Yongpal Episode 6 Breaks 20% Nationwide Ratings and SBS Confirms 4-episode Extension

Booyah! Like it not, Yongpal has pulled off the nearly impossible. Episode 5 this week broke 18% ratings nationwide AGB, and just now the ratings for episode 6 came out and hit 20.4% nationwide AGB. The last prime time drama to cross 20% nationwide AGB ratings this fast was You From Another Star by episode 4, and since then nothing has come close until now. I was totally rooting for Yongpal’s continued ratings ascension, even if I find the drama entertaining but nowhere near the quality to merit the breakthrough ratings for this depressed ratings age, I’m still happy that it’s done what seemed impossible which is garner double digit ratings increases from episode to episode so far.

It’s also generating hilarious articles, like ones discussing Kim Tae Hee‘s ridiculous per episode salary, of which she’s earning by laying on a bed for most of her screen time. Joo Won does all the work, Kim Tae Hee just has to look pretty and together both bring in the viewers. But my rooting for the Yongpal ratings train has come to a temporary halt thanks to the news coming out of SBS today – the network has confirmed that Yongpal will be getting a 4-episode extension, drawing the drama out from the scheduled 20-episodes to end at 24. Really SBS? You really want to milk this sucker rather than be grateful for finally doing something right, and in doing so likely guarantee that the second half of the drama will grind to a plodding halt in order to stretch out the plot to fill an additional 4-episodes? I hate it when greed rears its ugly head, sigh.

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With Yongpal’s extension, that means MBC‘s She Was Pretty will be premiering and then going up against the last 10-episodes of Yongpal, rather than just having a month overlap. KBS will also find its upcoming sageuk God of Trade: Innkeeper 2015 hitting up against the tail end of Yongpal. Bummer for the other two networks. The chart above shows how SBS has fared this year in episode 5 of its Wed-Thurs dramas, with the network enjoying a ratings bump from each successive drama aired so far in 2015. Upcoming mystery drama The Village is certainly going to have huge shoes to fill following after Yongpal.


Comments

Yongpal Episode 6 Breaks 20% Nationwide Ratings and SBS Confirms 4-episode Extension — 65 Comments

  1. Wow, 4 EPISODE EXTENSION?! Just, why? This makes me even happier about pre-filmed kdramas becoming they norm. It would be so much harder to pull crap like this.

    I’m really happy for everyone involved but I’m really questioning if I should even start watching at this point because it’s pretty much guaranteed it will drag and/or go over the rails at some point. Well, I’ll definitely be waiting for it to finish airing before watching now.

  2. Sometimes 16 episodes are too many. A four episode extension is a bit much. Hope they can fill them with some meaningful storyline.

      • Hahaha I laughed on this??. I just hope that the extension will bring good developments on the story. Go yong-pal ?!!!

  3. most extension is bad but sometimes it’s good too when this decision known earlier, bridal mask is really amzing even with 4 episode extension too, yongpal deserve good rating

    • But Bridal Mask was reportedly AIMING for the 4 ep extension and the planning of the series was actually banking on the fact that they would have 24 ep rather than 20, which is why the pacing worked out so well. Not sure if the same can be said for Yongpal, which makes me worried

  4. What could throw this off rails for me? Kim Tae Hee put in a cryogenic chamber to save her brain (if it hasn’t already died from the minutes of oxygen deprivation?). Joo Won self extracting a bullet lodged in his kidney? The leads suddenly discovering they have a past childhood connection where she gave him a piece of bread?

  5. WOW, Yongpal is just not that good, well it is very boring somethimes so I do press fast-forward a few times. I think I’ll wait till it’s finished airing and I’ll just run through it.

    What I love nowdays is the SWWTN. Such an entertaining drama. I can’t wait to see every episode!

    I love both Junki’s and Joo Won’s acting, they are very good at what they do!

  6. Sometimes (or all the time) SBS just don’t know how not to interfere a drama. I thought it was originally 16 episodes, no?

  7. I always thought it was an 20 episode drama to start off with so a 4 episode extension is fine. I just hope it still keeps the intensity and storyline going. Each and every episode has been creative with plot twists left and right so I’m hoping the writer is able to keep going without prolonging anything.
    It is sad that some people hate the extension, but I don’t mind it, and I’m hoping audiences will tune in to watch and not stop just because it’s being extended.
    Yongpal fighting to the end regardless of what happens. I’m so happy Yongpal is receiving so much love and breaking records.

  8. Kim Ta Hae fans will forever said because of Kim Ta Hae, her beauty and very very talented acting that cause the high rating. No one will ever beat Kim Ta Hae.

  9. congrats yongpal team…keep up the good work. even i am not keen for the extension, but the drama has gains audience that might ship in high and low of the plot.. fighting!!

  10. Well-paced drama with attractive leads. The secondary characters are becoming alive too. Adjumma from Healer, a head nurse , I am terrified of her abilities. The best in every field in every drama.

    At least this drama has great cliffhangers and an obsessed mad person with poor knifing skills and love for bloody steaks. Hannibal lady.

    Please, please, fill the extension episodes with the return of the mad person
    kidnapping YJ!

  11. If they need more screen time, maybe Healer could cameo if YongPal needs assistance getting the Princess out of the Dungeon. ? or at least get Healer to be a patient in the hospital…ah Bromance…!
    Who am I kidding? I just want YongPal and Healer to be in a scene together. ?

  12. I thought 20 episodes is long enough but now add another 4? I REALLY hope it won’t get draggy. Mask was like that for me, so please don’t do the same thing for Yong Pal.

  13. I’m loving Yong Pal so this is good news to me, deciding the extension this early could be a good thing, gives them more time to the write a cohesive story instead of fillings. *i’m being optimistic here lol*

  14. UGH. Just, why?! Why can’t they just enjoy the ratings and take it as encouragement to maintain the shows’ fantastic balance? Well, let’s hope they pull it off for their sake and ours.

  15. I’m really liking Yongpal. But I really don’t like extensions. They usually mess things up. Why are you like this, SBS? This is why we can’t have nice things.

    And the drama was suppossed to be 20 episodes? I thought it’d be 16? uh. It’s like I just got an 8 episode extension that I didn’t know I wanted. On the positive side, I do like the drama, so we’ll see how it goes.

  16. Ep.6 was hella good so no wonder the ratings climb up that fast. i literlly screamed OmG all over the episode esp after the twists in the end..

    congrats to yongpal and i’m so glad for JW (after the flop he had last year with cantabile ..) i love his character it gives me gaksital vibes and KTH not bad either (tho cynthia is badass! i already love her haha).

    I’m not so glad too about the extension and crossing fingers it won’t affect the drama since so far it is daebak!

  17. This just makes me more sad to see good shows languish under 10% while we tell ourselves “well, it’s just not possible to get good ratings anymore” and “but everyone’s really watching online these days”. Oh well.

  18. I love Joo Won, and I’m enjoying Yong Pal, but I wish its emotional beats were not so heavy handed, it definitely doesn’t have the fineness I was used to watching in I remember you.

    But glad to see it doing it well, its the only other drama other than hello ghost that I’m watching

  19. I guess we’ll all have to pray now that the extension comes off as a good thing. We’ve been betrayed too many times. If not, it’ll be punishment for being greedy.

  20. When it comes to rating, it’s about preference. we can’t say “oh this show is better than yongpal” or “Yongpal didnt deserve it” or else, but it’s about preference. you like a historical drama, or joseon era drama, or vampire, or family drama, or this kind of suspense-romantic whatsoever genre..

    k-netizen seems to like this kind of genre. and honestly, im not even surprised. the storyline seems ‘makjang’ and dont forget, knets, especially people who watch it at home, mostly like makjang story, no wonder daily dramas or weekend dramas got high rating.

    for me personaly, yongpal deserves it.

  21. Having watched Kdramas for several years, I have to say that it’s NOT the A-List Stars who cause the high ratings. It has ALWAYS and WILL always be the SCRIPT aided by good directing. If you have a good story to tell hitting the right chord in the viewers, it will rate well. A good script does not necessarily always mean a substantial story but one that knows how to PICK the viewers’ interest enough for them to want to watch the next episode.

    • Having also watched K-dramas for several years, I can also say that plenty of good scripts still end up with mediocre ratings. I have a long long list, but to name a few examples, I Remember You, The King 2 Hearts and Conspiracy in the Court are some of the best K-dramas I have ever watched (script, directing and acting), but all suffered from depressed ratings.

      I would also say that star power counts for something. You from Another Star had an engaging script, but JJH coming out of a 14 year drama hiatus also counts for something. Combined with the star power of KSH, that drama had a lot going for it right from the get go. I’m also pretty sure ratings will be sky high when Lee Young-Ae’s drama airs.

      In any case, it is really random, and good ratings are not a gauge of quality, it just says lots of people are watching it on their television sets.

      • Yes. Agree. Ratings=Viewers. It isn’t related to quality. It is ,however, ratings=money for the networks. So quality is indeed affected by ratings. Such a pity.

  22. Yongpal is very entertaining! I think a huge part is due to the character who balances being sacrificing, smart, and ‘mean’ really well (credit to Joo Won and writer). I wasn’t even too interested in the story of doctors but I got totally hooked on the story.

    Ugh—>Extension.. Hopefully they don’t start dragging. Still, I’m just happy that it’s this drama and not something really bland that gets the ratings recognition.

  23. I don’t know what think about this drama. In the 5 episodes, KTH is in a bed and sleeps…And JW don’t save anymore gangsters… So the story is not really clear.

  24. I think the end game is 20 episodes. It was written as a 20 ep drama, released as a 16 ep and now with the 4 episode extension – back to 20. At least thats whats been released in DC. Online is 50.1% so basically ALOT of people in Korea are watching this drama. Joo Won has never looked better and the storyline is tight. Considering that this might be his last drama before enlistment and we’ll have to miss seeing him for 2 years, I’m actually happy about the extension

  25. Congrats Team YongPal! At least they announced the extension this early so we can only pray it’ll result into a good thing.

    They’re doing good w/ cliffhangers and you don’t exactly know now to whom Tae Hyun should ally so there’s the suspense. Enjoying Tae Hyun’s cute interactions w/ Cynthia, Cha Young and Yeo Jin.

  26. From recent months, I get the feeling that SBS is a horrible broadcaster that only cares about pulling in the ratings instead of the quality of their programs.

    Granted, all broadcasters want high ratings, but they completely threw The Time I Loved You under the bus in a failed attempt to bring up the ratings. In the end, nobody got what they wanted with that drama. The viewers got a shitty drama with zero plot, and ratings remained just as low. Now their going to put in a bunch of filler to milk Yong-pal’s ratings for two weeks more. The thing that I most enjoyed was the super fast, zippy plot, but I guess that’s going to slow down from now on.

    • Is the TTWENIL such a shitty drama that ‘nobody’ got what they wanted of it? Well just to let you know that somebody here have enjoyed and do get something out of the drama from ep 1.Ive also watched a number of other shitty dramas recently, neither do they have the ratings nor the substance, but just the hype. Well to each his own.

  27. Looks like SBS is risen from fall. Jekyll and Hyde does not recorded good rating besides A-list lead, but following it they started to rise through the girl who see smile(i love this drama the most), mask doing excellent job and yongpal the most awesome one…

  28. Where are all the fans of popular `it`stars like KSH,LJS,PSH etc saying they didn`t get 20% rating cause it`s not possible to get those high ratings anymore due to high internet views and that 10% is a new 20%. Out of excuses now.

    • You are so wrong, KTH has always been the darling of Korean audiences (this is why she can command such a high salary – even though she could just be a mannequin in the series) and Joo Won, well he has had >20% ratings before in his TV series. Why do you have to bring PSH in to you comments? Yes, she has plenty of Internet fans but please don’t judge her fans with the same colours. That is prejudice.

  29. I’m glad that the ratings are finally reflecting the quality of the drama. So far enjoying the great pacing and some clever beats in story telling…I especially love the part where Tae Hyun goes “yeah you may be rich, but I’m like the only boat that’s going to sail you outta this hell and I aint not first class cruise ship” in a recent episode.

    However hearing about a 4 episode extension has been worried! I hope the drama doesnt fall off the rails and lose its rhythm in story telling!

  30. honestly I’m not happy at all with the extension. Episode 6 was my least favorite, i don’t like Cynthia’s character . I find it so fake for some reason, super funny the transition to wonder women lol breaking the skirt and fighting with a bunch of guys, you have to be kidding me. If it keeps like this I guess i won’t have anything to see on wed/thur.

  31. Pingback: Mid Review: Yong Pal | Crazy About Asian Dramas

  32. as much as i love yongpal and joo won, i am worried of the 4-episode extension and how it will affect the storyline, hopefully there aren’t going to be episode fillers on the later half

  33. Had to watch yongpal to see the fuss. I managed to watch by thinking of it as a science fiction drama coz a medical drama it ain’t. Unless we are in the future and have managed to find ways of maintaining life (and youth!) without nutrition and prevent pressure sores and muscle atrophy without nursing care, ripple mattresses and physiotherapy etc etc.

    As a science fiction with a moral conflict, it becomes an interesting drama.

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