Even Lee Young Ae Can’t Revive jTBC’s 2021 Year Long Flagging Ratings as Weekend Drama Inspector Koo Premieres to 2.640%

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• Saimdang is also not rating hit something wrong with her choice

• I think the natural progression of characters people wanted to see her in after Jewel in the Palace are those that quietly battle injustice, with stylish dressing, some glamour roles. Her recent roles would have been appreciated had she slowly transitioned with these trope-y ones first. Now she's taking on roles that are drastically off the sweet image she cultivated in Jewel. It is understandable that she explores varied characters but without transition it will be some climb, given how cognitive biases operate.

  • I think you're mistaking her for someone else. Lee Young Ae doesn't really stick to one type of character. her biggest hit aside from dae jang geum is sympathy for lady vengeance which is completely different from the former.

• I loved it- writing, acting and directing - it but it's too quirky to be a ratings hit. It's more the cult favorite type.

• I am probably the only one that wasn't moved by her acting. I found her truly unimpressive, almost over-acting, in Saimdang, and a lot of it I think was the visual effect it gave me all throughout the drama. I was so distracted by the fact that she looked like SSH's aunt that it was difficult to follow the story without bias or distraction. I'm not criticizing her beauty, so hold your fire and don't shoot me. I am saying that in each drama, the look, chemistry and easy flow of all characters have to match. Her looks was so off in that drama that it was difficult to believe they actually live each other. Their young versions were awesome, but not as adults.

  I'm seeing a glimpse of that over acting, unnatural acting in the new drama. So I'll pass.

• I love it, it's fun to watch quirky Lee Young Ae. It's sad that the ratings are not even 4% and above. At least Sisyphus managed to get 5% and above.

  Was it not promoted well?

  Anyway I'm going to continue watching because it's Lee Young Ae's comeback. I have chosen to watch this over Jirisan.

  • Sisyphus highest rating was 6.67%. Btw, It was not a weekend show but on Wed/Thurs. Stayed in the 4-5% range most of its run. Its lowest was 3.4% due to it was shown on the day of SK local election .

    Lee Young Ae - I like her beauty but she her acting comes unnatural at times.

  • If you enjoying it, don't let the ratings make you down. I watched Monthly Magazine Home that had low ratings but I really2 like it (save for the ending, urgh)

• EVen if the ratings for ep 1 and 2 were quite low, at least they remained stable and didn't plummet like Nevertheless and Lost ratings did on their second episodes. That suggests the people who are watching are enjoying Inspector Koo and good word of mouth may lead to an increase in the ratings

• Koala, you haven’t reply to some comments. We are still waiting for your write ups on Kim Seon Ho. You were quick to judge him and couldn’t wait to jump on the cancel culture bandwagon. If you don’t report on it here, It really shows how bias you were and feminist your stand is since the narrative have change.

  • @Cp: Can you and the rest of your ilk stop posting your rubbish in unrelated posts? The rest of us do not care about Kim Seon Ho and are here to talk about other dramas and actors. Koala doesn't have to reply to you or do anything. It is her blog and she can post or not post absolutely anything she wants.

    If you are so desperately thirsty for posts about Kim Seon Ho then I suggest you take yourself elsewhere or start your own damn blog. Nobody is forcing you to post or read this one.

  • I duno why you should bring KSH in here but not everyone is interested enough to read about his PR team act.

    It always takes two to tango. I like his acting and will always wait for his comeback but stop it. Good for him that now everyone is back to love him. But seriously, don't push anyone to trust him just bcuz others do.

    You can read about him in other sites. Or join his fansclub.

  • Leave @koalasplayground alone! You’re the most hated fandom! You’re too greedy! You covet for the sake of your 36 yr old oppa! You shove in your throat whatever you fanatically believe. You’re exactly what he is. You can’t manipulate all people, girl, ?! C’mon not because you worship that horrible person means the rest of us to do the same! He can’t escape the truth, he will be haunted forever! Do we buy Dispatch rescuing him? Nah! HAHAHA!

    • This comment alone proves that extraterrestrial life is real ??? Good lord do your faves have nothing better to do nowadays so you’re focusing all your energy hating on someone you don’t know? Aliens on the internet do exist lol ??

    • Seems like you and your horny gullible brainwashed sheep fandom have nothing better to do which is why you worship some celebrity you don't know who also doesn't know or care about you and won't f/ck you and come to a blog online to spew your garbage at its owner and others. Yes, aliens on the internet exist, indeed. @ET, you're clearly one of them.

    • Oh honey, I don’t know why you keep assuming anyone who doesn’t agree with your ridiculous hate towards KSH is automatically a stan lol sorry to disappoint you dear but I am not into stanning anyone in K-ent, I’m not from your generation where you think anything and everything revolves around your faves. God forbid the world will stop if your idol SZ of NJH retire ? I’m seriously flummoxed by the amount of vitriol aliens like you spout towards strangers—if you spent that on studying or earning yourself some money you’d be a big success now. Seriously, get a life ???

  • Since you and your fellow mooks don't understand the concept of a personal blog, here's an idea: go create your own shrine solely dedicated to your idol where y'all can worship him, sing his praises, hymns, pray, pay tithes, offerings, communion, the whole shebang. And I promise you that Koala and those of us who don't give a fig about him won't come there to rain on your parade. Now scram.

  • If you think the Dispatch article was anything but a paid hit piece against the ex girlfriend, I have a bridge to sell you. So naive.

    • Unfortunately it helped him return to his position so most people bought it.

    • He better stick with Salt forever because the day he tries to leave that agency, they'll reveal all the skeletons they obviously paid Dispatch to bury. He should just ask KJH. And it will ironically be the same Dispatch which saved him that will bury him that day. How his gullible stans would do a 180 and curse Dispatch! Oh la la!

    • Wow, another K-ent insider. Amazing ?? ?? Pray do tell!

  • Don't think kim seon ho will save forever lol,when his contract with salt expired they will reveal about how much money they paid to dispacth.He should sign blood contract with salt because he will end up kjh sooner or later. And ksh will paid finalty 10 times to all of his cf.

• I thought she didn't fit the role as a quirky recluse. And though she looks younger than her real age, I don't think she can pass as a woman in early 40s. So far the drama is still watchable, am going to stick with it for as long as I can, only 12 episodes anyway.

• JTBC dramas have had lower ratings since the beginning of the year. I don't think any actor, irrespective of their status, can bring it back at this point so the onus shouldn't fall upon them. In any case, JTBC dramas>>> anything TVN has put out this year but according to Kdrama stans, whatever Ajummas watch is equivalent to quality. South Korea has a rapidly aging demographic, their television viewing pattern will also become limited, but who cares about social reality amiright? Anyway, Lee Young Ae is being showered with praise for her acting and the drama is being hailed for being entertaining, that should be enough. Many overrated dramas can't relate to the praise she or her drama has received.

• I agree this drama is too quirky to be a ratings hit and frankly it's 10x better than Jirisan. Ratings aren't a marker for quality and JTBC has mostly quality dramas even if their ratings this year have been sub par. Beyond Evil and Law School didn't have high ratings either but they are better than Hometown Cha Cha or Mine. When horrible writing and badly acted dramas like Red Sky or Jirisan can get ratings you just know that there is something wrong with the calculation system which if I'm not wrong Nielsen themselves admitted. Penthouse 3 was a complete trainwreck and still had super high ratings while Racket Boys is a complete gem but barely got 6%. This is nonsense television making noise while good tv is being ignored because of ratings. Youth of May getting lower ratings than Red Sky is obviously a joke when the former is 100x more superior and has better acting and chemistry in every way. Yumi's Cells getting only 2% is a joke when nonsense like Sisyphus gets 6% for it's meaningless plot. Ratings don't reflect quality or star power especially when you see the actual household viewership numbers.

  • So true! LYA and GHJ have been winning praise for their acting in IK and ROY respectively! Their dramas don't have high ratings but they have the critical acclaim and the audience acknowledgement!

  • @Yovi: Very, very true. Thank you for mentioning two extremely underrated gems in Racket Boys and Youth of May which are both infinitely superior to nearly all of the dramas that rated far more highly.

  • Right. International Kdrama fans brag about ratings to overrate their favs, most would actually rewatch a lower-rated drama or opt for a Netflix series instead of the high-rated dramas this year. It's just awkward to see Kdrama stans nodding along with any hit makjang that Korean Ajummas are enjoying. JTBC has produced the best network dramas this year, which TVN drama could compare in terms of quality? The failure of JTBC dramas despite being consistently high-quality spells doom for the industry too. It's all fun and games to mock ratings but when/if JTBC follows OCN and their favs are left to fight for the scraps from only three networks and some OTT shows then they'll understand.

  • SBS barely aired 5 dramas this year 7 if we include NWAB and OBS and have had the biggest ratings this year even for undeserving dramas like LOTRS and especially PH3 it is shocking how the one good drama they actually produced barely got any ratings. Watch SBS shoehorn random categories and rewards for all the undeserving dramas while handing out bare minimum for RB which deserves all the top awards. You're right JTBC is the only channel that delivered on quality minus Sisyphus. Imagine sleeping on masterpieces like Lost and ROY. Thankfully BE had the Baeksang nod otherwise it would have disappeared in the land of low/mediocre rated dramas. TVN had some interesting and enjoyable dramas like Vincenzo, DJ, YC and YAMS but only Vincenzo managed to walk away with ratings but it doesn't mean it was the best of the lot. People who think ratings mean better plot or more star power are highly mistaken. JJH dramas always get high ratings but both LOTBS and Jirisan are heavily panned and criticized by both local and international audiences. Just because she has 20 some cfs doesn't make her popular. Knetz despise her and are more than ready to replace her with HSH. Same for SHK she has never been popular with the public for 'good' things. Don't think ratings and cfs mean anything to the industry. Directors like PCW, BJH etc don't care at all if Esom, PSD or HYR can bring in ratings or not or if they have bags full of cfs they'll still be cast in their movies and continue to have critical acclaim. When Hallyu stars like LMH are willing to be second fiddle to actresses like YYJ you should know the power of acting over popularity or ratings. Almost none of the high rated dramas this year had any good acting to speak of.

  • Evidence to the contrary. The industry itself has voted on best dramas of the year and TVN swept the top three spots with Hometown CCC, Vincenzo, and HP2 (forgot order) and got nods for a few other dramas. So TVN is able to score both commercial success with the audience and critical acclaim from the people who matter.

    As for Inspector Koo, watched the first episode and it's kooky and enjoyable, but definitely an acquired taste for Koreans. I'm not seeing the Killing Eve in it.

    • Peabrain, indeed.

    • an actual critics won't place vincenzo as best drama. majority watchers is not exactly a drama critics. so I won't hold their opinion that much until I know the logical reason why they place it as best drama.

      that drama is full of parody and pure entertainment and never claim to please people who enjoy actual good drama.

    • Vincenzo being on top three immediately invalidates that list. That list is just a bunch of high-rated dramas. What did it even disprove, nothing that's what. If bottom-tier trash like Vincenzo is "critically acclaimed" then it only proves that ratings mean absolutely nothing.

    • ??? Stay pressed as a panini @kaguya/Rapunzel/Belle/GiaJun/Jennifer (you do know your icon stays the same right?).

      Your fave dramas ended up on the actual bottom tier trash list even though you keep screeching about JBTC quality. ? Forget the grandmas. Critics ain’t with you either.