Producers talk about High Kick’s controversial ending
by javabeans
(Spoiler alert: Don’t read this post if you don’t want to know how the series High Kick Through The Roof ended.)
There have been complaints about the rather dramatic way the series went out last week, and the producers PD has spoken up to explain, if not defend, their choice. To put it mildly, their ending was a pretty unconventional way to wrap up a family sitcom that has enjoyed pretty high popularity for the entirety of its 126-episode run, and a lot of fans were not happy with it.
To put it plainly, the so-called sitcom ended the series with the deaths of two of its main characters, Shin Se-kyung and Daniel Choi, in a tragic car crash. Fans were shocked, then felt betrayed and cheated of the time they invested only to have two of the biggest stars so suddenly killed. Furthermore, the show was supposed to be about family love and hope for the future — in particular relaying a “message of hope” for Se-kyung’s future happiness — and the ending just negated all of that. What happens to the theme that you can be happy without money or strict conditions? On top of that, the ending focused solely on Se-kyung and Ji-hoon, making it a lopsided event that didn’t show enough of the rest of the cast.
In response to the wave of discontent, director Kim Byung-wook explained that they changed the ending two days before its broadcast. Another production source says, “The writer had written a different ending, but couldn’t change PD Kim Byung-wook’s intent. In the end, things suddenly shifted to a sad ending two days before the last episode aired.”
Throughout this process, there was a lot of criticism and differing opinions between the writer, director, and producers. They argued and tried to change PD Kim’s choice, saying that some viewers who were guessing at a sad ending were fiercely opposed. Ultimately PD Kim decided to end on their deaths, which reflected Shin Se-kyung’s own opinion. The source explained that the actress had already discussed a sad ending with producers months in advance.
High Kick Through the Roof, like its predecessor Unstoppable High Kick, was a ratings success (in the 20% range) that propelled a lot of its stars to greater fame, such as Shin Se-kyung, Daniel Choi, Hwang Jung-eum, and Yoon Shi-yoon. The PD has been known as a hitmaker, but I wonder if that reputation will take on a bit of a tarnish now. Or at least a bitter aftertaste.
Personally, I have to say that reading about this ending makes me glad I didn’t watch High Kick Through the Roof. While I’m all for trying unexpected things and breaking the mold, there are a few conventions that you can’t really betray without also betraying your audience, and killing off your main characters in the last scene of a FAMILY SITCOM is one of them. Often last episodes are tinged with melancholy, and I’m perfectly willing to accept that. Unstoppable High Kick had a similar downturn in mood toward its end, but I think it was more successful in wrapping itself up — there was sadness and goodbyes, but also room for imagining that life continues and these characters move on. Here, life DOESN’T actually go on, and that would piss me off if I’d been a fan.
Sure, you can argue a creator has the right to artistic choice and all that, and perhaps the director is perfectly pleased with his ending. But I’ll argue that when you’re working in television and producing entertainment for a loyal, broad audience (as opposed to working on an independent film, for example), there’s a burden of expectation and trust that you build with them. I don’t think the audience should dictate how a story unfolds — we’ve had enough dramas morphed into monsters through that — but I think to screw around with that trust is a pretty big deal, and I’d be much more wary of trusting that director in the future.
Via Hankook Ilbo, Now News
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Tags: Daniel Choi, High Kick Through the Roof, Shin Se-kyung
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1 Kender
March 23, 2010 at 3:31 PM
Oh good lord. I haven't been watching HKTTR either, but reading that spoiler shocked me. That's just..so out of place in a family sitcom, especially for the FINAL EPISODE. If you're going to do something tragic like that, it should happen much earlier, so that the other characters can deal with it and you can create some sort of message to help the viewers deal with it.
Just..wow.
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2 daisytwenties
March 23, 2010 at 3:39 PM
I was in fact shocked with this ending and am one of the said pissed off fans. I really liked this sitcom and thought it was a really light and fun watch but then SUDDENLY they throw this curveball at us at the end and turn the happy, comedic, family sitcom into a melodrama.
They left all the wrong loose ends and focused the last couple episodes on the whole "boohoo-shes-leaving-korea-and-leaving-behind-an-admirer-and-first-love." if I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn't have wasted over 2500 minutes on this.
BOO. HKTTR. BOO.
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jayz
May 27, 2011 at 9:31 PM
I'm with you. I am so pissed after investing so much of my time only to watch this last episode of this sitcom(?!)
end with two of the stars being killed off. WTF!
"Director Kim Byung-wook"... I will be sure to remember this name to avoid ANY of his future endeavors. My two granddaughters and other family members all feel the same way.
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3 raemi
March 23, 2010 at 3:44 PM
a good sitcom goes down the drain..
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4 soomp
March 23, 2010 at 3:46 PM
what the - are you serious???
i watch this show like 3 times a week on TV (it seems to air about a month behind), and i can't imagine it ending like this. even as a half-committed fan, i'm really surprised and disappointed with the whole thing... tsk tsk
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5 lovin it
March 23, 2010 at 3:47 PM
yeah i HATED the ending. irrational ending!
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6 okdubu
March 23, 2010 at 3:56 PM
lol yeah all my friends that watch this were complaining about it. i'm also glad i never started it up xDD
i still have yet to finish unstoppable highkick through. i have the last 50 episodes downloaded just sitting on my computer heh.
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7 CrimemasterGogo
March 23, 2010 at 3:57 PM
Irrational ending? Practically all k drama's have irrational endings. This way the drama will remain as one of those that pople will remember so I can see why the PD did this.
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8 cocoa
March 23, 2010 at 4:06 PM
I have to say, after rushing home almost every day to catch this sitcom for months, I felt like the ending really did leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm going to be wary about any production the PD chooses to create in the future. I don't even know if I can go back and watch previous episodes and enjoy them fully. Why bother calling it a sitcom?
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9 Biscuit
March 23, 2010 at 4:11 PM
Stick. To. The. Genre.
For goodness sakes, this is a family sitcom! Not some melodrama. I want to smack them and say, "If you want your lead couples to die in a tragic car crash, save that idea for another drama!"
GAHHHH.
I hate it when I spend so much time invested in something, but when it ends so terribly, I feel like I wasted so much time. I mean, I enjoyed many episodes and had fun. Yet I also continued just to see what would happen in the end.... *sigh*
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10 kimchiRadish
March 23, 2010 at 4:13 PM
Yeah..the ending sucked. What sucked major was that I expected a happy ending. I don't understand why the doctor was crying like an idiot when he had a girlfriend to concentrate on. And although I was hoping that the doctor and sekyung would end up together, they both die in a car accident and that pissed me off. I was expecting some laughs and some tears but the ending just left me dumbfounded and cheated. Whatever.
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Jes
January 12, 2016 at 8:45 PM
EXACTLY! You took the words right out of my mouth! HE HAD A GIRLFRIEND HE SUPPOSEDLY CARED ABOUT! It's not even romantic if they die together anymore. It's just bitter.
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11 kaedejun
March 23, 2010 at 4:45 PM
why though? what was the PD's intent with doing all this? and also, shin se kyung agreed to this!? whyy!? that's what i want to know...
i haven't seen this drama, and i can't say whether this was a good or bad choice, but i wonder what the PD was thinking in doing this. did he feel that if he killed off the characters, no one could create their own ending for these two characters? that their stories would end the way he wanted it to? its a very interesting choice to make, especially so controversial for such a drama
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12 janna
March 23, 2010 at 4:49 PM
I don't know how tv show politics go, but it seems really crazy that this wasn't what the writer intended. The PD bullied their own creative decision, why even have writers then.
Suddenly, I thought about American sitcoms being ended by Korean PDs... So did Laura Winslow get with Steve Urkel or Stefan Urquelle? Oh neither, they all died in a horrible three alarm fire!
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13 ar_arguably romantic
March 23, 2010 at 5:01 PM
I feel really bad for those who have kept up with the series. this series is like 120+ episodes long. ouch! that hurts more than a 16-episode rom-com ending with the main characters' deaths. it's one thing to have a surprise ending that is different from your run of the mill, but it's another thing to do it in a way that doesn't go with the other 100+ episodes of the show. What was the PD thinking?! I suspect he may have a grudge against the writers and was perhaps biting his nose off to spite his face.
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14 E
March 23, 2010 at 5:03 PM
It sounds like they didn't want to be predictable but let's call it as it was...a family sitcom is not a storyboard for unexpected deaths...that's why they're called sitcoms and they always have some big family picture at the end of them all [alive] and smiling.... -__-;; I been wanting to watch this but I guess that's useless now.
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15 mimi
March 23, 2010 at 5:10 PM
Now I know I won't be watching this. If the genre is family sitcom, why make it a tragedy in the end??
It's a warped sense of thinking to think deaths are a good ending. People want stories of hope!
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16 samsooki
March 23, 2010 at 5:54 PM
Not that I know what was going through the mind of the PD, or Shin Se-kyung, but death is often associated with hope, since it can be thought of as a chance for re-birth.
In this case both Shin Se-kyung and Daniel Choi died together, and so you might consider that to be a chance for them to come back together and try again, but hopefully without all of the trials and tribulations that they had in this lifetime.
I'm not saying its right, or that they should have done it, especially since I still don't know what the reasoning was.
I only saw about a dozen episodes of this drama and so I know next to nothing, but the episodes I did see did have a more than one flashback and memory montage sequence and Shin Se-kyung's life was not easy at all. If the character wanted to have a chance at starting over with a clean slate with a new life, then this is a bittersweet end indeed for the series and the character.
Death as an absolute ending is sort of a post-modern concept, and perhaps the PD is harkening back to a different point of view.
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17 OTK
March 23, 2010 at 5:57 PM
They totally betrayed us (fans) as much as we were expecting a melodramatic finale...there was no thoughts of death! I get why Se Kyung died, but why Ji Hoon? Seriously......it was an overly surreal ending. I'd rather have everyone separated than dead.
What's even worse is the MESSY love relationships....ARGHHH...they make Jun Hyuk kiss Se Kyung only for Se Kyung to tell JI hoom that she loves him in the next episode and then die....arghhhh
Jung Eum was honestly a star in this sitcom. So entertaining and comical!
Nonetheless, it was a highly enjoyable show which I will recommend (to watch untill 125)
Shi Se Kyung is pretty and really good at acting! She IS definately be my choice for the Gumiho! She actually has REAL traditional korean looks -which I think is perfect to represent a sexy Gumiho rather than a plastic one.
EDIT: I Agree with you Samsooki! Its a chance for next life. SE KYUNG's life was unbearably painful. Could you imagine? having to take care of your sister by running away + working as a made in a stranger's house.
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emma
February 22, 2013 at 3:40 AM
Sometimes that is hiow messy relationships are in real life, and you can't always have a set clear relationship. That's how hard love can be, and I think that was the message with the messy relationship.
However, i really liked this show!
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18 This Is Me Posting
March 23, 2010 at 6:01 PM
I'm not even joking, this is seriously the coolest thing I've ever read.
Now I want to watch this series! I've only joked about doing something similar when wishfully thinking. The fact that Kim Byung-wook actually had the balls to do it makes me totally respect this guy.
The only way this could have been even better is if the last shot was the crash itself. Instant best series ever.
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19 Jane
March 23, 2010 at 6:45 PM
I'm watching this drama on my TV. (It's airing a little late....) and I have to say, I was a big fan. I loved it. I supported all the love and stuff happening. But just as Se Kyung reveals that she loved Ji Hoon, THEY DIE????? WHATS WITH THAT?! I can't imagine how everyone reacted. Especiall Jung Eum and Jun Hyuck...... Jun Hyuck grew to love her, (badly) and Jung Eum and Ji Hoon's death was just plain old good. I can't believe I watched this from the start...
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20 Vic
March 23, 2010 at 6:55 PM
i think it's a very nice ending for a sitcom. a very nice one.
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21 Eleven11
March 23, 2010 at 6:57 PM
@18 I just wrote a whole big thing about how I totally get what you're saying. But my internets f***d up and it deleted it all. Grr. Its kind of like how people put all this effort into watching this series, and then got completely shat on at the end.
I always kind of hope something like this will happen, not to the dramas I really love, but say BBF. Imagine that had ended in a massive explosion. Awesomesauce.
The gist of what I originally was going to post was that I respect that the PD had the balls/ovaries to pull this kind of thing, but I'm sorry to anyone who was really invested in the drama, because thats a bit harsh.
Its like saying "HEY HEY LOOK AT THESE CHARACTERS, LOVE THEM!! NOW WATCH THEM GO THROUGH ALL THIS STUFF, LOOK HOW THEY'VE GROWN, RIGHT? Now hah, whoops they're dead because people die. XD"
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22 haezi
March 23, 2010 at 8:11 PM
I, too, was disgusted with the ending. It definitely left a bad aftertaste. For the past two weeks leading up to this episode, they suddenly turned this warm, hilarious family sitcom to an angsty, depressing drama. Sure, there is tragedy in the world, but I agree with you, it is inappropriate as an ending for a family sitcom.
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23 Elena
March 23, 2010 at 8:12 PM
Well, my life is too hard to enjoy a 'their dead' ending. It may have been great for some, but I won't be watching this - ever.
Thanks for the info - it's much appreciated.
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24 Issa
March 23, 2010 at 8:34 PM
*Sigh* If the audiences wanted to watch a sad ending they would have chosen any of the dozens of K dramas that ended with the main characters dying a tragic death. But this is a family sitcom for goodness' sake. So why? What was the PD's point? Because if he was trying to go for an unusual ending, this wasn't it. The twist of the characters dying in the end has been done so many times. Granted, that was in K dramas but to put one in a family sitcom isn't new or revolutionary, it's just...stupid.
Gah I feel sorry for those who watched all 126 episodes...they could just instead have watched a 16 episode K drama that would have had the same ending.
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25 mimi
March 23, 2010 at 9:00 PM
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense why there are so many suicides in Korea. Not that this particular ending was one but dramas like this perpetuate the notion that death is good somehow (as Samsooki noted: rebirth).
Yeah, death is good -- like when Darth Maul died in Star Wars or Saruman in Lord of the Rings! But when people end their lives (or writers end characters' lives) because they are out of hope, it's morbid and depressing. Just ask the fans of this drama!
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