Oh I forgot Han Ji-min in 2019! She was great in One Spring Night too, and you're right it was one of MBC's most successful shows that year. But I think OSN had more of an ensemble cast (everyone was so good!), and HJM's role was kind of quiet compared to KDW's larger-than-life and very central character Jo Jang-poong.

Sometimes the nuanced performances go un-noticed in comparison to the more bombastic ones. She's another actress whose in the SHK/JJH/SYJ lineage of actresses. But I feel like she's a bit under-appreciated compared to them. She's become a great actress starting from Age to Shadows, Miss Baek, Familiar Wife, Radiant, and One Spring Night.

What I notice is every yr recently that MBC/KBS for one have their ups, and then downs more. Like last yr, KBS had a nice hit w/ WTCB hitting 24%, but this yr for weekday dramas, none have hit the 5% mark. So it seems, people don't have an allegiance to a particular channel, which could be troublesome in the streaming age in the future.

@soulsearch12 Agree about Han Ji-min and more nuanced performances. Compared to OSN, her Miss Baek character was in-your-face noticeable, and accordingly she won loads of awards for it. She deserved to, but like you said her quieter acting in dramas ought to be acknowledged too.

As for MBC having ups and downs, better not to mention it when commenting under the ratings reports, cos an unregistered poster there keeps insisting that MBC is a complete "failed channel" :P

On Lee Se Young, she's matured into a talented adult actress. She's one to watch. I really like that compared to her peers in her age group, she does different genres and roles that aren't just romance based. I think b/c of that and her more mature vibe than her peers, she'll be one of those actresses that won't be relegated to teen/young adult stuff. I can see her getting a juicy breakthrough role in her 30s.

Indeed he is. He's very well respected for his talents, he's an acclaimed musical actor.

K-dramas tend to be tricky land. Every yr, newer/younger actors get brought up. That even I'm like, the fact that one can keep working and still get ML's or FL's in a highly competitive industry like that is lucky. I also notice that actors who've worked hard in bit parts or 2nd leads, do get upgraded to lead status gradually. Slow and steady wins the race?

As for ML roles, I think him choosing Kairos over Penthouse means he wants to do quality projects. As for Daesang, that's a bit of a wild card. But Nam Goong Min worked hard for decades un-noticed until he finally got one for Stove League.

As for MBC, it's not for lack of script qualities. But lack of star power/script-writers at MBC. I think they been on a steep decline since 2015, ratings wise or any drama that got some pop culture zeitgeist in Korea. Interesting, I mean other than one variety appearance, I don't think that really does much for a show. Private Lives: Both SH/GKP went on Knowing Brothers to promote the show, but it didn't do much for the show.

Anyways, KBS/MBC last yr sorta had a lackluster yr compared to SBS (In terms of ratings). As the TV industry changes, and more avenues start popping up, who knows how the stations will adjust to those changes going forward. Hearing other foreign companies coming over is hmm...news too. It feels like a lot, but in reality, K-dramas have been producing fewer and fewer in the last half decade.

@soulsearch12 He already accepted the role as Ju Dan Tae in Penthouse. But the script read was delayed in the beginning. And then they announced that Penthouse is planned to be a season drama. From the sources I read, it was because he just joined Master in the House as a fixed member. It seems that a season drama does not work for his schedule. Only after that was he in talks for Kairos. And he accepted the role as Kim Seo Jin.

Penthouse is not a lesser quality project. It's makjang at it's finest and a sure hit thanks to the content, writer/PD + cast starpower. I've stopped watching it for now because I was too focused on Kairos haha. Though I do think if he continued to be Ju Dan Tae, it's a copy of Oh Tae Suk, his role in Return, complete with the same sidekicks. Even his wife in Return is in Penthouse, but now she's the wife of Ju Dan Tae's sidekick 🤣.

@katakwasabi I meant more in the sense of if he did Penthouse, it would've been in the same vein as his prior villain roles were. A.K.A Type-casting. So doing Kairos in a more human role/father was a step in the right direction imo, even if the ratings weren't great. His acting did get praised a lot.

As for schedule conflicts with his variety show, that reminds me of another actor lol. As in, what happens when you've to do a variety show but also signed up for/want to do a drama same time. But can't do both b/c of schedule conflicts? Doesn't that suck for the actors? Esp. since acting is their main forte? That their second job (variety) is holding them back in joining a project?

@soulsearch12 I don't know about other actors but SSR is enjoying his time on Master in the House. Excerpts from his SBS Ent. Award speech: 'I've been on MiTH for exactly one year. It gave me new perspectives on life. I had been only focused on acting. But this show made me realize I could be happy doing something other than acting.'

@katakwasabi Oh wow, that's enlightening to hear. It seems for actors after their work ends, it's a lonely/sad process going back to real life. It seems for most, acting is their way of life. But they put so much focus on one aspect, that they haven't been able to focus on other things in life? Although, the shooting schedule seems strenuous? Wonder how they balance that out, seems like my brain would be doing back flips doing comedy/gag humor one day, and the next serious/dramatic.

@soulsearch12 for starters, I don't think he's trying to be someone else on the show. He's just being himself. Master in the House is like a hybrid observational show, they meet new masters each 1 or 2 weeks and learn about their lives, they do challenges once in a while. There's no requirement to do gags, it's not a comedy sketch.

Another excerpt from one of his latest interviews (google trans):
Q: The combination of drama and entertainment activities is exhausting, but is there a driving force for not getting tired?

Sungrok: “Thankfully, (to me), I have been able to work in various fields. I have been following the flow of consciousness so far, but when I think about it, this process itself seems to be the process of finding my happiness. I have fun and enjoyment while doing work. To my limits. It seems that challenging is the driving force."

https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/241/0003082328

Twitter is ummm...not used by many 😅. They rerun variety shows more than dramas. They should rerun their dramas too 🙃.