SBS Premieres New Fri-Sat Drama Taxi Driver, First Episode Rated 19+ Due to Excessive Violence and Netizens Upset the Drama Uses the Real Life Choi Doo Soon Crime
Another day, another K-netizen gripe. I’ll just explain it and let y’all decide if it’s legit. SBS premiered new Fri-Sat thriller drama Taxi Driver (Deluxe Taxi) starring Lee Je Hoon, Esom, Kim Eui Sung, and Pyo Ye Jin has been compared by viewers after watching the first episode to a gritty OCN detective vigilante type drama, so that’s a good thing. But some K-netizens are perturbed and upset that the first episode uses a case identical the infamous Choi Doo Soon child rape as well as shows the violence in with visual effects, violence, gore, and pain in overly sensationalized ways. Rather than allude to the violence or cut away, it stays with the scene which makes the 19+ rating make sense now. Netizens think this is really glorifying violence and a cruel reminder for the still living victim to her attack. In the drama, the prep gets his just desserts by being abducted and then locked up in an underground prison to rot. After Mouse and Beyond Evil, I’m a little worn out from seeing so much onscreen stylized violence I may end up passing on Taxi Driver for now. No need to triple up on serial killers, rapists, and the scum of the earth even if it’s to see them properly punished. With all that said, ratings are off to a high start with the first episode bringing in 8.7%,10.7% AGB nationwide.
Pingback:SBS Premieres New Fri-Sat Drama Taxi Driver, First Episode Rated 19+ Due to Excessive Violence and Netizens Upset the Drama Uses the Real Life Choi Doo Soon Crime - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News
If their concern is for the still living victim, then I back them up on this one. The production should have been more sensitive. Think I’ll also be skipping this for now.
If the survivor is still alive and likely still recovering from the trauma I can understand why it would be problematic. SBS is a bit obsessed with the 19+ rating these days and excessively violent scenes don’t represent good storytelling. OCN has learned to tone down its violence too without compromising on quality.
Koala defines cyberbully and one of the major things wrong with Kdramaland? You say off to a good start? With 8.7% and 10% not long ago you were crucifying shows who started out with these numbers or even higher.. What you do is pick’em and chose them and force a narrative upon that paticular show because you don’t like some involved with it and the way I see it is you go the personal route with irrelevant celebrities you don’t know. Example that Sisyphus article was just out of line including the comments just unwarranted.
Cyberbullying is wrong and could have some dire outcomings as someone taking their own lives and unfortunately Koalasplayground is where they come to roost and to be honest all that is unnecessary.
That Sisyphus show was actually on Cabal Tv it was never highlighted because the intention was to target and sabotage individuals. I just feel it is unnecessary. If you can’t be unbias in your job and having a professional look at things and also can’t avoid taking celebrities personal. You should probably quit this blog and go do something else that is less toxic. Start a food blog or something worth of your time that doesn’t really harm you or others unnecessarily.
Since Tv-Ratings have geninuely declined due to audience having access to view from different platforms so technically the viewership average is somewhere between 5% and 10% both on cable and non cable and this is true for everyone but Koala figured ”Oh wait this is gonna happen to everyone” So I target this with these I want
Even if cable and non cable have the same rating, it can mean high ratings for cable but low / average for non cable. Simply because cable has a much smaller viewership. So koala is perfectly right when the same number is on the low end for non cable.
And regarding being unbiased, this is a blog and she is not a journalist. The whole point is her personal perspective.
She does pick and chose for both non cable or cable. It is all the same. The rating average is anyways between 5% and 10% due to other platforms being accessable to audience. Tv is no more the go to place for viewing since there is diverse platforms streaming locally.
So at the end of the day it is basically pick and chose
@Ninita
And another Sissy appears. You need to take a chill pill, pal. Or ten. Heck, the whole bloody bottle.
Why are you even here on this blog if you can’t stand the blogger’s opinions? Why didn’t you have the nerve to comment in the Sisysh#t article?
FYI, this is not her job. It’s just a blog and she’s entitled to be as biased as she wants. That’s the whole f##king point. If you can’t handle her opinions, scram. Beat it.
When we don’t agree with her stance on something or feel she’s being hypocritical, we call her out on it and keep it moving. But the nerve of telling a blogger to quit her blog because her honest opinions about your faves or dramas hurt your fragile little feelings? Comedy.
Your whole rant is what’s unnecessary. You go find a food blog or something worthy of your time and spare us your silly tantrums and tirades. 안녕!
@ITR
????? for each paragraph. ?
Heck, here’s more: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I agree with everything Ninita said
@Ninita your obviously a butt hurt Sisyphus fan. You should’ve rant under Sisyphus article not here.
LMAO! What a typical comment from a snowflake, taking offense for nothing and being all entitled and preachy about it. First of all, ironically you come off as a cyberbully yourself when you attack others with the most absurd accusations ever. Secondly, no one has asked for a lesson in ratings and what it means for cable TV and non cable TV. You might not agree with it, but nowadays any ratings around double digits are indeed considered high ratings. Third of all, this is a personal blog and not a job… who are you to demand professionalism all of a sudden? How rude and ignorant is that? I think you need to do some research into what’s personal blogging and stick to food blogs yourself if you can’t handle other people’s personal opinions. Last of all, it’s so obvious that what you’re really being uptight about is the fact that koala and others are not worshipping your beloved show Sisyphus. You are free to love it as much as you want, but you need to grow up and learn that others are free to loathe it and handle the criticism. I for one gave up on the show after the 4th episode and I’m happy I didn’t waste more time on it.
She is very good at the pick and chose. she can be savage at times. I find that part where she figured out the current trend hilarious tho that is absolutely true
@imzadi. I do like this blogger and come here frequently but I agree with the up on that the ratings being less and less irrelevant. Especially for Non-cable which use to be the opposite because there is a giant streaming platform in sk called Wavve and it has about 10-15 million subscribers that is like 30% of the population. If you exclude children and elders the gap becomes even much bigger in favor of Wavve having most audience then TV.
Posting ratings for Shows airing on KBS, MBC or SBS are even way more irrelevant then Cable TV nowadays with Wavve having biggest Audience in the country and where people gathered.
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/south-korean-streamer-wavve-surpasses-10-million-subscribers-8211-pulse-60520293
Cable TV also have some similar streaming platform that is also populated tho not as much as wavve but still populated. Getting just 5-10% on Non-cable is like scoring 40-50% back in the day when you consider how significiantly populated Wavve is. But all in all I find the whole ratings angle to be irrelevant when Sk has gone OTT streaming platforms for years now which has reduced the average rating between 5-10% and in the next decade might go lower then that to just 2-5%
This has been the current trend for sometime and it is also scary how fast Wavve has grown. TV has been sort of the past and the shape decline will continue naturally
It reminds me that we had a month ago the same problem in France with a fiction based on a serial killer ” Michel Fourniret ” who is alive and a lot of families of his victims are still waiting to find the corpse of their child . The drama was a hit even if there was a strong opposition from families, the son of the serial killer who lives under another identity and has a wife and children . I didn’t watch it .
I actually watched EP1 of Taxi Driver and it’s nicely done. The story is fast-paced and the plot presentation is not linear, the editing and cinematography are good, even the musical direction is on point. There are no over-the-top acting and the scenes are well-executed – I just find the scene with the reporters and police near the end of the episode a bit soapy, not sure if that really happens in SKorea though. The overall vibe is actually not as dark as Beyond Evil or Mouse in my opinion. Looks like they will have a lot of materials to work with in each episode if their goal is to have a storyline for a different offender every episode, while revealing the back story of the deluxe taxi service crew and taking us along for the ride on what their end game is. I’ll be watching.
sbs fri sat dramas are bound to be success.. no surprise if dramas produced by sbs are competing for this slot. i wonder what are dramas other than joseon exorcist play in weekdays?
I also watched the first episode of Taxi and gotta say I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s dark but the vigilante aspects of it sets it apart, actually it reminds me a bit of Uncanny Encounter for some reason without all the supernatural stuff. It was a very well executed first episode and I’m intrigued, this could turn into my next kdrama crack! 🙂