Chosun News Passes the “God Screenwriter” Baton from Kim Eun Sook Failing with The King: Eternal Monarch to Park Ji Eun with Runaway Hit Crash Landing on You
Complacency is the insidious foe, like termites you can’t see but it’s slowly eating away at the foundation. If I am the most successful drama screenwriter of all time in South Korea Kim Eun Sook and I just read the article from Chosun News that says the epic failure of The King: Eternal Monarch means it’s time to pass her “God” crown to younger Park Ji Eun after her major hit Crash Landing on You, I would take it like MJ would and use it as the fuel to come back with like THE BEST drama of all time. Sorry, so addicted to The Last Dance and love basketball but watching MJ his prime destroy anyone who even had one good game against him is why he’s untouchable, and Kim Eun Sook needs to do that to also keep her God crown. I’m imaging her in her fancy estate writing room going “K-ent thinks my reign is over, HOLD MY BEER BITCH” and she gets back to basics. I don’t disagree with the great points and analysis made in the Chosun article but I think it’s yet early to move the “God” crown to Park Ji Eun who needs another two more solid hits before I think she’s even in the same level of Kim Eun Sook who churned out exactly a dozen hits before falling so hard with The King.
The Chosun News article by reporter Park So Young lays out the points for why the “God” crown may be time to be moved from Kim Eun Sook to Park Ji Eun:
- Crash Landing on You is a domestic hit from the start – unique story, exciting plot developments, a fantasy romance between a North and South Korean that was well presented.
- CLOY broke tvN ratings, surpassing Mr. Sunshine and Goblin, written by Kim Eun Sook.
- The drama is also an international hit, top of Netflix streaming in multiple regions and is a huge pan-Asia hit like the Hallyu dramas of yore.
- It has a 97% freshness rating in Rotten Tomatoes so popular in the US which is a hard market to crack.
- English media outlets majorly covered it from CNN, AP news, Forbes, and production company Studio Dragon fielded many interviews.
- CLOY surpassed Park Ji Eun’s own hits You From Another Star and Legend of the Blue Sea.
Why The King: Eternal Monarch is Kim Eun Sook’s biggest failure ever:
- High expectations due to her past successes and signing popular Hallyu actor Lee Min Ho.
- The King opened domestically below expectations and ratings continued to decrease.
- Male lead Lee Min Ho’s character The King Lee Gon is not resonating with viewers, the prince charming on a white horse has no substance as written.
- Criticism from media and netizens over excessive PPL (fried chicken, canned coffee, skincare products) which break the viewing immersion of viewers.
- Critique on the difficult to follow story line and awkward directing.
- SBS was expecting The King to be its biggest hit and is coming off well received dramas Stove League, Hyena, Nobody Knows, and Romantic Teacher, Doctor Kim 2, and what was most excited pre-release has become the most disappointing for the network.
Cloy surpassing MLFTS and LOTBS I don’t think so and not even an ounce. You gotta be kidding me over there at Chosun. I ain’t buying whatever they are selling that North-south korea refugee love story bigger than two mammoth fantasy stories yeeeah how about no
However I would like to add that PJE is not entirely off KES level. Yes I agree KES is the GOAT currently but PJE is not far off especially not 3 dramas perhaps 1-2 max. the Margin is not that big but I agree KES is ahead slightly PJE but both of them mammoths tho
KES needs to write a sequel to heirs with Park Shin Hye and Lee Min Ho. We thought when Lmh got out of the service, and he promised us a surprise, it would be something with PSH. I think both actors are doing a fantastic job in the King. But I don’t see the chemistry. Everything I have read indicate people want to see PSH and LMH together again, Heirs II or any other rom-com would be a total hit. Give the people what they want.
MLFTS and LOTBS were aired by SBS, a public broadcasting channel. Whereas, CLOY is a cable channel TVN. Rating standard is different. Public broadcasting has a high average rating which I think is 6% – 8% compared to cable drama which is normally 2% – 4%. So IMO that’s their basis of comparison.
Yes you are right . And not to forget MLFTS had 21 episodes, LOTBS had 20 episodes. Whereas CLOY had only 16 episodes. And still it managed to surpass the former 2, if we do some normalisation between cable and public tv ratings.
Yeah. Meaning, the 21% achieved by CLOY in cable tv means 42% in public tv. So, that means, it has higher ratings than MLFTS (28%) and LOTBS (21%).
CLOY BEST KOREAN DRAMA I HAVE SEEEN…still watching favorite episodes..wonderful chemistry with all cast…best actress/actor Son ye jin and Hyun bin..hoping they will come together for another movie…
Love your work..Fan from NZ
NO OTHER KOREAN DRAMA HAS EVER HAD A MEDIA MILEAGE WITH MAJOR NEWS CHANNELS AROUND THE WORLD. CLOY HAVING A FOOT TRAFFIC 3 MONTHS AFTER IT HAS ENDED IS A MAJOR CELEBRATION.
It doesn’t matter, the winner is writer Park Ji-Eun. She wrote all those dramas you mentioned and all of there are hits!
LOTBS was totally average and forgettable. It aired on a public channel and barely cracked 20%. It can’t compete with CLOY and definitely not MLFTS.
For me the king is the best…its number 1 in netflix philippines on its 9 and 10 ep…i dont understand the fuss and buzz about it…for me the writer is a genius…lee min ho’s acting is very good also the other actors at actresses…and the director is very good….and its consistent placer in netflix philippines…lee min ho is displaying a powerful acting..he’s one of the best and I LOVE HIM with all my heart…
I agree. Here, in Brazil, the drama have a lot of fans. They love the history and the cast. It’s so sad that drama received bad views in the Korea, because I know the cast are doing a great job.
Totally agree with you. I still dont understand what is this fuss about ratings. For me the The King Eternal Monarch is just doibg great. Its a fiction. If Hye Bye Mama shows a Ghost running around the city why not a parallel world. Its all about creative imagination for entertainment. From Australia we are loving it and salute to our King Lee Min Ho. ❤
I totally agree with you as to the entertainment value of The King Eternal Monarch. I am enjoying this drama immensely. First of all, it has huge appeal to audiences who enjoy movies or shows in the fantasy genre: such as Twilight, Harry Potter, the Justice League, etc. We are people who like to have our imaginations challenged! Secondly the King has to be portrayed just as he has been. He is a King! All his life he has been groomed to be aloof & regal. So he falls in love with a commoner. Well, he has no idea how to respond or act in this situation! The Lt. has no experience with royalty; so they are learning how to reach out to each other and convey the intensity of their feelings for each other. So how can some viewers dare complain that there is no chemistry between the two leads? The chemistry IS there if you know how to recognize it! Both actors are doing a superb convincing job portraying their characters! Kudos for a wonderfully engaging different genre of drama! Thank you!
The two dimensionals concept is no longer new, there was lot SK Drama with two worlds or two dimension theme. I personally found the storyline is quite simple, yet the pace doesn’t follow. With all high expectation no wonder why lot of people drop it and its rating so low (AGBN 5.+) even aired on the free broadcasting system like SBS.
Park Ji-eun give her best in My Husband Got a Family. MLFTS and CLOY didn’t come near it. And MHGaF is still at my top 2 favorite dramas.
Buzz-wise, is CLOY on the same level as DotS and Goblin?
No. DOTS was huge. CLOY may be on the same level as Goblin (or less), but these two are nowhere near DOTS. I don’t like that drama at all but can’t deny it was everywhere back in the days. Parodies, OSTs, Commercial impact. Didn’t DOTS bring like a billion dollars worth to South Korean economy just right after it ends? That’s just massive. Like Winter Sonata, BOF massive.
Actually, MLFTS was much bigger than DOTS. Now that drama was huge. DOTS was big, sure. But it’s no BOF lol. That’s a reach.
Thank you. 🙂
Dots wasnt as huge as CLOY. I live both in Europe and never had any information for Dots. Cloy is being followed everywhere in Europe. Check the major channels ins Europe and all of it has CLOY article.
@Monggo media writes about it doesn’t mean it’s popular. They just do because it’s on Netflix. IC, Extracurricular and Kingdom also got a ton of articles too. You can go to the streets of Europe or America, ask random people and I can guarantee you 99.9% of the population don’t even know what it is. The only thing about Korea that is relevant is BTS, Parasite, Korean food and some Blackpink.
I read somewhere that the reason Kim Eun Sook had those successful hits were thanks to her assistant writers… and now she has new writers and that’s why The King is such a flop in comparison.
So where did those writers go? Did they make it on their own?
One of KES’s assistant writer wrote Search WWW. It’s pretty ironic that KES is known for writing bad female leads who are only after men and this assistant writer wrote a show entirely about badass women. That’s a good show btw.
Kwon Eun-do who wrote Search WWW which was one of my favorite dramas about women in the IT industry. I agree with @wapz. It is ironic how KES writes pretty bad female characters but her former assistant writes about really cool, badass women. Writer Im Mae-a-ri who wrote Beauty Inside is also a former assistant. The tv drama not the movie.
Wow, if this is true then she must be the popular writer potrayed in Be Melodramatic. Hahahaha the irony
I agree and this is based on my personal taste.
I couldn’t watch a single drama by KES other than Lovers in Paris and yes, the laughable The Heirs. The rest, I dropped them very early, with DOTS breaking the record where I fell asleep not even halfway into episode 1.
I enjoyed most of PJE’s dramas especially CLOY and also her daytime dramas like “You Who Come Rolling Into My Life”. Her writing is meatier and she is good at developing characters. Her weakest work so far is LOTBS which stemming from her silliness to duplucate the success formula of YFAS.
CLOY is definitely very buzzy. Celebrities in my country been raving about this drama on their IGs. I saw many articles writing about SYJ’s wardrobe, filming location and not to mention how Hyun Bin is everywhere. If not more, CLOY is definitely as buzzy as Goblin and DOTS and YFAS.
Agree. I find KES’ dramas quite bland and the only one that I finished and enjoyed was Secret Garden. As for the rest, I think they bring big stars and an expensive production, so they are nice to look at, but the story and script are weak in my view.
I don’t know if PJE is that good, CLOY was quite engaging. I certainly like other writers more, like Park Hye Ryun (Dream High, I can hear your voice…)
CLOY get netflix boost, that’s why it gets the “US trending” look while Goblin and DOTS didn’t aired on Netlix, as much as I don’t think they are good, they are everywhere, even at that time you couldn’t escape it while CLOY needs more time to see the how it fair long time,
It’s popular for Kdrama audience but it doesn’t even reach what Goblin did. I remember how Goblin OST, clips and anything actually garnered millions of view with iconic soundtrack while CLOY is zero in OST popularity, no parody (yet) and the view is minimal. DOTS and MLFAS also s popular that their song is so iconic even to people who didn’t watch the drama, this is unfortunately didn’t happen to CLOY.
Park Ji Eun needs more drama to take the crown since KES hits start long time ago with Lovers in Paris – 2004 and continue to get bigger, except for the king now,
even her less buzz drama now like On-Air actually critically acclaimed
I don’t even like KES and this is just outsider perspective, CLOY is buzzy for now but less iconic without any song that makes it memorable, as much as love is the moment, you are my everything is a meme, CLOY is not as memorable.
PJI needs at least 2 more hit drama.
I second to you. CLOY is good but not a memorable one. You watch it once then forget about it. It’s doesn’t leave that nastogic feeling. While Goblin and DOTS are more memorable. But to each their own.
Sorry i disagree. I have seen both dots and goblin and didnt not even watch both shows second time. They did not give me the butterfly feelings.
I saw DOTS once, seen Goblin six times and I dropped CLOY after the third episode despite the fact that I’m a huge son ye jin fan. CLOY is one of the most clique rom com ever and I’m glad I didn’t devote 16 hours of me time to it.
Park ji eun as a long way to go to reach kim eun sook because as far as I am concern, her only amazing drama was my love from another star.
I think PJE dramas have a better story line.. the build up in the relationship between the otp, stories are well written, every episodes makes you look forward to the next.. alot of people who nv watched or werent into k dramas actually got hooked into cloy.. cloy is definitely the best drama i have ever watched.. cant even think of any other drama that is as good as cloy
Where as KES dramas, otp fell in love without any build up out of nowhere they just fell in love like goblin n the king..well thats all i can say cos i gave up goblin dots halfway.. i did watch finished the heirs it was okay nth great that makes me wanna rewatch.. struggling to continue the king just because i need sth to watch during treadmill..
CLOY clips has highest number of Youtube views for any kdrama.I m not saying this but Wikipedia does.CLOY outperformed Mr. Sunshine clips by a margin of 200 million views.
I think it is still too early to call it forgettable. Let us wait for sometime before deciding whether it has the longevity or not.
I personally never liked KES dramas and nor could I manage to finish MLFTS without yawning. But I liked CLOY ,so my vote will go for PJE cause she scored higher.
It has higher views because more people use the internet these days though. It’s not a fair metric. Google Reviews is not a fair metric neither because it’s new.
Agree
Well that data was considered till 17 th feb, which was before the COVID hit the majority of the world. Mr. Sunshine was only released around 1.5 years prior to CLOY,so I guess people were using internet back then as well.
I think sone people decide to not watch due to the male lead is lee santa tho
Hahahah so true. I didn’t watch Mr sunshine because of the ML and my sister told me that drama is too deep and need certain knowledge to understand the plot. Side note: I’m not a fan of ML due to his scandal
If Goblin and DOTS were aired in Netflix , I m not sure whether they would have been that much popular as it was anywhere else in Asia. Goblin still has the chances cause it had a unique premise foreign to the west.However I don’t see it for DOTS cause US itself produces dozens of projects with a military concept on a yearly basis which are far better in quality than DOTS.
Is only CLOY on Netflix?? There are other kdramas as well.But it managed to pull their interest mainly due to the nk-sk scenario. And for the rest, acting , directing and cinematography did the job.
Goblin and DOTS are in Netflix now but I haven’t watched them completely coz I find them boring. But CLOY got me hooked maybe because of how the actors and actresses gave life to their roles.
I agree. Some people have recency bias or simply don’t know how big some of these dramas are. MLFTS – Cheon Song Yi was the queen back then. She was and still is iconic. I remember there were so many memes of her and whatever JJH wore in the drama got sold out. The OSTs, like Goblin and DOTS, were also very popular, which is not the same for CLOY. I don’t see CLOY get parodies in Korean shows or even remotely the same amount these dramas got back drama anywhere else. CLOY has Netflix. Idk where these data are from but Netflix have never released the actual data, and I’ve never seen CLOY in Netflix US Top 10 ever before. No one talks about it in the country. I don’t get what these newspapers and their fans are raving about.
I’m from the state and no one talks about CLOY. Dramas that were a talk among people are Black, DOTS, Goblin, MLFTS, and HDL. Also old drama like Full House, Sad Love Story, Autumn In My Heart, Rooftop Prince, and Stairway To Heaven are more talk about than CLOY. I also didn’t see CLOY on top 10 before so I’m quite confused to where they got these data from too?
CLOY was the number 6 show streamed on US Netflix in March so that’s where they got the data from. Yes, Netflix itself has released the data. Why do people try and argue what is more popular? Yes, MLFTS was popular. CLOY is popular. Why try and argue how many parodies, cultural significance a show has to win a popularity contest? “No one talks about it in the country” is a pretty blanket statement. LOL. Where I’m from it’s talked about and loved.
@valentine no it was not. I live in the states and I watch Netflix almost everyday. The shows in the top 10 are always Ozark, Tiger King, Money Heist, Outer Banks, etc. I’ve never come across CLOY in the top 10.
@Lilo same. No one really talks about any K-drama. I was surprised to see some CLOY fans making comparisons with Parasite. CLOY is not the first drama to get some attention in the US (like very minimal as Korean movies/dramas are not popular at all except Parasite). Many dramas have had articles writing about how the dramas gained some attention in the States but those are just some media news to hype up the drama. No significance. The data that CLOY fans used are from tabloid news and not official data released by Netflix.
for the week of March 21-March 27 CLOY was the 6th most watched show on Netflix per Reelgood data so yes @Anne, Netflix has released their data.
I would trust an actual data source rather than your “I watch netflix every day and I know who’s watching what”. I don’t want to argue any more but I will rave about CLOY. You do you good sis.
No it was not. Link me the source from Netflix themselves. Like from a Netflix website or something. Netflix doesn’t release their data. Reelgood is not Netlix ma’am.
I love the CLOY OST, so I wouldn’t say it has zero in OST popularity, plus I’ve seen it on Itunes charts. Yes, time will tell but for now CLOY is memorable in lots of people’s hearts and minds. I enjoyed Goblin, DOTS too.
Looking forward to what Park Ji Eun does next and if Kim Eun Sook can salvage TKEM. Getting just one blockbuster drama is commendable so kudos to both ladies for their success.
I didn’t say that CLOY OSTs has no popularity. I’m simply just saying CLOY OSTs are not as popular as OSTs from other dramas. DOTS, Goblin, MLFTS have much popular songs. CLOY OSTs can’t even beat IC OSTs on the charts domestically and internationally let alone talk about the iconic dramas that have very popular OSTs.
Still I like Kim Eun-hee more *toast*
Signal writer nim??? Waiting for signal s2.
And Kingdom waiting season 2 & 3 from each drama. ?
Park Ji Eun are not all that as well. If she thinks she is good and does not improve she will end up feeling it like KES. None of those 2 screenwriters are all that :-/
Well you are not totally wrong.If PJE doesn’t improve and stays in her bubble then it won’t be long for her to go down KES way.
However if you look at PJE’s filmography,there is not a single drama averaging at a single digit. Even the most critically paned drama of her career called “Queen of Reversals” which was kind of similar to blockbuster ” Queen of housewives”, averaged at 10.8 pc. This was her worst rated drama so far.Queen of Housewives was also written by PJE and its ratings sky rocketed.
However we all know where TKEM is going to and I won’t be surprised if it ends up with a single digit average.
This is true. Neither are particularly good imo, just the most popular. For other popular writers, I would take Noh Hee Kyung, Kim Eun Hee, and Park Hae Young over them any day. But it’s true that at least Park Ji Eun doesn’t have a drama with single digit ratings. Never expected Kim Eun Sook to flop this hard tbh.
I’m Filipino American living in Miami,Fla.i love K-drama.just started watching THE KING:ETERNAL and I LOVE it.my next list will be Hyde,jekyll me ,secret garden and descendants of sun.unfortunately cant find them in Netflix or YouTube
you can watch it in dramacool.movie
KES needs to go back to her City Hall writing track…….I just binged it again. Still funny, still chemistry of leads is on fire, still more coherent and plot driven than 80% of the rest she has written over the years. Best part was characterization. It was lovely to see two leads help each other grow to reach their full potential. Yes, it had crazy ex, psycho dad angle but even that came together by the end in a satisfactory manner. Even the side characters had their quirks and neatly presented story. Go back to basics and cast better actors. I don’t know, get Kim Sun Ah and Hyun Bin back and it would be Lovely Sam Soon reunion and give them a slice of life with pinch of drama story…she’ll bounce back then.
Thanks to CoVid19 lockdown, CLOY was a hit. As much I love Hyun Bin and Son Yejin, I am of those who had difficulty watching it. I skipped the episodes most of the time. What a let down.
The King is the same.
Well CLOY’S international success can indeed be partially attributed to COVID-19.
But…this was not the case in SK. I just checked and found out that SK had 29 cases till Feb 16 which was the last date of CLOY’S run.Also SK’s first case was reported on I guess 29th January.
If what you say is true then IC and other recent successful drama records should also be due to COVID-19. However we all know SK was efficient in containing it without any lockdown so those dramas were genuine hits.
I don’t think COVID-19 is the reason for CLOY being a hit. Ratings grew organically due to the chemistry and acting of the cast as well as the writing and directing. However, I do think that season does play a role in the ratings of the year’s most anticipated dramas. Looking at the list of highest-rated dramas of all time, majority aired in Winter. Summer has the least number of megahits. It’s impressive that Mr. Sunshine was able to premiere with high ratings and increase it throughout its run. I’d like to see PJE drop a drama around July-August to see how it would perform.
While I agree KES has had more domestic and relevant hits than PJE, the latter is much better at crafting more cohesive and less nonsensical plots. Yeah, PJE dabbles in fantasy and fate much more than the typical screenwriter, but that’s her thing and she does it well. KES has had constant issues with her plot lines, characters and overall logic that have always made it hard for me to ever truly connect with her dramas as a viewer. It’s also not a coincidence her dramas are always so jam packed with starpower – they’ve been her buffer against criticism for years now. Her older work might be much better than what she’s churning out now but that’s still not enough for me to think of her as anything but an overhyped celeb, much along the lines of Park Shin Hye. They both high key suck but their projects do well so they stick around. Peas of a pod, essentially.
CLOY and PJE aren’t perfect and nor do they claim to be. The drama was simply well written and gorgeously executed, with both PJE and the actors working in tandem to create a story that against all odds…….actually worked. Meanwhile KES has her typical chaebol heroes, damsel in distress, misogynistic and regressive tropes, confusing plot lines and a thick layer of gloss to mask it all. Her downfall has been a long time in coming.
What does this subject matter have to do with Park Shin hye? You people will do anything just to drag her name through the mud. Is it infuriating to you that she is not directly linked to this disaster of a drama? Does it irk you that much! Let her be…don’t worry I’m sure you can find ample reasons to burn her at the stake; whenever her next project comes along. You people are just sick…I don’t understand this kind animosity towards one person. Why must she always be pulled into every distatesful discussion. Grow up!
Lateral violence.
Sheesh, can’t the media be supportive of each other when k-drama and kpop has now finally made inroads globally? Where’s the etiquette? Promote together.
The entertainment companies are along ways from the Spielberg’s and spelling’s and Disney and universal however gaps are closing.
Yes I really don’t fund any reason for them to put these two against each other. But you know titles are a big deal in K ent. So I haven’t heard if KES is called that but if she is and someone is handing over her title to someone else then that’s a big deal. But it’s very nonsensical.
Just look at User ratings in Google and IMbd for CLOY. Over 11,000 users rate it 5 stars compared to other successful K dramas. Without a doubt, the script writing in CLOY is a driving force for its success. So hats off to PJE for her talent. The rest is history.
Couldnt agree with you more. Script of cloy was more meatier even if you compare it with DOTS and other successful K Shows.
Watched DOTS, MLFTS, GOBLIN and CLOY. I love all of them but I love CLOY the most. I got hooked in all episodes. I rewatched the drama and the effect is the same. So does my sis.
The acronyms here are killing me, guess I’m not a big kdrama fan like most of you. I love how you used MJ as a comparison. I finished the documentary, so incredibly powerful. I don’t think one failure means much, humans aren’t perfect right? I loved CLOY, but consistency is key to wearing the crown baby. Looking forward to what KES can do to take her crown back.
I don’t think we can compare CLOY with DOTS or Goblin. Netflix wasn’t investing the same in Kdrama than now. Now, there is the youtube channel The Swoon with a lot of interviews, games, etc with the actors.
Personaly, I wasn’t invest in the love story in CLOY after they left North Korea, neither the second one, my favourite parts were the ducklings and the ajummas. I prefer SYJ and HB in their past dramas acting speaking. I don’t think this story asked them a lot of great acting.
If I adored Producers, I liked YWCFTS, LOTBS was just a pale copy.
The King and LOTBS have a common point, they didn’t cast the good actor for it.
Yeah I think they cast him only cz his star power and didn’t hope genius acring from him
If you are free chicken and drank beer every day you would need more than skincare products, you would need physic surgery!
Ate…
Yeah, it’s one dud drama. Though I think KES was resting on laurels and had perhaps been relying on her writing team a bit much, I doubt she’ll have trouble getting actors for her next drama.
I liked CLOY just fine but it was pretty fluffy and had the same issue as DOTS in that when they came back to Korea, the relationships kind of fizzled for me and I became more interested in the ensemble cast as the drama went on. I actually think the No Korean soldiers and villagers were the true heart of the story.
I do think that it is gonna take a lot more dramas before CLOY writer is at KES level in terms of longevity. She also does the fish out of water story which was the main complaint of LOTBS being a retread of her previous show. I’m curious what she does next because to a certain extent, CLOY was a fish out of water show as well.
If they change cloy actors to LMH and KGE, I’m sure cloy will fail as well
I respectfully disagree. I think the story would have held well and the directing is so much better in CLOY. I think people would have complained about the chemistry issue but with a better script and directing, maybe that would have been dealt with.
I disagree too. The main problem with The King is execution – the directing is a mess and the editing is sloppy. Also CLOY has the four northern korean soldiers who are so adorable and those ahjummas are also a blast. The King does not have interesting supporting cast except one or maybe two. The leads should not be the only ones to be blamed or to take full credits.
This is what Cnetz observed: when LMH starred in PJE’s Legend of Blue Sea, it lost out in ratings and buzz to KES’s Globin which aired around same time. When LMH stars in KES’s The King, it loses out in ratings and buzz to PJE’s Crash Landing. Coincidentally, Legend of Blue Sea, Heirs, and The King are considered both writer’s weaker projects. Don’t shoot me, I’m just relaying what Cnetz noticed.
But that’s true. The legend of the blue sea claimed high rating but in fact, they buzz wasnt there. Goblin took all the buzz in korea and international. All the celebs in korea tried the goblin effect. And some proudly said that they were KGE’s friends. So popular compared to lotbs.
So… then it’s Lee Min Ho who’s the main culprit!
I don’t think it would flop necessarily but 110% it would not have done as well. The integral selling point of CLOY was the cast chemistry, especially amongst the leads. Even if SYJ and HB didn’t have their romance rumours prior to the drama debut, their sizzling chemistry in the show itself played a palpable role in ensuring CLOY was a hit. They’re both gorgeous, talented and fit their characters well – all things LMH and KGE haven’t demonstrated in the slightest in TKEM. They probably (read: definitely) wouldn’t have had the same camaraderie with the soldier gang and ahjummas and 1000% wouldn’t have had the same electric I-am-your-soulmate energy with each other either. I still have no bloody clue why KGE was cast in TKEM when she can’t act and her height and visual ratio doesn’t match LMH but whatever. The results speak for themselves.
I think kge had close relationship with writer kes thats why kes choose her again in tkem
What is MJ?
Michael Jordan of Chicago Bulls fame. She’s referencing a documentary that came out about him recently that has a lot of buzz.
Actually, I’m so interested in TKEM. It has such an unusual theme, and I just love monarchy dramas.
First weakness of this drama is its love plot. Taeeul used to hate Gon so much in the beginning, and suddenly they’re already lovey dovey and the lines are gross and cheesy and cringey ?
Secondly, as many has pointed out, its theme about parallel universe unfold so slowly that even if it’s already like what… 6th, 9th episode, I’m still figuring out the puzzles about this whole relativity and parallel universe theory. Come on!!
And yeah, definitely CLOY’s love plot is hell lot better!! ? And you can never get that cringe feeling from looking at Hyunbin
My immediate thought was the pedo Michael Jackson, and I almost felt disgusted.
Agree. I’m excited what will be the revenge comeback drama of KES after the flop that is TKEM. I’m also excited who will be the next stars in this new era of KES’ writing. My bets are the younger top stars PBG, KSH and KYJ.
But pbg will enlist next year tho , maybe kes next lead will be kim soo hyun (?) Haha
Hope the FL is Kim So Hyun. Lol!
Let the flop of TKEM be a hard lesson to KES. KES needs to go back to basic, reunite with PD of MS, Goblin and DOTS, and cast new stars like PBG, KSH and KYJ. With all that, I guess it will be easy for her to snatch the God Writer title again.
PBG, KSH etc are not new stars. They are already settled. Hell, PBG is going off to military this year. They are older now.
Lee Do Hyun is new star in comparison.
KES needs to get her ghostwriters back. That’s what she needs. Lol.
What I mean by new meand someone who never starred in a KES drama.
I am pertaining to new stars who never acted in a KES drama. LDH may not make it because he is not top star like PBG and KSH.
The biggest blunder of The King is KES writing. I don’t know what she is trying to do, having included history and politics in her recent works. It’s nice to be experimental but she should read and learn history books before writing anything.
The first part of The King where history and politics is involved is so wrong.
I think kse has a story offered to hyun bin.Let see If this will make it true.
I mean new faces for a KES drama. So, PBG, KSH and KYJ are worthy because of their status and acting ability. I don’t see LDH making it coz he’s not yet a top star. KES relies heavily on top stars is a gold standard.
This reminds me of the Hong sisters. Their last great hit was The Master’s Sun although there were some plotholes, those that came after left much to be desired….
@May that’s a weird reasoning on your side. If so, Mr. Sunshine is bigger than Goblin, Dots, MLFTS, etc. No it was not. Simple, but Mr. Sunshine surpassed those dramas view because it was aired 2 years later. Just like how CLOY surpassed Mr. Sunshine. Doesn’t say anything literally.
My post was meant for the op which said that CLOY’s clips failed to garner millions of views unlike other dramas.
I didn’t want to emphasize which one is more popular.It was just an objective pov. All these dramas were aired at different era so they were popular in their own way.Plus numbers don’t lie. Mr. Sunshine may not have attained that cult popularity but it indeed claimed lots of feat. DOTS, SG , Goblin surely created cultural phenomenon raking tonnes of revenues.Noone is undermining their success.However CLOY is relatively new and it still has the time to test its longevity .Plus the world is no longer the same with bigger problems looming over our heads.
only that one song got like 9 million views on youtube and no presence of Melon chart after 2 weeks entering while DOTS and Goblin each song easily surpassed 5 million at the time they were airing and dominate the Melon search from 1-10
seriously, ask normal drama watchers or the trending song, they probably know IC – Start and Aloha – hospital playlist but no one knows the main theme of CLOY, the song hasn’t been used anywhere else or even in variety show as a point, it just not iconic and you can’t create this icon just with rating.
CLOY has reach its peak and in downward because it already ended, Goblin at its peak is stil way more popular, idk what time do you need for CLOY, it was never the same as DOTS, MLFAS, Goblin of even Autumn in My Heart back in the day,
the fans should wake up,
Did I say anything about songs/osts?? I just talked about clips. It is clearly mentioned in the Wikipedia,not my fault.
Also i just checked it included overall online views and not only YouTube.Kakao, Naver etc. were also taken into account.
Well whatever the result is…what we are looking forward and eagerly waiting is for LEE MIN HO AND PARK SHIN HYE to do HEIRS 2…that for sure…will be a big hit…
Pkease no , not those two with bad acting combo again…
I think CLOY is not the same level as Goblin, DOTS, MLFTS. I love the last one the most.
The King: Eternal Monarch will become very popular among business drama professionals, or drama teachers.
Except for a few good points, it’s a detailed inventory of everything you should never do when writing a screenplay.
Please leave my girl Park Shin Hye out of this. And i don’t think a Heirs 2 would be good for her. I like that she is taking up some challenging roles in movies and i would want her to do the same drama wise.
Yeah , her next co star is hwang jung min , I hope she will learn a lot from other versatile actor , not just a star who relied on a goof look
Here in Nigeria, The King, Eternal monarch is rated No.1 even on search lost Netflix, I don’t get why there’s so much hate in Korea, but we love it here in Nigeria, so please give them a break!
I think people have forgotten to use their imagination concerning “The King”. This is very well written suspenseful, romantic, humor, it’s intriguing with lots of twist and turns. There is so much criticism on the film that people are forgetting the intricate details that the writer and director has shared. I think we’ve become very shallow as viewers. Lee Ming Ho is an excellent actor and he is a representation as a caring and brilliant King.
@tena
While your assessment may be true, and in the writer’s mind and imagination her story is interesting and compelling, it’s the delivery that’s the problem. And it’s a huge problem. Demanding and expecting the audience to think deeply, even research, put together pieces of many chaotic, jumpy scenes just to understand a story is bad business for producers trying to sell the drama. The director should direct the drama so that the audience follow the story, not the other way around. Now add the zero chemistry of the leads, the irritating overacting of the lead actress, and the excessive product placement into this problem, then there is nowhere else for the drama to go but down.
I watched CLOY. The drama is cheesy honestly. But what they have were leads who demonstrated great chemistry,who are visually compatible, and along with the back stories in the village and of the 4 soldiers, which were all clearly presented (I don’t have to think very deeply to follow and understand their stories), I as an audience have nothing else to do but enjoy and watch.
My criticism on the lack of chemistry is not necessarily towards KGE. It’s towards the casting director. LMH for this role is perfect. He’s tall, beautiful, kingly. With good directing, he’ll deliver. KGE on the other hand is short and doesn’t match LMH’s beautiful kingly countenance and bearing. Now before you roast me, I’m not saying KGE is ugly. KGE as LMH’s king’s lady love, a big no. Now add KGE’s overacting and haughtiness in the mix, then you have a disaster. They’re not watchable, as far as I am concern. I would have continued to follow the drama and tried my best to understand the story if I was promised the leads would not be in any scene together. But tackling both the choppy directing and the leads’ “not believable” love story and acting, that’s too much to ask. Why? I watch to enjoy. And they can’t give me that.
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yesssss CLOY IS THE ALL TIME BEST KDRAMA WE LOVE IT ALL HERE AND WE ARE STILL WATCHING IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.
CANT GET OVER IT.
DIRECTED AND WRITTEN AND ACTED PERFECTLY.
CLOY BINJIN FANS FROM CANADA ??
I dont understand why people arent appreciating The King:The Eternal Monarch.I understand that its different from what we are used to watching but thats supposed to be a good thing! The storyline is fantastic. This drama wants me to believe in parallel universe and I’m not even kidding when I say that I have been doing alot of research about the subject matter. People are complaining about the romance part, for gods sake its not a complete korean clichés romantic drama- it focuses more on the kings struggles.I as an International fan am loving this drama.Its trending in Netflix. However, its a major shock thats its getting low ratings in its home country. There are still some episodes left therefore, hope korean public will make a wise choice and watch this amazing drama.❤
And about the god title…really? ??
Korean are busy with “The World of Married Couple” that was airing on the same day, now the highest rating cable TV drama ended, there might be a chance for TKEM but if they start watching only now, they might not get the flow or storyline of the world parallel world.
I am a big fan of Lee Min Ho !! It’s really hurting to see that the drama viewership ratings are so low and people are not liking much !
Also I agree with “ Sharon Levesque” because what she had mentioned is very true !! We thought Lee Min Ho would return with big project on the screen mean something very good like THE HEIRS !!!
Which LEE MIN HO and PARK SHIN HYE did so well and hit internationally and still popular until now !
And the drama plot is also not as complicated as THE KING !!
In terms of the cast ….. I love LEE MIN HO acting still no matter how bad the plot is cuz he always perform his best to make his fans satisfied and happy !
But the actress…. I don’t like her as KIM GO EUN isn’t looking pretty being as an actress and not really can show much of her acting skills !
I don’t even sure why they choose her to act with the most popular handsome star LEE MIN HO !!
I would stop watching if it’s not LEE MIN HO staring.
So I prefer the writer and director should learn from this failure and choose everything wisely and plot the drama carefully!!
I am sure millions of fans are expecting LEE MIN HO And PRI SHIN HYE together again cuz THE HEIRS Is a very very good drama and the stars are really match and their chemistry both on & off screen are so good that it look so real real !!
I even wish that LEW MIN HO & PARK SHIN HYE are dating for real and get married ???
So hopefully…. in very near future ….. we will see that couple again with another great drama !!!
Wishing the writer and the director would start another project ASAP !! I am dying to see that couple together !! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Yes, I agree 300%. Lmh made a mistake in taking The King. Kes got greedy using same fantasy romance genre. People seem to want reality or real stories of the now times. Lmh should level up into non romantic dramas. He’s becoming a pretty boy good for nothing but women type.
KES got greedy capitalizing on the fantasy romance genre. The World of the Marrieds had higher rating than The King. I think audience prefers something real living than another fantasy. I can sense fantasy romance fatigue.
After so much discussion, in the end the real winner is the writer for “The World Of Married Couple” as it a major hit in S.Korea and international, its top in VIU app for Asia. Idk about other region.
Thank you to Dr Foster’s writer Mike Bartlett, which this drama is based on.
I haven’t watched The King, but something must be definitely wrong with the screenplay, the direction, or both, because I cannot understand how is it possible to fail when your lead actor is Lee Minho. To be clear: I think he’s a pretty mediocre actor and I have never seen him have real (not “look at me, I am playing a man in love”) chemistry with an actress he’s been casted (the worst case being Heirs), but he’s extremely popular and has undeniable star quality, so I really don’t get it.
CLOY I loved and I actually recommended it to many friends – it was on the top10 here too, and I think that’s a first for Greece. I watched it before the coronavirus crisis. I got interested in it because of the North Korea plot and continued watching it because of the screenplay and the acting. I think this was the first Kshow that I watched completely, without fast forwarding the parts of the supporting characters. Kingdom excepted, I guess, but that’s a whole different case!
KES’ drama like dots and goblin are fun, but that’s it. after it finished, it’s just forgettable. Mr Sunshine tried to level up, but it’s too slow and a bit boring. Well, the problem with KES dramas are the real story kicks after half of the series.
I have the same experience about cloy, it’s funny and of course it has hyun bin and son ye jin with great chemistry.. but the whole plot-line.. meh. both writers are sure rating-gods, they know what buttons to push to attract people.. but script-wise they’re actually just okay..