Why is Bad Love so bad?
by javabeans
I gave up watching KBS’s over-the-top melodrama Bad Love because from what I saw, it was horrible. And yet, part of me thinks it could’ve been a lot of fun to watch even despite — or because of — how ridiculously bad the series is. Alas I don’t have twenty hours to commit to unabashedly cheesy histrionics.
The viewers are also flagging for the Monday-Tuesday drama, which finds itself “unable to revive from its slump”; after its thirteenth episode, ratings are in the 7% range. What could be the reasons for its failure to catch on? A few possible reasons are offered up by Newsen:
First off, it’s behind the times:
Bad Love was planned with the ambitious goal to revive the languishing melodrama genre. The drama set sail aiming to become a new-generation melo, but has failed to capture viewer interest. …
The melodramas that swept the late ’90s and early 2000s have long since been on the downtrend. The “season” dramas [Autumn Love Story, Winter Sonata], quintessential melo series, ended in resounding failure and trampled pride with Summer Scent and Spring Waltz.
It’s because viewers have started becoming fed up with such tearjerkers. They aren’t entertained by these “Korean-style” melodramas with their obvious love triangles, or the lead characters with fatal diseases who die in the end.
It seems Bad Love has failed to captivate audiences because it has followed the footsteps and adopted the characteristics of these passé dramas.
Moreover, sources related to the broadcast station credit considerable audience distaste to the adulterous storylines used in the drama.
Secondly, the drama is unconvincing in its developments, and the characters are unable to convey emotion well:
Viewers by and large feel that Bad Love has lost believability. The four men and women’s lives connect and entangle in an excess of coincidences, and audiences find it difficult to focus on the story when its sense of reality is lost. …
They also point to the matter of the characters’ emotions. Kwon Sang Woo, Lee Yo Won and the other actors display their acting talents in strong performances, but that is insufficient to allow the viewers to connect with their characters’ emotions. The characters struggle, love, and break up, but some viewers still say, “It’s difficult to understand their actions.”
The article mentions that Bad Love was supposedly the dark horse, facing off against large-scale sageuk dramas like Yi San and King and I, but I think that point is overly generous — when you’ve got such outstanding flaws within the drama itself, you don’t really need to go looking at the competition for more reasons for its failure.
With only six more episodes remaining, Newsen wonders, “Will it be able to revive itself in its remaining episodes? Will Bad Love end up as Bad Ratings or Kind Ratings? The answers can only be given by the series itself.”
(I say: Don’t hold your breath.)
SONG OF THE DAY
Bad Love OST – “중독” (addiction) [ zShare download ]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
RELATED POST:
Tags: Bad Love, Kim Sung-soo, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Yo-won
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 glo
January 16, 2008 at 8:26 PM
i'm sorry to say that i'm one of the many viewers that gave up on bad love. the cast is so pretty and the storyline "sounded" so good...
at least the ost was good, right?
Required fields are marked *
2 gailt
January 16, 2008 at 8:29 PM
i've been waiting for your comments on bad love. i heard it's very bad, but i know at least one person who's enjoying the first few episodes. i never touched it because melo is just not my taste. and adultery storylines, ugh. i don't think reviving melodramas is the way to go for hallyu.
Required fields are marked *
3 Auntiemame
January 16, 2008 at 8:37 PM
I totally agree with the statements in Newsen. As I was watching the third episode, I thought to myself that they couldn't be going back to the same old form of melodrama's that have been done dozens of time already! Given all the new shows with fresh ideas during the past year or so, who in their right mind would produce this type of drama? What's that old saying? Something about "...once the boys have seen Paree, you can't keep them on the farm. It's not likely that an audience would gravitate back to this type of drama. At least not at present, when the novelty of melodramas haven't worn off yet. And, yes the art work is interesting and there's a really cute, red bench in one of the episodes (7 or 8).
Required fields are marked *
4 breezy
January 16, 2008 at 8:49 PM
oh i've been waiting on this post... a drama never turned me off in the first 10 minutes like Bad Love did.. I just couldn't connect... The actors are great, I love every single one of them.. but the plot is mediocre... Newsen said it all... but everytime someone mentions this drama I get aggravated... I hate tearjerckers, and their melodramatic plots.. But I've neved despised them the way I feel about Bad Love.. Autumn Tale was too much, but at least it had a good development and the script didn't want to make you poke your eyes/ears out (at least not untill ep. 14)... All I can say is "what were they thinking???"
Required fields are marked *
5 kate
January 16, 2008 at 8:59 PM
i was really looking forward to "BAD LOVE" but after the 7th episode, i just couldn't continue. It started sweet and interesting with the two main character, but it just became too draggy.
Required fields are marked *
6 yelibean
January 16, 2008 at 9:12 PM
i agree...i got so freaking annoyed by how much the drama relied on "fate"..i gave up after about 3 episodes because i couldn't take the coincidences any more...
Required fields are marked *
7 shro
January 16, 2008 at 9:22 PM
ahh, thats terrible. i watch the drama on kbs world so i've only gotten to episode 4. i had such high hopes for kwon sang woo and kim sung soo. i wasn't too happy that lee yo won was part if the cast. i think i just have a deranged outlook ever since i saw her in take car of my cat. but anyways, i hope it does catch up in ratings. i think i'm just gonna stick with it because it's KSW's comeback...after a year. :)
Required fields are marked *
8 linh
January 16, 2008 at 9:42 PM
okay i never watched those older melo drama ones so maybe i am the only one that likes it and idk but ummm i am sad since their is not so many good reviews about it
Required fields are marked *
9 marcel
January 16, 2008 at 10:17 PM
same as shro.. i'm gonna hang on for KSW... i just adore him... watching him cry made me want to bawl my eyes out.. O_O
Required fields are marked *
10 Kiki
January 16, 2008 at 10:22 PM
i gave up it, too...
no hope for it anymore~
Required fields are marked *
11 Nicole
January 16, 2008 at 10:26 PM
i agree with glo-- at least the OST is good... wooht wooht! =]]
Required fields are marked *
12 creidesca
January 16, 2008 at 10:32 PM
Though I'm not watching this drama, it makes me so mad that here in SoCal, on KBS-LA, they completely chopped up Mixed-Up Investigative Agency just so they could air Cruel Love in the new year. Can you believe that they'd cram EP 7-9 into 1 40min ep, 10-11 into another 40min ep (and the end portion of EP 11 wasn't even shown), did not show EP 12-14, and edited EP 15 and 16 for the final 2 nights (which happened to air on Christmas Eve/Christmas day).
Required fields are marked *
13 Erica
January 16, 2008 at 10:42 PM
ooohhh, I've been waiting to see if dramabeans would like this series then post recaps -- sometimes I like reading from them than watching it.. :) Guessing from your post about it, you won't be doing recaps of it.. *sigh* .. anyway, I feel the same way as linh.. perhaps it's because i haven't watched the other melodramas from way back when they were such a hit.. but I kinda like Bad Love.. it's keeping me interested enough to watch till the 7th episode... I don't even have a thing about KSW and I only know the 2nd guy from Full House and this R movie I watched before :D.. too bad for the producers of this show that it's got bad reviews... oh and I do like Lee Yo Won from the movie Surprise Party... :)
Required fields are marked *
14 namie90
January 16, 2008 at 10:47 PM
i gonna hang on to ksw too..yeah after his long absence..aja aja fighting!!!
Required fields are marked *
15 urbanscrappy
January 16, 2008 at 11:02 PM
For a drama with so many talented people I expected better. I persisted till ep 7, wondering if I was the only one who was so bored, but then it seems like everyone else was feeling the same. I have the next few episodes but can't bring myself to watch them, instead I'm relying on soompi for summaries of what's going on.
I've watched many melodramas and it's true they're out of fashion, but I still enjoy going back and watching Autumn Tale, MISA and others, this is just dull!!!
I've decide that KSW can't pick decent dramas anymore. He started so well with Delicious Proposal and We Are Dating Now, but Sad Sonata was dreadful and now we have this. Ugh!! Much as I love him, maybe he should stick to films.
Required fields are marked *
16 Maliya
January 16, 2008 at 11:30 PM
I'm one of those who will hang on till the end. I dont think I can give up KSW that easily!
Required fields are marked *
17 gossip girl
January 16, 2008 at 11:39 PM
im w/ u maliya, im hanging there. i actually like the characters b/c there's so much depth to them n the actors did a great job portraying the diff. emotions, in my opinion.
Required fields are marked *
18 visesten
January 17, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Ah, good. So I'm not the only only who couldn't stand this series and gave up on it early then ^^;;; I totally agree about not being connect to the characters or their actions and I started out with no expectations at all... It's not like I don't like melodramas, I have some old favorites but this drama just felt plain weird and unengaging from the beginning... and there's better stuff to do with my free time.
Required fields are marked *
19 kismetology
January 17, 2008 at 12:18 AM
I am a KSW fan and I have yet to see Bad Love since it's not available to me as of the moment. Well, I would have really wanted to see KSW in a different genre, but well, I guess he's been typecasted to melodramas. I just hope he comes up with something better next time.
Required fields are marked *
20 maltesers
January 17, 2008 at 12:30 AM
oh, this is sad for KSW...he's a really good actor...
i was planning to watch it but i'm afraid i'll have to reconsider...
Required fields are marked *
21 rach
January 17, 2008 at 12:47 AM
i've only watched this series from ep7.
i agree it's horrible.
however i still watch it just for the sake of watching it.
Required fields are marked *
22 La Plume
January 17, 2008 at 1:17 AM
Ha!!!
I was surprised there was not a single post about Bad Love up till now... Was expecting you not even glance at the tearjerker drama but you still did. Well, I'm not a fan of any actor so I also gave a try to it without second thoughts and gave up after 4 episodes, not because I was bored... But because like lots of people here I just couldn't feel anything for the actors despite the strong acting. First, things in the early episodes ( I don't know about the rest) are too fast paced you just don't have the time to feel any sort of sympathy for the actors despite the strong acting. Second It felt like simply err "too much" like they know the story lacks in everything so they keep putting in new developments that keep on worsening the drama.
I've really got nothing against melo... It's not really my type of drama but I can recognize something good when I see it. I gave up on Autumn Tale because it was too sad, but it was good. I finished "Spring Waltz", the settings was wonderful and though the story was full of clichés it was still enjoyable. But there's no such thing as any enjoyment in here. You just wonder what the hell they're gonna bring out next episode to keep you "entertained". I mean a story should "flow" naturally, the viewer mustn't feel like "they're being played with" each time. Though you know what you see is highly unlikely in real life, there must be a certain consistency for you to feel and sympathize with the characters, which the drama has failed to do...
Well I guess I should give some credits to the effort... I've got no patience to watch it entirely, but like urbanscrappy I rely on the soompiers to read summaries to know what happens. I have to say the last two episodes aired were full of "surprises" haha. The character of Kim Seong Su was pissing me off from the very first episode and it keeps getting worse... Now there's some people I REALLY SYMPATHIZE WITH, I mean "Respect" ( In French saying it like that... I guess It's feeling of admiration, sympathy and pity mixed) to all the members of WITH S2 who are working on that one. I mean I already pitied them with "The Person I love" and "Lovers" but I have a feeling this one being so bad from the very beginning must be tear jerking.
WITH S2 FIGHTING!!!
PS: Forgot to add that KSW's pecs looked good in Ep03... I watched the f4th one to have another glance... too bad they didn't show it again... Oh And remember Snow Queen had poor ratings as well but at least they had a good excuse, facing Jumong and all. The drama was entertaining and all... Problem is once you watched one, you've watched all of them.
Required fields are marked *
23 saryKIM
January 17, 2008 at 1:21 AM
I love the cast, the storyline is so-so at first glance but horrible when you actually watch it... But I'm still watching it. It's frustrating (in the sense that the characters are so stupid), cheesy, very dramatic, and has a lot of contrived coincidences and conflicts. But I'm still watching it, because one, once I start I have to finish (unless it's awful, horrible, absolutely disgustingly I-want-to-kill-myself bad), and two, the story is getting unbelievable and wacky that it's actually kind of fun.
I agree with everything the article said; melodramas are starting to become boring and repetitive. And I'd say that Bad Love isn't really a good effort on KBS's part to revive melodramas.
Required fields are marked *
24 마위
January 17, 2008 at 3:04 AM
melodramas seems to be outtrend really... a good drama nowadays are which involves, romance, comedy, suspense and can make you cry too... for me a good drama should make you laugh and make you even cry.... but i know its asking too much..
Required fields are marked *
25 Gégé
January 17, 2008 at 5:54 AM
I Like this drama since the first episode ! And I Know many people who like it !
Required fields are marked *