How was 2009 for you?

410 December 6, 2009April 6, 2017

by javabeans

With the year coming to an end, that means it’s time to take stock of the past twelve months (well, eleven really) in kdramas. The broadcast stations will be holding their awards ceremonies at the end of the month, and I’m working on my wrap-up of 2009’s offerings — as are some very talented (and prolific!) drama-watching fans — which I’ll post up closer to the end of the year.

But this is your turn to weigh in on what you liked or didn’t. I didn’t do a year-end poll last year (after putting one up in 2007) and people seemed to really want one, so it’s back.
coup

Note that for most cases, I used the word “favorite” as opposed to “best,” so vote on your favorite in each category, whatever that word means to you. It could be the one you thought was the best quality, or simply the one you enjoyed the most. Polls will be open for voting till the end of the month.

FAVORITE DRAMA OF 2009

I tried to be inclusive but naturally couldn’t list every drama that aired in 2009 (there were more than 50). I included dramas that aired the majority of their episodes this year, but left off those that aired more than half their episodes in 2008 (like East of Eden) or haven’t yet aired half their runs (Will It Snow For Christmas).

Did I leave out your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

Update! Added:

FAVORITE THRILLER OR BLOCKBUSTER DRAMA

Dramas in this category often boast big budgets and feature big names in front of and/or behind the cameras, whether that means lead actors like Lee Byung-heon or A-list screenwriters like Choi Wan-kyu (Swallow the Sun) or Song Ji-nah (Story of a Man). These dramas may also feature stories with broad scopes, lots of suspense and/or heated power struggles — mobsters, assassination attempts, espionage, and money games, they’ve got it all.

FAVORITE HISTORICAL DRAMA

Some of these are more conventional historicals, while others are in the fusion bent, but all are period pieces and feature some great costuming, acting, and fusion-inflected music and score.

FAVORITE TRENDY DRAMA

Trendy kdramas, which are mostly set in contemporary times and tend to focus on relationships and modern urban life, aren’t the exact same thing as romantic comedies, but the two terms have become almost synonymous when talking about Korean dramas nowadays. (This is particularly true because trendy no longer means exclusively contemporary. The growing fusion trend is giving rise to the “trendy sageuk” such as Hong Gil Dong and Tamra the Island, both of which are, of course, not set in modern times.)

FAVORITE MELODRAMA OR SOAP

A couple of the dramas below seem like they belong more in 2008 (A Star’s Lover, Wife’s Temptation) but they did indeed broadcast more than half their episodes in 2009. The oft-derided (but highly watched) “makjang” genre fits in here, where fast developments employ outrageous plot twists and do anything under the sun to keep ratings high, whether it’s the use of devices like switched identities, secret babies, revenge vendettas, adultery, violence, and/or tragedy. But not all soaps are makjang, and while an entry like A Star’s Lover may also be considered a trendy, but I think its tone is pure melodrama.

FAVORITE FAMILY DRAMA

Family dramas are difficult to summarize in 100 characters (my word limit here), because they’re often populated with lots of members of a sprawling, multigenerational family. Tonally, there’s no restriction; they can range from straight/dramatic to light-hearted and comic. The themes most often explored are love and marriage, generational conflicts, and interfamily relationships. It’s stuff that sounds generic on paper, but the execution and tone of the drama sets the series apart from each other.

FAVORITE CHARACTER

If someone were to say a character’s name, would you immediately have a sense of not only which drama they were in, but what kind of qualities the character embodies? Has his or her name become shorthand for an entire set of traits? (“Sageuk F4,” for instance, probably elicits an immediate mental picture. As does “middle-aged Gu Jun-pyo.”) If you have to puzzle over a character’s name, wondering where he/she was from, they probably aren’t in this list.

FAVORITE COUPLE

For better or for worse, modern kdramas focus heavily on love relationships between its main characters. Often we’ll get the obvious love triangle or rectangle, although sometimes the lines will get even more messily entangled and create other romantic polygons. This kdrama emphasis on love could spark an entire discussion of its own, so I’ll just say that this means that a drama’s appeal is often linked inextricably to the effectiveness of its main pairing. It’s even true when the drama is (ostensibly) about something other than romance, such as medicine, law, business, war, or espionage. When a main couple fails to spark and create chemistry, no matter how well their parts are written, a drama loses some of its energy. But when they do come together, boy does the end result end up much more than the sum of its parts. So, who sizzled this year?

FAVE ALTERNATE PAIRING

Sometimes an alternate pairing is just as fun as the OTP (“one true pairing,” aka the main couple) — or even more so. When an OTP becomes too drawn out, often a second pairing will lighten things up and allow you to enjoy romantic chemistry without as much angst. Or perhaps you suffer from Second Lead Crush Syndrome (as I often do), and find the supporting male lead more compelling, or deserving, than the hero. You know it’s a losing proposition but you’ll root for Mr. Second Lead to get the girl instead.

NOTE: To clarify (sorry for the confusion), Boys Before Flowers’ true “soulmates” are Jan-di and Ji-hoo (Gu Hye-sun, Kim Hyun-joong). “Soeulmates” is the nickname for Kim Bum and Kim So-eun’s characters.

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE

I’m talking about people who were relatively unknown before a 2009 drama made their star rise. Therefore, even though Go Hyun-jung acted the heck out of a memorable character, she doesn’t count because she’s already an A-lister. Even some actors who aren’t at her level — like Kim Bum (Dream), Kim Kang-woo (Story of a Man), or Jang Geun-seok and Park Shin-hye (You’re Beautiful) — weren’t counted because they were all known prior to their roles this year. On the other hand, the following actors went from unknown names to familiar faces overnight:

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

I learn this lesson time and time again: You can never judge a drama until it’s actually aired, no matter what it seems like from the pre-show promos and teasers. It cuts both ways: Sometimes a drama will be surprisingly good. But conversely, when pre-show buzz seems strong and/or certain well-loved stars are making television comebacks, it’s natural to get one’s hopes up. Unfortunately, that often leads to disappointments when the drama falls short of our expectations.

MOST OVERRATED DRAMA

I know the word “overrated” carries some baggage, but here I want to use it as the direct opposite of “underrated” — as in, you feel it got more attention than it merited (even if the drama was generally good). This is a small category, given that to be here, these dramas had to be popular enough in the first place to be considered overrated.

MOST UNDERRATED DRAMA

Now for the other end of the spectrum: These dramas had smaller fanbases and lower ratings numbers, but were, sadly, not given their due. Thank goodness for mania fans, eh?

(And because I know someone will ask: No, I didn’t include You’re Beautiful in either the overrated or underrated categories. It didn’t get high enough ratings to be put in the above list, but its media and fan buzz was so strong that I don’t think you could call it underrated, either.)

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51 annie

December 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM

2009 twas a year of crazies.

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52 popcorn

December 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM

I don't know if I should vote. The only one I completely watched is YAB and ... that's about it. I skipped out the rest or I barely watched a few episdoes to judge. Yep, I didn't even finish watching BOF ... I stopped at ep 6 so I can't really vote.

If I vote is going to be YAB all the way so I don't really particularly feel like voting haha. :D

Anyway, creative polls you have there. I would just ask "What's your favorite drama?" and list out a lot of them. Lol, so not creative on my part.

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53 ockoala

December 6, 2009 at 8:17 PM

My faves this year were City Hall and Tamra the Island (and many I have not seen, but could be even better, I'm sure).

But best couple hands down belongs to Cha Seung-won and Kim Su-na in City Hall. The most romantic pairing I have ever seen in k-drama.

Tamra's In Joo-hwan as Park Kyu wins as The Most Awesome Portrayal of a Lead Actor I Want to Marry. Team Park Kyu!

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54 DRAMALOVE

December 6, 2009 at 8:17 PM

HAHA, my best alternate couple is Hong-ki and Geun-seok...
YAB is very underrated as well. At least, it should get the same rating as MFL...
Thanks for this poll. It's fun!!!

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55 angryparsnip

December 6, 2009 at 8:18 PM

Thank You for your hard work, you get my vote and the poll was fun !

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56 purty.sunshine

December 6, 2009 at 8:24 PM

Wow lots of good dramas this year (as opposed to last year, in my opinion)~ So hard to choose!

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57 Molly

December 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM

Great poll! I loved the captions, but like others have been saying, perhaps it was too soon after You're Beautiful ended, not that it didn't deserve its nominations. It dominated in practically all of the categories it was in. Didn't give IRIS or City Hall a chance. ;) Those two were my personal favorites, but I didn't get a chance to actually see much of You're Beautiful.

I agree with ockoala that Kim Suna and Cha Seung-won were the most romantic pairing. Their eyes expressed more than words or actions did, and I felt that there was a deeper, mature chemistry between them that really made City Hall stand out from the other dramas.

I didn't finish Triple either. I want to know what happened! Will someone email me and tell me about who ends up with who? [email protected]. I don't want to spoil it for anyone here. Thanks!

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58 nycgrl

December 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM

I've seen 6 dramas this year which is 2 more than I usually try to watch.

Iris
Brilliant Legacy
City Hall
You're Beautiful
Family Honor
Sons of Sol Pharmacy

The two standouts have been for me You're Beautiful and City Hall in that order. You're beautiful for being so refreshing, fun and well acted and City Hall for the two leads chemistry and great acting. The others all have some redeeming qualities.

1) Iris=LBH and KSY have become the reasons to watch this for me. Had no intention of watching this but hubby likes LBH and by god if he has shows any remote interest in a drama I'm going to watch it with him even if I have to shut off part of my brain that controls logic and count backwards from 10 and take a deep breath every time they show the LBH/KTH romantic flashbacks.

2) Brilliant Legacy=Was fun while it lasted but you could hardly remember anything after wards. Felt like very old school kdrama. Was like cotton candy, fluffy and straight forwardly sweet but not memorable.

3) Family Honor=Loved all the traditional family rituals that I grew up with but never knew the meaning of. I felt a deeper respect for Korean culture and made me want to be a better daughter to my parents after watching this. All parents should make their kids watch this. Didn't love the acting except for Shin Goo or the dragging plots. Should have been 30 episodes.

4) Sons of Sol Pharmacy=At times funny, zany and heartwarming. Loved three of the sons but the 2nd never grew on me and bokifer (the single best word invention on this blog) was annoying as hell. Helped me understand and feel empathy for my MIL who has three sons of her own and can yell and curse like the sons of sol pharmacy's mother.

Overall 2009 has been a much better kdrama year for me than 2008.

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59 daisy

December 6, 2009 at 8:30 PM

YES, i just finished watching your beautiful,

but thats not why i choose it for my polls.

i also watched most of the other dramas aswell but truth be told your beautiful was really some kind of magic.

sincerely! :)

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60 Snikki

December 6, 2009 at 8:32 PM

Toughest one for me was Fave Alternate Pairing; I kept clicking back and forth between "SoEulmates" and "Hongki ♥ Geun Seok".

@57 Molly

You can just check JB's recap of the finale.

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61 me

December 6, 2009 at 8:33 PM

btw

YOUR BEAUTIFUL WAS WAAAY UNDERRATED!!

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62 mawar

December 6, 2009 at 8:33 PM

Yup..! it's Fun :)

Hope YAB got the Higher... :p

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63 Taohua

December 6, 2009 at 8:34 PM

Yay! I laughed because I was earlier on soompi's YAB thread and someone had posted the link for this and I was like, "Wth? I was just on the site half an hour ago and I didn't see a poll." Lol! Interesting that YAB is winning over here, but over on Thundie's site City Hall is winning best drama...both were great, though I wouldn't call either my favorite for the year (right now Story of a Man holds that spot)

I'll probably vote next week or so...I have a series or two to finish still. But this is probably the year that I watched the most kdramas (over 10 plus). I do think this year was better than last. I'm so on the fence b/t Lee Min-ho and Im Ju-hwan ::sigh:: I should probably finish Tamna before I vote though.

Some will disagree but my biggest disappointment was QSD. I had some expectations for Triple but not much since I only saw CP after I started watching Triple. QSD, I had huge expectations because of UTW and especially after the child actors left.

By the way I love how you have Hong-ki and Jang Geun-seok as an alt. pairing :) But I think I'll have to go on Soeulmates for this one, Kim Bum and Kim So-eun had great chemistry (though I did find some scenes awkward). Anywho, they win for that poll just because out of BOF I think I saw at least saw all of their scenes together.

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64 medie

December 6, 2009 at 8:35 PM

Great poll, JB!!Very fun and tough..LOL

I also wonder if I should vote because I only watch Shining Inheritance, BoF, MFL, YB, Smile You. Sad because there are many dramas that I really really want to watch like Return of Iljimae, SoS...Only see gilmpse of those...But I really don't have the time to watch all that dramas and to still have normal life...LOL *sigh*

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65 samsooki

December 6, 2009 at 8:38 PM

Woah, big surprise that You're Cutie was the big winner. hehe.

What a year for k-dramas. Thank goodness for dramabeans and javabeans - else how would we have known?

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66 Rovi

December 6, 2009 at 8:38 PM

fave dramas: You're Beautiful & City Hall (YAY!!!)

others that caught my attention...
Tamna the Island, Return of Iljimae, Queen Seondeok, Wife's Temptation...

fave characters:
Hwang Tae-kyung
Jeremy
Shin-woo
Go Mi-sil
Bae Soo-bin's character (but more like Soo-bin himself :P)

fave pairings:
Tae-gyeong=Mi-nyeo (funny pair)
Mi-rae=Jo Gook (much funnier pair)
Ga-eul=Yi-jeong (So-eul-mates!!!)
Park Kyu=Beo-jin (though the recaps aren't finished yet)
Iljimae=Dal-yi & Wol-hui
Wol-mae=Gu Ja-myeong (tragic pair)

fave alternates:
Bae Soo-bin's=Han Hyo-joo's
Mi-rae=Jeong-doo (they would've look great, with jeong-doo's new 'do to boot)
Shin-woo & Jeremy=Mi-nyeo (either one would've been great; too bad the boys didn't end up with nobody)
Hye-na=Tae-yoon
Jeremy=Tae-gyeong (*snicker*! up for the fanfics!!!!)

underrated: Tamna & Hero

my own categ...
fave villain/ess:
Go Mi-sil (my femme fatale for this year, second only to the 3 female weirds of Joseon (Nan-jeong, Jang Hui-bin, & Nok-su))
Madam Kang
Han Hyo-joo's stepmother
Hye-yi (the b*tch fairy of Korea)
Joo-hwa (until she gets pregnant)

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67 anastassia

December 6, 2009 at 8:39 PM

I haven't finish all the above drama. The dramas that I almost finish were only Partner and YaB.

My fav of course Partner. Tamra The Island is very underrated yet crazily lovable and refreshing.

Story of a Man maybe, maybe something that I will look into. Same goes to Swallow The Sun, Friend The Legend and Return of Iljame if I have the time and feelings to do so.

IRIS, enjoyable despite certain issues. I voted for HON' lead actresess for breaking and EXTREMLLY talented performance. Even Lee Min Ho can't surpass her.

BoF is soooooooooo overrated. I hate/dislike the drama and the overrated'ness'. What's more. Smile You is great on it's own category.

Fav couple will be Partner's couple. They are real, realistic, intense and sizzling of subtle romance. Plus the off screen chemistry.*Sigh. City Hall couple indeed is sizzling but I don't know why but I dislike Kim Sun Ah. Something about her acting rub me in wrong ways.(My apology to the fans).

This year sure is a thriller breaking year and lack of good melodrama and cutting off episodes season for MBC.

And thanks Javabeans, for providing us with a good meals this year. It sure was a hard and lot's of work.:)

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68 Snikki

December 6, 2009 at 8:39 PM

@57 Molly -- oops! Sorry, I just checked, JB hasn't finished recapping it... my bad!

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69 Rovi

December 6, 2009 at 8:39 PM

@65...wahahaha..."You're Cutie"...

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70 kt1171

December 6, 2009 at 8:41 PM

My favorite drama for 2009 have to be YB,
First time in a longggg time that i love a drama so much *since Goong*

my alternate couple went to Hongki and Geunsuk! xD they are seriously so cute together.....

Overrated drama have to be BOF....I stopped watching after first 10 eps....my friends also stopped (they stopped way before me haha at least i got to ep.10)

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71 hajunse

December 6, 2009 at 8:44 PM

well.... almost of drama i watched this year are not great as i expected. BRILLIANT LEGACY, partner, story of a man... etc. i lost my interests after the second half of it . Especially boys before flower which is a big hit in 2009. i can't watch it after episode 5. so draggy and not realistic. maybe it's because i don't like trendy drama or the plot of rich guy and poor girl... i haven't watch YAB yet coz don't like characters but i respect Hong Sister's work so i'll watch it next year ^^ hope to enjoy it like everyone here... and i don't think rating is poor coz their local&oversea fan's responses are greater than the number of rating.

what i want to watch the most this year is HERO (bcoz i'm his fan haha) and i disappointed with the rating and plot. it's good but not great enough to be a big hit. the cast is not interesting to appeal viewers and production is quite poor. only thing is great is acting. it failed in many aspects which i think ljk shouldn't accept it at the first place. anyway,,, there're many episodes left.. i'll follow it til it finish next year....

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72 arielna

December 6, 2009 at 8:44 PM

thank you for this! i really enjoyed doing the poll.
i voted once for go jun pyo, twice for story of a man, skipped some and the rest of my votes are for you're beautiful, of course :)

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73 erectus

December 6, 2009 at 8:45 PM

i had fun with your polls. i wonder what Mister X might say about this year.

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74 USAKO16

December 6, 2009 at 8:47 PM

Personally City Hall and YAB has been jostling for the 1st space in this year end post and I have to say City Hall won in the couple chemistry part. Cha Seung Won and Kim Suna totally rocked in the chemistry department!! Although YAB was freaking funny and the actors were totally enjoying themselves in the drama, City Hall had a much better plot and the actors acted better. Haha.

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75 obsessed with yb

December 6, 2009 at 8:48 PM

my biggest dissapointment would be BBF. i wonder why you didn't put this drama up.i was expecting a lot from the drama and yet it failed miserably in my eyes.

i love brilliant legacy though i voted for YAB!!!!! YAB certainly completes my year.

TQ so much for the poll. It was so much fun =)

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76 Abdul

December 6, 2009 at 8:52 PM

Javabeans. I think this poll is so close to the end of You are Beautiful that I don't think it's very accurate. Most people haven't really gotten "over it" yet to be able to make good judgement. But, Iunno, w.e.

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77 deannadsc

December 6, 2009 at 8:53 PM

...wow..that "quiz" part sure was FUN!!! But like most DB & KDAddicts...I'm torn between YAB & City Hall...for the best Drama of this year !!! What separates them fr. the others would definitely be...the writers!!! Though, I haven't had the time to watch, return of Iljimae & story of a Man, yet...I've mostly watched All the other dramas you've listed.
...thanks JB, for feeding my drama addiction, these past 2 years!!!

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78 kit

December 6, 2009 at 8:54 PM

i was obsessed with BOF because i:m a teenager, i loved your beautiful but i cried over partner and adored man who can:t get married. story of my life.

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79 Sue Jiro

December 6, 2009 at 8:55 PM

I had the most fun year in Korean drama this year.... Bring it on for more.... I am thirsty for more....

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80 nea:notoriousnoona

December 6, 2009 at 8:57 PM

This was definitely harder than it looked!
Thank you for the opportunity to vote. It gave me even more time to take into account how I really felt about certain shows this year.

I truly liked every drama I watched this year and I've been making my list and gearing up to give out my own Kdrama awards for the year, but seeing certain dramas in certain categories placed against one another was quite difficult.

I suppose the hardest categories were "best pairing," "best/favorite character," "trendy drama" and "most underrated"....
I think that best couple and best pairing are two different things so this was hard. Couple is MiRae and Jo Guk but pairing has to be Mi Nyeo and Hwang Tae Kyung or (and I know this is odd) Do Woo and Kim Shin. There was just something electrifying about those two. I went with pairing.

When thinking of biggest disappointment, I think that every drama listed had its own quality that makes it bad, sad, or just plain ugly, so that took a minute. I went with Triple because it was the drama that I wanted to see the most, watched, liked but didn't love. I wanted to love it, thought I'd love it, and since I didn't, its disappointing. Very much so.

Can't wait to see what ends up on the best and worst lists of the year.

Oh and I see that there were alot of votes for You're Beautiful. I loved this drama and there were so many great things about it. A very refreshing drama and for me a great way to end the year but I wonder if all the love is based on withdrawal, residual high? Not that I don't think that it deserves its votes I was just surprised to see so many so often....

Anyway, I am most of all grateful to see that the folks that I have the opportunity to visit and chat with through this site feel similar to myself about this year of dramas, from disappointments to favs to the overrated and underrated. I'm so thankful for you guys!

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81 Almontel

December 6, 2009 at 8:57 PM

Thanks! YB has got to be the TOP KSERIES/DRAMA for the year!
I so much wanted to vote for it for each category and am glad that it's highest among the other entries!!!!
Go YB!!! miss YB!!! i wish there was a Y2B or YB the Movie!!!

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82 YABaddict

December 6, 2009 at 8:58 PM

@5 JB

What about "Best OST"?
"Favourite Song"?
"Worst Character"?
"Favourite Villain"?
"Best/favourite Plot"?
"Best/overal overall cast"?
"Most miscast actor/actress for character"?
this is getting picky:
"Best script?"
"Best cinematography?"

I was just thinking of a few, but yeah, there are way too many categories!

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83 Icarusfalls

December 6, 2009 at 9:00 PM

@ All the people pairing Jeremy and TK.. for the alternative couple!! I am soo with you!! =P I would vote for them if the option was available.. LOL
They'd give new meaning to the word, alternative!!
Also, for this.. how about Ji-hoo=jun-pyo pairing.. !!! hehe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUb4-3Sza24

@ Rovi - Love the villan/villaness category!!! JB.. add it please...!!!

@ kt1171 - I beat you!! I did 14-ish episodes...before I scremed and stopped!! =P

So far a lotta ppl seem to say Partner is good.. should I cave and watch it??

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84 ruthie

December 6, 2009 at 9:01 PM

kyyaaa! tough choice bet CH and YAB for fave drama..but i ended up with YAB main reason...i never had a dull moment watching it! but for the couple?? gotta give it to KSA and CSW...their chemistry is through the roof! ahahahah

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85 celestialorigin

December 6, 2009 at 9:01 PM

City hall was only in one category... Why? Anyway, this year was for YB and CH. CH is an adult-rated romance which resonates with me at all levels. YB, Oh, so cute and adorable, the whole thing was soooooo cute/kawaii, creating bubbles in my heart.

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86 onemorepls

December 6, 2009 at 9:02 PM

Oh my head from all the choices.

How about we only vote the best blogger..JAVABEANS

kekeke oops too much of a fan here but true.

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87 Laura

December 6, 2009 at 9:02 PM

Thanks for this poll, it's really interesting to see what other people think of the dramas of this year.

I would add My Fair Lady into the Biggest dissapointment's poll.

And even though Brilliant Legacy wasn't a new history I think it's still hard to keep people's attention. If the direction and the chemistry of the cast are good, no matter how many times they bring it up with the same story you watch it, I really enjoyed the drama, the story was well directed and so on, I totally fell for the couple, can't remember when was the last time I loved so much such a dramatic korean drama.

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88 V

December 6, 2009 at 9:04 PM

There was so many dramas that it was so hard for me to make a decision. My top 5 dramas of the year are as follows: Boys Before Flowers, Smile, You, Creating Destiny, Brilliant Legacy, & You're Beautiful. These dramas kept me up at night because they were that good!!!!!!!!!

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89 mayah

December 6, 2009 at 9:05 PM

JB, you've put the kdrama back in to my system & up until now, I'm still amazed how I religiously read ur site everyday! Thanks a lot for this. I really had a blast w/ YAB, so my vote would be biased (sorry). I was watching BOF online when I discovered this site. And like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to YAB hilarious story. I was really impressed how u built YAB's reputation as a must-see-drama! I dropped BOF after seing YAB's episode 1, I can't turn back now. I fell in-love w/ everyone's character including Manager Ma.

Kudos with your year-end poll! and JB, you rock!

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90 Icarusfalls

December 6, 2009 at 9:10 PM

O wait.. the pairing is available!

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91 onemorepls

December 6, 2009 at 9:13 PM

Question, in your favorite drama of the year you have one or more of all the catagories except from family drama. Why?

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92 kit

December 6, 2009 at 9:16 PM

I know some people are getting sick of all the YAB talk and some now won't even watch it because of it. The hype is a bit much, agreed. Also now new watchers will come in with such high expectations, YAB will seem less significant to them. But I still suggest you watch that drama. :lol: Sorry for adding to the hype.

Alright now onto the poll. Thanks JB for giving us another enjoyable post and many polls to boot! I couldn't vote for most of them because I realize how many dramas of 2009 that I simply could not finish, (ie My Fair Lady, Dream, Style, Triple and Iris). Also I couldn't vote on the melodramas either since I sneered as far as possible from that certain genre. I tried really hard not to be biased when voting, but I truly believe that Tae Kyung of YAB was a memorable character, not just because of the recent memory but how completely different he is from most our heroes in dramas. Not to mention the undeniably charisma. YAB made the year for me, after viewing many disappointing dramas. I, for one, think YAB deserves its spot on the polls, obviously not all spots, but still nonetheless should be given enough credit, when their ratings did no justice for the drama.

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93 anjell

December 6, 2009 at 9:18 PM

I think I still need to mull over some of the questions in this poll but one thing I can say...

You are Beautiful is the best drama I've watched this year! ;)

My drama preference isn't based on TV ratings, I usually go for those that have interesting plot and well, to be honest, those which my favorite actors are in. ;)

YAB had everything I was looking for in a drama... there was never a dull moment.

I would have voted for Hwang Tae Kyung and Jeremy for FAVE ALTERNATE PAIRING but Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong were a really cute couple in BOF...

I stopped watching Iris because there were some problems with the videos uploaded on the internet but I checked "mysoju" and found out that the videos are already available... I don't know why but I don't feel like watching it anymore... but since most of my students watch it (I teach Koreans), I'm planning to continue watching it this weekend.

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94

December 6, 2009 at 9:19 PM

i don't know why you're beautiful has high marks....bleh!

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95 missthiri

December 6, 2009 at 9:19 PM

Hi SarahBean, i was hoping to see Favorite Villain in a Drama category.
i think there are villains that we love to hate or we hate to love.
here are the contenders. I saw someone mentioned it already but here's my list.

Chae Do Woo (Story of a man)
Gu Jun Pyo's mom - Madam Kang (Boys Before Flowers)
Yoo He Yi (You are Beautiful)
Mishi Seju (Queen Seon Deok)

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96 Atsirk

December 6, 2009 at 9:23 PM

I love the options for every category Javabeans...

But I think the runaway winner is....

*drum rolls please*

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL :)

This has to be the best trendy drama of the year :)

A Story of a Man is awesome too!!! I love Kim Kang-woo's evilness (if that's even a word LOL)

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97 serenademe

December 6, 2009 at 9:24 PM

you are beautiful is winner in almost category,,
good job,, I love this drama

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98 DeafAfricanAmericanGurlz

December 6, 2009 at 9:25 PM

Oooh, it was so FUN! (beams)

I love this HOT Korean dramas BUT I still haven't seen SOME of drama yet!
Actually, I KNEW THAT THIS HOOOTTT SMOKEY (sizzzle) DRAMA -- YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL IS TOO HIGHLY POPULAR AT MOSTLY than some of drama, Oooh!

I love this BEST drama --
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL
STORY OF A MAN (SLINGSHOT)
MY FAIR LADY
BOYS BEFORE FLOWER
PARTNER
STYLE
BRILLIANT LEGACY
CITY HALL

Wow.......(fans my hands) That's so AWESOME hot!!!
Good job, Korean actors and actresses -- you all are really doing so hard working and great -- so FAR this year 2009!! I hope it will be incoming new project for a new drama in next year (2010)!!!! (winks)

** FIGHTING!!! **

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99 realitybites

December 6, 2009 at 9:26 PM

2 standouts for me - CH and YAB.

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100 MEIKO**** ^-^

December 6, 2009 at 9:27 PM

hey! Had fun answering the questions and looking at the poll!
^-^

It was fun watching:
story of a man (loove that psycho kim kang woo! hee!)
you're beautiful (aahh that voice of JGS...)
city hall (love the couple..steammyy hhoot!)
he who cant get married (funny, funny!)
return of iljimae (ooh my...!!)

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