Yongpal’s Popularity Continues to Rise as Episode 4 Ratings Break 16% Nationwide
If Wed-Thurs drama Yongpal keeps up the momentum with big ratings jumps every even episode, this drama won’t have a problem breaking 20% ratings soon. Of course that’s a big IF considering dramas can reach a ratings peak and stay there for the rest of its run for no discernible reason. But a congrats is still in order for the SBS drama as its 4th episode recorded a nationwide ratings of 16.3% AGB, which is a 1.8% increase from the 3rd episode which got an enviable 14.5%. I’m still watching Yongpal and find it enjoyable, a sleek decently written yarn with interesting enough characters and situations.
With that said, it reminds me of a lot of recent such thriller and/or medical type dramas like Healer, Dr. Stranger, and even Two Weeks. I’m curious what the reason for Yongpal’s ratings success that has eluded other similar genre dramas – is it the cast, which basically means Joo Won since his character is carrying the show in terms of screen time, or is it the writing courtesy of screenwriter Jang Hyun Rin who wrote Reset for OCN, or are audiences responding to the synergy of the two in the hands of PD Oh Jin Seok, who previously directed Modern Farmer and Goddess of Marriage. Whatever the reason, I’m sure the other networks are paying close attention in order to assemble the same hit-making ingredients again.
I’ve never found Joo Won attractive, and still don’t even after watching four episodes of him in Yongpal, but this is definitely the best I’ve ever seen him look. This character and styling brings out the best parts of his features which helps since he’s carrying the bulk of the screen time. I’m sure this success will make his fans so happy, and will continue to cement his reputation as a ratings hit maker. Even with flops like Tomorrow’s Cantabile and 7th Level Civil Servant under his belt, Yongpal’s success (along with Good Doctor in that mix) shows that his star is not on a one way downward trajectory but is instead still able to bring in ratings with the right drama vehicle. With that said, maybe he just needs to keep playing doctor, LOL.
this is daebakkk, it seems he carried these 4 episodes by his own..and the next episodes the lead actress will start to rock…hopefully the rating will be BOOMed
ikr. not many actors could bring high rating oneself. some got high rating cuz of their partner.. no mention 😀
lols.. “I’ve never found Joo Won attractive” i did this to Lee Jong Suk. not even after watching his projects. okay, i never finished watching all his projects (except Secret Garden since he wasnt the main lead and i didnt even know who he was at that time).
i think, right now, people more pay attention on the storyline. even a big production drama with great actors fails this year. story is everything. so, yongpal has a good storyline, team and crew plus good actors.
Story is not everything…success of shows like Mask tells that…
i think, mask had a solid story. even it lacked here and there, but the all-package was good enough. i dont think mask would be in ‘bad story’ list. instead i would put Ha Ji Won’s new drama 😀
Fabulous show, I actually liked our little hero’s look better before miss Cynthia took him shopping, but whatever, he’s darling and this drama is knocking it outta the park~
Well, he didn’t play a doctor in Bridal Mask but it was such a huge success!
I’m not sure though if because of this kind of rating news people would stream the series more out of curiosity lol.
I have to yet catch up on this drama, so can’t comment on story, acting in this drama specifically. But the ratings maybe due to KTH’s comeback? I read she is a very big star back home. Joo Won, too is known for his acting more than his looks, if I am not mistaken. And thats a good thing. You can have good looks but you definitely need the acting chops.
And most importantly, the drama is maybe actually written well? Punch was the last well written drama, followed by I Remember You, in my opinion.
KTH has nothing to do with the rating. She has less than 10 mins screen-time in 4 eps. And everyone in SK knows her bad acting, not many people was looking for her comeback beside her fans
Really good show so far ,hopefully the writer can keep it up,
Joowon is a better actor then all the actors you compared dramas from ,+ is personality, even if nodame was a fall ,he thought it wasn’t ,good trait for a actor not to worry about his career or bash the drama if it wasn’t successful like a certain someone
Why comparing the actors’ acting? It’s based on different tastes. You should refrain that in respect to those who love one or ones of the actors you put down here for your bias.
of the actors’ *acting*
I mostly think people are back on there seats because of KTH and I am not taking anything away from Joo won..
By the way where are all these people using internet as excuses? guess what people just didn’t feel like turning on there TVs for these shows which explains the average and flop ratings going on recently.. just accept the fact that it didn’t draw people in which is normal everybody has there own tastes..
The Streaming Numbers are impressive to with Yongpal.
TVing live internet ratings:
Yongpal (Ep4): 43.1%; SWWTN (Ep12): 12.0%; Assembly (Ep10): 7.6%
I love Joo Won and I loved the 1st 2 episodes, but after 3 and 4, I am thinking of dropping the drama because it’s kind of gone over the edge with the script – its a little too much fantasy, hare-brained for me – I wish it were a little bit more grounded.
I felt like ep 3 lagged a bit, but quickly picked up ep 4. Joo Won is killing it in this role. I love it! I cannot wait until next week! The end of episode 4 was just stellar! Got me screaming at the screen! I know it’s going to be so good! Woot! Go Yong Pal!
I guess KTH also contribute to the high ratings ? previously all her drama hit double digit esp during the premiere. that show how korean attracted to her? Lol yeah maybe because JOJ is quite bored plus gu family book that’s why the rating went down after the premiere.
JOJ maybe because the character was a femme fatale in korean history, and the idea to re-interpret the story of JOJ seems not to be appealed for Knetz. but considering this, the rating is not really worse, even not at the top.
KTH maybe not among the best Korean actress in term of talent, but she can be a factor to attract the viewers. Joo Won is no doubt carrying the first four episodes of this drama. hopefully the rating increased for the next episode. fighting yong pal!
Yup agreed. she’s not the best actress but her popularity is no joke. JW acting + KTH + good storyline = High ratings
You mention his appearance not his acting as if looks are the best actors can offer. You only can wish your favorites have his acting abilities. LOL.
Joo Won was never meant to be an attractive actor.He is your neighbourhood guy who fools around and be himself. The reason his fans love him is mainly because of his acting.He is not superstar with large no.s of fans but most of his dramas still have good ratings because his acting brings connection to his characters and viewers.Of course,scripts and directing play a part.
The success of drama is absolutely comes from all the contents in it. The writing/ storyline, directing, actings (whether leads or supporting roles), cinematography, editing, OSTs/background musics. People really easy to forget about those elements when the ratings is high. But if ratings is flopped everyone will back to original reason aka storyline or the writings. I hope script writers and other elements get more recognized in the future.
I don’t watch this drama yet. It just not my taste. But I’m happy if they could reach high ratings.
I agree and I think thats why this show is doing so well. It has it all. The cinematography is haunting and beautiful. So far the story isn’t following the same boring drama outline every drama seems to have. His secret identity is outed in the second episode not to mention the two leads haven’t even officially meet yet. Plus ALL the characters are interesting. And the superb writing and acting make you want to know more about the characters.
Definitely not KTH. She’s got 발연기 attached to her reputation in Korea which basically means “foot acting”. Theres no denying she’s very pretty but her dramas generally only do so-so and the biggest drama she was in Stairway to Heaven was only a second lead.
Joo Won is a different story. He’s a solid actor and seen as extremely versatile. Like the above poster said, its in the way he connects to his characters that allow audiences to relate to the story. Korea should just stop remaking Japanese dramas, period. People go into Jap dramas with a certain expectation on the length, the story and the play. Its never does go really deep, unlike the usual korean dramas making style that suits the tastes of local audiences.
Cantabile was a bomb in making from the start. Bottomline – if audiences like bibimmyeon, theres no use trying to solve miso udon down their throats. Tastes just dun suit. Unless producers get a clue, we will be watching more yucky remakes over and over again. Sigh.
All that said Yongpal – daebak. What separates it from healer is that fact that the writing is tighter and the main character more textured and dimensional. Dr. Stranger is just a gumbo of mess, putting in into comparison is really just injustice to this drama.
I do think KTH is a factor in the ratings too. the ratings peak for each episode seem to be at her scenes. Maybe I’m wrong and they were just coincidences the rating went up to 19% at her part.
Same thing happen in episode 2 with the Joo Won “X-ray Scene” it went up to 19% too. I think its just people seeing whats the end of the episode is like.
IRIS did well too. Well probably pple will say it was because of LBH.
hahaha, i beg to differ. i acknowledge JW’s talent. but err. his town talent is not sufficient to contribute a high rating.
KTH may as you said is afoot acting. but if shes not here in this drama, i wonder if this drama can achieve this high rating.,,,
LOLs, Joowon could make high rating with many dramas like Good Doctor and Gaksital. So, i dont think, she’s the main reason of this drama getting high rating. Last time Ms Koala made an article about 7 actors with high rating, KTH’s name wasn’t there, but Joowon was number 2 after Kim Soo Hyun 🙂
Cantabile is a flop even Joo won’s good acting can’t save the drama.Even KTH is known as foot acting in Korea her drama’s rating never been as suck as cantabile and civil. the lowest is JOJ average 9-10%.
Stairway to heaven, iris, my princess
loooool the style of the writer is similar with a japanese writer haha thats why i tried to watch it! haha its not all about love between male and female with this writer. korean dramas are bomb because they keep on doing twilight remake hahaha they should try to do japanese dramas they have creative plot and have intelligent message at the end of the show.
congrats i hope the ratings are here to stay not just one time.
So funny KTH’s fan, defending her crappy acting. OK, she is the “best” no one ever can rival her in everything.
lol, are you jealous here? no one defending her acting here. that was opinion that this drama’s high rating can be contributed by KTH. KTH’s popularity is actually no joke also, plus JW acting solidified this drama.
So far I think yongpal’s high ratings can be attributed to JW’s good acting, good story and there is not much competition..
Yongpal is turning out to be such an insane drama, not that it ever made any claims on sanity. But I’m really digging the insane right now. I hope it remains fun and if the ratings keep up, good.
As for Joo Won, I think he’s doing a good job here.
Maybe Joo Won luck with KBS is decreasing, he should start with SBS now…. (just kidding)
Good luck for yongpal, hope the quality remains good and consistence since it’s only 4 ep and you had 16 more to go
20 episodes?! I hope the writer is very good!
JW is a good actor. Agree that he is not too attractive (flower boy type), but I enjoy his acting. Glad the ratings have proven his worth.
Here the rating of both main actors past drama, base on the highest rated episode of each drama tried to find rating for Kim Tae-Hee dramas past IRIS but couldn’t find any numbers, i’ll add it later if i could find it.
Base on AGB Nationwide rating
Joo Won
Baker King 50.8; Ojakgyo Brothers 37.7; Bridal Mask 22.9; Level 7 Civil Servant 16.0; Good Doctor 20.6; Naeil’s Cantabile 8.5
Kim Tae-Hee
IRIS 39.9; My Princess 17.0; 99 days with the Superstar 10.9; Jang Ok Jung 11.4
From asianwiki
I think honestly yong pal get the high jump start from Mask….and then there is no competetion from other channels. Even ahjumma dont like to watch sonething like assembly or swwtn…and yong pal is the only drama that offer chaebol makjang drama….
it’s funny how you mention joo won should stick on doctor role, many jo
o won drama get high rating. baker king he eas antagonis there, his screen time as big as the yoon si yoon because it’s story is about their rivality,love story is just addition so he’s male lead too,it”s peak rating more than 50, he is baker, ojkgyo brother n bridal mask he’s police, the rating even bigger than good doctor do he’s not only succes in doctor role
I’m going to celebrate this Drama for a completely different reason, one no one here’s mentioned yet – the strong secondary female characters. Especially Chae Jeong An’s role. It’s very well written and she’s totally owning it. I hope she gets to stay the same for rest of the Drama.
Similarly with Stephanie Lee’s Cynthis – another interesting, self-aware and very competent female character. Let her have a good, meaningful story arc, please.
M ok with JOO Won but i do like his acting n enjoy watching Yong Pal. But I am here for Kim Tae Hee. .Hwaiting my princess^_*:))
His acting is good … he is not a visual actor. Not everybody will agree with me but I see resemblance of Kang Dong-won with Joo won soo I say his visual is good. What matters for me as a viewer is if the actor/actress can act and looks believable … he looks like a believable doctor who will do everything for his sister. Also most importantly I see different emotions.
If the actor looks adorable in their promo poster it will peak my interest I might take a peak on their first episode BUT when the show start and he cant express natural expression and looks awkward on screen haha thats when I disconnect with the show I mean why become an actor if you cant do your job properly might as well try modelling instead of acting.
Joo won is not like that and I am glad about it. The production of this show is good in casting Joo won. I am still not sure about Kim Tae hee but I think she is doing fine as of now.
off topic but would you guys please tell me where I can find the online & scenes rating? thanks alot
Out of topic. I feel it’s unfair to judge the success of the drama only from TV ratings (in Korea). There are many kinda drama that focus for certain ages (such as romcom or heavy melo which of course would give lower ratings). IMO Yoongpali seems easy to get wide range age of audiences. The theme is not about love story but more about humanity. And we can’t forget some of lower TV ratings are very popular outside korea such as Hyde Jekyl and Me or Lovely Girl or even Birth of Beauty while higher ratings dramas not always accepted by overseas audiences. So…
I just finished episode 4 and this drama has the crazy dialed up to 11. I will never understand the Korean viewers. I’m not going to say this drama isn’t entertaining because it is. But it’s also batcrap insane. It started nuts, and in episode 4 it took nuts to historic levels. I consider Joo Won totally overrated although I have watched most of his dramas. I’ll probably keep watching this too, much in the way Miss Koala kept watching the break your brain insanity of Dr Stranger. And after episode 4 I already feel my brain breaking. I think this drama takes place in a parallel world not our own and that is the only way to explain it.
I watched just a bit and was already eye rolling in the first 20 mins so had to stop for medical reasons
Although ratings aren’t everything except maybe for networks and advertisers, I’m happy for the cast.
The most important thing is that the show maintains it’s quality at least for the most part of the drama’s run. Too many dramas fall so far of the rails in the 3rd act (I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY) and this could potentially turn really crazy if the writer doesn’t keep things tight. Not trying to be negative but I and many other kdrama watchers have been burned so many times in the past.
JOO. WON.
Joo Won is a above average actor in expressing the character emotionally, but is bad at depicting the character physical characteristic. His way of depicting the character emotions, mannerism and characteristic has consistently been textbook. What drew me to the show was not the cast but actually the plot. Sure Joo Won and KTH was the initial draw but after that i was more interested in the story development overall as to the individual character development as they feel so generic and flat.
This drama is ridiculous but strangely addictive. I was rolling my eyes during most of episode 4 (despite all that string music telling me to be moved!), and yet I’m eager for episode 5. I’m not quite sure what to make of this. I’m not sure where the drama is going to go next though, because its already flat out ridiculous, over the top,down right crazy and all over the place and we’re just on episode 4. Perhaps that is what is keeping me watching…
Kim Tae-Hee for me. She looks very beautiful on screen even when wearing muted colors or without much make-up. The beautiful directing and the soundtracks are a draw too, reminded me of the American action movies’ cinematography and directing. It is quite a big change from the recent slow Korean dramas’ directing. Joo Won’s acting is good but I’m not 100% moved to sympathize with his character yet.
i love the pacing of this show and obviously, i love Joo Won! he brings in the drama although truth be told, the rest of the characters are awesome, even the sleeping beauty! i am glad she’s awake now and looking forward to the revenge angle, some more action packed scenes and most of all their love story.
Joo Won nails every drama he’s in. May the plot, or the script be bad, he puts everything in his acting. He’s actually one of the best actors of his generation. No. HE IS THE BEST ACTOR of his generation. He’s not only attractive as an actor. He’s also attractive as a person. I found that on his interviews, variety shows, and what people who knows him says about him. Those things made me fall in love with him. Then later, i fell in love with his looks as well. He’s also very talented in the field of singing, by the way. AN angelic voice to match his angelic looks (especially when he sleeps, lols). He’s quite unique in everything compared to the generic looks (flower boy type) and way of acting of the actors of his- and todays- generation.
Joo Won nails every drama he’s in. May the plot, or the script be bad, he puts everything in his acting. He’s actually one of the best actors of his generation. No. HE IS THE BEST ACTOR of his generation. He’s not only attractive as an actor. He’s also attractive as a person. I found that on his interviews, variety shows, and what people who knows him says about him. Those things made me fall in love with him. Then later, i fell in love with his looks as well. He’s also very talented in the field of singing, by the way. AN angelic voice to match his angelic looks (especially when he sleeps, lols). Anyways, Yong Pal, no matter what, is gonna be great until the end.
Joo Won is the Best Korean Actor at present. He is attractive in his own way and his acting is simple far beyond other more attractive actors of Korean Industry…and off course, Yong pal is going fabulous..!
Joo Won is one of the best in his generation… may not be as good looking as the others but his acting skills is far beyond the others. And his looks are not bad, he is actually good looking with a lot of aegyo. Cutie cute cute, like a puppy 🙂
As the drama s ratings continue to rise, much of the credit goes to series star nbsp;Joo Won, who revealed his nonstop work schedule at a recent press conference. Would you like to receive DramaFever news and exclusive promotions?