Female celebrities steal weekend TV shows

Actresses Kim Sun-ah, left, and Kim Hee-sun are seen from JTBC drama "Woman of Dignity" / Courtesy of JTBC

By Park Jin-hai

Female celebrities, who have returned to the small screen after hiatuses, have emerged as viewers’ favorites, pulling up the viewership ratings of weekend TV shows.

Lee Hyo-ri, former member of first generation K-pop girl group Fin.K.L., recently released her sixth studio album “Black” after four years, and has been showing her and her husband’s “slow life” in their Jeju home on JTBC's new reality show, “Hyori’s Homestay.”

The Sunday show, which features a natural, unfiltered version of the 38-year-old singer and K-pop icon of the early 2000s, posted a 7.2 percent viewership in the first five episodes and has been enjoying huge popularity.

Two big name actresses in their early 40s _ Kim Hee-sun and Kim Sun-ah _ have returned to the local drama scene with JTBC’s “Woman of Dignity.” The Friday-Saturday drama, featuring the story of an elegant upper-class housewife in the wealthy district of Cheongdam-dong Woo Ah-jin, played by Kim Hee-sun, who relishes a life of luxury after marrying a quasi-chaebol son, until Park Bok-ja, played by Kim Sun-ah, walks into her life.

Park is hired to attend to Woo's rich father-in-law and succeeds in seducing him.

The veteran actress and her talent helped the drama’s latest episode hit 9.1 percent, readying the drama to surpass that of “Strong Woman Do Bong-soon,” which garnered the broadcaster’s record high viewership of 9.7 percent.

Actress Lee Yoo-ri, who is famous for remarkable villain roles in her previous dramas, is also relishing strong responses from viewers with her latest lawyer role in KBS TV's weekend family drama “My Father is Strange.”

In the 50-episode drama, which enjoys over a 30 percent viewership, Lee plays Byun Hye-young who boldly proposes a one-year marriage contract to her boyfriend.

In the latest episode, Byun is expected to play a key role as she will defend her father in court, who was accused of stealing someone else’s identity.

Meanwhile, veteran singer Lee So-ra, 47, has been providing emotional moments to viewers through JTBC’s music reality show “Begin Again,” where Lee and other musicians go to foreign counties including the U.K. and Ireland to busk there.