The reason why she is my favorite is because she has such extraordinary talent and skills. Even more, she has a real dedication to her art. In every show she seems to get even better.

@kiara,
The mind boggles at this "sexy comedy" concept.

The Andong Kim clan is on my sh*t list, too. With them running the country into the ground, all I can think of is KUNDO, AGE OF THE RAMPANT. I'll probably get a hernia from suspending my disbelief. ;-)

I'm still trying to imagine how they are going to make a sexy comedy during a time of political feud between 2 power hungry families.

@asiandramaniac, @kiara,

I haven't watched INSPIRING GENERATION, but thoroughly enjoyed DOCTOR PRISONER, mainly because of Namgoong Min and his battle with rival jailhouse doc Kim Byung-chul.

Eureka! Cast NM as a savvy smuggler operating out of Ganghwado who is the extremely-close childhood friend of the fisherman who will be king. He's the son of the local quack. (Tip of the gat to NM's performance in GU AM HEO JOON, his only sageuk role I'm aware of). On the side, he cooks the books for the local magistrate, who is relatively benign as Joseon political appointees go -- and a Ganghwado boy who made good. Satto has a hearty appetite, but tries to go easy on collecting the taxes and tribute levied on the impecunious residents. Such a unicorn! When the fisherman gets drafted as King Cheoljong, he finagles to bring his fishing and drinking buddies to court with him.

Cheoljong gets hitched to Queen Cheorin, who has more on the ball than her illiterate-but-honest-and-honorable spouse. Her birth name is Kim Sam-soon, and she is the eldest surviving child in a family of 7 girls and no boys. Her father, a Confucian scholar, educated her and her sisters as if they were sons. She's a sharp cookie with a strong sense of ethics. Royal hubby Cheoljong is tickled pink at the prospect of relieving the citizenry of poverty and starvation, which he knows only too well personally. Queenie, the money dude, and Satto are just the folks to give his dream legs and make them happen.

"Sexy comedy" is code for "epic bromance(s)" and "sexy brains." Queen Cheorin is a big fan of hangeul, and teaches hubby reading, writing. and 'rithmatic on the sly. He continues to pass himself off as a dunce for protective coloration.

How's that for a synopsis?

@kiara,
It almost sounds as if she may have been a bit like Gojong's Queen Min. That kind of story would be interesting indeed.

Oh, heavens, @marcusnyc20 bong-soo, I'm glad to hear from you. Thanks for tagging me. I saw your earlier note the other day, and just haven't gotten back to you. I'm glad to hear that you're okay in the Big Apple. We’re fine in the Garden State. Keep well, please. ;-)

Thank you for the reminder. I spotted the casting news for WIND AND CLOUD AND RAIN on the AsianWiki blog in mid-February and added it to my to-watch list.
http://blog.asianwiki.com/korean-dramas/park-si-hoo-ko-sung-hee-cast-in-tv-chosun-drama-series-wind-and-cloud-and-rain

https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Wind,_Clouds,_and_Rain

My take on WIND AND CLOUD AND RAIN, which is related to King Gojong's predecessor, is that it could involve Christianity in Korea – and Donghak. Park Shi-hoo and Ko Sung-hee play the leads, with Jeon Kwang-leol portraying Heungseon Daewongun, the great villain of MR. SUNSHINE and NOKDU FLOWER. It sounds like a latter-day version of THE KING'S FACE. (Can we get a cameo by Shin Sung-rok, pretty please? He scared the pants off me in TKF. It came as a shock after seeing him play a mooncalf cop in THREE FATHERS, ONE MOTHER.)

Song Seung-heon turned down WACAR in favor of the male lead in WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE DINNER TOGETHER, which sounds like a much better role for him. Even so, he looks terrific in hanbok and acquitted himself well in SAIMDANG, LIGHT'S DIARY, which was also directed by Yun Sang-ho. I can't blame SSH for giving Heungseon Daewongun a pass. His drama is also set to premiere in May.

I'm not really all that up on directors and screenwriters. @kiara is the expert on that count. ;-) That said, I was tickled to see that Yun Sang-ho directed THE STORY OF THE FIRST KING'S FOUR GODS / TAEWANG SASINGE, set in ancient times, Gojoseon, and Goguryeo. I loved it – a real swashbuckler, with a humongo cast, including Bae Yong-jun, Mr. Hallyu himself – and your fave Kim Mi-kyung as a blacksmith – with many young actors who are now adults. Plus one of Yoon Tae-young's relatively few sageuk roles. He was magnificent as Kuchon in THE KING'S DAUGHTER, SOO BAEK HYANG, and is a badass antagonist in this, too. Male lead Yonsama was badly injured on set towards the end of filming, which made for a rushed and unfortunate live-shoot finale, but overall I still loved the show. It was more coherent and better executed than ARTHDAL CHRONICLES, for which I watched TAEWANG SASINGE as a precursor and introduction to the Korean higher beings and metaphysics.

Re: Sung Hyuk

Ah, so that's why he looked vaguely familiar in 365: REPEAT THE YEAR. Dang! I loved him in HWAYUGI / A KOREAN ODYSSEY as gelato seller General Winter and his sister, the fairy bartender. What a great, nuanced dual performance. Sung Hyuk was such a scene-stealer. HE played the hunter in TRAP?! Yikes! I dropped the series because it became too violent for me, but I was still watching during the hunt.

@marcusnyc20 bong-soo and @pakalanapikake
Hi ladies. Hope you are both doing well.

I think WIND AND CLOUD AND RAIN was supposed be one of last year's sageuk but none of the big 3s were willing to pick it up.

I'm glad it's finally getting a home. TV Chosun and I haven't been on the same track. I dislike some of their casting so I'll probably pass on this too. This male lead is basically on my shit list.

... a bigger epic mess... *cringes*

@sicarius,
ROFLMAO!!! That original link is kaput, but here is the re-upload, plus 2 additional crack videos by the same artist that are just as whacked. Thank you! Any subconscious lingering doubts that I may have had about dropping HWARANG have vanished.

crack vid re-upload
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GByP-Qod_9c

crack vid #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9XRQif0Ph8

crack vid #3 Tae
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZDPml3-yw

On a more serious note, I hear your lament about the show's potential that wasn't realized. It almost seems that the drama was born under a bad sign, with a case of epically-bad cosmic timing or something. I only knew that the vibe I was getting was incompatible with me, and that was that. I was already looking forward to REBEL, whose screenwriter was a known quantity to me, as were many of the cast.

I had a similarly empty feeling after watching THE GREAT SEDUCER / TEMPTED to the bitter end. What a fiasco. Woo Do-hwan and Kim Min-jae could not save that show. The queen bitch female second lead who started out as the original trio's queen bee -- and all of the so-called adults -- were such awful characters that I ran out of brain bleach as I attempted to expunge it from my memory. Yesterday I got a rude awakening when I realized Moon Ga-young is playing the female lead in FIND ME IN YOUR MEMORY / MEMOIR OF THE MAN. But now she sounds as if she's channeling chirpy Jo Bo-ah in SWEET STRANGER AND ME. Yikes! I will stick around for Kim Dong-wook, since I never seem to learn. I loved him in COFFEE PRINCE and THE GUEST aka COSMIC FREELOADER FROM HELL.

Thanks @pakalanapikake for the heads up on Go Ara’s next project. I saw on the same site that Lee Jae-wook who I am enjoying in NICE WEATHER will be joining her.
Now what are you going to do with the drama’s title: DODOSOLSOLLALASOL?
Good luck with that one.

@sicarius, @marcusnyc20 bong-soo,
Commiseration -- the beating heart of DramaBeans. ;-)

Did you live watch? I did. As you said, I don’t know why, except I remember think this story has to get better, it’s a really interesting chapter of Korean history!

One weekender that I have been slowly working my way through is YOUR'E THE BEST LEE SUN-SHIN (young IU in the title role, Yoo In-na was also in it). The standing joke is that the poor title character is a girl who is actually named for Admiral Yi. This was emphasized in the first episode when IU stands in front of the admiral's statue, after failing at a job interview, and says "Lets just keep this between ourselves, OK?".

My wife loves it and I agree that it fills a real need- Light and fluffy is especially needed now.