High school rivalry and present-day healing in Doctor Slump
by solstices
JTBC’s upcoming rom-com Doctor Slump has released its first teaser, full of heart-fluttering cuteness and tinged with the fond nostalgia of youth. Despite only being twenty seconds long, it’s plenty amusing already, giving me hope that the drama will deliver a thoughtful tale of healing with a dash of humor on the side.
The teaser begins with a flashback to our leads’ high school days, amidst cherry blossom petals drifting in the spring breeze. Park Hyung-shik (Our Blooming Youth) crouches down to extend a hand to Park Shin-hye (Sisyphus), kindly offering to help her up from a fall. She takes his hand, gazing into his eyes as romantic music swells — and then she yanks him forward so she can use him as a springboard to jump over and take off running. HAHAHA.
He’s Yeo Jung-woo, she’s Nam Ha-neul, and they’re about to become each other’s worst rivals. Stuck in the same class, both of them are petty and prideful, and they’re determined to one-up each other in just about everything. If Ha-neul eats a supplement stick, then Jung-woo’s pouring two into his mouth in a wide-eyed frenzy, earning himself an appalled side-eye from her. Hee, this is totally the start to an enemies-to-lovers scenario, isn’t it?
Jung-woo has always been the top of his class and the star of his field, and now that he’s all grown up, he’s achieved excellence as a famed plastic surgeon. Faced with a million-dollar lawsuit following a doubtful medical accident, however, Jung-woo soon finds himself crashing down to rock bottom. Unable to cope with his unforgiving fall from grace, Jung-woo spirals into a slump.
Ha-neul isn’t faring any better, given that she’s run herself into the ground trying to build up her career. Now a disillusioned anesthesiologist, Ha-neul’s realized that she doesn’t have much going for her outside of work. Without any hobbies or interests, her days have grown dreary and dull.
Having lost their way, our leads are stumbling aimlessly through life when they coincidentally run into each other again. All their embarrassing memories from a decade ago come flooding back, leading them both to wail in horror. Contrary to their expectations, though, their reunion signals the start of a journey towards healing and comfort.
Rounding out our supporting cast is Yoon Park (Delightfully Deceitful) as Bin Dae-young, who nurses both jealousy and empathy towards his fellow surgeon Jung-woo. On Ha-neul’s side, we have Gong Sung-ha (Daily Dose of Sunshine) as her best friend and fellow anesthesiologist Lee Hong-ran. Though we don’t see them in the teaser, it seems like Dae-young and Hong-ran will be developing their own loveline, so perhaps we’ll be treated to a double dose of sweetness.
Directed by PD Oh Hyun-jong (The One and Only) and written by Baek Sun-woo (My Roommate Is a Gumiho), Doctor Slump will premiere on January 27.
Via Sports DongA
RELATED POSTS
Tags: Doctor Slump, Park Hyung-shik, Park Shin-hye
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 panshel
December 22, 2023 at 1:40 PM
Is it a JTBC thing to have 30-year-olds play their high school selves (Welcome to Samdal-ri, Doctor Slump)? Cast young actors!
Required fields are marked *
Seon-ha
December 22, 2023 at 3:01 PM
All I know is, when PHS stops with his "smolder" and actually acts like his goofy self...he looks like his actual age (whatever that's been over the years), and only then do I pay attention!!!!! That last photo above is a good example.
Required fields are marked *
DancingEmma
December 23, 2023 at 1:01 AM
Right on. I find when most actors “smolder”, they tend to remind me of Zoolander. Only a minority, can pull it off.
Required fields are marked *
Omni
December 23, 2023 at 3:25 AM
idk. It's awkward to have 30 year olds in high school uniforms, but I find it even more jarring when characters’ 16 year old selves look like completely different people from their 30 year old selves.
Required fields are marked *
2 DancingEmma
December 22, 2023 at 2:23 PM
Hang on a second. I’m in a nit-picky mood. How could only 10 years hbe elapsed since they were in HS today yet he has become a famous plastic surgeon? According to the Interwebs, Med School takes 6 years to finish in SK and then another 5-7 years in residency. This is 10-13 years. How could he have become so well known in this field given these numbers?
Required fields are marked *
DancingEmma
December 22, 2023 at 2:26 PM
Groan. Sorry for the typos. Not ‘today but ‘together’!
Required fields are marked *
john
December 22, 2023 at 2:33 PM
How could he have become so well known in this field given these numbers?
VVIP ‼️ any sort of clinic lives or dies by the VVIP ‼️
Required fields are marked *
DancingEmma
December 22, 2023 at 2:39 PM
Are these dumb VVIPs who can’t find an actual experienced and accredited plastic surgeon so end up going to the male Dr Slump?
Required fields are marked *
john
December 22, 2023 at 2:50 PM
Well he is being sued, so there is that. Famous for the wrong reason ? Infamous it is !
Required fields are marked *
hacja
December 22, 2023 at 10:12 PM
The real question: why does an accredited plastic surgeon call himself Dr. Slump? Shouldn't he be Dr. Nipntuck?
Required fields are marked *
john
December 23, 2023 at 4:31 AM
Shades of Dr Nick Riviera of Simpsons fame.
“If I kill you, you don’t pay ! “
sonai
December 22, 2023 at 2:35 PM
🤔 Must be yet another time travel plot.
Required fields are marked *
DancingEmma
December 22, 2023 at 2:39 PM
Haha! That’s more feasible, right?
Required fields are marked *
Gikata
December 22, 2023 at 4:15 PM
Maybe they went to med school together and it was 10 years since then?
Required fields are marked *
DancingEmma
December 22, 2023 at 5:03 PM
It could have been but the mentioned context is high school given their uniforms.
Required fields are marked *
Gikata
December 22, 2023 at 5:19 PM
Yes, I suspect that the actual drama won't suffer from excess of logic compared to our theories rn)))
Required fields are marked *
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
December 22, 2023 at 7:35 PM
They're in the same Kdrama timeline/timewarp as Destined With You, where a 28-30-ish ML has a mother who is (1) old enough to have been an established actor pre-marriage and also (2) young enough to get pregnant. 🤷🏼♀️
Gikata
December 22, 2023 at 8:04 PM
@elinor well, technically not entirely impossible, just rather unlikely. I still think it was a very dumb plot twist tho.
Here, since it's a kdrama ML we're talking about, confusing math will be probably explained by "he's a geeenius" trope))) Or maybe that's a case of "lost in translation" and by 10 years narration actually meant 10-something years...
hacja
December 22, 2023 at 10:19 PM
Perhaps they were in their pediatric rotation?
Required fields are marked *
Dylan [Suffering from Judge from Hell brainrot]
December 22, 2023 at 5:54 PM
He was a plastic surgeon in his past life in Joseon, he's probably channeling that experience.
Required fields are marked *
Diana Hansen
December 23, 2023 at 8:21 AM
Another "genius" doctor?
Required fields are marked *
3 Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)
December 22, 2023 at 2:28 PM
An anesthesiologist? In a slump? Are we supposed to sleep thru this one?
Required fields are marked *
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
December 22, 2023 at 7:37 PM
If this guy puts you to sleep, will you ever wake up? 😱
Required fields are marked *
hacja
December 22, 2023 at 10:34 PM
I think if the anesthesiologist is in a slump, the operation could be quite painful--I hope that isn't the subliminal message being sent by the show's title.
Required fields are marked *
4 Gikata
December 22, 2023 at 4:06 PM
Oh heavens, seems like I wasn't worried for nothing... Maybe it could be a fun hate watch at least? I'm afraid my tolerance for ridiculous plots and childish romances just hit its record low!
P.S. Adulthood suits HS much better.
Required fields are marked *
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
December 24, 2023 at 1:07 AM
Agree, though I found the clips quite funny. I didn't expect Shin Hye to look so young.
Required fields are marked *
Gikata
December 24, 2023 at 3:34 AM
She always looked young, classical baby face, so to speak. And a lot of her usual mannerisms are on the cuter side, which solidifies the impression.
Required fields are marked *
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
December 24, 2023 at 5:40 PM
She looks almost the same as she did in Heirs which is surprising especially considering she has had a baby. I was surprised at Han ji min too, but her body hasn’t been subjected to a change like Shin Hye’s. Good for her. In Heirs PHS looked like a baby I compared to everyone (Won Bin looked so much older). He def looks better as an adult. While I love the humour I’m not convinced putting him in a school uniform was smart. We will see.
Required fields are marked *
5 Blue (@mayhemf)
December 22, 2023 at 4:31 PM
Let’s hope the high school sequence lasts less than 5 min.
And what’s with a slump in your 30s??? Obviously they aren’t playing 40 year olds right?
I love PHS and I feel exactly the opposite when it comes to PSH. So a love-hate watch???
Sigh.
Required fields are marked *
6 zindigo
December 22, 2023 at 4:52 PM
The PLOT doesn't sound bad. Could be interesting. But with 40-something actors (ideally who have a history of great chemistry with their co-stars).
Required fields are marked *
7 CasualDramaFan
December 23, 2023 at 2:20 AM
I agree with sentiment here - just cast teenage actors for teenage parts. You will get rising stars for tomorrow. It's not like Korea lacks young talent.
Required fields are marked *
8 Koalatown
December 23, 2023 at 4:40 AM
It said they met in 2009 when she transfers to his high school and if they make present day 2023 then it’s been 14 years.
These days the pressure on the medical field to satisfy patients who want what they want because they read it on the internet or saw it on social media like antibiotics each time they have a cold so now we have super bugs, the limited time they have to see patients, and all the paperwork it’s totally happening that doctors are feeling burnt out in their 30s.
Required fields are marked *
Diana Hansen
December 23, 2023 at 8:19 AM
Don't forget all the paperwork to prove every detail so they can't be sued for a silly reason! Sometimes as nurses we were hard pressed to write it all down and still manage to have time for the patients real needs.
Required fields are marked *
9 jillian
December 23, 2023 at 6:26 AM
I like the teaser since the show looks fun. But I am not a fan of this two dressed up as high schoolers.
Required fields are marked *
10 Diana Hansen
December 23, 2023 at 8:17 AM
Oh YES! He's back! I'm gonna love every minute of this drama!
Required fields are marked *
11 Samdong
December 23, 2023 at 10:52 AM
if park shin hye can be as likable as her role in pinocchio i'll definitely tune in!!!
Required fields are marked *
12 Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
December 24, 2023 at 1:10 AM
It def is giving me Our Beloved Summer vibes, only funnier. And it's surprising how young Shin Hye is looking. PHS is probably going to make up what he lacks in looks (as in looking young) with his act. I did find the scenes funny. The premise looks interesting though how he becomes a star Plastic Surgeon so quick would be interesting (as someone said, it's six plus four so five years of practice and a slump?)
Required fields are marked *
13 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
December 26, 2023 at 1:10 AM
I am looking forward to this one.
Here’s hoping we get a good start to 2024 in that there is something enjoyable to watch at least a couple of times a week throughout the year. Any drama that can do the drama element without resorting to a murder or Joseon era flashback I will be happy with. Oh and please no on screen smoking or drunk every day to pass out level scenes and we are all set for good bean count in December.
Required fields are marked *
14 🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
December 27, 2023 at 9:30 AM
Cuter than I thought. Real question is will the cute be enough to overcome brain(less) questions like (a) what is the timeline / time gap, (b) how annoying can leads in school uniforms be, (c) how can newly minted doctors go in a slump, (d) can PHS realy make me forget about script, logic, legality, etc. Let's wait and watch.
Required fields are marked *