There was always a popular bar that jTBC drama Lost (Human Disqualification) was going to have to vault over. The drama is serious and tackles the depressing aspects of life and that’s never an easy sell. But My Ahjusshi (My Mister) did it in both critical acclaim AND bringing in high ratings so it is doable, but 5-episodes in Lost is on the opposite trajectory. The drama premiered at a promising 4.2% ratings and has since fallen in each episode to land at 1.7% in yesterday’s episode 5. With award winning top movie actress Jeon Do Yeon paired with talented young actor Ryu Jun Yeol, this drama was slated to make a critical buzz even if it didn’t end up with super high ratings. That there is no buzz and the ratings are low is a double whammy – the general view is that Ryu Jun Yeol is a good actor but doesn’t suit his character, and the two leads have no chemistry, and the story line has no ebbs and flows and is just a depressing mood overall that it makes the audience not have a desire to keep watching. The verdict is that this is a tiring drama to watch.
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I think living through a pandemic is affecting our drama choices. No one wants to set through a depressing 11 hours anymore. Not me anyway!
I like Ryu Jun as an actor but I didn't even think of watching the first 10 mins of this drama.
Fast paced, action-packed or some fluffy slice of life is nice.
I agree ,even thought it is a good drama it’s depressing and kinda hit to close to home for me so I prefer to watch something light and funny
I totally agree! This drama has all the right elements and a great cast but the world has gone to sh!t the last year and a half and people want uplifting stories and films/dramas that provide an escape.
haven't watched thr whole 5 episode but I watched 5 episode. Jeon do Yeon as usual is spot on of her potrayal of characterwhonis depressed and and I didn't feel that nuance acying Ryu Jeon Yul who is supposed to be as depressing as her. so yeah.. might be he is suit more comedy or slice of life who is not required some subtle acting. so might be that's why. depressing drama is not always attracting viewers anyways. especially if the drama has slow approach. my mister despite depressing has the element who attract viewers.
The world as is is depressing enough already. I'm looking for escapism from dramas right now, not for reasons to be even more depressed.
JBTC is not having a good year. Is there anything in its lineup that might save it? Or should they look forwards to 2022 already?
JTBC been trying to bank in by roping movie stars to headline their dramas lately - Lee Jung Jae, Cho Seung Woo, Jeon Do Yeon, unfortunately failed to bring in the ratings.
The problem with Human Disqualification is that the screenwriter bringing in the movie formula into dramaland.
You can't expect the formula that works for a 2 hours movie to work for the entire 12 hours. To me, he/she taking the element of "slow burn" too excessively.
My Ajusshi/Mister starts off so gloomy but the giving you hope and something to root for along the way. And Ji An is a mysterious character that made viewers curious, while growing to understand and love progressively and the leads have insabe chemistry.
In HD, everything feel depressing and whatever the subject the writer tries to highlight, feel so forced. I totally can understand the low ratings.
It's definitely not easy to churn out a slice of life drama with realistic tone that bodes well with viewers and because of that, I always say that MA is really a masterpiece.
My Mister was a depressing watch too. The first few episodes were such a slog that I almost gave up, but powered through. MA was a good show but the watch experience was emotionally draining. I am not touching Lost with a 10-foot pole.
I jumped back aboard the Hometown 3Cha train because I need some comforting and healing dramas right now.
well, My Ajusshi plot has force and many coincidence plot point too, but make sense in my ajusshi world. like how Jian enter a big corporation and working 1 room working someone like DH. but it has adventure and mistery going on that make a good mainstream drama but also can be critically acclaimed.
meanwhile HD is melodrama as slice of life drama. one more strength Ajusshi has great ensemble cast. all important char act by certain good actor and hits all the right notes. and IU is fantastic in it too.
Hush with Hwang Jung Min failed too remember? Movie stars don't equal ratings. In fact actors don't bring in ratings plot does. It's about time channels realized that.
JTBC hasn't had a ratings success since WOTM ended in May last year. They got lucky with the critical acclaim of Beyond Evil but overall their dramas just aren't working. At this point Snowdrop has a better chance of bringing in some decent audience. All the other dramas they have lined up don't look or sound great. Including the ones with veteran actors like GHJ and LYA. Lost, Reflection of You, Only One Person and Liberation Diary are all slow depressing dramas. I know JTBC has a color but they should try to branch out more. Their line up for next year doesn't look that great either but they might get lucky with another critics hit.
JBTC needs to read the room. We are in a global endemic and people are burnt out and struggling. Shelve the depressing dramas for better times.
I agree about their 2022 line up. Besides the ones you mentioned Insider and I Haven't Done My Best Yet don't sound very appealing either. They also that Idol Coup drama which sounds horrible and is full of people who can't really act. Their line up isn't looking good and The Good Detective does not need a Season 2. They need to be more like TvN and experiment with type.
I think the Lee Youngae drama might actually pull some decent numbers for them because it’s tagged as a comedy investigative drama. This and Snowdrop are their only remaining high profile dramas for 2021 that can probably bring in ratings, I don’t have high hopes for Go Hyunjung’s drama too, it looks more makjang-ish though so we’ll see
Good Detective pulled in surprisingly good numbers in the dreadful Mon-Tue timeslots IIRC. The leads had good chemistry. If they can come up with a compelling case, I think a second season could do really well and be one of their better decisions.
@peanutgallery There's still next year youngest son of chaebol, thirty nine, cruel office romance, green mother's club and moving which are all high profile dramas and moving is big budget 50 billion won drama.
@kuro - Yep, I have my eyes on 39 and Chaebol. 39 is based off the cdrama Nothing But Thirty (which I loved) and I've heard Chaebol being compared to Succession (which I also love).
I like RJY but I find very depressing the female lead.
I did not see any chemistry between them and I put the series on hold for a better time to watch it.
The ratings slightly improved to above 2% for the Sunday episode. But, this drama seems destined to fall behind in a four-way fight with Black Sun, One the Woman, and Yumi's Cells on Saturdays.
Seems like I’m the only one loving this show ^^;;; I think the acting is fine and they have a slow burn chemistry which I guess doesn’t seem to work for most viewers. But yeah it’s a depressing show with lots of lonely ppl and tbh it’s probably airing at the most unfortunate time when ppl really need escapism from the ongoing pandemic. I think one of the things that balanced things out in My Mister is the strong friendship and family ties (minus wife) from the loyal and supporting coworkers to the childhood neighborhood friends. This is sparse in Lost, the only anchor of warmth is the father and daughter relationship… even the antagonist is lashing out from unhappiness and loneliness. The ratings bumped back up to 2% so let’s see what happens.
It's not just for everyone but I'm loving it too.
You're not the only one, Visesten. I too enjoy the drama very much, despite how dreary it is. But yeah, this one is not for everyone.
Agree with you guys. For the 1% rating this week, it's possible that Chuseok might have been a factor. Even HomeCha dropped from last week's double digits (10.2%) to 9.1% and another drop of 8.1% this week.
Additionally, Lost has to deal with strong competition from The Veil, One The Woman and Yumi's Cells on Saturdays. But it rose a bit on Sunday's episode. Let's see how it goes for the remaining episodes.
If only Koala had captured this in her post. But there's no nuance with her. She just takes a piece from the puzzle and presents it as the whole picture. Then her minions also accept it as the gospel and sing along with her. ?
I think Saturday's will continue to be tough with the competition. I do think Chuseok might have been a factor too since Sunday saw a big drop in a lot of shows. I'd like it to at least settle in the higher 2% range.
@Mimi
Yeah, that's what I meant. With the aforementioned new shows airing, I think Saturdays are a lost battle (hehe) for Lost. Sundays might be its saving grace.
I wasn't interested to watch this so I haven't. From the comments though, this should just have been a movie, it will probably fair better with the critics and the audience if the story unfolded in just 1.5 hours.
I understand the ratings drop to be honest. The cast needs to have insane chemistry for me to get through these slow-burn depressing dramas, which is lacking here imo.
Viewing of the drama is affected as we are living in such depressing time with waves after waves of covid-19 pandemic and no end in sight.
Mostly people going for something light or thrilling dramas.
I am loving the leads and the show I find it healing