The weekends is nursing a prestige drama that could have a chance to become a ratings hit, it’s still wait and see but the trajectory is promising. MBC Fri-Sat sageuk My Dearest (Lover) with Namgoong Min and Ahn Eun Jin got solid reviews but low ratings in the 5% range when it premiered two weeks ago. This is now the third week and Friday’s episode 5 did a 3 plus percentage jump to 8.4% ratings, following a strong online buzz groundswell in the days since last weekend’s episodes. Viewers are saying the recent episodes 3-4 are just amazeballs and the earlier good if not great opinion has turned to solidly great stuff from the audience. Perhaps these responses have indeed encourage new viewers to tune in and I sure hope the ratings goes up if indeed the drama is that good because we need more reason for the networks to invest in quality fare like this.
With SBS Revenant, I guess it was harder to pull ratings. But it really deserves it. The cinematography is beautiful and the plot is very interesting.
I also love seeing an unconventional non idol couple as the leading pair! Namgoong Min stays winning.
That scene in episode 1 where Gil Chae walks through all the seasons in her dream is in my head rent free. So imaginative and sumptuous!
Revenant ended at the same time as Numbers. It did not compete against My Dearest.
First Responders 2 was initially doing better than My Dearest, and the penultimate episode of King the Land also clashed with their first Saturday episodes. Now King the Land is over, My Dearest had room to grow its viewership.
Oh, yeah, I thought it started before.
SBS First Responders was still favored by Revenant and the fact they will release a second season of First Responders.
This drama is amazing not just the acting and cinematography even the chemistry gives me butterflies
Namgoong Min is so good. He picks good projects and he acts the hell out it. So versatile too.
Knew this drama is going to increase in ratings! On top of having the ability to pick great projects, Namgoong Min has always been such a stellar actor who always delivers. Don’t know why international fans aren’t talking about him that much, but of course what matters the most is that koreans love him and he’s a critically acclaimed actor there.
Aside the long time international viewers of Kdramas , the new generation are more into the actors that reached lead roles since 5 years ( Park hyng Sik, Park Seo Jun, Jun ho, … I still remember when i watched NGM as second lead in One fine day 2006 with Gong Yoo, he even was the second lead in I need romance 3 in 2014 . “Remember , war of the son ” and Chief Kim were i think, the roles that made him begin his journey to the stardom of the best actors in Korean entertainment . He admited himself that he did a little plastic surgery and it helped him a lot too . Sad because he was already awesome in his younger days . Another great actor who is about the same generation JI SUNG .
Oh wow, that’s a great point I haven’t thought of! I’d also include Kim Nam Gil with NGM and Ji Sung. I thought that that Island drama will make international fans discover KNG, because most of them will watch anything with Cha Eunwoo in it as long as it’s easily accessible. But alas, that drama didn’t get picked up by Netflix 🥲
Anyway, more for us who appreciate versatile actors like those three!
Kim Nam Gil ,such a great actor too ! When theses actors are involved in a project, i’m in . I’m a vétéran . 😭😭😭😭
Same here 😅
This is not in Netflix or Disney+ or Vui right? Where can international viewers watch this? Thannks.
Heavy saeguks like The Red Sleeve and now, My Dearest are popular amg Koreans. Please MBC…can We have more of such saeguks, instead of the usual fluffy and modern ones.
Hell yeah. I’ve always wished that the high-quality, more traditional sageuks of the past will come back, but probably with less episodes (I personally don’t mind very long sageuks, but viewers have shorter attention spans these days, so I get why productions won’t produce very long sageuks anymore).
Still, I’ve always wondered how people online would react if the epic sageuks from the past like Queen Seondeok, Jumong, Dae Jang Geum, etc. were airing right now lol. There would probably be lots of fanwars like #TeamMishil vs #TeamDeokman or #TeamBidam vs #TeamYushin lmao
KbS is coming up with a 32-episode traditional saeguk called Goryeo-Khitan war. It will be out in November 2023
The Red Sleeve wasn’t a very serious one… They were many changes from the original story with stupid plot addition.
It is considered a serious one even with the changes, though not a daeha/traditional saeguk.There aren’t many slapstick or things that are too modern/offensive stuffs that bugs Koreans, unlike Mr Queen and Joseon.
Good for MBC finding a niche with quality sageuks. They were flopping hard for a few years prior to revamping their line up and creating this Fri-Sat drama slot which really blew up with ‘The Red Sleeve’
NGM is very talented and has a very strong track record with his drama choices.