[INTERVIEW] 'Hospital Playlist' director shares how his rule-breaking experiment succeeded

Director Shin Won-ho recently finished the second season of his latest series, "Hospital Playlist." Courtesy of tvN

By Lee Gyu-lee

It has been a long-established arrangement for most Korean TV dramas, if not all, to air two episodes on consecutive days per week and to run for a single season.

However, star director Shin Won-ho has broken that practice. "Hospital Playlist," his latest series, aired only one episode each weekend, and continued over two seasons ― a decision he made even before production began.

Unveiling one episode per week was initially seen as high risk for Shin, as well as tvN, in a fast-changing digital era when viewers are increasingly impatient about TV series and anxious to know what happens in the next episodes. Over-the-top service providers have tried to appeal to viewers' changing needs by unveiling all of the episodes of a series upon its release.

Shin's confidence-driven experiment turned out to be a success.

The feel-good drama has garnered popularity since the start of its first season in March of last year. It ended the run in success with the second season commencing in September, scoring a 14.1-percent viewership rating.

The director, who led hit dramas like "Prison Playbook" and the "Reply" series, expressed that the new scheduling of the series, which was groundbreaking in the K-drama industry, offered him a longer turnaround time and helped boost the overall quality.

"After this series, I don't think I can ever do a series that airs two episodes per week. I can't imagine the time when I used to do those projects," Shin told The Korea Times. "Because we didn't feel as fatigued during production, we were actually able to work more efficiently around the set, which is the biggest advantage."

The poster for the series / Courtesy of tvN

Written by star screenwriter Lee Woo-jung, who wrote the "Reply" series, the drama follows five friends from medical school: Lee Ik-joon (Cho Jung-seok), Ahn Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-seok), Kim Jun-wan (Jung Kyoung-ho), Yang Seok-hyeong (Kim Dae-myung) and Chae Song-hwa (Jeon Mi-do).

The friends, now in their forties and each with a different medical specialization, work at the same general hospital, and still share a common interest in music through the band they formed together in college. The story develops, as the group explores their friendship and interwoven relationships with fellow medical staff and patients at the hospital.

Shin noted that the series' rich story, with different subplots of the main characters, staff, and patients at the hospital, led to the success of both seasons.

"I think the audiences had different reasons to watch our series; for some, it could be the chemistry between the five friends, or the music, and for others, it could be the heartwarming story of the patients, or maybe the romance," he said. "But mostly, I think the characters the five lead actors created and their friendship, along with the stories of people at the hospital, led viewers to fall for our series."

Director Shin, third from left, poses for pictures with the cast members. Courtesy of tvN

So keeping the same vibe from the first season was his key mission in creating the second season, to continue telling the heartwarming story of the people at the hospital.

"Instead of trying to make a bigger impact or making drastic changes, our purpose was to keep doing what we did and to continue following their poignant daily lives," he said.

The director revealed that the process of making two seasons over two years has brought out greater chemistry among actors, which is reflected in Season 2.

"It was an amazing experience… even though about 10 months have passed since Season 1, it felt that we were just picking up where we left off yesterday. Usually, during the first few shooting sessions during production, there are a few processes to go through, like getting used to each other. But this time, we were able to skip that part and everything just went so smoothly," he said.

"And as the actors and the production staff came to develop a sense of strong intimacy over the two years, we could create Season 2 with a much more tight-knit chemistry, which was a refreshing experience."

The series revolves around five friends from medical school, working at the same hospital. Courtesy of tvN

The series follows the life of doctors beyond their profession and looks as them as individuals, interacting with patients and making connections with fellow medical staff.

Despite the heartening story, the series took criticism from some people who said that the series excessively put doctors ― an elite class in Korean society ― up on a pedestal.

The director responded to those criticisms by saying that he sought to tell a story of "kindhearted fantasy."

"It's a fantasy we have that everyone is a good person. So I wanted to unfold a story viewers would get engaged in, hoping to be part of those good people's lives. If you want to call it a fantasy, so be it," he said. "I just wanted the audience to feel comfort and empathy by watching the series. Our series was never meant to idolize a specific profession, but rather was about telling a heartwarming story of these kindhearted people who happen to be from this profession."

A scene from the series / Courtesy of tvN

Noting that all series are fiction, he referred to the series as a more realistic fantasy.

"In reality, there are no goblins like Gong Yoo and no boyfriends like Park Bo-gum… nowadays series are getting more and more extreme (in their fantasy aspects). And among those provocative, shocking and dramatic stories, I think it is worth having this kind of tender fantasy," he said.

Shin originally planned the series to have three seasons. But after wrapping up the second one, he explained that he is not sure of that decision, despite having more stories that he wanted to touch on in the series.

"There are a lot of stories about the patients that we haven't covered yet. The main purpose of the series was to revolve around the doctors, so there are still many stories that are yet to have been told," he said. "However, as this was my first time making more than one season, I became exhausted and encountered different conundrums. So it is going to be a tough decision whether to continue on with the story or not."