Premiere Watch: On the Verge of Insanity
by missvictrix
Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: MBC
Genre: Workplace
Episode count: 16
This title and cast immediately made me think my next dose of melo had arrived — but no! On the Verge of Insanity is actually a workplace drama that sounds more slice-of-life than anything else. Jung Jae-young, Moon Sori, and Lee Sang-yub (yay!) play employees at an electronics corporation who undergo many changes in work and life, all with a side helping of midlife complexity. For me, workplace dramas can either be really good and cathartic, or they can be a little too real and lose their appeal. We’ll have to see how this one shakes out.
RELATED POSTS
![[Beanie Recs] Feel-good fantasy?](https://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BeanieRecs.jpg)
![[Beanie Review] A Virtuous Business](https://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AVirtuousBusiness_reviewb.jpg)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 knewbie
June 23, 2021 at 2:58 AM
Looks like I've picked another show that hardly anyone else will watch. Been looking forward to the Moon So-ri / Jung Jae-young pairing. JJY has had a lot of great female co-stars in films, but in drama he hasn't had a decent one since Assembly.
Also: AHN NAE-SANG!!!
Required fields are marked *
knewbie
June 23, 2021 at 3:04 AM
And as far as I know, neither JJY nor MSR is usually associated with melo.
Required fields are marked *
Cloggie
June 23, 2021 at 3:05 AM
I'll be there with you! I like workplace dramas a lot.
The set-up actually sounds very much like something that happened at my previous job, when they wanted to get rid of someone but it was too expensive to fire him (because he was a long-term employee), so they gave him a job they knew he'd hate hoping he'd resign
Required fields are marked *
knewbie
June 23, 2021 at 3:08 AM
I'm afraid the same thing is occurring on an unprecedented scale in my area of work as well. Sigh...
Required fields are marked *
Ayalynn
June 24, 2021 at 6:09 PM
Of course Ahn Nae-sang has be in this too LOL!
I'm hoping this drama is going to be a quietly good one, like Black Dog, Diary of a Prosecutor, etc.
Required fields are marked *
knewbie
June 24, 2021 at 9:24 PM
Just seen ep1. It looks very promising! And it isn't just Ahn Nae-sang - the hero's circle of friends include Park Won-sang, Park Sung-geun (i.e. Forest of Secrets' sardonic Kang Won-cheol) and Choi Deuk-moon (recently in Vincenzo). It's a veritable banquet of A-class ahjusshi acting!
Required fields are marked *
Ayalynn
June 25, 2021 at 5:25 AM
Yes besides Ahn Nae-sang (he has to be in every single drama), I love seeing great ahjusshi actors for a supporting actor/character watcher like me.
I liked first two episodes. Thursday is a tough competition since there is Hospital Playlist 2, but hope this drama won't end up 1-2% ratings... (So far it got 3-4%?)
Required fields are marked *
2 knewbie
June 23, 2021 at 2:59 AM
Oh I've just noticed someone rated the drama 3 out of 10 even before the release of the first episode. How extraordinary.
Required fields are marked *
PYC
June 23, 2021 at 4:53 AM
Don’t worry - please keep us posted how the opening goes. MSR and JJY alone are enough reasons to watch and the trailer shows contemporary brutality at workplace make it even more attractive.
The only worry is whether it’s available on legit platform for us to watch.
Required fields are marked *
knewbie
June 23, 2021 at 5:14 AM
I think it's on Viki.
Required fields are marked *
mugyuljoie is preciousss
June 23, 2021 at 11:39 PM
I wish it wasn't possible to rate a drama before it ended.
Required fields are marked *
3 miss h
June 23, 2021 at 7:21 AM
I had no idea this was premiering but it sounds like something I might like.
Required fields are marked *
4 fogcity
June 23, 2021 at 9:09 AM
The second female lead is Kim Ga Eun. I recognize her as the other second female lead in "Because This Is My First Life" other than Esom.
Required fields are marked *
jennee
June 23, 2021 at 9:31 AM
Oh that's it! I thought she looked familiar but couldn't remember where I saw her. And the summary above didn't include her name so I couldn't look her up easily (though could probably search for the show itself). Thanks!
Required fields are marked *
USKdramaFan
June 24, 2021 at 3:10 PM
I'm watching this for Kim Ga Eun so I was pretty disappointed she didn't even appear in the first episode.
Required fields are marked *
5 Miky
June 23, 2021 at 9:49 AM
Hope this will be good as i'm really curious about this one and based on pics and trailers it looks promising
Required fields are marked *
6 dramalover4ever
September 2, 2021 at 2:33 PM
I'm late for this party, and I'm up to episode 7 and enjoying it. Jung Jae-young is playing another great character. How does he do it? It doesn't even look like he's trying. He's straight-faced and grumpy, but he has an undeniable presence. He has an aura.
The workplace is hilarious and bitingly real, like Misaeng. It also makes me think that this is what some of the sprawling companies in SK with their subsidaries and chains of command are like (with lots of licence for exaggeration).
The evaluation and the maddening test remind me of my own employment experience where it seemed that the HR people were generating hurdles to justify their own experience and eating up valuable time that could go into productive work. A hex upon them
Required fields are marked *
dramalover4ever
September 2, 2021 at 2:37 PM
I meant justify their own existence
Required fields are marked *