There is a huge and very public fire drill going on at SBS and it’s worrying the heck out of me since it concerns a drama I’m looking forward to. News just broke that PD Jo Soo Won has quit the production of upcoming SBS weekend drama The Time I Loved You, 7000 Days. It’s better known as the K-remake of hit Taiwan drama In Time With You, not to mention the highly anticipated drama return of ratings queen Ha Ji Won.
Rather than the usual nondescript reasons for breaking up, this time the news specifically states that Jo PD quit despite it being so late in the production, with script reading already held and filming commenced, because of feuding and differences with the production company. PD Jo is a SBS drama veteran but the outside production company IWill Media is producing 7000 Days and is the source of the conflict. No word yet on who is replacing PD Jo but this as big a warning sign about the drama as any.
PD Jo is one of my favorite drama PDs, I don’t always watch his dramas but the ones I have watched never fail me on the visuals even if I may not like the story or the acting. His directing is top-notch without being flashy, with a great fluid arsenal of tricks he employs judiciously depending on what the script calls for. He’s directed Pinoccho, Gapdong, I Hear Your Voice, Cheongdamdong Alice, Swallow the Sun, Hyena, Wonderful Life, and the list of hit dramas goes on. I’ve never heard of any drama he’s directed being criticized for failure in ratings or quality due to his directing.
The production company behind 7000 Days is IWill Media, the two most recent dramas the company has produced are daily drama Sweet Secret (Love and Secret) and melodrama When a Man Loves. If you ask me to pick a side solely on track record, I’m on Team PD Jo, whatever drove the a seasoned industry veteran to quit a production after it’s started filming must be some insurmountable issues. It’s a double shame that he left since he brought so many Pinocchio veterans over to the production of 7000 Days. Can’t the two sides patch things up and get back to business making a hopefully awesome drama?
Oh dear I hope everything goes well for Ha Ji Won.
Argh, this is worrying news, hope everything manages to et back on track!
I hope so! I worry so much for Ha Ji Won.
Oh he’s the director of Gap Dong? That drama was wonderfully directed. Such a shame problems arose.
Yup Gap Dong is great!
It’s hardly the first warning sign about this drama production. Shitty scriptwriter, melo and pointless name change, unnecessary character aging. It is sad to see my favorite Taiwanese drama being butchered so much.
The aging of the characters bothered me, too. What on earth is the point? To me, the story fits as a twenties coming-of-age story; the point in your life where you may flail a bit, trying to sort out who you are, exactly, what you value and what path you want to take. Written as a thirties story, I wonder who these losers are, that they spend decades unable and unwilling to know their own hearts. I am reminded of the problem I had with A Gentleman’s Dignity, where a successful, mature teacher turned into a hapless twelve-year-old when faced by anything having to do with male/female relationships. It seemed to make her immature, if not neurotic, and I wonder if the same vibe will happen here.
I mean really, thirties? You need to be stupid for this long in your life?
Go to KBS, I think this year’s best drama will be produced by KBS. But I feel bad for SBS, at weekend slot, their good drama must suffer from MBC’s makjang. Actually I hope this drama can compete, but now that hope is gone.
Oh gosh, please let everything turn out fine. I am so looking forward to HJW’s comeback….aaahhhh…I don’t even mind if she drops out now…and perhaps jump to another drama which is not a remake.
Ugh, I feel sorry for the actors in these cases. They are not getting what they signed up for and they have no choice but to roll with it.
This is the first time in my 12+ years of drama watching that I trully wish they can just permanently shelve this drama. It had been painful when I found out who’s writing the adaptation, but I kept a flicker of hope alive for PD Jo. Now it’s pretty much guaranteed that my favorite tw drama’s gonna get butchered! Can this day get any worse?
I wonder if his reaction to the story and character changes was the same as mine – bye bye! 🙂
I loved In Time With You. For its and the casts’ sakes, I hope this doesn’t become a train wreck like Hyde Jekyll and Me which I also anticipated so much only to be let down (awful come back for Binnie and I’m still shaking my head feeling sorry for him for that train wreck)
I like HJW but have no much confidence in the male lead. Who’s he?
Lee Jin Wook, he’s debut in 2006. So he has been an actor for nine years. You can watch ‘Nine Time Traveller’ and ‘The Three Musketeer’ to knew how he’s act.
I didn’t like most of those dramas .. so hope someone better comes along.. sorry
eh, I’m probably not going to watch this. not a fan of the female lead .. sorry! I know her fans will rage.. but ignore my previous comment. It’s irrelevant since I’m not looking forward to the show anyways.
I hear he has come back… Is that true?