News bites: December 16, 2023

21 December 16, 2023December 16, 2023

News bites: December 16, 2023

by tccolb

Kim Jae-young (Love in Contract) is reviewing an offer to star in SBS’s new crime fantasy and romance The Judge From Hell, potentially joining Park Shin-hye (Sisyphus). With filmmaker Park Jin-pyo (Brave Citizen, Love Forecast) attached to direct, production is planning to start filming early in the new year and is expected to broadcast in the weekend slot. [Ilgan Sports]

A character teaser has come out for ENA’s Like Flowers in Sand, where we spend some more time with our work-in-progress hero Jang Dong-yoon (Daily Dose of Sunshine) and the place that he calls home. Now that he’s been reunited with childhood bestie Lee Joo-myung (Twenty Five Twenty One), the romance and underdog story will be launching next week on December 20. [MBC]
Also preparing for their upcoming premiere, Channel A’s new teaser takes us through the rise and fall of our main pair’s romance in Between Him and Her (previously Man and Woman). Starring Donghae (Oh! Young-shim) and Lee Seol (D.P. 2), the webtoon adaptation will be coming to our screens on December 26. [Newsen]

New stills have dropped for tvN’s rom-com Marry My Husband, showcasing our revenge-seeking Park Min-young (Love in Contract) who will be re-writing her future with the help of Na In-woo (Longing for You). Adding to the teetering pile of tropes, we also get our first peek at cutie chef Lee Ki-kwang (Lovely Horribly) who crushed on our heroine during his high school days. Slated to air in the Monday-Tuesday slot, the story unfolds on January 1. [MBC, Sports Donga]
Speaking of revenge, TV Chosun released an evocative special teaser for My Happy Ending, where Jang Nara (Family: The Unbreakable Bond) must face a dark turn and betrayal in her life with Sohn Ho-joon (The First Responders 2). The psychological thriller premieres this month on December 30, with production led by PD Jo Soo-won (Today’s Webtoon, Thirty But Seventeen) and writer Baek Sun-hee. [MBC]
It’s teasers all around this week and KBS’s latest trailer is for the historical fantasy Love Song for Illusion, showcasing leads Park Ji-hoon (Weak Hero Class 1) and Hong Ye-ji (2037) in new posters as well. The tragic romance begins on January 2, following The Matchmakers in the Monday-Tuesday slot. [News, News]

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Love song for illusion had to get the worst timing award to be a historical taking the slot just vacated by an exceptional sageuk. Hopefully, because it’s a different time period being shown it can avoid comparisons.

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2 Kurama

December 17, 2023 at 2:16 AM

Park Min-young and Na In-woo look like they're cosplaying the timid secretary and the cold CEO instead to act them... I'm happy to see Lee Ki-kwang in a new drama but I don't think I can watch it just for him. 😅

I don't really any interest for these dramas... I like Jang Dong-yoon but his choices of drama are not the best. I dropped Oasis and My Man is Cupid is not good.

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miso

December 17, 2023 at 2:21 AM

Exactly! Na In-woo's glasses in particular make him look like he's playing dress-up.

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3 jerrykuvira

December 17, 2023 at 2:48 AM

1. Kim Jae-young ✅✅✅. Park Shin-hye, not so excited. I hope she allows them to spark chemistry if there's any romance in the works.

3. So it's a woman to 3 men now 🤣. Just make it 4 so we can have a repeat of Was It Love.

4. I'm very careful about this one. I'll be stepping into this, ready to be heartbroken.

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zindigo

December 17, 2023 at 6:20 AM

I have the same concerns you have in #1 with Park Hyung-Shik in the upcoming Doctor Slump.

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4 zindigo

December 17, 2023 at 6:23 AM

I love Kim Jae-Young -- another actor who I feel is really under-appreciated. Looks like he's going to be in two new dramas next year, which is good news! He was the only light in the disaster that was Love in Contract last year.

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5 bong-soo

December 17, 2023 at 7:19 AM

No. 1. SBS’s THE JUDGE FROM HELL. Musing/mini-rant. What happened in kdramaland to my favorite genre: Cops/Crime/Mystery?
No. 1 is a good example. We now have: Crime/Fantasy/Romance and variations thereof. (No disrespect to KMJ who I have enjoyed in 2 of his dramas: HELLO MONSTER (2015) and 100 DAYS MY PRINCE (2018).)
Interestingly SBS is one network that still knows how to produce gritty C/C/M dramas with THE KILLING VOTE and THROUGH THE DARKNESS (2022) two examples.

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Midnight

December 17, 2023 at 7:30 AM

What happened in kdramaland to my favorite genre: Cops/Crime/Mystery?

Same. I was thinking about this today. Let's hope for some in 2024.

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john

December 17, 2023 at 7:32 AM

I prefer straight up cops and bad guys. The occasional Fantasy
/Time Slip is okay, Signal or Life On Mars
My favorite crime dramas for 2023 were all C dramas.

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bong-soo

December 17, 2023 at 8:03 AM

Both your examples are exceptional dramas. Another great drama along those lines is OCN’s TUNNEL (2017). (Where are those great OCN crime dramas like VOICE (2017)?)
Memory lane. In TUNNEL, Detective Park Gwang-ho (Choi Jin-hyuk-5 star performance), in the present time frame, gives a soliloquy on the purpose of a detective (not to solve crimes but to prevent crimes) that would have made Jack Webb proud. It was great. (Lol, you get the reference John).

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PYC

December 18, 2023 at 11:44 AM

Is OCN still producing dramas (thrillers)? Thought there’s not much news there.

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john

December 18, 2023 at 12:43 PM

A quick look looks like OCN was moving drama operations to sister network TVN ?
Not sure what that means .

bong-soo

December 18, 2023 at 3:05 PM

Accordingly to this OCN Wikipedia page the most recent drama listed is: A SUPERIOR DAY (2022) (Viki US). It was my ‘stinker of the year’ for 2022. I watched all 8 episodes out of loyalty to Jin Goo.
OCN’s DARK HOLE (Viki US) was my 2021 ‘stinker of the year’ and I watched all 12 episodes out of loyalty for Lee Joon-hyuk (1984). It is sad to scan the listing of OCN dramas because over the years OCN has provided some excellent dramas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_OCN

abalyn

December 17, 2023 at 8:00 AM

I still don’t understand where OCN went? It used to give us one of these every cycle.

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bong-soo

December 17, 2023 at 8:04 AM

Lol, you beat me to it.

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darwi

December 17, 2023 at 11:00 AM

There several OCN dramas that I loved. I figured that this was a good way to find good dramas just to discover that it doesn't exist anymore.
Just the same as when I like a desert flavour... it's the next one to be stopped.

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hacja

December 17, 2023 at 12:20 PM

@bong-soo I am with you. My kdrama watching days are numbered because my watching partner can't take fantasy romance anymore, and I must admit that I myself am getting sick of seeing flashback scenes to the Joseon era showing why contemporary lovers are ill fated. Shouldn't some of these reincarnations be as insects or animals? Then at least we'd see a romance with some birds and bees!
I saw only one decent kdrama detective/mystery this year, and that was Decoy.

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john

December 17, 2023 at 1:01 PM

Shouldn't some of these reincarnations be as insects or animals?
The J drama Brush Up Life , a recurring reincarnation comedy. At one point the FL faced a reincarnation as an anteater. Her friend was offered a life as a termite favored by this particular anteater .

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6 🌸 Seeker 🌸

December 17, 2023 at 9:44 AM

Kim Jae-young ✅
Like Flowers in Sand and Between Him and Her ⁉️
Marry My Husband and My Happy Ending - same same but different ❓❓
Love Song for Illusion 🥱