KBS’s upcoming Baker King Kim Tak-gu

by javabeans

Yoon Shi-yoon, Eugene, Lee Young-ah

A new Wednesday-Thursday show is gearing up for its premiere, KBS’s Baker King Kim Tak-gu, which will replace Cinderella’s Sister after that show wraps up next week. With its production team, it looks like Baker King will have a much lighter atmosphere and provide a sharp contrast to the moody Cinderella’s Sister, as it brings together director Han Joon-seok (Capital Scandal) and writer Kang Eun-kyung (Oh Pil Seung Bong Soon Young).

The story features characters who aim to become patissiers, and the main cast is led by Yoon Shi-yoon (a breakout star of High Kick Through the Roof), followed by Eugene (Creating Destiny), Lee Young-ah (Iljimae, Golden Bride), and musical actor Joo-won. (And to be honest, based on the character stills released (see below), I could barely recognize the stars — I had to do a double take to confirm that the cast hadn’t in fact been swapped out at the last minute.)

Baker King Kim Tak-gu is a “human drama” (which is a commonly used but weird adoption of English to mean, I can only suppose, that the story is “humanistic”) and features the success story of Kim Tak-gu, played by Yoon Shi-yoon. Tak-gu is a bit old-fashioned and simple, but also a morally upstanding guy. His charm comes in his frank, straightforward demeanor that has a way of connecting with people.

Lee Young-ah plays a character with a keen sense of taste. She and Tak-gu learn all about the art of baking from her grandfather and dream of becoming pastry chefs.

Joo-won plays Tak-gu’s constant rival, a son of a rich businessman and heir to his father’s bakery enterprise. With a difficult personality, he’s not the type to go after something with honest hard work, but he knows ways to get what he wants.

Rounding out the main foursome is Eugene, who is a bright and intelligent university student who’s involved in the student movement. She grew up poor with an alcoholic father and was the first love for both men.

Baker King Kim Tak-gu held its first script reading on May 14 and will premiere on June 9. The drama is slated for 36 episodes. (Wow — it’s been a while since I’ve seen a contemporary drama do that many episodes in a midweek timeslot, particularly a trendy one. Usually the longer modern shows are dailies or weekend shows.)

Via My Daily, Joy News