K-Drama Hub - News & Previews [July-August 2006]

Although his last Drama 이별에 대처하는 우리의 자세 (Rules of Love) didn’t do well, anytime someone like Kim Min-Jong comes back to TV, people are bound to be interested. Kim will star in 하이에나 (Hyena), produced by CJ Media for new Cable Channel TVN, starting from October. The show will be Korea’s answer to Sex and The City, with a focus on men, obviously. Kim stars as PD Kim Cheol-Soo, whose goal in life is… having sex with beautiful women. That’s about it. He can’t get one thing right between his work and love life, but of course he’ll get his chance to improve the situation. Considering it’s Cable TV, the show might be a little more ‘mature’ than what you’d see on network TV, but we’ll see. [MSN News - 7/21]

Should we call this good news? Well, decide for yourself: Kim Sung-Soo dropped out of MBC’s 썸데이 (Someday), and his replacement is… Lee Jin-Wook of 연애시대 (Alone in Love). The hybrid live action/animation Drama, which will start broadcasting later this year, had cast Kim as a lead next to Bae Doo-Na, Oh Yoon-Ah and all the rest, but producers Yellow Film recently announced that he had to drop out for personal reasons. As the show started shooting last June 27, Kim already took part in a few scenes including one with a bike. His replacement just completed shooting SBS’ 스마일 어게인 (Smile Again), and will join the shoot right away. Preparing for a location shoot in Japan this September, Someday is written by 한반도 (Hanbando)‘s Kim Hee-Jae. [MSN News - 7/21]

I was already eagerly awaiting the start of MBC’s new Weekend Drama 누나 (My Sister), as it’s written by Kim Jung-Soo of 그대 그리고 나 (You and I), but after hearing the cast I bet I won’t be alone in being excited about this show. Song Yoon-Ah was already announced as the lead, and today they also announced the casting of Kim Sung-Soo, of 분홍신 (The Red Shoes) and 모노폴리 (Monopoly) fame. But while Kim might not be a great actor, a quick look at the supporting cast and this is starting to smell more and more like classic ‘MBC Magic’: We already talked about Heo Young-Ran playing Song’s sister, but we also have veterans Jo Kyung-Hwan, Park Geun-Hyung, Yang Hee-Kyung, Kim Ja-Ok and more, including Jo Hyung-Gi and Song Seung-Hwan. August is suddenly looking better. [MSN News - 7/20]

황진이 (Hwang Jin-Yi) hasn’t even begun shooting, and it’s already found major competition. Writer Kim Do-Woo of 내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam-Soon) has been preparing her new Drama 여우야 뮈하니 (What’s Up, Fox?) for quite some time, but nothing was really set in stone when it comes to casting. First it was rumoured Hyun Bin would be the lead, but as MBC started struggling with Kim over the direction of the show—Kim wanted something a little closer to her past show 눈사람 (Snowman), while MBC wanted another Sam-Soon—the young actor dropped out. But the show has just cast its new lead, which will be Go Hyun-Jung, who recently completed shooting for Hong Sang-Soo’s 해변의 여인 (Woman on the Beach). The show will be a Wed/Thu Drama airing from October, and will be produced by Kwon Seok-Jang of 결혼하고 싶은 여자 (Marry Me). This will be another romcom in the vein of last year’s megahit, but this time there will be no 2nd Generation Chaebol, played by 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo)‘s Cheon Jung-Myung. [DC Inside - 7/19]

There were plenty of speculations as to whom KBS would choose to lead its upcoming Sageuk 황진이 (Hwang Jin-Yi), based on the life of the famous concubine in the Joseon Dynasty. People talked of Soo Ae and other actresses, but the station’s choice went back to their original plans: your new Hwang Jin-Yi is… Ha Ji-Won. This will mark Ha’s return to the small screen in over 2 years, after 2004’s 발리에서 생긴일 (What Happened in Bali). The biggest problem which could have caused her not to star in the show was the shoot of Yoon Je-Gyun’s 일번가의 기적 (Miracle on 1st Street), but KBS wanted her so much they moved the Drama to October from the originally scheduled September. The show will be a sort of mix between Memoirs of a Geisha and 여인천하 (Ladies of the Palace), with several gisaeng fighting for power. And Sageuk World just found another future member of its ‘family’. [MSN News - 7/14]

Now this is surprising news: Lee Kyung-Young is coming back. Actually he already came back, with a small role in the borefest 종려나무 숲 (The Windmill Palm Forest) thanks to his longtime friend Kim Min-Jong, but it’s been over 5 years since his last appearance on TV. Lee was involved in a scandal in 2002, and pretty much left the business all that time. But the makers of the current KBS1 Daily Morning Drama 강이되어 만나리 (Let’s Meet By The River) thought that letting a veteran with over 20 years of acting experience rot on the side was just a waste of talent. It seems like Lee is considering coming back, as a recent miniseries offered him a role, which would be his first Drama since 2001’s 프른안개 (Blue Mist). This would be the second comeback of a controversial figure, after Lee Seung-Yeon came back with 사랑과 야망 (Love & Ambition). [MSN News - 7/13]

Sageuk fans in Asia hoping to see 주몽 (Jumong) will soon get what they wanted. The MBC Drama, which is breaking its own record every episode, has been sold to 5 Asian countries (Taiwan, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) at the Shanghai TV Festival. Negotiations regarding when the show will broadcast are still at the preliminary stages, but it’s very likely many of those countries might start broadcasting Jumong right from this September. The show is slated to begin airing in Japan later this Summer, and MBC Reps expect this to become another 대장금 (Dae Jang Geum) in terms of popularity abroad. [Naver News - 7/7]