Jung Kyung Ho and Jeon Do Yeon Deliver the First Hit of 2023 as tvN Rom-com Crash Course in Romance Hits 9.145% Ratings in Episode 5

Holy wow am I surprised upon surprised, and in a great way. After the red hot December 2022 in K-drama land with first Reborn Rich and then The Glory, it’s fantastic to see the momentum carry into the new year and January 2023 has the first hit already. tvN Sat-Sun drama Crash Course on Love is only in the third week of airing and this Saturday’s episode 5 got 9.145% ratings. That is INCREDIBLE for a rom-com and basically I’m scratching my head and looking back into the rolodex of past dramas to remember a rom-com doing these kind of ratings. Major congrats to Jung Kyung Ho and Jeon Do Yeon for this success – they are pitch perfect in acting for their characters and have a warm natural chemistry but the “romance” part doesn’t really work for me as she just looks like his well-meaning older sister no matter which way its sliced.


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Jung Kyung Ho and Jeon Do Yeon Deliver the First Hit of 2023 as tvN Rom-com Crash Course in Romance Hits 9.145% Ratings in Episode 5 — 22 Comments

  1. It is called acting, and do not look pretty, besides being a slow-burn Romance. And no matter what your younger actress does…they are no match for older noonas or actresses. Oh ya, the director happens to love older actresses too like Shin Mina in Hometown ChaChaCha

  2. First hit? Isn’t that Agency? It has higher ratings and LBY is getting massive praise for her performance. Not that Crash Course isn’t great as well but Agency deserves more recognition. Unfortunately it’s not easily available for international viewers and is getting ignored.

  3. Romance part is what bothers me too so I dropped it. It just doesn’t work. Obviously it happens in real life so that’s not an issue but she looks like his aunty and that’s the chemistry I see, not romance.

    • I am still watching but ya, the romance part is out! She really looks like his aunty.
      But as actors both ML and FL are top class.

  4. The drama is sometimes jarring with lots of tonal shifts but the acting is superb. It has similarities with Strong girl bong soon wherein the story is cliche’ and meh but the actors saved the drama by the natural chemistry and acting.

    Also, Jeon Do Yeon proved she really is the best actress of Korea. Such a treat to watch her acting.

  5. I googled her and wow! She is such a prestigious actress with numerous awards. I look forward in watching one of her shows. I’m currently not watching this romance drama but maybe I will in the future.

  6. Except for the random thriller and evil moms part, the rom-com has that comfortable throw-back feel. But the drama is great at taking the more loner ML and the candy FL and blending it with the actors/characters’ ages and life stages. The interactions are charming and winning.

    So far we’re getting to the part where he is slowly falling for her and it’s delicious!

  7. I would know when this “genre” started
    a mix of a light-feel good drama – romance – colorfull cinematography – “”old”” characters

    I feel it’s started with Camellia Blooms but im not sure

  8. I feel like rom-com dramas are making a comeback. The timing is just right. Pent-up demand after three years of pandemic restrictions, recent crowd crush tragedy and flood disasters in Seoul. SK viewers are ready for well-made feel good rom-com dramas. If writers and PDs are smart, they should capitalize on the mood of the nation. Tbh, revenge, thrillers and makjang dramas are wearing a bit thin for me. I’m watching it atm but I also don’t feel the romance part. Maybe coz I know JKH has been dating Sooyoung for ten years irl just kind of spoil the immersion experience. Lol. Just not feeling the chemistry between the leads visually & emotionally.

    • I just googled Jeon So Yeon. She’ll be 50 in 2 weeks time. She’s 10 years older than JKH. This might work if they film this drama ten years ago or if JDY looks like Choi Ji Woo who still has a youthful vibe. It worked for JCW-HJW in Empress Ki and LSG-HJW in Kings 2 Heart despite a 9 year age gap.

      • I’m guessing it’s the way she’s styled and her overall vibe that’s emphasizing the age difference? 10.5 years of age difference is still “smaller” than the age difference between Ju Ji Hoon and Kim Hye Soo (almost 12 years) but no one commented much about it in Hyena (though I didn’t like KHS’s style there, her skin is wow. And someone said it’s only when she speaks that she gives her age away).

        As for Ha Ji Won, I think her athleticism and fashion sense helps maintain her youthful charm. I saw her in Hospital Ship with Kang Min Hyuk and recently in Curtain Call with Kang Ha Neul (her age gap with both leads are 11-12 years) and they looked like in the same age range. The only time she looked slightly older in Curtain Call was when her make up was too thick and she was wearing a business suit.

      • Exactly. Well said Jihyu. I watched Hospital Ship HJW & Kang Min Hyuk from start to finish. I’m not against noona-dongsaeng romance. If done well, I’m all for it. It just doesn’t work here coz of JDY’s styling plus the vibes they gave her character. I’m not feeling Sean Connery as the love interest of Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment. He looks like her Grandpa. Visual and vibes matter a lot to me whether it’s k-dramas or Hollywood movies. I was rooting for Jang Nara and SIG in Hello Monster. They have a big age gap. I also have a lot of respect for SIG’s Mum coz she’s seven years older than his Dad. Ppl need to take a chill pill.

      • Yeah, they are supposed to be on the same age, as this is not written to be a noona romance. Loved Jeon Do Yeon’s amazing acting but I wished they casted someone closer to Jung Kyung Ho’s age, like for example Lee Na Young or Kim Ha Neul.

        But it is ok, I found the premise of this show really refreshing – both of our lead characters are in their late 30s to early 40s : that in itself is a rarity in Kdrama to have leads at such age.

  9. It’s only with kdrama fans do I see such sexist and ageist comments abt the leads’ age gap, the actress’s looks, how she looks like his aunty etc. Despite JDY being a legit award winning actress. I dont see it anywhere else much in Asia and definitely not the West. It’s a reason why kdramas still dont bank much on talent but looks go a long way and also why kdramas will never be well known internationally. It attracts such a strange group of ppl as its audience with a mindset that somehow exactly reflects the toxic lookism culture the country has. Both enable each other.

    • That’s not even remotely true. One of the most talked about things in the past two decades in the west was the topic of men who played love interests while they looked like they could be the actressses’ fathers.

      I don’t watch that and I don’t watch things when it’s the other way around. According to you that makes me both a misogynist and a misandrist. I will take it because no, I don’t like such visual discrepancies in age, no matter the gender.

  10. Your rules of romance are way too confining. Wait until you get a little older. Talk about prejudice. I love this romance. Another great new drama is “Meet Yourself.”

    • Lmao what patronising bs.

      You know what age teaches you? It teaches you that a man hit by a midife crisis will drop his partner or wife that is same age as him or even a bit younger for a much, much younger model. Oh and often, those men who claimed to not want kids will suddenly realise they do and will have one or more with that younger model while their ex is left to pick up the pieces of the biological clock that has run out.

      That’s what men do and what age teaches you. It certainly isn’t that 50 yo women can get a ten year younger hubby just like that. Not to mention that in this drama they are supposedly almost the same age. She looks like his aunt. Cope.

  11. I’m watching because there’s nothing else better and I’m bored. The actors are good, but the plot and setup are sometimes too extreme. I get that there are serious issues with teens education in Korea, but committing suicide because you got leaked questions from your mother…you can get angry at her, but suicide is too much. The gang of mothers are sometimes ridiculous and the whole star teacher-millionaire thing is a bit too much, in my view. We don’t have multi-millionaire teachers in my country, unless you own an academy business and still they are not that big…so it’s too unrealistic from my perspective and that detracts from the enjoyment.The combination of rom-com + crime is too harsh too.

    Btw, I see people criticizing the age gap between MLs. I think the main problem is that they are styling that lady very badly, the bangs, makeup and clothes are horrible. She could look much better.

    • I kinda get the styling: she’s a single woman who’s busy raising a teenage daughter and a brother with Asperger’s, while running her own small business. She barely has time for herself. Anyone in her situation will look older.

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