After a slow start to the year, with only a couple of shows -- 신돈 (Shin Don) and 서동요 (The Ballad of Seo Dong) -- really worth watching, 2006 is turning into quite the interesting year for TV Dramas, not only because there's been an increase in quality Dramas as of late, but also because of the interesting developments for the future, with the industry moving to 사전제작 (100% pre-broadcast shoot) in most cases, and much more diversity.
But of course to travel beyond what we write, those Dramas need to be released on DVD. With the exception of the great 부활 (Rebirth) Director's Cut and the little gem 태릉 선수촌 (Taereung National Village), 2006 on DVD for TV Dramas has been pretty much a waste, with the usual Korean Wave bait populating the shelves. But at least this Summer you'll get something better. Of course Yoon Seok-Ho's 봄의 왈츠 (Spring Waltz) has already been announced for August, even though it doesn't even deserve a 2nd gen VHS. Yet, Noh Hee-Kyung's wonderful 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo) and SBS' shocker (shocker also because it was that good and still on SBS) 연애시대 (Alone in Love) will also be released, the former in August, the latter in July. I've also heard rumblings that a Director's Cut of Dr. 깽 (Dr. Gang) and a release of 불량가족 (Bad Family) are in the works, but let's just leave it as a rumour for now. We'll post Preorder links when available, and in the meantime you'll get a review of Goodbye Solo by next week, and one a little later for Alone in Love.
What about Which Star are you From? I'm dying to see this one desperately!!! Any hope?
Completely disappointed that Hello! God isn't even getting a DVD release.
I'm sure someone will be happy to tell me it becomes so much better, or I just don't understand it, or something, but I watched the first episode of Hello! God and thought it was pretty dire. What was there to get beyond shameless Forrest Gump-isms and bad acting? Rebirth starts pretty damn slow but the aura of sheer class is obvious even if you dislike the format and the typical laying the melodrama on with a trowel. No such luck here.
Alone In Love doesn't sound particularly interesting from the premise, but if you think it's that great, X, I'm interested to see why... ;)
와, 블로그 제목이 참 멋있군요... 해자가 사는 세상~. ^^
2006 has been quite surprising so far, even though the bad is even worse than last year. Liked a lot of the smaller Dramas (단막극 or 특집) too, I'm watching 연어의 꿈 (they're calling it 'Back to the Right Places' on KBS World) now and it's quite intelligent.
Loosely based on the novel Flowers for Algernon, I think Hello God is easily the best Korean drama serial under 20 episodes in 2006. It has many twist and turns through out the show and the more you watch, the more you'll realize its depth. It was not aired during a favorable time slot (against Goong), but it has garnered popular followings abroad when it aired overseas.
I wouldn't consider Kim Ok-Bin's acting amateurish. I think for a 19-year old girl, she acted well in the leading lady role which was a difficult role even for seasoned actresses.
But like any enjoyment of dramas, it's a very subjective act. I would buy this DVD set if KBS releases it.
WoW. Thank you for visiting my blog on cine21.com ^^
On weekend, I am watching any dramas on KBS, MBC's web site and movies.
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