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The bromance trio begins for OCN spy-action drama Neighborhood Hero

Ooh, here’s our first look at upcoming cable action drama Neighborhood Hero, which held its first shoots on October 6 and has now released the stills. The drama comes from Chuno and Basketball PD Kwak Jung-hwan, and since he’s a director with a strong sense of style, I’m curious to see if working for OCN will allow him more opportunity to showcase his creativity. The cable station allows a lot more latitude with grit and darkness than the other stations, which works well with its genre and action bent.

It’s also Park Shi-hoo’s comeback drama after spending the past two years mostly out of the public eye, following a rape accusation that settled out of court. His last drama was Alice in Cheongdam-dong, which ended nearly three years ago, and I’m sure one big question will be whether audiences are ready to see him back on their screens.

Neighborhood Hero has a quirky premise wherein a former black-ops spy retires to run a small neighborhood bar, where he gets to know the regulars and their lives. (It sounds a lot like the world in Covertly, Grandly, which I loved; it had a similar theme mixing an elite spy hero with ordinary townfolk in an affecting way.) The main lead meets a young local resident with dreams of becoming a police officer, and works to turn him into a spy, while fighting evil as the titular neighborhood hero.

That young man will be played by Lee Soo-hyuk, whom I find suddenly ten times more interesting after playing the vampire villain in Scholar Who Walks the Night. No, that drama wasn’t fantastic, but he was totally committed to a potentially cheesy character and it made him incredibly compelling. His Neighborhood Hero character has failed the police exam repeatedly, but I presume the secret neighborhood spy will turn things around dramatically for him.

Then there’s Jo Sung-ha (Hwajung, Gu Family Book) as a detective, taking the third slot in the “bromance trio” of justice-seeking heroes that the drama promises. You had me at bromance trio.

Neighborhood Hero will air on OCN as a 16-episode drama early next year.

Via My Daily

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I wonder if liking Lee Soo Hyuk and the bromance will overwhelm my dislike for Park Shi Hoo or it's the other way around?
Oh, wait, there's Yuri as well who is stiff as hell..

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Same... I have not seen anything of PSH, but I may give a try just because of LSH ....mmmmm!!!!! Even Sung Ye from twenty again is here

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Totally thinking the same thing! Why couldn't there be another main lead??

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Cause Lee Soo Hyuk can't act his way out of a paper bag!

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LOL! I find you a tad harsh but not unfair...I've read in recaps that he was a gorgeous, tailor-made vampire in Scholar with fantastic... costumes ,- his (modelling?)talent is probably limited to that.

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Really? I really liked him in High School King of Savvy. I imagine it to be rather hard to hold your own against Seo In-guk, but I loved their bromance and thought he did well. I admit I haven't seen anything else he is in cause his projects haven't interested me, but I'm excited for this one.

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I agree. He was also quite good in Valid Love. And no, I'm not a fan of his "looks". He seems "elfish" and "vampiric" and not in a good way for me. But he can act and truly makes the effort.

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it definitely will! Soo Hyuk will be so good as the normal, slightly underdog character. whatever he does, he is very sincere. that carpenting vampire cop...

But I want to see him impersonate Hamlet some day as well.

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I'm glad to see you again! Great color artist. I was looking forward already! Congratulations and perseverance!

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Bromance, OCN, spy-action... usually I'd dive head first in this kind of dramas but my answer for everything Park Shi-ew related is still the same : no.

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Same here. I notice they put him shirtless for the promos, fresh from his fabricated broody shower scene to appeal to the lowest common denominator and perhaps overrule any lingering squeamishness about his personal life. Pass, pass, pass.

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This highest common factor takes a look at that naked body and I get an image of him on top of a young drunk woman. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

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This is one less drama to look forward to. Yay.

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Sounds interesting. I'll give the first few episodes a chance. I'm all for a good storyline and acting.

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+ 1

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My love for LSh is not enough that Psh shirtless picture alone creeps the hell out of me i don't think i'll be able to watch him. I'm skipping this one.

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Same. Literally everything else about this drama sounds so good but with that person in the lead role? No thank you.

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I will have to agree with both miroufleur and dahlia about that shirtless picture that is creepy.

I once liked PSH but after the accident i am not ready to support ANY of his activities. Sad that i will have to say this but it will be a waste of talent for both LSH and JSH. I prefer to keep personal and business separated or apart and keep it as professional as i can but i can never push what PSH did under the rug and act like nothing ever happen...

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I'm with you...the moment I see that shirtless picture I just wanna run.

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I can dislike the impression of an actor's personal life that I have - and it can only be an impression - and still enjoy a show if it is otherwise a show that I would like.

My only time not being able to do this, so far, are when we are watching people we know are having emotional/psychological/mental breakdowns in their real lives. I find that very uncomfortable. It's visible to us, and to think that we could just continue on like nothing is happening is distasteful and disturbing. Think Charlie Sheen, for a recent example. I don't want to help others profit off someone's personal spectacle.

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So true! We have to suspend some judgment in order to enjoy escapist television anyway. I agree, benefiting off of someone's personal pain can go too far, but in this case he was found not guilty, so I'm willing to just watch and enjoy the show - assuming the show is enjoyable.

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Just to be specific, he wasn't found not guilty - the charges were withdrawn...The difference is important Because he may have actually been found guilty if it ever w

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ever went to trial.

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We don't know that.

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Exactly my point - but "he was found not guilty" is not the same thing as having the charges withdrawn.

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Thank you!

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The case was settled outside of court, that does not exactly make him "not guilty".

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Totally agree - for that I reason I won't ever be able to see Bill Cosby, Tom Crusie, Alec Baldwin, or Mel Gibson the same way and find it difficult to separate the two and be "entertained" by their acting - their personal issues have spoiled the experience for me.

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What was the deal with Tom Cruise beside being part of the Scientology sect?

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I was thinking more along the lines of him calling psychiatry etc. evil and post partum depression "all in your mind"... I work in the mental health field and also as a woman took issue with his comments.

Then he acted crazy by jumping on/off Oprah's couch during an interview...the list goes on!

http://urge.org/cruise-vs-shields-overcoming-postpartum-depression/

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I would be offended with his comments like the other permed dude on D Day too but that's nothing compared to Bill Cosby and the likes of him.
I think he apologized to her and they became friends or something like.

This Park guy here wasn't convicted but he had sex twice with an intoxicated girl incapable of giving consent. Personally, I find him disgusting.

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Agree, Jenn, and I add Woody Allen to your list, as well.

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Oh yes - I totally forgot since I don't "see" him in much anymore.

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I must have missed the end of that story....last thing I remembered, they figured out that she was lying to extort money from him.

But, I don't usually follow K-Entertainment news. Maybe that's a good thing, I can separate the RL actor from the drama character. As long as they can actually act, that is.

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Having a settlement out of court does not mean that she was lying and that he was innocent.

This is an Xfile case. The truth is out there...

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LOL thanks Mulder

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Oh the irony. A rapist who paid his way out of prison with money is playing a hero. Not watching for obvious reasons.

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yes,same here

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He was set up to extort money by an acquaintance.

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yup.

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I like the premise, character description, well, most of the cast(all, except one) and i really want to give this one a try for the other actors present.

Don't know!! I will try to prepare myself for watching, till next year.. Augh, is it too much if i still pray for a diff male lead?!

LSH, Sang-ye...

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Lee So Hyuk!! Gosh, should I watch this?? ><
I was a huge huge fan of PSH, so I was horribly disappointed (and heartbroken) by what happened..
I don't think I can watch this, at least for now :(

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... I really want to watch this drama because of LSH and JSH and by the look of it, it looks and sounds like something I could totally enjoy, OCN always seems to deliver drama that I enjoy fully. But then, like many, I don't think I can watch PSH in this at all. I might just check out the recap on here when it start.

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Nice chest but it does nothing for me. Nope.

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how can that cocker spaniel like creature peeking through the door with the messy hair be the vicious Shakespearean vampire?
I... need time to adjust. Um...well, spaniels can bite too.

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This comment is perfect, lol. That hair...just...

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I was never a fan of Lee Soo-hyuk, he always felt too stiff and boring in the roles he played. But after watching Scholar Who Walks The Night I have a different view on him. I think he did an excellent job as the evil vampire and hope his future roles will be as enjoyable as that one.

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I have to watch Scholar because, to me, he can't act his way out of a paper bag. Thank God he quit strutting around like he was on the runway. Dude, your modeling days are over....and is that all you have to offer the viewer: skinny, exceedingly pale and a former model...pfff!

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looks like you can´t help to repeat yourself, you already said that paper bag thing. are you a tourette that you need to say it everywhere? we get it already, you don´t like him, but no one wants to read the same hate speech twice.

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Well, you don't stand a chance if you keep repeating the same thing, @DL Thompson; it's in vain unless you post several hate comments against certain female actors whom everyone loves to hate (myself included in several cases since I'm also a human being full of flaws). From my observation, male actors (especially former models) are objects of worship in several blogs. Perhaps you should just give up...

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Why PSH of all actors?
Why PD-nim?

Although nobody is perfect and nobody can say he-she has never made mistakes, an act like the one that PSH did cannot, in my honest opinion, be categorised as a mistake because he was well aware of what he did (taking advantage of a drunk girl), and he jolly well knew what he did which was why he settled out of court and went to China to hide for a while.

His actions speak of his character - how he sees and treats women. As a woman, I cannot in good conscience, condone, forgive or forget men who views women in that light.

So it's interesting to note, but not in a good way, how some people, namely the PD-nims of this drama, are so willing to take him as the lead no less, so soon after the whole mess he was involved in, which never absolved him of any wrongdoing, what with the out-of-court (or better known as a ticket-out-of-jail) settlement.

Perhaps the PD-nims are men and so are more willing to forgive the wrongdoing of a fellow male? Shame on them.

I am in no way saying that PSH cannot or should not be forgiven because ultimately God Is The Ultimate Judge, Jury and Executioner BUT to get him as the male lead when the memory of the whole debacle he was involved in is still very fresh and raw and with the hair-standing-on-end-super-creepy kind of feeling that so many viewers are still feeling, it is in bad taste. Real bad taste.

He committed a crime but got away scot-free. Period. There can be no doubt about that. Because he took advantage of a drunk girl.
And because he has the money, he escaped judgement.
How can anyone with a sane mind just brush that aside so easily? How?

Would the PD-nims be as forgiving if what PSH did was done to their daughter or sister or mother, I wonder?

*shudders* *shivers*

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I get your distaste and you're free not to watch it. Just have a couple quibbles with your post filled with judgment for the hardworking PDs.

1. PDs aren't more powerful than the producers or networks that have final say in casting.
2. Two years is not a "short time." But even so, if the PD has faith in PSH's ability to embody the character and make the drama that he envisioned, the PD's main responsibility is always to produce the best show possible.
3. The Korean Court system allowed PSH to settle without serving jail time. It's a flaw of the system, for sure, but it also means that outside of the financial punishment he has already received for his alleged crime, he has also paid a punitive punishment but being shut out of his career for two years. The PD may have taken that into consideration during the casting process.

OCN is a premium cable network with lower viewership and much more adult content than the network stations KBS, SBS and MBC. Don't diss the PDs for getting leeway or direction from the network to make something different starring an embattled actor. Just don't watch it.

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+1

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+2

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So true...

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I like Park Shi Hoo, although I'm a bit apprehensive in regards to Lee Soohyuk's acting.

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And if anyone were to ask how much longer must he hide before people can forgive him, this is my response :

If he has a sister or daughter and a man were to do to his sister or daughter what he did to the drunk girl he took advantage of, would he EVER be able to forgive that man? Would he?

Does he think what he did can be so easily forgiven?

In fact, has he ever, in the past 2 years, ever admitted to himself that what he did was wrong? Has he? And that he should own up to his wrongdoing instead of hiding it?

If PSH cannot answer any of those questions, then do not waste time asking how much longer he needs to hide for people to forgive him.

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Honestly, he's a person, he needs to survive too, so he needs to work.

There's only so much one can do to redeem himself. Will people only regret bashing him when he commits suicide?

I will not watch the show. But I think there's no need to keep on bashing him in every news he pops up in just to discourage others from watching it if they want to.

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He can find work like a normal person, acting is certainly the only job out there. And why would anyone regret bashing a rapist? I'm definitely not watching and I think less of everyone involved in the production with him.

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Till the end of the day he will never be able to answer your questions because he's like a chicken. Thats why he had ran away to China for two years while hoping SK public already forget and forgive him now.

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This sounds great and it really sounds like a great role for Lee Soo Hyuk whom I'm sure will rock it, but like everyone else I really don't want to watch Park Shi Hoo. Maybe, I will give it a go but I won't be able to shake how uncomfortable I feel every time Park is on screen, for real.

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Argh, used to adore Park Shi-Hoo so much which is why I the disappointment and the anger was high.
Skipping on this, I honestly can't look at him.

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It is a well-known fact that in prisons around the world, rapists and paedophiles are the most badly-treated prisoners even by their fellow prison-mates. Why? Because such crimes are so heinous that even other prisoners abhor/loathe them and so the perpetrators/convicted criminals are treated as such.

Even worse that how murderers are treated. By fellow prisoners no less.

And yet we have people outside the prisons who are so willing to forgive and forget such crimes and criminals. *shudders*

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You are too judging, I also like PSH before, and very dissapointed, but still you don't need to bash another peoples who willing to forgive him.
If you can't forgive him, just don't watch his drama.
Everybody free to feel what they want to feel, hating him or forgive him.
Anyway is it true rapists and paedophiles are the most badly-treated prisoners even by their fellow prison-mates?
I just know from some of novel and movie, that in prison sometimes there is also raping betwen fellow prison-mates.
Because, you know there is no woman in prison.
It is that scary in prison.
So, please don't treat peoples as criminal just because they have compansion for other peoples.

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Park Shi Ho will never regain his popularity as an actor again. I think the production company and network are taking a huge risk trying to bring him back. Dramas with fairly popular actors fail in the ratings all the time. Having said that, I'm glad they are taking a risk on him. Rape is no small matter but plenty of Korean celebrities have had their careers interrupted and/or hindered over some pretty petty things. Since he was never convicted of the crime and the woman chose to drop the charges then he's very lucky to be getting a second chance.

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Will never be able to watch PSH ever again after his unconscionable actions and using money to escape his criminal behaviour speaks loudly of his bad judgement and character.

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mte

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Why did Park Si-hoo have to stage his comeback with a Kwak Jung-hwan drama? Aaaargh so conflicted right now...

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Maybe, just maybe, PSH was agreed not to be paid in this drama as long as he can make a comeback to K-ent. He seems so desperate to do it.

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lol. Now we just need to explain away Yuri's casting...

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Couldn't been happier. Two of my favourite actors making a comeback. <3

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I also feel conflicted about this - on the one hand, there is still not enough hard evidence to call him a rapist and convict him - but on the other hand, there is the fact that he was having sex with a drunk girl he barely knew.
And he was a lot more sober than her so that certainly makes him a major asshole because even if she did give him consent it was under the influence of alcohol.

Does anyone know if he is also the romantic lead of Neighborhood Hero? That would be even harder to stomach - I mean even the shower shot above feels wrong because those kind of scenes are mostly targeted at a female audience - which, eww, who can still think of him as sexy?

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It looks like Lee Soo-hyuk's character will be like Carpenter Kim, this makes me so happy cause I like him best when he's being normal. Actually, I like him every time. I don't mind watching Park Shi-hoo, I'm not being heartless or anything. I just find it easy to separate character from actor. Just like I'm seriously adoring Kim Young-kwang as Lee Hae-sung in spite of his alleged real-life jerkiness.

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I...don't think that's comparable though and I'm not trying to drag you or anything but it would be easier to forgive someone's personal preference in partners over a rapist.

Plus Kim Young Kwang can change but a rapist will still be a rapist...

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What happen to Kim Young Kwang??

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