This year’s May K-drama line-up has been causing some confusion with folks, either not sure which dramas are up against each other or when a particular drama is scheduled to premiere. For me, the January dramas were all good but not great (though I enjoyed Dream High immensely), and the March dramas mostly didn’t interest me and the one which did interest me thus far hasn’t click with me yet. This leaves the incredible (on paper) May line-up to potentially yield my first crack drama of the year. It’s been too long since I’ve been addicted to a K-drama, and I’m longing for that adrenaline rush like a swimmer longs for the first warm day of Spring to arrive.
Here’s the competition roster, and may the best quality drama win the time slot in ratings. You know me, ratings doesn’t matter as long as I like it, and if I like it I’m as quick to point out all the flaws as I am of the reasons why I like a drama. I’ve found my mentality gives me a happy peace of mind – I like what I like, but I can still qualitatively differentiate whether something is good or not. A good drama doesn’t mean one has to like it, and bad drama doesn’t preclude one from enjoying it. Ultimately “like” is a personal and subjective point of reference, and requires no outside validation.
Mon-Tues
MBC: Goodbye Miss Ripley – Kim Seung Woo, Lee Da Hae, Mickey Yoochun, Kang Hye Jung – premieres end of May
KBS: Baby-Faced Beauty – Daniel Choi, Jang Nara – premieres early May
SBS: Lie to Me – Kang Ji Hwan, Yoon Eun Hye – premieres early May
Wed-Thurs
MBC: Best Love – Gong Hyo Jin, Cha Seung Won, Yoon Kye Sang, Yoo In Na – premieres early May
KBS: Romance Town – Jung Kyeo Woon, Sung Yuri, Kim Min Joon, Min Hyo Rin – premieres early May
SBS: City Hunter – Lee Min Ho, Park Min Young, Lee Joon Hyuk – premieres end of May
Looking at the above line-up, I have no clue how the ratings will shake out. Since I started watching K-dramas live, I’ve noticed that ratings tend to reflect quality and/or the public appetite for the subject matter (I say tend to, because there are always outliers on either end – good dramas that tank or bad dramas that score ratings success).
I also notice that most recently the audience (and I am talking about the Korean audience in Korea who determine ratings, not us online afficionados) appears to prefer more mature stories (young trendies tends to do single to mid double-digit ratings), and the ratings battle for 2011 has thus far not yielded any clear winner other than Sign in the Wed-Thurs line-up.
The May line-up is heavily skewed towards rom-coms, with Goodbye Miss Ripley being the one drama that will likely be more melodramatic or at least more mature in theme and subject matter. I’ll likely check out every one of these dramas, at least for an episode or two. If I end up loving more than 2 of these, I’m going to have kiss the months of May and June goodbye in terms of sleep and any hope for a non-drama related social life.
all lookin’ potentially good – but WTH is with Lee Min Ho’s hair? O_o
Yeah, it took me a second to realize it was supposed to be him. Interesting haircut, to say the least.
what the heck with everybodies hairdo, i mean look at mickey
He wants to be cool like the scheduler but it didn’t look well…. lol
it might be the negligent, on the run and careless character that he is playin’
my hubby sports the same thing and it looks better than on LMH just because we are used to see LMH as a clean and shaved guy while his competition this summer is Cha Seung Won who looks so hot and mean with that fur on his face… in fact his haircut is more scruffy meets LMH … yet he still shaves (for this drama does he?)
btw I love his secondary guy with a mustache Lee Joon Hyuk (CSW’s right hand in City Hall)
btw out there are ppl who look sexier with beard or dressed like beggars : Oh Ji Ho(boring without fur), Jang Hyuk(looks rather meh in Midas as the clean cut boy- but he is popular coz he is an awesome actor), Han Jung Soo in Prosecutor Princess is ok
as well there are ppl who shouldn’t touch the pornstache thing not even in after life- Kim Nam Gil (smoking hot in shredded clothes but NOO NO NO to fur on face)
this reminds me of three weeks ago in class when I SHOULD have been paying attention and instead made a chart of all the May airing dramas and interest in plot, premise, actors etc…yes, I was very bored…lol…..it’s funny how I was initially uninterested in any of them but as the casting and the premise was made clear, all of them seem appealing..I’m looking forward to all three Mon-Tuesday dramas though I’ll wait a bit to see how Ripley fares before taking it up ‘cuz it looks like heavier fare which means it will be harder for me to follow on a weekly basis….I dont think I’ll be checking out CH ‘cuz it sounds like any other crime/thriller/action/spy drama which are usually not my type… unless reviews say that its exceptional….Best Love is a definite watch ‘cuz its a Hong Drama and I will also check out to see how Maids. fares…the drama that I’m most nervous about is Lie To Me for two reason, one being that the plot sounds like regular romcom fare but could be great if done well but I dont know what to make of the writer….. secondly YEH being in it means I’ll definitely have to check it out and I hope its good for her sake but I’m kinda iffy on Kang Ji Hwan.
OMG the battle for wed-thurs and my attention will be a difficult one!!!!
Yeah well speaking of ratings the Korean Society are packed with full time Moms who are glued at the TV for these dramas I know cause my Korean students and their Moms whom I taught English would go nuts for them. I love doing odd jobs it’s an eye opener LOL. I have Dream High still and a lot of American series in line to watch maybe they will just rot there cause I have books to read too. Ah Time you can never have enough of it
😀
The Korean teens would study like hell in Korea….from what I heard 🙂
The interesting part of Mon-Tue drama is they’re telling about lies made by women. It’s just coincidence or what? Definitely May is a busy month for kdrama fan. 🙂
thanks Ms. Koala, i was really getting confused. Just a question, which drama is Park Shi Hoo starring in?
He was in negotiations for Romance Town or Lie to Me, but didn’t end up doing either.
thanks
wow… busy may 2011 huh? bring it on! I’m ready for my crack drama! I just dunno which one it will be..
Hard to choose which drama to watch first… May will definitely be a busy month for k-drama followers 😀
I have no interest in Romance Town but I’ll surely be checking out the rest.
Personnaly, I just can’t wait for the trailers!
and in the list, let’s ad Manny which sounds like it’s gonna be a fun drama too!
so yes, it’s gonna be hard to choose what to watch live, also because T-dramas don’t look bad either, but I’m not sure if they will be airing in may or later (extravagent challenge started filming, but what about airing? does someone has an info?)
Thank you for this post, it’s really helpfull!!
^_^
Tough tough.I will ignore ratings but I look forward to baby face beuty,lie to me and best of love and hope to find recaps for them.hEhe
Best love is guaranteed fun cause it’s from the Hong Sisters 😀 Lee Min ho is too hot to ignore though…
Best Love is a must watch in my list
Ripley sounds interesting, and Lie to me has YEH so i’ll check it.
City Hunter even with LMH sounds awful
the rest, have to wait and see
Must be fun and it’s good my inner starts at beginning of June so I get to watch without problems (or homeworks, as some people all it). The only one I’m not going to watch is Romance Town because I dont recognize any of the actors… Can’t remember the story either..
Hhmmm.. I think i’ll watch miss ripley, baby faced, and lie to me.. But baby faced looked more attractive and interesting to me.. ^^
For sure, I’m watching Lie to Me, Best Love and Manny (I hope fansubbers will pick Manny up. *crosses fingers*).
I may watch a few eps of City Hunter and Baby-Faced Beauty and see if they’re any good. I’m kinda intrigued with Romance Town but gah, no. Too many to watch.
How about you?
Ah, I totally agree that the dramas at the beginning of this year were kind of blah… there was nothing that really WOW, maybe My Princess. Have you seen princess diaries two where anne hathaway is getting a make over for her wedding and one of the hairstyles she tries is the one that looks like moose antlers and the stylist is like “You make all the boys go WAH!” That’s what I would describe as the current dramas, they make me go WAH! They’re good, but not gripping. I find myself sitting and giving myself excuses to watch; almost to the point of annoyance.
I really do hope that the May line up is much better or else I’ll be watching re runs of Giant and Joseun X Files. Maybe I should give President and Our Friend, Legend a chance.
Very very helpful!!! Thank you!
PS – *newbie qs alert* Can someone please tell me how to delete our comments from here?
will you make recap for one of that drama?
*I hopr you wil recap ‘Baby faced beauty’ because I love Jang nara and I never dissapointed her acting or drama
Can’t wait to watch Lie To Me. Yoon Eun Hye is in it so there’s no way I’m gonna let this one pass.
May is a busy month for me.
Top drama I wanna watch is Best Love, gosh I can’t wait for it. Hong Sisters always trump other dramas for me.
So my Weds – Thurs will be for Best Love with a little City Hunter here &there because I do wanna see Minho &MinYoung chemistry
but Mon-Tues I’m stuck..I SOO wanna watch Lie to Me but I also wanna watch Baby Faced Beauty & Mr. Ripley. Well I’m definitely gonna watch Lie to Me because Kim Ji Hwan I love as well as Yoon Eun Hye so the other two will be back &forth…
Now add Mr. Idol to the mix which I think would air next month I will be super STUCK xD