I am in a drama slump right now. The dramas I want to watch are not available to me. I am not interested in the dramas that are available. I like quality sageuks, but the last one I watched was Knight Flower back in February.

I’m exactly the same as you are, @missvictrix, I’m easily overwhelmed by the too-much-ness of things, be it food in the refrigerator, or references I have to read for my research question, or choices of available dramas to watch,… When it happens, I may stop functioning (mentally) for a while. I haven’t watched anything new for quite a while now. I think the last show I watched live then dropped halfway was No Gain No Love. The minor reason is increasing real life workload, but whenever I have some free time, I just don’t know what show to watch out of many options out there.

At times I wanted to pick up What Comes After Love, but then decided against it because I believed I wasn’t in the right mood (yet) and that show requires the right mood. Nothing else really grabs my interest. One reason for such lack of interest, which is mentioned up there in the article, is that after finishing a show that was so emotionally fulfilling, I don’t feel like I would be able to reach that state again with the current live dramas. I recently finished my rewatch of Happiness and The Worst of Evil, two captivating shows that captured all my attention, and I’m not very eager to start anything new atm. Nothing feels like it would measure up to them. Talking about these two shows, I want to say again that I believe 12 ep should be the norm. I would have watched, say Queen of Tears, out of curiosity, if it was 12 ep long, 1 hour per ep. So can I say long episodes with dragging and filler plotlines should be considered another reason for a drama slump? One doesn’t want to start something they are not sure if they can finish, due to lack of time and interest. And if that happens several times in a row, they will feel burned out and a slump is very likely?

When in a slump, I often picked up a past show and watch it slowly every now and then. It doesn’t need to be a widely well-received show, it just needs to have one or two things that catch my interest, for example TKEM with Woo Dohwan and Kim Goeun (and amazing soundtracks, that was a nice surprise).

And then I’m just patiently waiting for coming shows that I believe will cure my slump: Mr. Plankton (Woo Dohwan), Gangnam B Side (Ji Changwook) and Brewing Love (Lee Jongwon and Kim Sejeong).

So I think the treatment for me is to see my favourite actors back on screen with a story that doesn’t need to be extraordinary but just needs to make sense. But the acting is expectedly stellar.

*Rest in peace, OCN 😭

I’ve only completed 4 new dramas this year: Doctor Slump, Queen of Tears, Gyeongseong Creature, and Love Next Door (I also dropped some other dramas and now currently watching only Jeongnyeon) and it’s the fewest since I started watching 9 years ago.

These days, I usually just watch the new stuff only if one of my favorite lead actors are in it or else I’d probably pass even if the story is promising. One example this year is Lovely Runner. Everyone really loves it but I didn’t bother picking it up because I’m not really hyped with the leads. Gone are the days where I literally watch as many as I can (the only thing I miss during the COVID lockdown), even if I went in blind.

It's my second big kdrama slump currently, so I have some experience to make conclusion from - in short, it's not me, it's dramaland *sticks the tongue out mischievously* No, for real: I admit that I'm picky and have odd taste, but when for more than a year there was NOTHING to grab me even a moderately, it means that problem is not on my side alone. Now, what do we do with kdramaland having a slump... idk, I'm hoping to wait it out like the last time this happened.

Having a slump from TOO MANY good offers sounds ridiculous, sorry. That means you can pick one of them randomly and leave the rest for later, drier days - what's there to be unhappy about? Perhaps I'm just a simple person - I know early on when I love (or hate) something. It's the murky waters in between that I mostly struggle with, because you know this feeling of WANTING to like a show more than you do? Yep, guilty as charged))) But when things click, they just do, and it's always a happy moment. Idk about yall, but life is not all that great over here for me to be ungrateful for any little crumb of joy I can get.

When I stopped watching dramas years ago it was due to just to much of the same stuff and I got sick of it. It's funny because I remember when I was just done and it was Playful Kiss (I think that's what it was called). Oh my god, I genuinely did not understand why girls/women liked these dramas. The more he insults me, the more I like him!!! He's so dreamy when he's calling me an idiot😍

Recently, it's been a slump of sorts because nothing is particularly appealing. Even if the premise is initally interesting, the execution falls flat (for me that would be Love Next Door, which I didn't even finish the final 2 episodes or Miss Day & Night when I watched exactly half of).

I feel like I need a certain sweet spot to enjoy shows.

For me, slumps usually have more to do with what's going on in real life rather than what's going on in dramaland. Once I've been pulled out of watching regularly for one reason or another, it can feel a bit daunting to catch up on what I've missed.

When I'm sad, I watch a lot of dramas. If I'm too sad, I can't even watch dramas. If I'm happy enough to do other things, or really busy with real life, I might watch just one or two. The quality of the dramas is only a part of the story. Am I into my other hobbies? Am I so miserable I can't stand anything?

Also, to be honest, I was always a rereader of books when I was a kid. It was a form of emotional regulation, but I didn't realize that. Now that a person can rewatch things almost whenever you'd like, it's tempting to rewatch just the best scenes of something. For many years I used to reread my favorite parts of the book A Suitable Boy. Then I would get sucked back into the book and keep going. It's one of the longest books published in a single volume in English! (Also it's really, really good, Vikram Seth apparently fleshed out every character in his mind. Nothing is flat and it feels very real.) Before that it was Lord of the Rings or Alice in Wonderland--whatever, books are our friends.

But here's the thing: You can watch your favorite part of Thirty Yet Seventeen online any day. If you click on drama excerpts on Youtube, the algorithm will keep sending you excerpts. Sometimes if the dramas that are airing aren't my cup of tea, older ones are.

Anyway. I myself am the drama slump.

I'm actually in a mini-slump right now. Different slumps have different causes (i.e., I'm too busy with life to have time for watching; not enough emotional bandwidth to get emotionally invested in shows), but the cause I'm dealing with right now is a new one: genre fatigue. The genre that got me into dramaland, and my very favorite genre, is the romantic comedy. But 2024 has brought SO MANY rom-coms, and I live-watched most of them, that I just can't muster up the energy for any more. My drama watching really tapered off for a while, but I think I'm bouncing back thanks to a combo of NOT rom-com watches. I'm gravitating toward mystery/action/comedies, and am enjoying more of these now (i.e., I'm watching Dog Knows Everything and Seoul Busters, along with Cafe Minamdang and Designated Survivor: 60 Days, and Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty I and II). I'm not sure when I'll be over my rom-com fatigue, but for now, I'm saving them for an unspecified "later."

I love a good drama troupe, but many contribute to my drama slumps. This past year, in particular, seems to be the year of the devil moms and women. As soon as I see a mom screech at their child- especially an adult- or hit their child, I’m done. As a women and a mother I find this degrading and disparaging. And it seems to be getting more prevalent in todays shows.
This is when I head back to my old shows, until I can find something that will make my soul happy

I have not experienced a drama slump yet. Maybe because I have been watching Asian dramas (not counting animes) only for three years, so it's too early too feel I don't want to watch anything.
I don't mind how many dramas are airing, I'm not interested in all of them, and I will probably save some for binge-watching later.

And my list of old dramas to watch is so long that it's impossible to be in a drama slump.

I've had my fair share of drama slumps. And sometimes, it makes it hard to start something new unless I actively find that something new.

I could have commitments and still have time for kdramas. My friends and acquaintances had a hard time getting used to that person cause it didn't make sense to them. Everything could be burning but I'm gonna make out time to watch my series in the midst of chaos, weekly.

Despite having this sort of disposition I realize that I equally fall into a drama slump. Formerly, a drama slump meant that I was watching only one or two dramas because I had to give optimum attention to a situation. And, I vividly remember two occasions when they happened. The first, I was watching only Hospital Playlist 2 and Monthly Magazine Home(which is why MMH never goes wrong in my books, no matter how angry I am at the ending). The second is Tell Me That You Love Me. So for me, a drama slump initially meant I had to take a pause from kdrama and face my life squarely for the meantime.

In-between and after these two occasions, I also noticed that my definition of drama slump has changed. Even in a plethora or drought of dramas, I find myself not watching so much. I figured that the stories told weren't just for me. And, not even my favorite cast attached to a script is enough to draw me into watching a drama again - which makes getting out of the slump even worse cause the one major remedy ain't working again. Case in point, Doctor Slump, Cinderella at 2PM and Lee Chung-ah. Both had the Yoon Park draw in which always gets me. At the end of the day, I never picked up Doctor Slump and I'm yet to press play on Cinderella EP 3. I've been unable to watch Lee Chung-ah's pieces post-One Dollar Lawyer and My Dearest, despite she entering my books as a must watch after her special appearance in ODL. And the names can still go on being listed. Bottomline, my slump has gotten quite so bad.

Now, I ensure I don't get too busy that I forget to catch up cause once I don't, it is the beginning of a slump. My ongoing slump began in August and I dropped 9 shows without looking back by the end of August. Between September till now, I've started and dropped quite a number of shows as well. Just two dramas are sure of being watched when I find the mood - Doubt and The Good Bad Seo Dong-jae. Iron Family is holding up pretty well. Dear Hyeri is this close to messing up if not already. I guess I'm still in the slump. After Iron Family, I'm afraid I'll have nothing to watch.

I don't think 2024 was a very good year. There were good ideas, stories, actors, etc but everytime something was missing to make it really good.

I don’t know if it’s a slump or just indifference. This has been my peak year for abandoning shows I’ve been actively watching. I have left almost everything unfinished. I’m not consciously making the decision to drop them I just never have enough interest to get back to finish them. My care factor is low.

Slumps? They happen!
Why? We're human! 🤣

In my case, I think that what the overabundance taught me was how to drop show I don't really care about.
In a way or another I think I've never lived in "simple times". I like watching movies and series a lot.
So, even if it wasn't kdramaland, I've always had lots of content waiting for me. Streaming platforms just helped me drop more shows with a lighter heart.

So for slumps, I have them all time. I haven't watched 1 movie this month. That's crazy. But I'm too focused on kdramaland these days.
And probably after having too much time here, I'll just spent a month reading webtoons, or rewatching British sitcoms.

I can't spent 24/7 365 days having fun with the same thing. Sometimes I need a break. That also makes everything look better when I comeback and feel like there's a lot of catching up to do.

Summary, I think I'm starting to think of slumps as a sign that I should take a break and expand my horizons somewhere else. At the end of the day, dramas are a hobby, not an obligation or just routine. So it's okay to take a break from them to be able to appreciate them better later.

Also, anyone that feels like there's too much out there, I recommend to just stay close to your favorite genres and tropes. Don't even bother with stuff you don't really care about. And drop shows with confidence! At the end, there are many more out there. At least one will click for you when the time is right (don't force yourself, that can make a show that is for you, feel like it isn't).

I think today I woke up positive or something. LOL Ask me again tomorrow. 😆

I'm calling it my Queen of Tears Slump---the slump that happens when you dislike dramas that nearly every one else likes and are commercially successful. There have been quite of few dramas of late that have done this to me including Red Sleeve and even It's Okay to Not Be Okay. I hit the fast forward buttons often and barely crossed the finish line. This left me feeling that the problem was me, not the shows. Perhaps k-dramas have lost that entertainment magic for me. I came to watch k-dramas because they relaxed the stress I was under with the politics and social culture wars in the US. K-dramas felt like a break, even a relief. On top of that many favored actors are barely in dramas anymore as the very youth oriented k-drama/pop market is constantly looking for the next big, young thing. But, I'm still in there pressing play. But, less often and with much trepidation.

I did not think I’d ever experienced a drama slump but after reading the post - maybe I’m in one now? I’m honestly not sure. Lately I’ve been so excited for all the dramas that are coming up, but then when they actually premiere, I find myself content to wait and see how they shape up before diving in myself. I’m never not watching because I start shows as soon as they finish and I’ve gathered some Beanie intel about them, but I’m live-watching way less than I have at any point in the last couple of years. Some of it I think is the glut of shows, but some of it is that my free time is way more limited lately and I want to make sure I’m spending it well.

I have experienced drama slumps in the past. One time it was because I loved a drama so much that nothing much can compare.

I do understand that the more choices there are cam be a trigger for a slump. Or when there is just nothing on that interests me.

How I usually get over a slump is to either watch varieties or movies and wait for another good drama that I can get behind.

It is interesting how invested people are in dramas. I think slumping happens partly because of an unrealistic expectation on dramas. IMO most dramas were always bad and all dramas have some bad things about them.

But, most dramas have some good things about them. With so many dramas from all over the world, it is easy to dismiss a bad drama and not appreciate the good parts in it. Maybe a slump is related to the hopeless search for a good drama? It seems like looking for a needle in a haystack because there are so many dramas.

Regardless of the number of dramas, I also think the production speed is so quick it harms a lot of new Korean dramas. Also, production costs have risen. And, while actor pay has gone up, production and writing compensation have not. So, newer dramas regardless of amount have gotten worse in the last two years. I don't think I watched a single great drama last year.

I was hoping to get some good recommendations and opinions about dramas here, but my taste is very different from the community here and some people tend to be very aggressive in defending their opinions, which I don't appreciate.

I am retired, so the kind of drama slump which others have, based on work, is one I can thankfully avoid. Occasionally my wife rebels from constant kdramas, so that generates a period where I have to avoid kdramas for a couple of weeks, in that I hate to subject her to shows she is not enthusiastic about. But I have not yet had a drama slump in the sense of having nothing to watch, because there are always some interesting past shows, often recommended by my respected Dramabeans colleagues.

I've had some severe disappointments with kdrama endings which I have hated, which might in other circumstances result in a slump. Recently what (to my mind) was the disastrous ending of No Gain No Love, plus the unpromising lineup (Sex Toy Drama? GL theatrical "star is born?" Unloving Father doubts daughter?) made me think a genuine slump was in the offing. But what do you know?!? Even though I'm still depressed over No Gain No Love, I like all 3 shows I started after that!

It is true, I've been somewhat burned by rom-coms this year (normally my favorite genre) so that I'm not eagerly anticipating them the way I did in the past--but--I love beer and brewing--and here comes Brewing Love! (I'm sort of skeptical it will be good, but I'll be there for

Going off topic, in terms of non-slump, I actually think this has been a pretty good year in kdramas. Some okay rom-coms (Marry My Husband, Lovely Runner, Freeking Fairytale, Cinderella at 2 Am, and I'll even throw in No Gain No Love, though it was such a disappointment to me at the end);

Some very good suspense dramas: The Bequeathed, The Frog, Blackout, Doubt

A couple of relatively serious historical shows: Uncle Samsik, Jeongnyun

Some very interesting semi-melodramas: Atypical Family, Bittersweet Hell, Midnight Romance in Hagwon, Virtuous Business

3 light police shows : Flex X Cop, Crash, Seoul Busters

And a very enjoyable fantasy sageuk: Knight Flower

Now, I can understand that serious DB sageuk fans are a little disappointed this year, although I hope the Tale of Lady OK will come through for you. And I have noticed there are a number of sageuks in the docket for next year, so I hope that next year will be a better year for you.

Otherwise, this has been a non-slump year for me!

I too am fighting a drama slump and its the too many choices so how can I watch the good ones before I know if they are good for me so I try too many and get discouraged when they turn out not good or watch so I can finish too many at a time. Also, the availability gets me when there is one I REALLY want to watch and can't. I long for the good old days too,..

I wrote about this topic a couple of weeks ago, then went totally off the Kdrama grid for a couple of weeks. I saw this chat in an Editor's Digest email today—I would otherwise have missed it.

My interest in watching and following Kdramas slackened and then disappeared entirely starting a couple of months ago. There are two dramas I left unfinished (not ready to say dropped) about midway through. I have a couple of related theories about why.

Burnout - I have a tendency to discover a new interest, then completely immerse myself to the exclusion of everything else. The years of binge-watching Kdramas until the crack of dawn, obsessively curating my watchlist, and spending hours each day poring over and commenting on Dramabeans have taken their toll.

Trope exhaustion - As I became more familiar with and discerning about Kdrama tropes and conventions, it became harder and harder to find dramas that had something fresh and original to say. For every Moving or Lost, there were a dozen shows trotting out the all-too-familiar formulas dressed in a threadbare coat of a silly premise meant to pass for originality. For now, at least, I'm all out of patience.

I'm finding myself kind of burned out on tv in general (with the exception of a rewatch of the Australian series Offspring. You can watch it on Hulu. Highly recommended.) For now I'm spending most of my free time reading (and trying hard not to freak out over the upcoming U.S. elections).

I don't know how long my Kdrama slump will last; I'm hoping it won't be too long. There are a couple of promising shows on the horizon, but I'm just not in the mood for them at this time. So it's so long for now, fellow Beanies.