Lee Joon, Go Ah-sung tackle teen pregnancy in new drama

57 January 3, 2015February 25, 2015

Lee Joon, Go Ah-sung tackle teen pregnancy in new drama

by girlfriday

After losing leading actress Kim Hee-ae and undergoing some story changes, the team behind Secret Love Affair and A Wife’s Credentials is back on track with their new drama I Heard it Through the Grapevine, which is headed to SBS this February. The series was once set in the 1970s all the way to the present and was planned as a 50-episode epic, but will now be a 32-episode series set entirely in the present day. Yoo Ho-jung (Would You Give Love Away, Sunny) has signed on to headline the series, as the matriarch of a wealthy family that gets turned upside-down when her teenage son gets his girlfriend pregnant.

Lee Joon (Mr. Back, Gap-dong) has been cast to play her high-schooler son, and is reportedly in final contract negotiations to sign on. He’s been making a name for himself as an actor over the last year with projects like Gap-dong, and it looks like he’s returning to meatier roles after a detour into broad comedy with Mr. Back.

Even more exciting is Go Ah-sung’s return to television after five years spent focusing entirely on her film career (Snowpiercer, Elegant Lie). Her last drama was God of Study, when she was still a teenager herself; this time she’ll play a high schooler who gets pregnant, and has to deal with her boyfriend Lee Joon’s snooty family.

Yoo Ho-jung, Yoo Joon-sang

Yoo Joon-sang (Birth Secret, You Who Rolled in Unexpectedly) is also in some reports as possibly considering the drama, but his casting sounds more iffy — he’s got multiple musicals lined up through the year, so it’s unclear if he’ll be able to do the drama and his agency was quick to say that he had barely been offered the part. If he does sign on, he’ll play Lee Joon’s dad, a powerful lawyer who inherited his law firm from his famous lawyer father.

The drama is described as a black comedy, which intrigues me. It’s one of the rarer genres that we see in dramaland, so I’ll be really interested in seeing what they can do with it, if they pull off the right tone. It plans to take an incisive look at the rich and powerful, and their rigid world with antiquated social laws, including bloodline heredity and royal succession translated to modern corporate practices.

The themes are similar to those in Secret Love Affair (man, that villain chaebol family was a nasty piece of work), but when your lead characters are that family, it’s a different story. Yoo Ho-jung will play a classically refined socialite who’s on the inside of this fishbowl existence, who then has to deal with her family becoming the subject of rumors and suddenly being cast out because of them. Yeesh, the rumor mill is bad enough as it is; when everyone you know is a snooty society lady, it sounds like my worst nightmare. Let’s hope she has a spine and a sense of humor about it?

I Heard it Through the Grapevine is scheduled to follow Punch on Mondays and Tuesdays in late February.

Via TV Report, Osen, IS Plus

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1 Chandler

January 3, 2015 at 3:18 AM

Huh, I kinda like the sound of this. I'll definitely check it out.

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2 Chhavi

January 3, 2015 at 3:21 AM

Wow.... The storyline i pretty endearing...
And that too with Lee Joon---- I am totally in.

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3 ck1Oz

January 3, 2015 at 3:28 AM

I haven't seen a teenage pregnancy drama story where the leads are teenagers. Plus pregnant.

Interesting.

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pastryajumma

January 3, 2015 at 5:44 AM

Little Mom Scandal is one and deals with a variety of touchy subjects. I think it's on Hulu right now.

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pearl3101

January 3, 2015 at 10:30 AM

True... its a pretty good drama. Both part 1 and 2 .. Also stars Hwang jung eum

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Fatima

January 3, 2015 at 3:26 PM

Ah yes I remember LMS too. Hwang Jung Eum's skill was still pretty raw back then, but she was still excellent in both parts.

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maldita

January 3, 2015 at 8:13 AM

There was the movie Jenny Juno and the leads were teen actors Kim Hyesung and Park Minji. :)

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alua

January 3, 2015 at 11:18 AM

Well, there's the k-film Jeni, Juno (2005) with Park Min-ji (b. 1989) and Kim Hye-Seong (b. 1988).

Or you could try the Japanese drama 14 Sai no Haha (2006), with Haruma Miura (b. 1990) and Mirai Shida (b. 1993).

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ck1Oz

January 4, 2015 at 1:18 AM

Er did it end well?

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ywcnois

January 4, 2015 at 5:22 AM

I've watched 14 Sai No Haha and if I remember it correctly, it ended well.

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4 noone

January 3, 2015 at 3:32 AM

i like lee joon.. but can they just cast someone like lee min ho '93 who is close to a high school student age.. pffft..

there are alot of younger actor there, why cast someone who just finishes a drama.. :3

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5 khim

January 3, 2015 at 3:35 AM

he hasn't confirmed yet right?

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6 Okay

January 3, 2015 at 3:47 AM

Sounds very good and I like the team behind it.
I'm in for this!

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7 Sour Grapes

January 3, 2015 at 5:38 AM

Black comedy? I am in.

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anotheraddict

January 3, 2015 at 7:06 AM

Same here. Especially from this team. And I'm glad it's not gonna be 50 eps.

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8 CaroleMcDonnell

January 3, 2015 at 5:59 AM

ooh, this sounds really good!

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9 Nana

January 3, 2015 at 6:09 AM

it reminds me strongly of Wild Chives. I hope this drama is heaps better than WC though...

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pogo 🍉

January 3, 2015 at 12:22 PM

Wild Chives was best when it focused on the teenagers, I fast-forwarded all the adult parts. (and the younger cast was really solid, I was quite impressed by Yoon So-hee and Hyoyoung, and Lee Won-geun was really charming)

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Nana

January 3, 2015 at 3:50 PM

Yup, Yoon So-hee and Lee Won-geun are just ♡♡♡♡♡. The parents stories and the adult portion are just one big disappointment for me and I developed a huge allergy to Namgong Min. Kinda glad when it was cut.

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10 vanilaeru

January 3, 2015 at 6:29 AM

Go Ah Sung? On top of that Yoo Jun Sang? Even if the plot is a total wreck i am in, at least for several episode just to watch both...

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11 andy

January 3, 2015 at 6:49 AM

I hope this drama can also become success and many viewers watch it.

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12 jomo143

January 3, 2015 at 7:00 AM

Lee Joon will be fascinating to watch, though I also tire of men playing boys. YAI did it credibly. So I guess I have to trust them, right?

There are so many

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olop

January 3, 2015 at 9:28 AM

well, YAI and Lee Joon is on different level.. xD

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13 jomo143

January 3, 2015 at 7:02 AM

Lee Joon will be fascinating to watch, though I also tire of men playing boys. YAI did it credibly. So I guess I have to trust them, right?

There are so many teen pregnancies in my area, it has almost become a non-issue as far as "family" pride. It happens to every sort of family. I am not saying there isn't any angst, because a pair of 18 year olds with a child will never be easy.
Just that there isn't the public shaming.

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fab

January 3, 2015 at 7:15 AM

In my culture out of wedlock pregnancies are scandalous, no matter what age you're. I think it's the same in South-Korea. I've not yet seen a Kdrama that tackles the issue.

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alua

January 3, 2015 at 11:22 AM

Truth be told, pregnancies, in or out-of-wedlock don't seem that common in kdramas. I guess because most stories with a romance line focus on the leads getting together (with the 15 and/or 19 episodes of angst that keep them apart), and at best you get a fast-forward in the final episode where the female then is pregnant/has a baby.

There are a few exceptions of course (I Do, I Do – which does have a pregnancy that occurs as a result of a one night stand, so there's some taboo topics tackled to some extent at least...).

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fab

January 3, 2015 at 12:13 PM

That's true. I forgot about IDID.

You know what they should remake? Preferably tvN. Jane The Virgin! For one, 90 percent of kdrama heroines are virgins or act that way and two, it's way more humorous than Fated To Love You (ok another unwanted pregnancy...).

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14 fab

January 3, 2015 at 7:06 AM

That premise is a receipt for a great makjang-filled long drama... But I am gonna give it a try for the promise of the dark comedy. Really curious how that's going to work out.

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15 yasminsatria

January 3, 2015 at 7:17 AM

Wiiiiih, the premise sounds interesting. yes, this one can be easily turn into some makjang drama but if they can deliver the black comedy well, it's another gem produced.

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16 redfox

January 3, 2015 at 8:03 AM

black comedy and teen pregnancy? sounds like salt in coffee...

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17 yuja

January 3, 2015 at 8:04 AM

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18 maldita

January 3, 2015 at 8:17 AM

Lee Joon is 27 this year. He's not even baby-faced so I dunno how he'll even convince me with his portrayal. LOL

I'll definitely check this out though, because black comedies are always intriguing to me, if executed well. And Yoo Junsang because he's amazing.

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19 miilo

January 3, 2015 at 8:17 AM

Just watched Snowpiercer and Go Ah-Sung was pretty neat in there. Would be interesting to see her doing a drama role. Lee Joon looks way too old for a high school student, but as a couple they look cute.

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20 Sajen

January 3, 2015 at 8:17 AM

Go Ah-sung, I'm in. She could spend the whole 32 episode drama siting in a white windowless room by herself, no one else ever coming or going, doing an impression of Ben Stein while reading the dictionary followed by the phone book and I'd watch, the whole thing. You know what, I think that says bad things about me, so let's pretend I never said it.

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21 Annie

January 3, 2015 at 8:50 AM

Good thing they dropped that whole 'biography of Kim Hee Ae' business quick... would have been immensely boring. Looking forward to this new storyline!

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22 lena

January 3, 2015 at 9:25 AM

lee joon just too old to play a high student.. there's so many younger actor than him that could play a high school student.. -_-

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23 museofmanymasks

January 3, 2015 at 9:38 AM

YES FINALLY A BLACK COMEDY IN DRAMALAND! Hope its done right. Good thing its not 50 episodes. Err I like Lee Joon but we could skew a tad younger no? But I won't argue too much. I like Go Ah-sung too so otherwise I'm good; glad to see something new.

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24 pk

January 3, 2015 at 10:51 AM

Goh Ah-Sung!? Returning to drama land?! Is this real life?! Not really a fan of Lee Joon tbh, and kinda hoping that he does not confirm (can picture Goh Ah-Sung with a number of other leading men), but will be watching regardless. I miss her so much (lol) and cannot wait to start watching this. Miss Goh is one of the young, raw talents in Korea IMO, so this sounds extremely exciting. The fact that she is playing a pregnant teen catches my attention.

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25 Fatima

January 3, 2015 at 11:09 AM

If they can really get Go Ah Sung, then great. Won't be easy to convince her to do drama again though, esp. what with her just signed on to a Hollywood agency. But maybe the theme of teenage pregnancy and bewildred-isolated daughter-in-law to a prestigious familly manage to captivate her interest, we'll see. Hopefully with her casting more Western ppl (US-Europe) will try to watch this, therefore broaden the scope of K Drama fans. GAS has many fans in Western thanks to her internationally popular movies like Snowpiercer, The Host, A Brand New Life.

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Heard It Through the Grapevine