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:
Why The King: Eternal Monarch is Kim Eun Sook’s biggest failure ever:
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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.