Keywords of April original series lineups: female-centric and comedy From left, posters for the series “Queenmaker," "Bo-ra! Deborah," and “Dr. Cha” / Courtesy of Netflix, ENA and JTBCBy Lee Gyu-lee Female-centric and comedy are the two keywords of the upcoming series lineups at pay TV and streaming platforms in April. Netflix and JTBC will be rolling out the female-oriented series, “Queenmaker” and “Dr. Cha” this month. The streaming platform's new original series, “Queenmaker,” will follow a fixer, Hwang Do-hee (Kim Hee-ae), who is a master of making strategies and handling publicity. Hwang finds herself in the cutthroat world of politics when she puts her skills to transform a civil rights lawyer, Oh Kyung-sook (Moon So-ri), into the next mayor. Having the same enemy, the two join hands to fight against fellow mayoral candidates, including Baek Jae-min (Ryu Soo-young), the son-in-law of a business tycoon.The series, which will release on April 14, is led by Oh Jin-seok, who directed Netflix's romance series, “My First First Love” (2019), and is scripted by Moon Ji-young, who wrote tvMar 31, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
Celebrity chef Paik Jong-won takes his business skills to next level with 'The Genius Paik' From left, the cast members John Park, Kwon Yu-ri, producer Lee Woo-hyung, Paik Jong-won, BamBam and Lee Jang-woo pose during the press conference for the tvN's reality show “The Genius Paik,” held in Mapo District, Wednesday. Courtesy of tvNBy Lee Gyu-leeCelebrity chef and restaurant business owner Paik Jong-won is putting his skill to use to introduce Korean food to people around the world who are unfamiliar with the cuisine. TvN's new reality show “The Genius Paik,” scheduled to premiere on April 2, invites Paik and a group of celebrities to start their own restaurants in other countries where locals have had few chances of encountering Korean food.The chef will start in Morocco with singer BamBam and actor Lee Jang-woo, and then head to Naples, Italy, with Lee, along with singers John Park and Kwon Yu-ri.The show's producer, Lee Woo-hyung, said the team spent a long time developing the program and convincing Paik to get on board.“We've talked about the show since three or four years ago. This is Paik's challenge to become world class,” Lee saidMar 30, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
Ra Mi-ran, Lee Re to lead fantasy drama 'The Mysterious Candy Store' Actresses Ra Mi-ran, left, and Lee Re / Courtesy of C-Jes EntertainmentBy Kwak Yeon-sooActresses Ra Mi-ran and Lee Re will lead a new fantasy drama tentatively titled “The Mysterious Candy Store.” The series will be directed by Park Bong-seob, who previously helmed “Uncanny Counter” (2020-2021) and “Eve” (2022).Based on Reiko Hiroshima's children's novel of the same title, the drama revolves around a mysterious candy store only visible to lucky people. The store owner gives personalized candy recommendations for each visitor based on their worries. If people eat or use candies incorrectly, things may not go as planned. In the end, it is up to the person receiving the sweet whether it brings them fortune or misfortune.In the series, Ra will play the role of candy store owner Hong-ja who prescribes candies to make one's dream come true. “While reading the script of 'The Mysterious Candy Store,' I imagined how sweets sold by Hong-ja could grant wishes to her customers. I'm curious about how the script will be turned into a live-action drama,&rdqMar 28, 2023By Kwak Yeon-soo
INTERVIEW Choi Min-sik, Lee Dong-hwi on creating Korean-style noir with 'Big Bet' Actor Choi Min-sik and Lee Dong-hwi co-star in the Disney+ Korean original series “Big Bet.” Courtesy of Walt Disney Company KoreaBy Lee Gyu-leeThe Disney+ Korean original series, “Big Bet,” explores the dark, macho world of casinos through the eyes of its lead character, Cha Mu-sik, a Korean casino mogul in the Philippines. Actor Choi Min-sik, who played the role of Cha, shared that he wanted to emphasize the Korean sentiment in this crime noir series.Actor Choi Min-sik / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea“The story moves forward centering on Cha's narrative; his relationship with his mother, and with his wife … I wanted to capture the conflicts that are specific to Korean people,” Choi told The Korea Times during an interview, held at a cafe in Jongno District, last Friday. “I had in mind not to follow some Western gangster movie or noir-genre works. Even with the last scene, I wanted it to have Korean-style reality.”The crime series, which ended its second season last Wednesday, follows the epic saga of Cha, a self-made busMar 28, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol' Kim Min-gyu played the role of Lembrary in tvN's fantasy comedy series "The Heavenly Idol." Courtesy of tvNBy Lee Gyu-leeActors Kim Min-gyu and Go Bo-gyeol, who led tvN's recent series, “The Heavenly Idol,” thanked the fans as they bid farewell to the series. The comedy fantasy series, based on the web novel of the same name, follows a priest named Lembrary (Kim) from a fictional world, waking up in the modern world as a failed K-pop singer Woo Yeon-woo. As a member of a struggling, not-so-popular boy group, Lembrary is forced to navigate the cutthroat world of K-pop with the help of the group's manager, Kim Dal (Go), while also trying to find a way back to his original world.The 12-part series wrapped Thursday with a happy ending, where Lembrary came back to the modern world to be with Kim Dal, hinting the further romance between the two. Kim shared photos from the episodes as well as from his time on the set with fellow actors, saying “thank you,” and “great job,” following the series' last episode. View this post on InstagramA pMar 24, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
Han Suk-kyu on return of 'Dr. Romantic' with Season 3 A scene from SBS series “Dr. Romantic 3” / Courtesy of SBSBy Lee Gyu-leeActor Han Suk-kyu expressed excitement about the return of the SBS hit series “Dr. Romantic” with the third season after three years. The medical series revolves around a group of medical staff working at a small hospital, called Dol Dam Hospital, in a remote countryside area. Han plays a genius doctor, Kim Sa-bu (Han Suk-kyu), who used to be a top surgeon at a renowned hospital but gives up his position to find a secluded, peaceful life at the hospital. The series made a huge success with its first two seasons, the first in 2016 and the second in 2020, which both scored over 27 percent viewership ratings. “I'm happy to work on the series again with these great staff and actors. As we had such great teamwork, I've missed my Dol Dam families and it was a pleasure to meet up again in three years,” the actor said through the broadcaster, Thursday. “Season 3 was possible thanks to the huge love and support that the viewers have given us. We reminded ourselves of what viewers Mar 24, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series Actors Lee Som, left, and Ahn Jae-hong will star in Tving's new original series. Courtesy of Management mmmBy Lee Gyu-leeActors Lee Som and Ahn Jae-hong will co-lead Tving's new original series, tentatively titled “LTNS”, which is short for “Long Time No Sex.” The local streaming platform announced that the two will be playing a married couple in the upcoming comedy series, Wednesday.The series will revolve around a couple, hotelier Woo-jin (Lee), and cab driver Samuel (Ahn), who have been married for five years. After years of marriage and making ends meet, the relationship has lost its flame. One day, Woo-jin finds out about an affair involving her friend's partner at the hotel where she works. She takes an offer to spy on the affair to make money with the help of her husband. As the two work together, their relationship is reconciled and renewed. “(The series) will portray a realistic story about a sexless marriage and will feature episodes of different couples' affairs,” the platform said in its release. The series is created by filmmaker Lim DMar 23, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
Revenge rises as key theme in K-dramas A scene from the Netflix's Korean original series “The Glory” / Courtesy of tvNBy Lee Gyu-leeIt's no secret that Korean drama series are increasingly focused on revenge, offering a sense of catharsis through eye-for-an-eye storylines. This compelling theme of justice being served in dramas such as Netflix's newest Korean original series “The Glory” and SBS crime series “Taxi Driver 2” has resonated with many viewers, taking these shows to the top of the rankings charts.“The Glory,” created by star writer Kim Eun-sook, follows a school bullying victim, Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), whose life has been torn apart by the abuse she suffered at the hands of a group of spiteful high school students.About 20 years later, Moon intervenes in the lives of her abusers and carries out carefully crafted vengeance to bring suffering to her tormentors.The series, which released its first part in December and its second part this month, has been enjoying global success. It topped the platform's official weekly streaming chart for non-English series forMar 22, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
'The Glory' Part 2 tops Netflix's non-English TV show chart for 2nd week This photo shows Song Hye-kyo in a scene from Netflix shows the Korean revenge thriller "The Glory," which topped the non-English TV show chart in the week of March 13-19. Courtesy of NetflixThe Netflix revenge thriller series "The Glory" Part 2 stayed on top of the streamer's weekly viewership chart for the second consecutive week, data showed Wednesday. Premiered on March 10, the highly anticipated second part was the most-watched non-English TV show on Netflix's top 10 list for the week of March 13-19 with 123.59 million viewing hours. The tally is about double the viewing hours of Netflix's top English TV show, "You: Season 4," which was watched for 64.06 million hours over the same period. The Korean show starring Song Hye-kyo shocked viewers with brutal school violence and systemic negligence in the first eight episodes released on Dec. 30 and returned with a tightly knitted revenge plot to unfold villains' tragic endings. (Yonhap)Mar 22, 2023
Lee Se-young to lead MBC's new series 'The Story of Park's Marriage Contract' Actress Lee Se-young / Courtesy of PrainTPCBy Lee Gyu-leeActress Lee Se-young has taken on another MBC production with the upcoming fantasy romance series, “The Story of Park's Marriage Contract,” about a year after leading the broadcaster's period romance series “The Red Sleeve” to success.MBC announced that the actress had confirmed the lead, saying the series is scheduled to go on air in the latter half of this year.Based on the webcomics of the same name, the rom-com series revolves around a girl from the Joseon period, Park Yeon-yoo (Lee), who time-travels to modern times.Park, who lives in the 19th century, comes from an influential family and is the only daughter of a high-ranking royal officer. Her husband dies in front of her on their wedding night, leaving her widowed.One day, she gets thrown into a well by a mysterious person and wakes up in a completely different time: 2023. Amidst the chaos, she meets a man, Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk), who looks exactly like her late husband and also has the same name. Park and Kang end up in a fake marriage.As ParMar 21, 2023By Lee Gyu-lee
