i now admire actors and actresses

If Eric's accident on the set of Wolf didnt spark change, what will?

(Nooo! Not my pretty Jung Il-woo!)

(I agree, we don't need a Reaper who actually LOOKS like death!)

Man, I really feel bad for the actors and the rest of the production team who suffer such terrible working conditions. And the dramas take a hit too, a lot of their storylines get so messed up....The reference to Midas really rings true, the development is really starting to show some cracks.

I hope that broadcast companies learn their lesson before something REALLY bad happens. Who knows, maybe THIS will be the culminating end of the Hallyu Wave if dramas become terrible D:
And hopefully THAT doesn't happen. *knocks on wood*

Shushhhh! the Reaper is here. Hehe.

I feel tired myself after reading all that (not that it's a long article, I was just feeling for the actors).

I recall daniel henney did an interview somewhere where he compared shooting in america and shooting in korea and saying that in america he can get lots of rest but in korea he practically lives in the van. I'm glad for this article, I've always found the the live-shoot-drama system in korea rather interesting,

One episode per week?

I love me some Korean entertainment but I also feel that the way they do it is so chaotic.
I don't see how a drama done several months in advance can't work, see how America does it! Dramas like Glee are done way ahead of schedule and yet they are popular.
Sure, there we also have some dramas that started off amazingly but then died as season kept progressing (Lost, Heroes). But mostly there I think that's what happens when you have season after season after season. What I love about Asian dramas is that for the most part they are only one season long.
I feel like Korea does everything so rushed and wanting to gain as much money as possible. Yet they end up losing loads of money because well.... *points to article*

does anyone know if the situation is similar in Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan? I'm wondering if this situation is specific to Korea or if it happens all throughout Asia.

also, i doubt we'll see any changes soon. in the pop music industry people are talking about improving conditions for trainees and such, but it seems more like lip-service due to the numerous lawsuits than anything else. there's yet to have been any real differences, at least as far as fans can see.

I've always thought live-shoots for dramas were crazy (I remember the BBF madness and the accidents), but it really doesn't seem like there's any alternative since pre-produced dramas always seem to get the short end of the stick. Maybe they should plan a mini-break at least halfway through a series run because by then, the drama knows where it stands with its audience to speculate how to finish up the rest of the show and the actors and crew can rest up. They could just show a re-run during that time, so that way they wouldn't lose the audience and people that haven't gotten around to watching it yet could catch up.

This could be frustrating to the audience, but patience is a virtue and I'd prefer to wait for a new episode because a lot of time is actually being spent on it rather than because the actors and crew are collapsing or getting in accidents.

Now I know why actors like Won Bin exclusively do movies.

I wonder whether this system also contributes to the precipitous drop in quality sometimes seen in kdramas at around ep 8-10... it might mostly be due to the start of angst, but I think it surely has to do with exhausted actors+scriptwriters+crew too... :(

Hm one episode per week sounds good, its an idea that can work, we want better drama, which we can watch again and again if possible.

I love K-Drama's but man I've found a whole new respect for actors/actresses....I feel so bad for them, working them like they are machines....I wonder why are pre-produced shows not so popular. I get what they mean but saying "If something doesn't work with the fans we can just fix it", but you have to think about your actors, if something goes wrong with them then there is no show. Besides what difference would it have made if Dream High, MGIAG My Princess was pre-produced, I would've still love them

I'd like to know which scriptwriters take the longest to put out work. Sorry if writing is hard, but maybe you should have a concise idea of how the beginning, middle and end are going to be like before you tackle another show.

Being a devils advocate: Why should a writer change their plot to please others. I've yet to see a PD change/plot change/character drop that made a better show.

it's amazing though that the quality is relatively high. just to compare, the dramas in indonesia are also shot in real time, and i never watch them cause they're so crappy.

perhaps air-time of once a week can lessen the burden. i'm always amazed why it's twice a week. it's a treat for audiences but i imagine it's hell for the production. i guess they get paid for it, but in the interest of quality, i think audiences would accept once a week run time...

maybe instead of airing 2 days in a row, air with a couple of days inbetween (ex. monday, thursday)? I'm sure the audiences wouldn't mind. In fact, they might like it better rather than getting a hit of drama high for 2 days and then a 5 day dry spell

Well written article! Points the good and the bads.

And I'd like to add, maybe a contributing factor is that audience comments and input are SO important in korean entertainment because korea is such a wired country, and comments from normal citizens can spread so quickly and easily, so audience feedback multiplies.

what an insane, dangerous system! seriously one can die from extreme sleep deprivation. 'nuff said.

Wish they would stop treating the actors like disposables. Each extended sleep deprivation is like a having a concussion, really not cool for long term health. Maybe they should all go on strike...

This any quality of scripts are reasons why I find Hong Kong tv dramas (at least the older stuff by TVB) a lot better. The leads have a solid script in hand and can decide if the direction of the character makes sense to them... but most importantly, actors don't end up doing live shooting the week of broadcast. This is why accidents happen so often!

argh, I worry for their lives. Every all nighter takes at least a good 10 hours to make up for the 8 hours... or so someone told me. LOL

49 days are filming episode 9/10 so no worry now about tight schedule, but well they can always go insane.

I dont get this thing of filming two or one day before airing.

The producer don't trust himself that his work will be good or catch the fan attention?

JB, thank you very much for writing about this. I have always wondered when these crazy working conditions will change.

One ep a week sounds like a good start to improve working conditions and the quality of k-dramas in general to me.

The actors are amazing. They keep delivering inspite of the lack of sleep. But you can tell by the eye bags that start to show, the bloopers and the story that starts to go bananas.

Maybe that is why Kim Jae Wook prefers to sing, although I prefer to see him acting.

I'm a fan of live shoot. It puts the focus where it should be in Korean trendies -- how well are we loving the chemistry? I also appreciate that without the shooting schedule, you wouldn't have a lot of "comic relief" from side actors, since much of it is sort of ad-libbed to fill out the time.

What I've never been a big fan of is location shoots, and that is where live shoots really suck. Even when you do location shoots well in advance, the writers haven't come up with a complete story. As a result, they often write the stories around the location shoot.

I love the prepackaged dramas too. In terms of editing and acting execution, they even the competition with J-doramas, and can rival American cable TV.

No viewers,themselves, would work under those appalling conditions.Why do we expect the cast and production crew to do that? Like JB said,what kind of disaster will it take to change things? The high number of suicides in the entertainment industry have not changed anything.

On another note, I was wondering why Midas has so many plot holes,and why I cannot relate to the characters there. LMJ character and JH character did not seem to be a couple in love to start with, the way the breakup happen did not make sense.The other female lead seems to just sit there and recite her lines.But,if the cast do not have the whole script in time and understand their own characters development at the beginning,then it does not translate. Too bad.

I've always wondered about this! thanks for posting this
I know HK dramas film a new series for 3 months and then it usually shows the NEXT year. I've read articles about actors being tired and stuff but not to THIS extent where korean actors have to get IV drips and are rushed to film for an episode the next day. In Taiwan I also know that they film months ahead. Even if the show is broadcasting and they are filming , they are already a few episodes ahead.

If this has been going on for some time , like how these kdramas are filmed I don't think it'll be easy to change it so quickly. My heart goes out to all the tired actors and production crew =[

I believe culture plays a role too. Just the whole asian mindset that you're not working hard enough unless you faint. And if someone else is working more hours than you, then it makes you look bad.

very informative!

How far can they go, subjecting everything to ratings and revenue even on adversely affected terms or massive drop in quality (actor performance, editing, writing, etc.)?
There should be something else driving them besides making profit... maybe developing or settling for ONE big legit system to recognize and honor TV excellence will pave the way (no ridiculous self-awarding networks please, but something like the HFPA / Academy of TV Arts & Sciences maybe?), rewarding content value instead of income or Hallyu value, assigning fellowships for promising students/producers/writers and establishing scholarships.

There's some good suggestions and comparing going on here, nice discussion guys :)

Yes, now I know why top actors prefer movies.

I agree with switching to a 1 ep per week system. Then, there could be twice as many dramas airing over longer periods of time.

Now I really appreciate those few dramas these days that are excellent (like Sign, minus the finale glitch). I wonder how they even pull these dramas off.

The whole system is very dictatorial.

The production teams must obey the broadcast station who cares only about money. In order to make money, they need ratings, hence viewership. However, Korean viewership won't watch if the drama doesn't go THEIR WAYS.

I don't know if K-dramas go for DVD packaged, singer's CD and stuffs like J-dramas usually promote at the end of each episode to make extra revenue. But that still isn't the solution to this headache.

The whole mind set is that viewer can dictate the drama. This loses the sanity of the drama.

What a great explanation of what goes on! My only question is, does anyone know why the American TV system is so different? Or is it?

its sad D:
not only the tele industry in korea but also idols..

Its really disgusting having to work under these conditions. I'm so annoyed that I want to slap someone....but I don't know who....and I'm too bloody far away.

...now I know why the actors/actresses ask more than 20 million won for a drama coz basically its a life and death situation.....what happen to the quality over quantity? I always admire kdrama for their heart and soul coz I never had that kind of feeling to any other dramas but now I wonder if they realized how heartless they are to do this to the staff including the actors/actress.

"I have had the opportunity to watched a lot of the “old”
K-Dramas, and I have mention before how the quality in the last 2 1/2 years has drop dramatically"

Mmm, it depends on what you mean as "old." K-dramas back in the early-mid 90s tend to have simpler (i.e. less crazy) storylines, and the rom-coms were way, way dialed down. In a way, mid-90s Korean dramas played a bit like American urban TV. If you like shows like Living Single or Monique, Korean TV was your thing. Toward the mid-late 90s, "high" workplace dramas were becoming the thing, and you got to see them experiment with court shows, light police drama, things like that. Moreover, they started to spend bling on location shooting, such as shooting in Los Angeles or New York City.

I've always felt the major problem with the last 5 years has been the decline of the rom-com. It used to be that K-drama rom-coms,which are the easiest to produce and most affably work with live-shot, could do blockbuster ratings. However, since 2006, you see less and less real hits. The alternative are makjangs, but traditional melodramas had also been declining in ratings from 2004-08. So, what did we get? Rom-coms with overblown budgets.

It's amazing that I still looked pretty even after going without sleep for so many days. I think it was the head tilting that kept me looking fresh. Nothing like a little exercise to rejuvenate the mind and body.

I pity the actors, but I also pity the idols who are not used to this live-shoot system and already have a hectic idol schedule. Particularly when they are doing their music promotions. You always see an idol saying they want to tackle acting, but sometimes I really worry about their health.

It's crazy. Especially with the HD system, the actors' eye bags are so obvious that by the end of the drama, they just looked like they need sleep more than love.

HyunBin had confessed that after Secret Garden his health deteriorated a little and he had to get IV drip (it's actually so common in Korea right now, don't you think? Idols get IV drips almost all the time. It's like eating kimchi. Their arms must have many needle scars. -__- )

Sigh....I love my Korean dramas and my Korean mainstream pop, but please give these people rest. Pulling an all nighter was already jeopardizing my health as a normal person, what more them? :(

Regarding the concern over high ratings, do they ever use test audiences over there? I know when it comes to making movies (not sure about tv shows), the majority of studios do pre-screenings of their movies to test audiences to gauge their reactions and get feedback to see if their stories are being perceived by the audience the way they intended. I know Pixar does this all the time, and they're the masters of quality when it comes to cinema. I would think Korean drama productions would greatly benefit from using the test audience method for retooling their dramas if they're so worried about pleasing viewers.

...oh poor HB! i missed him already. No wonder when actors came from their MS they look healthier and here i am thinking they're suffering in the military? now I believe MS is a breath of life for this actors and going to the normal mainstream of being human.

I am not a fan of live shoot dramas. Late scripts and all night shooting especially in the middle of winter with no heating system on is madness. The actors - many of them are sleep deprived, we can see that with the awful bags under their eyes, we can see their breaths when they are talking, look at Dream High for instance - those poor kids, and we hear how some actors, for instance Hyun Bin had to get IV treatment because of exhaustion.

The problem is when all these things occur, the quality decreases as well. We may see problems in editing, which is not a rarity, is see these errors routinely. I feel very sorry for the actors, I really hope that they are highly compensated for the hardships that they go through filming a kdrama. I only wish that the conditions for filming change.

i pity anyone in the entertainment business. to any standerby, it just seems like easy work, lots of celebrity love, money at your fingertips. they're just ignorant though, or believe that it's the price that comes with fame. it's so cutthroat, especially in places like korea.

i think even worse than being an actor is being a singer though. a kpop star, to be precise. you may scoff at the music they're singing, but they're dealing with such a rigorous schedule every day of the year, unlike actors who at least have time to rest after a project is over.

all in all, i have so much respect for them. i didn't even understand how LDW could memorise all of his damn lines in Partner which was in a similar situation, let alone emote them so well.