Just because weekend dramas are by and large painfully terrible isn’t reason enough for me to swear off them for life. There is always the rare exception, and even the ones that putter to a close can be worth the early days watch as long as it doesn’t go full-on-crazy. It’s something different to chew on and not everything needs to be tightly written as the prime time dramas aim to be. A sprawling family tale has its moments worth savoring. With I Summon You, Gold back somewhere in the depths of hell from whence it spawned, MBC has in store a weekend drama that claims to be totally different. Whatever, I’ll believe you when its all over, MBC. Give Love Away (Will You Love and Give It Away) released its drama posters today and dropped the first preview as it gears up for premiere next weekend. The tagline is “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, which would be reassuring but for the fact that MBC does many dramas with full on bait-and-switches (ISYG, May Queen, et. al). The synopsis says this is a drama about a blended family learning to live together. Sounds innocuous enough. I was a bit leery of the fauxcest embedded in the main leads Hong Soo Hyun and Lee Sang Yeob playing newly minted step-siblings. But a read of the full character chart actually points elsewhere – this drama looks like it has two equal leads in Hong Soo Hyun and Lee Sang Yeob, and while they will have a love line it appears the drama ends it relatively early once their parents get married and both move on to the other leads played by Seo Ji Suk and Sin Da Eun, respectively. Fine by me, I like all four leads and don’t mind some love quadrangle juiciness that ends without lots of angst and rather naturally. I wouldn’t say the first preview is awesome but it doesn’t look terrible either. It has a fast peppy vibe, and a slew of supporting actors that are all solid in the weekend genre ranging from Park Geun Hyung, Cha Hwa Yeon, Yoo Ho Jung, Nam Bora, Han Go Eun, Kim Seung Soo, Kang Seok Woo, and Kim Na Woon. I don’t have any hopes other than the desire to check it out because its high time Hong Soo Hyun and Lee Sang Yeob got meaty leading roles, not to mention the delicious Seo Ji Suk is back on television.
Give Love Away teasers:
Less makjang is always a good thing… but then again, isn’t a pair siblings marrying a pair of (step) siblings also taboo? Sigh.
MBC has a bad history of bad weekend dramas. I am hesitating even though I actually love all 4 leads. Plus the dad. But not the mum.
I’ve seen some pretty good weekend shows like Incarnation of Money, Brilliant Legacy, Secret Garden amongst others. But mostly all of them have been short (around 20-28 episodes) so one can almost treat them as an ordinary weekday drama.
The longer ones have been… pretty bad. I can’t remember a single one I loved from beginning till end. In anycase, I really hate the whole you-and-I-cant-be-together-because-our-parents-are-married premise. It makes me uncomfortable, so I’m washing my hands off this one.
aahhh I am excited about this drama…
excited for Hong Soo Hyun…
Kinda a little miffed that she and Lee yoon Ji are battling it out since they are my fave actresses. But still to see them in dramas is really great…
This I hope will be available via some legal means in the US. I like so many of the actors and it looks cute. I actually miss the feel-good weekend family dramas. Even if there is *some* makjang involved. Let this be good.
mbc america on their website or Hulu free and legal. You might have to wait a week but at least its a way to say thank you and support their shows legally.
After what happened on I Summon You I will no longer look at character charts lool.
I’m going to tune in for Hong Soo Hyun and Lee Sang Yeob – hoping after JOJ this will be at least a decent weekend drama. 🙂