I hear a lot of dramas calling itself a “healing drama” but it seems tvN Sat-Sun series Hometown Cha Cha Cha really has delivered on that promise. This weekend’s episodes 5 and 6 went up in ratings from the prior week to 9.996% and 10.270% respectively, and wherever this drama may go it’s a certified hit already. The ratings are made even more impressive by the genre since romance and healing dramas and slice-of-life series rarely harness the same viewership as thrillers and makjang. The ingredients for its success from feedback run the gamut from lovely story, a warm vibe that viewers are in the mood for, solid leads in Kim Sun Ho and Shin Mina, and a general embrace for a story that brings viewers to a happy place.
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It pays to cast actors who are seasoned and not just buzzy.Even the supporting cast are pros themselves
@Lai Pei Yee - so true on both points. Get a good cast who can actually act and give them something to do - I'm sure it makes a writer's job much easier when they don't have to be adjusting fir hype+no skills acting.
I'm personally very happy for Shin Min Ah that it's doing so well, she's a good actress whose acting skills were often overshadowed by her looks but it's good to see the drama and Hyejin getting lots of love.
She is a very good actress. I am now a great fan. I like her so much in Oh my Venus
Well done Homecha. Both leads and supporting casts are awesome and their chemistry is so good. Fun to watch the layers get peel off every episodes. Look forward to ep 7 and unfold the mysteries. Cheers Homecha team cheers Shikhye couple.
Really so happy for Seon Ho n Mina n all the casts director writer production crew n cute hedgehog.
Question - given his popularity and now having a hit drama (Hometown) under his belt, does this mean that Kim Sun Ho is now pretty much an A-lister?
Honestly this is only doing so well because of KSH. His fans are rabid. So yes lol
Having rabid fans makes one A-list?
um no. it's doing well bc of the synergy of good writing, directing, and acting. ksh is playing a part yes, but he isn't to be credited alone.
@mimi
Exactly! If he and his 'rabid' fanbase are so almighty, why did Start Up flop spectacularly in ratings like it did? Why didn't his other dramas where he was ML hit it big? Why did it take a SML role opposite a bland ML before he could blow up? This drama is doing well because of all you said + it has no competition in its timeslot to give it a run for its money. All that overhype and discrediting others to inflate him and make him seem bigger than he is just invites hate against the guy.
Maybe not quite but getting close??? I'm sure he's at the top of a lot of casting lists now, at least for rom-coms. I'd like to see him do another genre because he has the acting chops. He's doing a rom-com movie with Yoona next and seems to be working out the scheduling for another film. Let's see how they do. Anyway, he's a world away from where he was before Start Up. It's pretty amazing, but he's charming and talented.
He has acted in Good Manager and a cop/robber drama before, though not as a main lead
They need to make it big in the country before the hallyu status. It is the local audience who make or break them. So, what if the fans hype up the dramas? Do they actually watch the drama itself? Just a do proper survey of the audience and you will find out. Stop picking on this poor guy, who earned his achievement and success legally.
Hmmmm...how do you know that the drama is only watched by his fans, and not Shin Min Na's fans as well. Just because, he is not your fav actor or the ratings have now hit the 10% mark.
Not to be rude but SMA does not have much of a fanbase. She is a good actress and has had a stable career but she is not the reason people were anticipating this drama. Its all KSH. Any other male lead and this drama would be in the single digits.
Agree with @Anon here. I remember one poster here made the distinction between fans and fanatics. SMA has fans, but KSH has fanatics. Rabid is the right word to describe them.
I am enjoying Hometown (it's cute and warm), but the level of buzz around KSH shocks me. This guy has had a one-of-a-kind, stratospheric rise-to-fame. Never seen anything like it.
It is unfair to say that her fanbase is not that strong, unless you have the numbers to prove it. Shin Min Na has been in the industry for a long time, plus KSH has started as a second lead for a long time. So, i don't see the problem. If that is the case, most of the popular and highly rated dramas with popular actors will be judged because of the popularity male lead, right?
@Lai Pei Yee Actually, you can prove this quantitatively. Write a script analyzing frequency of name mentions for SMH vs KSH on key social media platforms in the lead up to Hometown airing. That’ll be your proxy for fanbase.
@LaiPeiYee her last drama also on TVN (Tomorrow with You) had awful ratings. Ended up under 2%. And the one before that (Chief of Staff) averaged around 4%. Where was her fanbase then?
Even if it is true,will KSH fanbase be enough to sustain the ratings or popularity of the drama till now. It should slip or fall by now to 5%. One example is LMH's TKEM.Why did you think it went downhill despite the strong LMH's fanbase? And why is everyone hitting on him alone, when he is on the rise.
Because LMH’s fan base is mostly outside Korea, particularly SEA, who do not contribute domestic ratings. He is more a hallyu star and not as popular in his home country.
@Hello, bingo. People need to stop confusing international popularity with domestic popularity. LMH is a good example.
Wut, I’m confused now. I thought you needed to be domestically popular first in order to be a Hallyu star, since the latter is seen as the ultimate fame achievement or something.
@Anon
His rabid fanbase are mostly I-fans whom we all know don't contribute a lick to ratings. All they do is hype. And reviews from K-viewers have praised the story and acting from the cast. So how is his rabid fanbase (mostly I-fans) responsible for the drama's domestic ratings success? Y'all hype him so much that soon you'll even say he's more popular than BTS.
@Ophelia - he does attract fanatic levels of attention, if the comments from Strongest Deliveryman era are anything to go by (he was 2ML there but playing the 'jerk chaebol' type who's usually the ML).
But that doesn't always translate to ratings success, look at Catch the Ghost where he was the lead opposite Moon Geun Young (a major star).
@Anon - Shin Min Ah's "last drama" was Chief of Staff (2019) which had similar ratings to Startup despite not being a hyped project with a big name writer.
Tomorrow with You was from 2017. (And if you want to talk ratings, go see the ones from Catch the Ghost).
Please stop presenting misleading info as facts, thanks.
@Royal We - Gotcha. Again, didn't know this guy existed until a month ago, and never heard of Startup prior, so am not familiar with KSH's work history.
Suddenly seeing the enormous buzz around him due to Hometown felt like suddenly finding out I've been sleeping on Olivia Rodrigo.
@Ophelia - yeah I can certainly see how it comes as a surprise cause it's not common even if it has happened before with other actors. Even I was surprised in 2017, now less so (and he deserves the fanbase, he's a good actor).
As for Olivia Rodrigo...I think I'm just too old to get the appeal? I tried listening to that Drovers License song back in I think January? and it's so meh to me. Tbf I didn't even like the pop punk thing in the 00s when I was a teenager so it's just not my cup of tea and that's OK.
@Royal We - in general, I think the recent big breakouts - SYJ (though she's crazy), KSH, and JYB all deserve hype (just maybe not stratospheric levels). They're all super solid actors with an it-factor (though I can't tell if SYJ was just playing herself).
For Olivia Rodrigo, try good4u. She's totally Gen Z's Taylor Swift.
You forget there is something called promotion by TvN and Netflix on the social media. They have promoted non-stop since last year itself. Plus, Koreans are for once, sick of Penthouse and those crazy dramas that drive them up the wall. And if they want to seek for something light and easy to watch, why pin it on his fans only? He is not GOD!
@Ophelia - not yet but he's on the way there, one more hit drama or movie should do it.
And @Lai Pei Yee is correct that he's not the sole reason people are watching.
If people are dragging drama ratings of Shin Min Ah then maybe they should check ratings for Catch the Ghost (2019) before opening their mouths. Chief of Staff had 4-5 percent ratings which, uh, is in the same range as startup and that's for a political drama and not a hyped youth drama from a big name writer.
They forget about that cause it isnt their kind of tea. Or she isnt their typical actress that started as an idol.
Homecha is my favourite drama airing right now after Hospital Playlist 2, it's light and fun with some touching moments that doesn't drag the story to makjang territory.
Thrilled to see Homecha doing so well. Happy for Kim Seon-ho and Shin Min-ha and the rest of the cast.
I love love love this drama. Puts me in such happy spirits when I’m watching. Story and acting just too-notch!
I think this will go higher than Crash Landing On You's ratings. It's already outpacing that drama week for week.
I-fans and their know-it-all-ism. Lol. First, they said this would flop. It didn't. Another swore Devil Judge would hit 20%. Didn't even touch 8%.
Mr. Queen outpaced CLOY too. People thought it was gonna take its title as tvN's highest rated drama. And maybe that jinxed it. But in the end, it didn't. Ratings could go anyway. We just watch and hope for the best.
Vincenzo and Mr Queen also outpaced CLOY on a weekly basis but neither topped CLOY in the end. So it's hard to say. CLOYs run was pretty epic. It didn't even debut with huge numbers like any of these dramas but just steadily climbed up.
Well..it is hard to predict on Korean audiences.So far, it is to esrly to tell.
I'm happy for them, they deserve it! It's really a fun drama!
Good lord, every topic about KSH/ HCCC here has mention of his fandom. Rabid? Fanatics? “Cult” was bandied here and there too. How exactly did people come to this conclusion anyway? Care to enlighten what his fandom actually did to get such a terrible reputation? Really, I’m just genuinely curious. Aside from hyping up their fave (pretty much standard amongst Kpop stans, except he’s not an idol), what did they do exactly?
If he had such a loyal following, then SU should have done better in the ratings game given that his Jipyeong shot to fame in that drama. But nope, SU flopped spectacularly.
I don’t buy this BS that it’s only because of his “rabid” fans that this drama is doing well.
You clearly haven't visited Twitter or other platforms to see the response he gets. Rabid doesn't = bad by the way. Just persistent and large in numbers. They hyped up this drama before it aired based on his name alone. It is pretty impressive.
Now, they disguise it is not bad. Just because he was promoted to being first lead, instead of being in the second actor again. Have you any idea why the ratings continue to go up instead of being struck in the 3-4% category? It is as if these people think that this drama cannot survive without him or he is chosen to head the drama, because of his so-called rabid fans. These people also tend to forget that TvN and Netflix promote this drama like crazy in Korea and overseas. And not forgetting a decent storyline and even a different kind of drama that is not crazy, makjang or got forbid about killing people.
@Sheila - Have you been on Twitter/Reddit/IG/TT? I thought people were exaggerating about his "cult-following" in previous posts, but I saw it first-hand this time and it is not an exaggeration.
I'm not saying this as a dig to KSH in any way, but objectively he has an extremely fervent following, and all from being a 2ML in a non-hit drama no less - it breaks precedent. I will go out on a limb and say that not even KSH/SJK/LMH/PSJ has such a devoted fanbase. This guy is BELOVED.
Hometown is legitimately decent and should be doing well, but KSH definitely drove that high initial debut.
He's now at the start of his popularity whereas the Hallyu actors you mentioned have already been there, done that. And they did it in an era where there was no Netflix to easily make you famous. So not sure why you had to go mention them (which could trigger a fanwar, knowing this site) in some bid to prove how popular Seon-ho is.
Then why him instead of someone else? Are you keen on destroying his career alone. So, what if he is beloved? Even with him or any other hallayu actor, and the other actors, you mention they have their fanbase, try to type in k-actors with a large number of fans. It is not just the fan who watch him, basically do a research on who is watching. Mere words on social media does not just work. Why not another actor is famous and has more than 10% rating?
Simple..a drama that is projected to be low-key or poorly performed previously (a romance, rom-com, slice-of-life) turn out to be well-received at the first episode itself. And it has not slide/or regress in ratings at all. They can't find fault with the song, story, female lead and the supporting case; so what else can do? Blame it on the fan and say that they drove the ratings, not the Korean viewers, who might or not be a fan of the male/female or even just the story.
@Lai Pei Yee - who is trying to destroy his career? I didn't know who this guy was till a month ago. His rapid rise in fame breaks precedent, and it makes for a very interesting case study (to me).
There is nothing wrong with him being beloved and I already said the drama was good and it makes sense it's doing well. Jeez louise.
@Lai Pei Yee - come on, that's exaggerated. "Destroy his career"? By noting his fans are very fervent?
@Ophelia - it's absolutely happened before that a drama with kinda-average ratings but a lot of fans led to the rise of its second lead. That's how Song Joong Ki himself got started in Sungkyunkwan Scandal and he wasn't even the actual second lead, just a supporting character. Same with Yoo Ah In who was the 2ML there, SJK references that role to this day. Similarly with Jung Yong Hwa in You're Beautiful (his next drama had him playing ML opposite Park Shin Hye after being her 2ML)
Interesting. The same people who blow a gasket over the pay gap between K-actors and K-actresses are also the first ones to discredit an actress's contribution to a drama's success just to hype up the actor. Very interesting.
It shouldn't be this way but doesn't mean its not true in this case.
Interesting, just because he has so on number of followers and so on of fans on social media. The actor can only do so much to draw in the followers, then it is the drama and the whole cast itself in order to increase to 10%. It is called super jealously of the actor and a shallow regards towards the audience at large