I finally figured out the flaw of SBS Wed-Thurs drama While You Were Sleeping, and the reason why ratings aren’t higher and are in fact fading again. The drama’s two flaws are familiarity, both in screenwriter Park Hye Ryun‘s writing style and storyboard, and in how the male lead Lee Jong Seok feels like he’s playing a copied version of his role in previous dramas. The stories still interest me but there is a noticeable lack of excitement and urgency, and in fact feels like the drama started off with a bang and is now trailing to a whimper. Suzy‘s character is way more interesting and she’s quite charming and warm to watch, but having her try the same have a dream try to change the future routine has gotten repetitive. So the highlight for me now is seeing more famous face cameos and coming this week are stars Yoon Kyun Sang and Lee Sung Kyung playing an adorably self-absorbed and lovey dovey couple that runs into the OTP at a field and jostle to take the best selcas. Love love the expressions they make ahahahaha!
the drama reminds me a lot of W, good start and then boring cause nothing makes sense
hope LSK will bring in more ratings… but as for the dreams, they are boring as hell… so predictable, does the writer think we are all retarded?? This drama is pre-produced, so good luck if the rating will change, it is so so boring… boring dreams, predictable ending…
how will lee sung kyung bring more ratings when wlfkbj’s average rating was 4.6% lmao but i agree tho, it’s getting more and more boring every episode
Seriously why in the world would she bring in high ratings?? She’s a b lister in Korea
@Mstar her i-fans has this delusion that she’s so popular in korea when she’s actually getting a lot of hate lmao
From what I’ve noticed, she is not that well liked by netizens in Korea but I could be wrong. Either way, she’s way more popular overseas due to Weightlifting Fairy.
LSK is not liked in Korea at all and only the love team of NamLee was well accepted by their shipper fans but as an individual she is not accepted in Korea. Don’t really understand the reason for that.
@VT according to Korean audience.She has personality/attitude problems.It first started with an appearance on a variety show called ‘Taxi Driver’ and then their perception of her worsened with that Jo Hye Sung scandal just a few months back.She already has two strikes against her even without scandals or whatnot for being an artist from YG(an entertainment company that has significant influence on casting decisions) and also she is model-turned actor.Many of the latest crop of model-turn actor from about 2015, have been involved in acting controversies.So she has to work twice as hard to be acknowledged in her own country.
the episode last night actually went down fr. last week wed. episode both 1st part and 2nd part, and no more baseball, coz some wyws fans said it coz of baseball
thanks all for your comments on LSK, I didn’t know she is not well-liked… hahaha… I am not her fan, just thot she is kinda pretty (faked coz she has plastic surgery)… Why the heck she was asked to cameo then, does she have no work that her agency wanted to get some exposure for her? But anyhow, who cares… I have dropped this drama after my fav cameo KSH was done in the earlier episodes… Freaking boring drama!
LSK & YKS cameo is for the Pd who is the same one as their drama Doctors & boy was LSK unlikable in that drama! Ha Myung Hee is a horrible writer. She butchered almost every character in the drama and I missed the badass Hye Jung so much in the second half. Doctors was also a parade of cameos and NGM was the best one in that!
Yks and lsk are best friends of ljs. That’s why they did it. Ljs was a cameo in weightlifting fairy too. And ljs came to 3 means a day for yks.
I dunno about her attitude but i follow her ig and she seems nice. This trio did some videos and took some pics back then and they were so adorable together.
LSK had double eyelid surgery and it’s pretty natural looking, I don’t see any other surgery.
I wish people would stop this ‘natural beauty’ crap, if someone can’t act then is it supposed to be a point in their favour that they never had a nose job or whatever? As long as they don’t do a Uee and do so much surgery that their facial proportions are distorted, I’m not bothered.
@teacakes – just bcoz you replied to my thread… may I ask what “natural beauty” crap you are referring to please?
@candycane – I’m referring to the thing where absolutely terrible actresses get repeatedly cast in lead roles and people bring up their not having had PS as if it somehow makes them more qualified to be the lead.
It wasnt directed at you personally, sorry for the misunderstanding. It’s just that I’m a fan of actors who have had PS and actors who haven’t, and honestly as long as they look natural on screen and act well I don’t care. I just find the fixation dumb.
new fan here of KSH, watching reruns of Bring it On Ghost in tvN, woah the kiddo can act. about the “natural beauty” crap thingy, I guess what the others meant, beauty is supposed to be true and free, and you cant have that in PS that’s Fake and expensive. also, natural makes you unique and original;, whereas PS that is man-made looks cloned where everyone seems to look alike each other when they just copy with blueprints the beauty standards in industry. so in the long run, copies and clones are not really good, for each men were created uniquely.
@Pabede People say all that but the fact is, as long as the PS doesn’t look unnatural, it doesn’t matter. Some of the most iconic beauties of their generations had nose jobs, from Marilyn Monroe to Angelina Jolie. No one is hung up on those in the west, but Korea likes to sell ‘natural beauty’ because the k-ent industry is based more on image than talent.
I’m also a huge fan of Kim So Hyun and think she will go far like (also natural) Moon Geun Young, but that’s because they are talented, I don’t care whether they had nose jobs in the past or not. Likewise Lee Sung Kyung’s double eyelid surgery looks natural, I don’t care that her face has one minor change from her high school years.
It seems like Park Hye Ryun is falling into the trap just like Park Ji Eun. Trying to plagarize her own works and repeating the same success formula but unfortunately back-fired. The moment she decided to cast Lee Jong Suk again, I already lose interest in the drama and then as always, Suzy has the ability to dampen my interest in any acting project. The thing is, I loathed elitism and that was what demonstrated by PHR when she roped LJS again because she thought he is a rating magnet. Good for her that this drama not doing that well. I hope this will serve a lesson for her to relook into her formula and give other actors, albeit not so popular but talented a chance.
I totally agree with your comment. As an actor & management company who doesn’t yearn for fame, popularity and $$$ however, don’t be too greedy. Give other people a chance.
A chance at what though? It’s not like this writer is a huge hit maker.
Maybe she just likes working with the same actors. Suzy and LJS are not known to be rating magnets, especially LJS since his last 3-4 dramas have been consistently getting the same mediocre ratings regardless of who he works with.
@another abc, give other actors and actresses to try out her scripts. Resulting dynamics may become different. It’s like film sequels never do as well as the original.
We can’t forget PHR did help LBY win a Daesang. I don’t believe in actors in being the sole ratings magnet. You need a good script plus excellent acting (plus a few other things such as a good PD) to propel the character beyond paper.
Agreed.I have never considered Kim Eun Sook as a good writer and probably never will.But I always gave her credit for boosting careers of those that are already talented and in the public radar.But needed that extra push to be at the top and gain more recognition.
But am disappointed with her latest pick for her next drama.It is a clear case of elitism and on the part of the actor, someone using their position,power or status in the industry for image cleaning.Lee Byun Hun of all people doesnt need a career boost, he is way past that age, and he is already acknowledged as a high level actor.As @abc said, elitist activities are highly motivated by greed.This is one of those occasions.
I mean being competitive is not a bad thing.Desiring to be at the top of the game, while raking loads of money is not a crime.But sometimes, its worth asking is there really a need to be like that all the time?Is the reason, they act or write,just for fame or awards or whatever?shouldnt it be more than that?
But apparently she wrote a ‘strong’ female character this time because it’s ‘trendy’ to do so. KES has a very old school approach to kdramas but it’s just packaged so well that it feels current. I like watching her dramas because they don’t require much brain cells and are super pretty!That’s about the only reason.
@jump50 hahhaha.strong character my foot.She probably means that she will only write it for the first episode and by ep 4.Her version of strong character probably mean the girl talking back to the male character, or playing pull and push games like Kang Mo Yeon in DOTS in the first episodes.That female will be a whimpering sissy, pinning for ahjusshi before even half the drama.Gil Ra Im was meant to be this bad ass stunt woman but what happen..by ep 4 she was just crying, getting dragged around and saying sorry, sorry, everywhere.who is she kidding? she really is going to write Kim Tae Ri as a strong female character against Lee Byun Hun?
Exactly, these writers forget that they got successful initially without big-name stars (their dramas were what shot their cast to stardom) but once they get successful they’re afraid to try someone new and just become star vehicles. Also PHR used to write good or at least entertaining female second leads but theres none of that in WYWS, it used to be a cool thing about her as a writer but she ditched it.
PHR actually wrote a 3 episode drama last year called Page Turner with Kim So Hyun, Ji Soo and Shin Jae Ha and it was really good, why doesn’t she try doing a full length drama with kids like those who are not super famous yet but can still act?
Everyone can have a bad day once in a while. Maybe this isn’t PHR best and while I still enjoy the drama I admit it is lacking that magic and the otp isn’t the best especially after IHYV & Pinocchio where the chemistry was overflowing. I wouldn’t accuse PHR of nepotism because I’ve been watching her works and my conclusion is she seems like a bit of an introvert who isn’t comfortable with a lot of new people. Once she’s adjusted to a person she finds it difficult to line her self up with another person. Its problematic as a writer but as a person its understandable. PHR just gels with LJS so she likes writing for him, the writing may not come easily if she’s forced to work with someone she isn’t comfortable with.
I think its better to wait and watch a few more of her dramas before coming to this conclusion. Maybe this was just an off drama and but still its not completely bad like Lucky Romance or Warm & Cozy were in terms of writing.
I dropped after 4 ep , because like i said previously i had an impression of déjà vu. As for the cast of LJS i don’t know if the writer loves him ( Scorsese + Di Caprio) or just as some of you said for moneyor whatever. The result is that the drama is boring. When i was Young ,i used to Watch a drama til the end but not anymore. Time is precious !
I stop watching this drama this week, as much as I want to support LJS and Suzy. I can’t take much more of them making heart-eyes at each other without any plot progression, in recent episodes, they even have heart_eyes moments in multiple dreams versions!
Another failure for flop Suzy
I think she gains more as in CF contracts… with her low level of talents, any work assignment will be a bonus… Her real flop is no work which is not happening yet ?
Hardly a flop for Suzy! Her popularity has soared and so has her reputation as an actress. Just look at all the events and endorsements she’s received after the drama.
It’s pointless to call Suzy a flop because she is extremely well liked as a celebrity and person in south korea. Even knet is aware of her acting limitations but they still love her. She has charisma and that’s all she needs to succeed.
@bingo does she have new products endorsement while wyws is airing?
She’s a product model who does acting projects so she can get CFs, at this point that is her day job and the only reason she gets roles.
I wonder how many underwhelming (SBS expected higher ratings for this) or unsuccessful projects it will take before the industry stops trying to sell her as an ‘actress’ by blaming everyone but her for her lack of acting skills, this is the third already.