Premiere Watch: Argon
by girlfriday
If there was ever a time for a drama to premiere at its most socially relevant moment, this would be it. Newsroom drama Argon is premiering on cable network tvN on the same day that producers and journalists at public broadcasters KBS and MBC are going on strike in protest against politically-motivated news censorship. Talk about your serendipitous timing.
Argon
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Workplace drama, broadcast news
Episode count: 8
Reasons to watch: Film darling Chun Woo-hee is known to be pretty choosy about her projects, so it raised my interest level quite a bit when she signed on to star. She’ll play the rookie investigative journalist to Kim Joo-hyuk’s principled news anchor, and they’ll be part of the hard-hitting broadcast news team that only goes after the truth. It’s obviously very similar in theme to SBS’s current journalism drama Falsify, though here we have a broadcast television focus—a bit more commonplace in dramaland, but also more directly relevant to the strikes going on at the big networks.
I’m liking Falsify, so Argon will definitely have to make a big impression to stand out since it could be journalism overkill for some. But I’m thinking that the ripped-from-the-headlines feel of it will only fuel interest.
Cheese in the Trap and Coffee Prince PD Lee Yoon-jung is at the helm, which is a plus and a minus at the same time, given how different the first and second halves of her last drama turned out. But her dramas do have the potential to be thoughtful and well done, so here’s hoping that the short episode count means that all eight episodes will be first-half quality.
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1 drawde2000
September 3, 2017 at 3:14 PM
And as has been happening in Korean cable dramas in North America recently, this is nowhere to be found. No license again for Dramafever and Viki. What is going on?
I am aware of jtbc deal with Netflix. I am surprised with the tvN dramas. Have they become so expensive that no one wants to buy them? Or is there another player lurking around?
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RoseRedFern
September 3, 2017 at 3:26 PM
I am happy to pay a reasonable amount to watch Korean Dramas - I really don't want to watch them on 'free' sites risking viruses and malware. This licensing battle is a serious pain. I already subscribe to Drama Fever and Viki and am not interested in adding a third. Make it easy for people to do the right thing rather than encouraging them to steal in frustration!
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UmbrellaMan
September 3, 2017 at 4:05 PM
I am not sure why tvN dramas are so hard to come by on legit sites recently. Does anyone know of another player or some deal that is preventing them from getting picked up by the likes of Viki or DF? First Age of Youth 2 and now apparently this show...very frustrating.
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QueenM19
September 3, 2017 at 4:55 PM
I know for a fact that DF will have Age of Youth 2 since they have a page for it that says Coming Soon. They'll probably do the same thing they did for Fight My Way and wait for the show to finish to then sub and release it on their site. I can only hope for the same for Argon! Hope this helps :)
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PeepsLeAwesomePotato
September 3, 2017 at 7:07 PM
Age of Youth is from JTBC and not tvn though?
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Islander north
September 4, 2017 at 10:17 AM
And Live Up To Your Name. This is putting a serious cramp in my kdrama watching. Not a good business move as some ppl will start watching dramas from other countries.
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tags03
September 18, 2017 at 9:29 PM
i have been watching it on "other" sites since it aired and i'm loving every minute of it! such a bummer the licensing issue thing happening...i pay for netflix, hulu, dramafever and viki and have been since i started watching dramas in 2009...i hope they get it together
Zoe
September 4, 2017 at 12:59 AM
TvN is an affiliate of CNN. CNN is a Warner company not sure how much the link is playing into things. Maybe they will start their own streaming site. Their shows probably are some of the top streaming worldwide.
In regards to the American remakes those will probably never air legally in North America due to the copyrights.
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Hmm
September 8, 2017 at 6:54 PM
Warner Bros owns DramaFever.
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2 gadis
September 3, 2017 at 4:24 PM
I hope it delivers. Chun Woo-hee signing on to this and the shirt eps count also significantly raised my expectations. Please be good, Argon.
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gadis
September 3, 2017 at 4:25 PM
*the short eps count
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Caesalpinia
September 4, 2017 at 7:38 AM
Amen. For the sake our gutaeng hyung too. I can't wait to see Kim Joo Hyuk on my screen!
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Jane Eyre
September 4, 2017 at 10:00 AM
LOL - I saw your comment about shirt eps and thought it referred to number of episodes where the main lead takes off his shirt. I have obviously watched to many k-dramas :-)
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3 kiara
September 3, 2017 at 5:09 PM
I love both leads but a bit more for Chun Woo-hee. I hope these new writers will do a good job. I'd love another show to love like "Secret Forest."
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4 keiru
September 3, 2017 at 9:33 PM
Comment was deleted
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5 Chanelboy loves Jang Ki Young Argh
September 4, 2017 at 1:39 AM
Gutaengggggg Oppaaaa
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6 Chukahae (축하해)
September 4, 2017 at 2:51 AM
Had been a fan of the newsroom element in Jealousy Incarnate, so definitely gonna give this show a go.
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7 Aisahe
September 4, 2017 at 7:07 AM
Will be there for GuTaeng Hyung!
He can be so charismatic when he act, but so clumsy and funny in real life :)
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8 Jane Eyre
September 4, 2017 at 9:58 AM
Yet another tvN drama that we will not be able to watch legally anywhere. Wish tvN would partner up with someone so we could watch their dramas. Still bummed I can not watch Live up to your name anywhere.
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Lulu02
September 4, 2017 at 5:35 PM
I watch it on kissasian, it's not like Viki or DF I know, but it does the job, I have virus protection and I haven't had any warning. Lately it's been a pain watching something in both Viki and DF since they put a lot of old and airing drama for premium only. And at least for me due to my country economics politics is not an option :'( :'(
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9 RLD
September 4, 2017 at 9:59 AM
Does any one know what is really going on w/VIKI and DFever not getting the new shows at premier as they used to. I, also, have not and do not plan to dbl my fee paid to VIKI in order to have the variety access they used to provide for having a VikiPass. Their rate hike was stupidly high. Are they know paying for the translators? At least Netflix didn't screw existing members when they started their price increases.
But, why is this really happening, does anybody know?
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bbstl 🧹
September 4, 2017 at 10:56 AM
I wish Dramabeans would address this situation and tell us what they know.
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earthna
September 4, 2017 at 1:21 PM
Subbing teams at viki are still all volunteers. I think the price is because of their partnership with KOCOWA.
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mindy
September 4, 2017 at 6:53 PM
Definitely is. I was excited to see their partnership at first because I didn't realize they were going to hike up the price so much! I'm now watching most dramas through... other sites. It's a shame.
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10 Samurai
September 4, 2017 at 10:17 AM
Regardless of the plot I know I will have new tracks to add to my playlist. I love the OSTs of this PD's dramas.
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11 yayabean
September 4, 2017 at 1:01 PM
I too have DramaFever & Viki, but have been watching more dramas on Netflix and Hulu since DF & Viki lack recent shows. There's no reason to be glued to my small screen when I can watch Im Shiwa on the big screen. Right? ?
I'm seriously considering canceling my Viki pass ?
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earthna
September 4, 2017 at 1:22 PM
Does Netflix have the airing shows? The Netflix subs are nowhere near fansub quality though and that's my problem. I really dislike the way they translate things.
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RLD
September 4, 2017 at 4:29 PM
An email to all existing VPass customers w/a limited time offer of a discount for the new plan would have been the savvy thing to do. But, instead it was a SURPRISE change in pricing that limited existing VP customers. They must be awfully smug about their customer base to have been so abrupt and greedy. Isn't "greed" one of the big KDrama foils that is sure to send you into a face plant?
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12 HANI
September 5, 2017 at 6:12 PM
I like Chun Wonhee but that PD tho? I got burnt way too much than I can handled before so I'll just wait until it is finish (with good review) or until it air at tvn asia.
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13 bambi
September 18, 2017 at 8:24 PM
Anyone watched this? Curious as to how it was.
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14 Phyllis
October 30, 2017 at 8:46 AM
I cried my eyeballs out as got the news that Kim Joo-Hyuk died from a car accident today. 😭😭😭 I love his drama since Lovers' in Prague. 😭😭😭
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