conglomerate, Do Do-hee (Kim), who makes an unusual deal with a demon, Jung Gu-won (Song Kang).
Jung loses his supernatural power when his tattoo mysteriously gets passed onto Do’s wrist. When Do suggests he become her bodyguard, threatening to remove the tattoo, the two form an unlikely alliance that leads to a contracted marriage.
The 16-part series is directed by Kim Jang-han, who led the melodrama series “Do You Like Brahms?” and is scripted by Choi Ah-il, who wrote the hit comedy series “Mr. Queen.”
A scene from Tving’s new thriller original series, “A Bloody Lucky Day" / Courtesy of Tving
ENA’s new melodrama series “Tell Me That You Love Me,” scheduled for release on Nov. 27, follows a classic romance story between a deaf artist, Cha Jin-woo (Jung), and an aspiring actress, Jung Mo-eun (Shin Hyun-bin).
Cha lost his hearing when he was young and has been living a secluded life, having painting as his only friend. When he comes across passionate, self-confident Jung, he falls in love with her, finding changes in his life.
The series, an adaptation of the 1995 Japanese hit romance series of the same name, is led by director Kim Yoon-jin, who helmed the 2021 romance series “Our Beloved Summer,” and is written by Kim Min-jung, who scripted the 2016 period series “Love in the Moonlight.”
Tving’s thriller series, “A Bloody Lucky Day,” is also set to premiere this month, hitting the streaming platform on Nov. 20.
The psychological thriller series, based on the webcomic of the same name, revolves around a taxi driver named Oh Taek (Lee Sung-min). Starting the day with a lucky dream, he has a lucrative day with non-stop customers. Just when he is about to call it a day, a man, Hyuk-soo (Yoo Yeon-seok), offers him an enormous fee for a long-distance ride.
What started out as a pleasant trip soon goes sideways when Oh slowly realizes that he is stuck on the road with a serial killer in the backseat.
The 10-part series is directed by filmmaker Pil Gam-seong, whose previous work includes the 2021 thriller film “Hostage: Missing Celebrity.”