SM Entertainment is on a roll, a roll aimed at conquering my aversion to their stable of young, pretty, and acting-challenged actresses. First they cast Yoona opposite Lee Bum Soo in Prime Minister and I (maybe called Prime Minister in Love), and then throw in Yoon Si Yoon to seal the deal. I’m a goner for that one already, no resistance needed. Now they’ve up and secured Lee Seon Kyun as the male lead of the upcoming Miss Korea starring Lee Yeon Hee. What? The Voice? *bleeping bleep bleep!* Dang it, now I have to watch this one as well! SM is producing this drama and had been reportedly courting Gong Yoo for the male lead, which would have reunited him with Lee Yeon Hee from when they did One Fine Day together. Word is Gong Yoo wasn’t interested in doing a drama, probably still smarting from the Big debacle since the ratings were dismally low on that one. Miss Korea has a strong production team in the duo that did the charming Pasta, which also starred Lee Seon Kyun and paired him with Gong Hyo Jin. Those two were one of the best OTPs ever, but the story line was never all that interesting to do them justice. I think Lee Seon Kyun is a fantastic actor, so full of charisma yet a thorough character actor that can disappear into any role. No description yet on the male lead character, but I’m guessing he’s involved with the main drama story of how a bunch of guys band together to turn their neighborhood girl into the next Miss Korea. Beyond wishing Lee Yeon Hee wasn’t cast because her acting is so spotty and mostly bad, another reason is that she’s so pretty she could be Miss Korea already. That means uglifying her first to convincingly do the make-over section, thereby taking the satisfaction out of it since it’s just turning Lee Yeon Hee back into her normal level of gorgeous. Now that the main leads are secure, I’m excited to see who SM wrangles up to round out Project Miss Korea. This drama will have a steep uphill climb when it premieres in late November on MBC after Medical Top Team with its rock bottom ratings.
Lee Yeon Hee and Yoona – getting all the hot hot namjas come late Fall. So jealous. Seriously, so jealous. Lee Seon Kyun and Lee Bum Soo, respectively? They won the casting lottery one-two punch.
Yeah, I could live with this. And re: the storyline, it’s possible that LYH’s character is a pretty girl to begin with but lacking in ambition and the guys enter her in the contest with ulterior motives but she finally becomes empowered to take control of her life and tells them to f off. That would be as interesting as the traditional tale of the ugly duckling.
Well, now I definitely have to watch this. Lee Seon Kyun has chemistry with walls so I’m sure the pairing will be awesome. I think LYH did make some sort of improvement in GFB, she worked hard and was sort of emoting, but her acting is still mediocre to me. I hope she can step it up for this show, cause it sounds cute.
I’m still waiting for Gong Yoo to come back with a really awesome drama that doesn’t spectacularly waste his talents. Hopefully someone will persuade him to do a drama next year.
Omg…all my oppas parading on-screen. A girl could die happy….after all the episodes aired, of course!
And Mr. Voice should partner with his real-life buddy, Uhm-Force instead for one power house production. It would sweep all the baeksangs, melt hearts all over the world and hit 90% ratings!
We should have you in charge of Kdramaworld 🙂
I definitely have my aversions towards LYH, but the drama itself sounds really interesting and different from all the ones we had lately.
These days everything seems like been there, done that. ‘Man from another star’ and ‘Pretty man’ definitely feels like that. So this one, I’m looking forward to, as well Prime minister and I.
As for ratings – ugh – they have a serious mountain to overcome. MTT is trying to compete with Sword and Blade in terms of lowest rated drama of the year. And MBC’s miniseries list have been utterly dismal this year. But ironically – the *only* one that did great had LYH in it – so who knows – she can do double punch?
I dont know, I guess I’m minority here, I like MTT. It’s very nicely written drama. I’m not in Medical profession, but watching it, makes you wonder and be interested in that godly field.
I definitely have no right to judge MTT simply because I haven’t seen even an episode of it. I heard good thing about it online though – and that unlike Good Doctors child like cases, it’s more realistic and mature.
My comment had more to do with the actual tv ratings. It’s so bad that most of the time fails to break into the top 20. Last time I checked it was below 5. But ratings isn’t always the best way to judge a dramas quality.
kim min jong(gentleman dignity) should join the ahjussi cast..he sort of have lovable charm plus he is from SM!i like his paring with character meh ah ri in gentleman dignity despite huge age gap..
Oh my God, another one of my favourite actor! I miss seeing him on screen.
What is this….first Prime Minister And I and now Miss Korea….they are making sure to place all good actors opposite these actresses which I’m always happy to avoid but now will have to try their shows *sigh
I really with they would have picked a “nobody” or a brand new actress. For example, one of the best things about princess diaries was that Anne Hathaway was a completely knew actress, so we got to really see a transformation.
Like you said Koala, having Lee Yeon Hee wouldn’t be much fun.
I think they are purposely putting Yoona and Lee Yeon Hee opposite good , older actors. If they do a good job no problem, but if they suck we can always count on Lee Beom Soo and Lee Seon Kyun to distract from their mistakes.
Still traumatized by seeing lee yeon hee playing the lead in god awful Paradise Ranch that I don’t think I’ll be able to ever stomach seeing her play the lead actress ever again. I suspect this drama will be another flop for her.
I am with you too koala, SO JEALOUS!!! My mister voice, why??? I kinda hate SM now, keep pairing their young actress with my favorite actor, sigh! I wont mind if they are really talented one like moon geun young or eun ji from Pink-A (or A-Pink? sorry, I dont remember her group)…
I just watched Ghost, is it just me that she look alike Ha Ji Won?
btw miss koala, this is unrelated thing to ask you, if you dont mind, what do you think about HJW’s acting? I like her so much before (mostly in hwang jin yi), and adore her too, but I saw in one blog that she even isnt listed in top 100 most value actor/actress in korea… while some actresses like jeon deo yon, son yen jin and gong hyo jin are in top 10… the blog is only a fan blog, but one of most experience of korean entertainment, so I wonder what another blogger think about her? specially you… well, if you dont like my question, please dont mind me… 🙂
hope gong yoo will be the male lead…miss his acting!!!