Things are not dire but is certainly disappointing as tvN‘s high profile and big name casted K-drama remake of Criminal Minds hasn’t really resonated with the local audience. Episode 1 did a promising and high for cable 4.187% AGB nationwide ratings but has then fallen to the 2% range with a few episodes going back up past 3% but nowhere near hitting 4% again. The drama also had a huge production snafu right before it premiered when one of the two PDs left the production due to reported creative difference, and it was the PD who did The Good Wife K-drama remake and the PD who remained is the one who did IRIS. I’ve only watched one episode and an banking the remainder for a marathon but what’s the feedback from international viewers on this drama? I would have been more ravenous for it years ago during my procedural phase when I gobbled up CSI episodes like M&Ms but once past that phase watching a sleek crime drama is not high on my agenda though I’m quite determined to watch this one for leads Lee Jun Ki, Moon Chae Won, and Son Hyun Joo.
The drama remains between 2% – 3%. This week odd number episode reached the lowest at 2% but by thursday went back up to normal viewership at 2.5%. I love Lee Jun Ki so very much but this drama is boring and not enganging at all. The cases direction is repetitive and there is no element if surprise that hook you. No problem with the acting but hell lot of problems with writing and directing. Such a waste of great takents in LJK, MCW and SHJ. I was so against LJK doing a remake and I was right. CM definitely not the worst drama out there but not something I enjoy despite headline by my fave lineup of actors.
I never was a fan of the original version. And not a fan of the korean one. I don’t like the way the investigations are presented, it’s pretty boring.
But The Good Wife was really great ! The story and the actors ! A really good remake 🙂
I dropped, something is lacking . I’ve been wondering what it is . It lacks emotion, thrill, intensity. The actors seem “stone faced” people. In the original version, every member is important, they ‘re like a family. They see the worst side of some humans but the viewer stills see a kind of light. I think that koreans should stick with what they do the best : their own dramas( signal, Forest secret, tunnel…) Entourage was a flop, “the good wife”, even with very good actors wasn’t all that. I heard they are targeting “The mentalist” ! Please no!!!
Honestly , it’s a flop ! It’s the 2 nd flop for Moon Chae Won after a string of successes. And another one for Lee Jun ki. OCN “Save me ” hit 3% this week !
Off of topic, but i’m afraid that Ha Ji won’s drama isn’t going to do well too. Watched the épisodes and i wasn’t thrilled. As for KBS weekend drama with Park Shi Hoo came in 1st with solid ratings. I think that viewers don’t bother with scandals !!!
KBS weekend dramas always do well. They always get above 30% and for the really good ones they get above 40%. Will have to wait and see. Park Shi Hoo got a lot of criticism for his acting in the first episode but the storyline is fast paced. And yes, why should viewers care about scandal if they can act?
Yes Kbs weekend dramas always do well, i agree , his acting is a little weird , I have a feeling of déjà vu. The impression that he was taken off of “Chungdamdong Alice” and put directly in this drama . And my point is that “scandals” doesn’t matter if viewers get what they want from a drama or a movie.
It’s not a flop for a cable tv’s drama.
It’s average and pretty standard.
Most TvN’s dramas this year ranging around the same – Chicago Typewriter, Circle, Bride of the Water God. Even “Man to Man” at Jtbc hit around the same viewership.
Your consideration of a flop is obviously because you are comparing the show with “Goblin”, “Woman of Dignity” and “Signal” which are of astronomical figures.
To be honest, K-dramas not faring well this year compare to 2016. Even at public tv stations, except for “Defendant” and “Chief Kim”, the rest are settling around the same figures with the highest meddling at the lower teens.
So, it’s totally not justified to brand CM as a flop.
Honestly, I think Korean dramas have fallen in a rut. I don’t know how many dramas I started watching this year that I never finished. Ideally, some dramas have interesting concepts, but the execution and writing does not engage and fizzles out. Also, there are so many detective, medical, and lawyer storylines usually involving corrupted politics. After watching so many, the storylines seem so predictable. And if it’s not that, it’s idol actors being cast that can’t act.
@AnneAkemi, you spoke exactly my mind. I dropped so promising dramas since last year. I don’t understand why drama’s industry doesn’t reflect on the bad ratings and do nothing about the lack of interest for their productions ?
Agree. Can’t be bothered any more with K-dramas. Only saw a few J dramas this year. Not bad content and also short.
And the poor ratings of dramas of Lee Junki and Ha Jiwon also indicates that the era of Hallyu stars is past. Also what Korean audiences watch is not what I-auds watch so maybe the drama makers need to focus on local market instead of making half baked productions with high profile names with an eye on China etc.
Maybe first gen hallyu stars but I think PSH & LJS are still very relevant and their dramas always do well. It’s just a bad year for kdrama. It happens from time to time.
The drama was ok. But cameraworks and cinematography wise it is so lackluster that you’d think its low budgeted. Was actually watching for the romance side but even if we have JunKi here theres just something lcking with the script and all. Too bad. Was really looking forward to this but i dropped it at ep 6.
The drama is pretty boring and mediocre. The only things I like about it are LJK and MCY… but I don’t even like their characters.
This drama is weak in several aspects: writing, directing, supporting actors…
What a waste.
Despite the casting of the three main leads, the drama fails to keep me glued to the screen. At first, I thought it was simply the editing that was the main problem. But after repeatedly trying to watch an episode without fast forwarding, I realized that it just doesn’t have the kind of narrative that I was hoping for. To put it simply, I would rather watch Signal or Voice again than watch this, so I finally stopped watching after episode 8.
Ratings wise, its Thursdays were doing okay (for a cable around 3% is a hit) so I don’t think it as a flop. But if it continues to lose viewers at this rate, I really hope they would stop making Korean adaptation of already aired shows.
Goblin and reply 1988 got 20%, swdbs and woman of dignity also achieved high rating.
3% in tv cable won’t be considered a hit now
3% may won’t considered a hit now but definitely not a flop. How many cable dramas in a year that could reach Goblin and Woman Dignity’s ratings? Probably 10 out of 100 esp with tvN’s dramas this year
It’s on a totally new timeslot and a late night show some more.
Cable TV’s dramas normally ranging around that percentage so it’s not being considered a flop. If you compare with other TvN dramas this year like “Tomorrow With You” and “Chicago Typewriter” airing at TvN’s primetime slot (same time with “Goblin” and “Answer Me 1988”), CM definitely rated higher.
The only reason some considering it a flop is because of the A-listers headlining the drama. We are talking about LJK, MCW and SHJ whom are big names but being victimized by the poor writing and directing.
@Allison no this is a flop. Because when Taecyon and Seo Ye Ji’s dark as hell drama in OCN is increasing in numbers starting from 1% to steadily 3% while being critically acclaimed and a tvn drama with high profile writer, cast fails to keep their numbers from falling, there’s no if’s and but’s. Its a flop. Lee Jun Ki, badluck once again in drama. It neither has the numbers nor the critical acclaim.
as a huge fan of the US one it’s disappointing. none of the characters are as interesting
The drama is boring. I am a regular watcher of the US, and a fan of crime dramas/ shows but I could barely watch this.
Feel bad for LJK as his recent works in dramaland result in disappoint rating and reviews.
Boring. Lee jun ki needs to pick better script. He is so bad at choosing projects.
It’s on a totally new timeslot and a late night show some more.
Cable TV’s dramas normally ranging around that percentage so it’s not being considered a flop. If you compare with other TvN dramas this year like “Tomorrow With You” and “Chicago Typewriter” airing at TvN’s primetime slot (same time with “Goblin” and “Answer Me 1988”), CM definitely rated higher.
The only reason some considering it a flop is because of the A-listers headlining the drama. We are talking about LJK, MCW and SHJ whom are big names but being victimized by the poor writing and directing.
This year only drama which kept me interested and stayed in my thought between episodes was The Liar and his lover. Beautiful Lee Hyun Woo has grown to be a beautiful sight to see. For rest of dramas, i lose interest after episode 6, somewhere between episode 8.9, i stopped watching completely and just read recaps of last episode to know what has happened.
Joy was delight to watch too even it was her first acting gig. Only thing drama lacked was one serious kiss. Other than that it was such a good drama.
I’m a big fan of the original Criminal Mind and watching the remake it seems lacking in terms of the investigations and some other aspects. As for the acting i blame it on the directing. They feel unnatural and i forced. The genius guy (i forget his name) doesn’t give the genius vibe. The drama doesn’t hook me even after few eps watching.
i wonder why people dont compare the budget of dramas with its ratings like they do with movies.
there are soo many presumed hit dramas that were flops monetary wise like k2,legend of blue sea etc.
criminal minds is definitely a flop drama with its huge budget and ratings too.nowadays hovering around 3 percent is not good compare to 3 years ago at tvn.
this is the reason why critics says tvn is in a slump with only secret forest and live up to your name being hits this year.
Ditto! People forget to compare the ratings and resulting hype and value with the initial budget, promotions and the expectations.
lee jun ki is a great actor but terrible in project selection unfortunately unlike other great talents like sang kang ho,lee byun hun who great acting skills goes hand in hand with their great taste in projects selection.
i sometimes look at lee jun ki and wonder how far he would have gone if only he has the knack in selecting good works.
You can’t compare Lee Jun Ki with Sang Kang Ho and Lee Byun Hun. These are movie stars especially Sang Kang Ho whereas Lee Jun Ki’s last movie was 10 years ago, the King and Clown being his only hit. The question should be – “Why is Lee Jun Ki not acting in movies?” before wondering what he could have achieved if he had the knack of selecting good works like Sang Kang Ho and the likes.
If we are to discuss about drama selection, I think most actors can’t avoid making a dud choice once in a while. The common wisdom would be to choose the right writer, PD and production company to work with. However, these people also chooses their main actors. It is apparent that more renown writers get to choose their muse or writers like Kim Eun Sook picks popular or famous actors. For the rest who have to choose from less established or new writers, they can only make the best decision from whatever little script they are given and hope for the best.
Maybe that’s why top stars only does one drama ocassionally. They are probably afraid to flop and would only come back alongside famous writers and/or co-stars.
One example I can think of with a great eye for script is Gong Hyo Jin. I don’t think any of her dramas ever flopped. Maybe she can give some advice to Lee Jun Ki.
Being a long time fan of LJK, his choice of doing dramas instead of movies is because of his preference to stay longer in one character and at the same time, drama fanbase is a lot larger than movies.
I can’t quite say he is terrible at picking project but I would have to say he seems to not having lady luck on his side. If you looked at CM – securing a list of credible actors especially with Son Hyun Joon and Moon Chae Won aboard as well as strong PD (before the exit of PD Lee of “Good Wife” fame) and that they even held a contest to secure a scriptwriter….Criminal Minds sure look like a promising project. Pretty much the same with Moon Lovers last year – having secured big funding from Universal Studio, it was set to look like a solid project. However, things did not turned out the way it was intended to. So, I can’t say he is terrible at choosing project because from the way I analyse his basis of selection, I totally understand his choice.
If there is any way that I want for LJK is for him to break free from being typecasted as an action hero or something of similar genre. He himself is aware of this but like what he said, he received limited offers on other genre except sageuk and action. He is no longer the “IT” actor, being only a former Hallyu star who had a popularity resurgence at least on international front and a strong loyal fanbase….so to be selective of projects is quite hard for him especially that he is appearing in a drama at least once a year.
I don’t think he has lived up to his former reputation. The Good Wife turned out to be a decent adaptation for e.g. And CM is a project that should have worked – you can’t blame it on everyone else but the actor. And agree with D above – he never built his rep as a movie actor post King and the Clown unlike the top actors. That would have served him well as I don’t think he is much of a drama actor – though tbf he did try to find a niche there in historicals but it didn’t work.
2% is pretty dire considering so many big names in the cast.
I was looking forward to this drama but couldn’t get excited while watching, something is just missing hmm…
Also is such a waste for Lee Sun Bin as she is a kickass good actress for action roles.
I do not like the original and find this remake boring too. I think it’s the issue of direction more than acting.
i love this drama and LJG is amazing in it!! this week episodes promise to be great. i cant wait!