News bites: April 1, 2023
by tccolb
Nam Ji-hyun, Choi Hyun-wook, Kim Mu-yeol
- A new fantasy thriller called Hi Cookie is in the works, with Nam Ji-hyun (Little Women), Choi Hyun-wook (Weak Hero Class 1), and Kim Mu-yeol (Trolley) headlining the series. Still in the planning stages, PD Song Min-yeop (Youth of May) is at the helm with Kang Han penning the scripts. (Yes, it looks like the story is actually about powerful homemade cookies.) [News1]
- Jeon Jong-seo (Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area) has been offered the title role of Queen Woo in a new Goguryeo-era action sageuk. Historically, Queen Woo is well known for becoming her own successor, as queen consort to both King Gogukcheon and his younger brother King Sangsan afterwards. Production for the new series has filmmaker Jung Se-gyo (Oh! My Gran) attached to direct with scripts by screenwriter Lee Byung-hak (The Royal Tailor). [JTBC]
- A new sunny poster has been released for JTBC’s The Good Bad Mother, featuring our heroine Ra Mi-ran (Dr. Park’s Clinic) along with Lee Do-hyun (The Glory) and Ahn Eun-jin (The One and Only). Taking us on their journey to find lost happiness, the comedy launches later this month on April 26. [JTBC]
- Coupang Play released a new poster as well for Bait 2 (a.k.a. Decoy), in addition to another dark teaser. The chase begins again with Jang Geun-seok (Switch), Heo Sung-tae (Big Bet), and Lee Elijah (Delayed Justice), when the crime-thriller returns next week on April 7. [News1]
- Over on MBC, casting continues for The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract with Joo Hyun-young (Behind Every Star), Jo Bok-rae (Agency), and Jin Kyung (Love in Contract) joining Lee Se-young (The Law Cafe) and Bae In-hyuk (Cheer Up) in the lineup. Directed by PD Park Sang-hoon (My Secret Terrius) with writing by Go Nam-jung (Wife Scandal), the timeslip romance is planning to broadcast later this year. [Newsen (1), (2), (3)]
- Gong Seung-yeon (The First Responders) has been cast in a new drama called I Will Travel for You (roughly translated), playing a travel reporter who was once an idol. Based on a popular Japanese novel by Harada Maha, the drama has also tapped Yoo Joon-sang (Alchemy of Souls) who is currently reviewing the offer. [Newsen (1), (2)]
- Rounding up the new stills for SBS’s Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 3, Han Seok-kyu (Recipe for Farewell), Ahn Hyo-seop (Business Proposal), Lee Sung-kyung (Call It Love), and Kim Min-jae (Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2) are back at their stations in Doldam Hospital. The third season begins this month on April 28, taking over the weekend slot following Taxi Driver 2. [News1 (1), (2), (3), (4)]
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Tags: Ahn Eun-jin, Ahn Hyo-seop, Choi Hyun-wook, Gong Seung-yeon, Han Seok-kyu, Heo Sung-tae, Jang Geun-seok, Jeon Jong-seo, Jin Kyung, Jo Bok-rae, Joo Hyun-young, Kim Min-jae, Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Do-hyun, Lee Elijah, Lee Sung-kyung, Nam Ji-hyun, news bites, Ra Mi-ran, Yoo Joon-sang
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1 Gikata
April 1, 2023 at 7:45 PM
1 - that's some cookie premise)))
2 - did I get it right - titular Queen married two Kings who were brothers one after another? Was inheriting your predecessor's harem was a thing in Goguryeo (it certainly was in some cultures) or she just liked the title THAT much? Good for writer - no need to invent yet another classical two-brothers-into-one-woman love triangle cause it's already there by default! Any bets what brother was her one and only fated love - number 1 or 2?
5 - premise is very interesting, but I dunno all those people aside of FL (and not really her big fan) so mixed feelings here.
6 - and what's the main theme? Struggles of retired idol switching professions? Slice of life about travel reporters? "Based on Japanese novel" doesn't exactly clarify anything.
Wait, is that all hot news as of lately? Are you 100% sure?)))
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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 1, 2023 at 11:15 PM
@gikata: The Goguryeo dynasty had a noted culture of levirate marriages; that is, marrying your deceased older brother's widow after his death. Although the specific case of Queen Woo was more... complicated. I won't say more in case I accidentally spoil plot points from the drama, but suffice to say I'm interested in seeing how accurate the drama will be based on the little information we know. Just that the writers shouldn't have to make up unneeded historical inaccuracies because the real story of these individuals was insane enough.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
April 1, 2023 at 11:27 PM
Sounds like Shakespeare was more widely read than we thought and this was the real inspiration for Hamlet, which was written with a few adaptions for a UK audience🤣
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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 1, 2023 at 11:50 PM
Considering how Shakespeare’s Hamlet itself was based on older Scandinavian mythology, you could make the extreme stretch and connect ancient Korea to the Vikings 😂 (I highly recommend the 2022 film The Northmen for an adaptation of some of the original legends of Prince Amleth, if you’re interested in that rabbit hole of Shakespearean sources. It’s certainly an interest of mine).
The case of Gertrude and Claudius’ marriage is interesting because there’s been extremely pedantic discourse amongst English students for years on whether or not it actually falls under the classifications of a ‘proper’ levirate marriage; because historically, unions like that only occurred if the original marriage between the deceased older brother and his wife was childless, all the children were female, or if the child(ren) were exceptionally young. In each case, the purpose of the marriage was so that a son of the younger brother and the widow could be legally considered as the older brother’s for the sake of the bloodline, rather than the actual biological father’s. Under these rules, Gertrude and Claudius’ marriage was clearly not a case of that and therefore, violated levirate marriage rules and the laws of marriage under Christendom. Indeed, if a king wished to marry his brother’s widow, he usually needed a papal dispensation similar to if he wanted to marry a cousin.
Sorry for the extremely long rant. I just saw Shakespeare and couldn’t stop myself 😅.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
April 2, 2023 at 1:59 AM
Always happy to hear about the wider picture re sources and they do say they is nothing new under the sun. Thanks for sharing from your extensive knowledge base.
Midnight
April 2, 2023 at 12:00 AM
I laughed so much reading her wiki page. Sounds like the origin of makjang!
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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 2, 2023 at 12:16 AM
Yeah, her life was absolutely insane! I think she somehow outdoes most makjang characters, even. No wonder the Korean people have such a fondness for batsh-t crazy stories. The lives of their queen consorts make most soap operas sound tame.
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Midnight
April 2, 2023 at 12:21 AM
😂
ar_arguably romantic
April 2, 2023 at 12:07 PM
And the stepson sounds like those self-sacrificing kdrama heroines.
Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 12:19 AM
Oh, so there was even more spice to the actual story than bros sharing one Queen? Ok, now I'm kinda excited. As long as censorship doesn't turn it all into boringly sterile mainstream acceptable love story. Sageuks has been long tackling makjang to a certain degree, it's time to embrace it fully - in the name of sacred historical accuracy, if nothing else!
Now I want to know who's gonna play lucky - or not? - brothers.
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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 2, 2023 at 12:32 AM
Oh, trust me, the actual double marriage might just be the least interesting tidbit about Queen Woo. The reasons behind the marriages and what occurs nexts would make most seasoned makjang writers gasp. As the saying goes, "truth is often stranger than fiction". I sincerely hope this drama doesn't get censored or that the writer gets intimidated by a desire to keep things mainstream-acceptable because a life this bonkers deserves a faithful adaptation. In the name of historical accuracy and good entertainment.
I'm excited for the casting of the kings too. As long as they have the acting chops and some excellent manes of glory (mane of glories?), I will be happy.
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Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 12:59 AM
I'm gonna be patient and not looking the titular Lady Makjang up before the show, but I'm very intrigued)))
So the requirements are: 1) looking good, 2) looking good with mane of glory, 3) acting chops, 4) passing for siblings. Do we have a duo that fills all the marks?
Midnight
April 2, 2023 at 1:04 AM
@gikata as the person who has just read the wiki page, we apparently need four brothers 😁
Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 1:13 AM
@midnight, that's... more complicated technically, tho narrows the list of potential candidates down by a lot. And if family resemblance proves to be too hard to achieve, producers can always go Moon Lovers route by casting 4 random hotties and blame it on "they're all from different mothers")))
Midnight
April 1, 2023 at 11:41 PM
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2 PYC
April 1, 2023 at 8:32 PM
I’d love Nam Ji-hyun to pair up with Kim Mu-Yeol but this is not what Korean casting is trending SADLY.
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kiara
April 2, 2023 at 7:36 AM
Our Beautiful Banker is so underrated in Dramaland. 😔
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3 Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)
April 1, 2023 at 9:58 PM
A Goguryeo saeguk -- does that mean we'll see some sensible hats?
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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
April 1, 2023 at 11:49 PM
PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE. Also manes of glory, please.
I know it's 100% my own cultural handicap, and there's nothing objectively worse about them than Western hats, but the gats and especially the samos in "Our Blooming Youth" are killing me. I have once again resorted to covering the top third of the screen to avoid them. I need some relief. Echoing @ladynightshade below - GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK! Although Queen Woo's story is indeed 😵💫.
OK, I've used up my all-caps allowance for April already.
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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 2, 2023 at 12:21 AM
Oh my god, I just remembered the manes of glory. I was so caught up on the triumph of finally getting a pre-Joseon sageuk that this extremely important development fell to the wayside. A terrible oversight on my part, really. Just imagining all these pretty women and men with long, flowing hair and gorgeous, ostentatious accessories accentuating their elegant raven locks... real sageuks are back, baby! Down with the ugly gats!
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Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 12:27 AM
Don't slander the gats, they're funny))) Manes of glory are still superior though. Joseon really took away all the wild fun previous eras dared to have, even in fashion.
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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 2, 2023 at 12:37 AM
The only acceptable gat is one being taken off. Or whatever version Kwak Dong-yeon was rocking in Love in the Moonlight. Blame Neo-Confucianism for taking away all the fun and sexy long hair.
Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 12:48 AM
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Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 12:51 AM
@ladynightshade,
Joo Jihoon taking off his straw hat in slow-mo - along with classy "surprise, bitches" expression - in Kingdom Season2 made me feel THINGS. I'm afraid I've developed a slight fetish ever since...
This is forever included in my daily list of curses.
ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 2, 2023 at 1:18 AM
@gikata: Falls under the category of ‘gat being taken off’ so it’s acceptable. I know exactly which scene you’re talking about and totally understand your slight fetish. Made me feel many things too. Joo Ji-hoon’s ability to make something so mundane downright erotic needs to be studied in a lab.
Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 2:00 AM
@ladynightshade, for gat to be taken off it needs to be there in the first place, just as there has to be a solid reason to brood for a shower scene)))
He and Kim Namgil are really the worst offenders when it comes to making mundane things look erotic. Watching their projects takes insane amount of effort just to follow the plot without getting hopelessly distracted every other second...
ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 2, 2023 at 6:54 PM
@gikata: Oh, I feel you. I spent like half the runtime of Through the Darkness, a critically acclaimed drama dealing with some extremely difficult issues, hopelessly distracted by his hair, his arms and his rotating collection of blessedly tight black and navy-blue t-shirts. It’s a curse, truly.
Gikata
April 2, 2023 at 12:40 AM
I've recently had a discussion on another source about how Hyungsik looks - unsurprisingly to any person of culture - great and all in OBY... but the next time he blesses us with sageuk again he should totally leave royal/yangban robes at home and play a ninja black-clad bandit with messy ponytail instead)))
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4 kiara
April 1, 2023 at 10:17 PM
Han Yeri would have been perfect for that Goguryeo action sageuk.
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bong-soo
April 2, 2023 at 4:20 PM
@kiara,
No. 4. QUEEN WOO. Is this the ‘goryeo’ saguek you thought in the past you had heard something about but couldn’t recall.
QW is set in the goguryeo era.
I will be adding QW to my list of possible upcoming historical dramas which is becoming unwieldy.
No. 7. DR. ROMANTIC 3. I t is good to see an actual pic of Kim Min-jae as Nurse Park. Where’s Mr. Goo? (Lee Gyu-ho). He is part of the cast.
It seems SBS is playing the same game MBC plays and is keeping US viewers in suspense as to availability.
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kiara
April 2, 2023 at 6:32 PM
@marcusnyc20 bong-soo,
4. I'm too much of a Goguryeo fan girl to mix her up with Goryeo. 😃
The one I'm forgetting is a Shilla sageuk casting. I hope it's happening, whatever it's called.🙏
Yay, for the 3 kingdoms era.👏
7. To binge or not to binge? Live-watching is exhausting to me.
Is Viki not subbing it?
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bong-soo
April 2, 2023 at 6:45 PM
You are right. It was a Shilla sageuk. I will continue to keep an eye out for that.
I am hoping DR. ROMANTIC 3 will be subbed on Viki as were 1&2. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
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5 ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
April 1, 2023 at 10:58 PM
1. Incredible cast. Great PD. I don't need to know what the plot is, I will be watching no matter what.
2. GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGUEK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK GOGURYEO-ERA SAGE--
Sorry y'all, I lost my mind for a hot second. I am currently vibrating with excitement at a frequency indecipherable to man. But it bears repeating: GOGURYEO-ERA SAGEUK!!!!!
3. I still have no clue what this drama is supposed to be about.
4. That's just how it feels like to live in a place where it's still snowing in the month of April.
5. Delighted to see Joo Hyun-young continually employed and thriving. And of course, I love Lee Se-young and my noted soft spot for Bae In-hyuk is still going strong.
6. A travel reporter sounds interesting. If we get to see some nice new locations, I'm in.
7. I still kind of wish it was the cast of the first season rather than the second, but I get that Yoo Yeon-seok and Seo Hyun-jin are way too high-profile now to return for that. Or maybe that's just my nostalgia speaking and the second season cast was actually vastly superior. I really wouldn't know.
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6 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
April 1, 2023 at 11:01 PM
The story of Park’s marriage contract and I will travel for you both sound like long list potentials. I loved the first Dr Romantic but didn’t get past the first episode of the second season for some reason so I may go back and try it ahead of season three dropping.
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7 sooyi
April 2, 2023 at 3:54 AM
Female-centered sageuks have been on the dearth during the last decade, so Queen Woo feels like welcoming news. I just hope the writer doesn't make her a warrior queen to make her interesting, or if they do, they don't define her fighting prowess as her sole personality.
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8 MikeyD signed up
April 2, 2023 at 10:47 AM
It sounds like they took concept of the series 'How are You Bread?' and substituted the bread with cookies.
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