There are two things that can happen when a drama isn’t ready to air and take over a time slot. The predecessor can either be extended or a filler short drama aired as a quickie patch, or else the not-ready drama loses its time slot. For the upcoming SBS Kim Soo Hyun-penned Thrice Married Woman, it’s casting woes are now legendary and quite public, so the SBS actions to bandage the wound is also getting publicity. Last weekend SBS jumped the gun and announced that Goddess of Marriage would be extended four episodes to end at 36 in order to give Thrice Married Woman more time to lock down a cast. But then the GoM production team publicly countered back and shot down the extension news and said it wasn’t confirmed yet and likely won’t happen. So if the extension can’t happen and there are no short dramas in the can to air, that leaves SBS with the only other viable option which is to yank Thrice Married Woman from the time slot until it can get its act together and schedule another drama in its stead. That drama is reported to be Kind Words, which was originally slated for the Mon-Tues time slot in November after The Suspicious Housekeeper. Kind Words hasn’t officially confirmed its cast yet but the three leads are reportedly Ji Jin Hee, Han Hye Jin, and Kim Ji Soo. It’s the story of a middle-aged couple who fall into a dangerous love. It’s weird that I got a big smile when I read the drama title since drama land has been wallowing in angst that even a title as simple and positive as Kind Words is like a breath of fresh air. Of course that title could be misleading, but it sure beats going completely the opposite direction like Scandal: That Very Shocking and Immoral Incident. So far Thrice Married Woman has gone through the following actor and actress candidates and none of them have worked out for various reasons: Han Ga In, Kim Sa Rang, Song Ji Hyo, Lee Ji Ah, Jo Han Seon, and Han Suk Jin. The only confirmed cast members at this point are Eom Ji Won and Song Chang Eui. I don’t know if those two should be pleased they made the cut or decidedly nervous that they are not going to have any co-stars and therefore no drama at all. It’s kinda like winning the raffle, but the prize is a shit-ton of manure. Not that I’m saying TMW is poo….but we’ll have to wait and see if the drama is worth being super picky about its cast.

The Goddess of Marriage extension could still happen but that just means Kind Words with this likely cast will get a Mon-Tues time slot after The Suspicious Housekeeper so don’t expect it to be dropped as a project.