So this is the type of huge K-drama casting announcement that we need at least 2-3 of per year, the big name big production combo that gets viewers excited for a tentpole or event drama. Gong Yoo is reportedly entertaining an offer to join Song Hye Kyo in the new drama by award winning screenwriter Noh Hee Kyung. It’s a third reunion for the two ladies from The World They Live In and then That Winter, the Wind Blows, and if Gong Yoo confirms e will be reuniting with the PD who directed him in his mega hit Coffee Prince. The drama hasn’t revealed a title yet but is set in the broadcasting industry and shows the passions of the people through the time that leads to the birth of the modern K-ent industry.
Idk about this pairing. Both of them are somber looking when they act. They each deserve a partner that brightens their aura not dull them more.
I love the writer, but I doubt she would make a character where Gong Yoo would be lively like he was in Coffee Prince. Can he do a rom-com again after this?
Gong Yoo was somber looking in Goblin and Coffee Prince? Wut?
My thoughts exactly! Same problem with her and Jo In Sung. But maybe they can pull off a melo vibe.
The big break thru of K-Industry to the International audience came thru Boys over flowers. It was a Manga adapted series where the Director himself was not targetting international audience but for whatever reason it unexpectingly exploded Internationally..
I recall the cast themselves didn’t realize fully what happened and I remember a Young Lee Min-Ho making his first travel to Thailand right after BOF concluded airing like mere weeks after it and A whole major airport in Bangkok came litrtally to a halt and in this point of time K-dramas were niche in Thailand. so many crowds in the airport there was nowhere to stand and it was epic proportions chaos everywhere and nowhere to stand and you could see Lee Min-Ho just smiling in disbelief being covered by atleast multiple security personale to escort him out
I forgot to add this was 15 years ago and I almost feel old now but anyways it will have it’s 20 year anniversary in 2029 that is just short 5 years from now. I think it would be awesome to make a series based on that series behind the scenes..
It would be hilarious to see the reaction of the director, producer and staff that shxt has gone fuking global viral. Sometimes things happen without there being intention for it because the production team had no intention of that. It was suppose to be a local edgy teenage show for local consumption but not to start a K-content worldwide revolution it happened miraculously and the effect that it came on the back of Japanese Manga says that it was never intended just accidently this lead to Dramafever openning just based on the pirating that took place because BOF going Viral and after Dramafever, Hulu started to enter the market and then followed by Netflix and now Disney. K-content has been a main stable since
@ bol….Eh I think you severely discounting how huge the 4 seasons were like “winter sonata” legit remains an obsession with Japanese viewers till now. Bae Young Joon, Won Bin, etc were plastered everywhere on the magazines in my country. Not to mention other classics like “my name is Kim Sam soon” , etc
Winter Sonata was only a major hit in Japan.. K-dramas use to be on pirate sides before that for the rest of the english speaking world which Africa, western world, middle east, latin america and south east Asia. BOF broke that wall leading kdramas to become mainstream. Even China was not a thing for k-market before BOF.
Also another thing note is BOF trended on social media when it was new both youtube (2006) and Facebook (2004) were young but bof was one of early things to trend on social media back then and go viral
I agree with you. I remember those heydays of BYJ. He’s big in Japan and also Taiwan. BoF wasn’t the breakout point for Hallyu. There was already a Taiwanese version of BoF, a predecessor of LMH’s version, which swept SE Asia with F4.
@bol the OG Hallyu dramas were from the early-mid 2000s though. Dramas like Dae Jang Geum, Winter Sonata, Autumn in my Heart, Full House, Goong and Coffee Prince were all a huge success in Asia (btw three of the above starred either Gong Yoo or Song Hye Kyo, she is an OG Hallyu star), enough for actors to be doing fanmeeting tours.
Rewriting this narrative to ignore those earlier dramas as being just ‘niche’ or moving the goalposts to say ‘they were only popular in Japan’ (the most profitable market) is wrong. Neither did BOF invent kdramas being popular in Chine – as far back as Dae Jang Geum (2003) the popularity of Korean dramas in China was enough for Jackie Chan and Zhang Guoli to be going “resist the Korean wave” and by the late 00s Korean programmes available in China were more than all other foreign language programming combined.
What @bol wrote isn’t really wrong. BOF was really popular and huge in my country and this was before anybody ever knew about Kdramas. The first drama I ever watched was also BOF. We used to have BOF stickers. I never saw something like that for other dramas. I guess since that was a high school drama, it appealed a lot more to younger audience.
which country? what I mentioned were reported facts in media from that time, not “I think so”-type personal anecdotes presented as statements.
You always discrediting Lee min Ho. But he overheard second halkyu wave with bof. Bof was bigger than any drama ever before. Not even close those older ones were. Old haggg
@Adyinvader47…beloved, us being old hags is the reason why we can speak with a sense of authority that before BOF mania, there were tons of other Kdramas that were famous worldwide because we are old enough to have witness that firsthand along with the rise of second Hallyu wave.
dang, y’all summoned LMH’s number 1 fangirl Ady from the grave lmaooo. It’s been months since I’ve last seen her delulu takes, now we all have to suffer again 😭😭😭
It has nothing to do with discreditting others but majority of them were on pirating sides and none of them went viral on social medias outside of BOF which single handily lead to Dramafever opening followed by Hulu buying dramas after that.. The Actors in BOF had like millions of followers each post the drama whereas dramas like Full house didn’t even get 100k.. BOF was one of the early social media phenomenon as it was one of the first things that went viral in the social media age.
No Disrespect to these earlier dramas but they were mainly local consumption and never leaped beyond the pirating sites
@R – exactly.
Some people want to pretend no one in the west knew kdramas before 2009 or downplay those who did know but too bad for them, us ‘hags’ are old enough to remember the OGs and their impact!
(all documented by actual media, no matter how much you people try explaining that away and going “well actually it was only pirate sites” “well actually no one in the west knew” – sure, no one in the west knew kdramas and that’s how the biggest English language kdrama recap site was set up in….2007? which is before 2009 by the way)
I agree with everyone else. To completely discredit the dramas that come before BOF is ludicrous. As a person from the US, my first kdrama was Autumn in My Heart. Everyone in my school was watching Full House when it came out. Also, they obviously knew Hana Yori Dango was a beloved manga that had multiple successful live adaptations before they made their version in Korea.
exactly, if BOF is the “big break thru” of kdramas to international popularity then can these people please explain how English-language kdrama and k-media websites and blogs like soompi (1998), dramabeans(2007) and right here, koalasplayground itself….existed and were popular for years before BOF? lol
The first Kdrama I got obsessed with that piqued my interest to explore Kdrama further was Winter Sonata. When was that drama filmed? It looked pretty old vibe. But I watched it in the US around 2013. I never watched LMH’s BoF although I liked his City Hunter and Faith. Therefore, attributing Hallyu to BoF alone is a bit overstatement.
whatever reason? The manga was a big success, the TW adaptation, Meteor Garden, was a big success, the JP adaptation, Hana Yori Dango, was a big success.
It wasn’t an original story. And they were lucky because it’s still one the worst adaptation of the story…
You can’t forget the success of other Kdramas that helped this one to be famous outside Korea.
BOF wasn’t the big break for the K-ent but I think it (or more specifically the rise of Lee Minho’s popularity) was the turning point where it was recognised as the dominant entertainment industry in Asia, which also marked the decline of the j-ent industry. Just realised I’ve not watched any jdramas since that period (or can’t really remember if I have), only jmovies once in a while.
Lol, BOF was big, but full house was BIGGER. Winter sonata and autumn in my heart were also bigger. In japan, it was winter sonata, in my country, it was autumn in my heart and full house. Full house waaaaaasss crazily popular more than bof. People watched bof bcuz of meteor garden was hugely popular in mh country. Lee minho is popular but song hye kyo is legend. Not a fan of her but i just state the truth.
Come on let us not kid ourselves.. None of these dramas had any impact outside of Winter sonata and that was only in Japan..
Just follow the social media reaction this will give you the indiction BOF was the first thing that ever went viral on Social media. The BOF actors had millions of followers just couple of months post BOF while the actors on the other shows like Full house didn’t even have 100k followers.
Boys over flowers was the big break thru for K-industry all the stats supports and even these at Dramafever open it because of BOF which helped Kdramas.
@nina…that’s not at all a fair comparison. There was no social media back then to go viral on for those earlier dramas so how can you use that as a yardstick of measurement?? And those dramas being less accessible (but not even so much because they were showing on legit channels in other countries) and yet, ppl in SEA countries/ Japan/ even america knew about them showed how powerful they were. Like the Full House song was blasted everywhere in my country.
I am interested in this pairing, it would have been what could have been DOTS had Gong Yoo accepted that drama. And if (just if) they ended up together, that is really fate a tad late but meant to be. But the story about broadcasting, I’m not sure about that. It always fails when the story revolves around the media industry. Still hope it will be successful. However I won’t believe this until it is inked in agreement. A lot these are just news that never pan out.
If not mistaken, Gong Yoo was the original pick for leading man of DOTS but he turned down the offer.
So it’s basically that they were supposed to pair up years ago but didn’t happened. So it would be interesting if they really get to work together this time around.
This already sounds pretty epic!
A 20-24 episode drama with long episodes in an era when people can hardly sit through 16 episodes? NHK is a good writer but nothing justifies 24 episodes especially not a period melodrama with 70-80 mins of runtime. NHK should seriously rethink this. Apart from that yes this is massive casting news and more surprising that they’ve never acted together in the last 20 years or so but GY is not suited for melodrama. He always looks worn out when he does this genre. Comedy, mystery, romcom or thriller all suit him much better. This drama needs a vibrant supporting cast to get us through all the melo and slow pacing.
I’m not a big fan of SHK.
I’m more excited by Gong Yoo next drama with Seo Hyun-Jin as his wife for 1 year.
@Sayaris..ooh I didn’t know they’re starring in a drama together! I do like SHK mainly cause I think she’s pretty and seems sweet. I do recognize she’s a limited actress (“Glory” was such an entertaining watch though so I love that she got a role that worked well for her) but am also looking forward to her pairing with Gong Yoo cause that’s a lot of prettiness on my screen 😀 . On the other hand, I’ve always enjoyed Seo Hyun Jin’s acting so that pairing is exciting!
It’s a Netflix drama that will be released at the end of the year. I think the name was The Trunk and now it’s just Trunk.
The casting is interesting. But I’m not a fan of the writer or the PD. Not sure if this drama will be up my street.
Doesn’t seem interesting but I’ll give it a try if GY is in it. Can’t remember the last drama I watched of SHK…
Googled her dramas and it was Full House. 😂 So long ago.
my gut says this will flop and i bet one of them will go on indefinite hiatus if this flops
The only thing I ever saw Gong Yoo in was Squid Game. But this looks like an interesting pair. At least they look age appropriate together.
This is an interesting pairing I could get behind.
Not a fan Of SHK but i liked Worlds within and Full house was a must seen when i began my journey into Kdramas world . Not thrilled about both acting together but who knows they may be great . I’ll watch and judge after . But both since a few projects give a somber aura . I’d like to see both in a comedy . Why do actors tend to think that comedies are a sub genre when they reach stardom . Through the story of the cinematography or Tv a lot of comedies are masterpieces From Chaplin to Billy Wilder, British movies as 4 weddings and one funeral, The Full Monthy, .. and the actors who acted in it were all great . Still someome remember the drama “On air” .
Comedy requires more talent than melodrama.
@Rina, that’s what i think too . But comedies still underestimated !
It’s not easy to write comedy, specifically when there’s intention to inject serious concepts or values in the storylines at the same time. I can’t help but whine about QoT again cos it’s the most recent bad example I can think of. (Fans have to give up impulse to attack me! LOL) Is QoT a rom com or a melo? The rom com part of QoT doesn’t work on me. It’s not humorous except for some comedic moments in ep 1. I was more easily moved by KJW’s tears in ep 4 (or 5?) but KSH’s black comedy doesn’t do anything to me. It’s the biggest failure of writing in QoT and his acting doesn’t help. Good black comedy I can think of in my mind is, e.g., Everything Everywhere All at Once.
British writer Jane Austen wrote very good comedies too.
@cahill…I too find the ability to make people laugh is really tougher. I remember reading just how invested Chaplin was towards everyone of his projects. He was a perfectionist…but the amount of time he dedicated to producing a movie could take years. He does make them look effortless and funny to watch.
Btw @cahill, I am digressing..have you seen Maison Margiela latest collection…It is just really ‘Wow’… I mean John Galliano is just so creative and artistic. I may not like some of the pieces but the theme and how he put the show together is just Posh Underground theatre… I have seen afew shows this session… John Galliano is just a Master at putting together a showstopper. Of course, his style may turn many off but this really reminds me of more modern Moulin Rouge. Excuse my limited vocabulary of expressing myself.
@Hl , honestly i’m not too much into fashion , i used too but not anymore , but i still like to watch catalogues of Expositions of fashion as they did in the past in Paris for Givenchy, Dior, Art in fashion… but i’ll watch , this month Celine Dion covers Vogue France which is a breeze of freshness as Vogue France is too “arty” for me, some years ago i used to buy the Us one . You may know by know that Le Moulin rouge lost his wings and some letters this week ! They fell ! Le Moulin Rouge exists since 135 years
Omg, my drama couple pairing have finally come true. I have stopped watching Kdrama since 2016 because there’s nothing interesting and no pairing interesting to me. But, wow I’m totally looking forwarding to this pairing. After this can we have GY and Han Ji Min? Can we also have SHK and Ji Sung plus So Ji Sub?
Not really a fan of NHK’s works because the pacing of her writing is too slow for me. I watched Our Blues and TWTWB in 1.5x speed.
I’m ambivalent towards SHK, as she’s a hit or miss type of actress.
Why do I get the feeling GY will reject the offer? As many have said here in the comments, melodrama doesn’t seem to be his genre.
I adore Gong Yoo and think he is one of the best actors of his generation without any doubt. However, I find he is best in more upbeat roles. I don’t think weepy and melodramatic roles suit him as much but that’s also assuming this one is like that. It could have similar elements to Its Okay, that’s Love (from the same writer) which is amongst the best dramas I’ve ever seen. Period does not always have to be serious and melo, I hope.
Either way, frankly if this is my only chance of seeing him back in a drama I am excited to watch then so be it. This is an awesome combo and if we just find out a bit more, it could be even more exciting than JJH-KDW’s drama for me.
BOF really was the viral YT international breakthrough as I watched it as a teen and younger audiences worldwide were introduced via BOF. This generation of us never saw the older sonata dramas. My first kmovie was
A Moment to Remember! It can’t be underestimated how much more mainstream it became with first wave of SM. Netflix has been the next wave. I do miss OG dramabeans with java and girlfriday, it was a different era. There will never be another Coffee Prince, Goong, Kim samsoon or Que Sera Sera. Having said we do get some amazing shows every other year or so these days. With My Liberation Notes, Be Melodramatic .
Que sera, sera was a great drama that went under radar, do you know @Selena, that Yoon Eun Hye was supposed to be the lead of this drama but her agency back then, didn’t let her do it, it’s one of the reasons she left and had to pay with her own money some people of her staff during Coffee Prince which became the hit that we know . I like all the dramas Be melodramatic and My liberation notes too . From that era i like also dramas as 9 end 2outs, Capital Scandal, Dalja’s Spring, Foxy Lady,…
I know there are a huge crowd of CP fans. That drama was a true mega hit back then and perhaps even later for a long time. Interestingly CP didn’t work on me that I quit midway. Idk, I’m just not a fan of GY in rom com. But I enjoyed YEH’s Princess Hours a lot and also Lie to Me and Missing You but not so much of Marry Him If You Dare (also thanks to the ML’s zero chemistry with her). It’s a pity that two of her popular drama MLs either committed crimes or was charged with misconducts later on. Did these scandals affect her career? She just disappeared all of a sudden not doing any dramas nowadays?
YEH is one of those charismatic actresses including Gong Hyo Jin whose presence on screen exudes unique aura that’s so recognizable, impressive, and memorable. She’s also one of the K actresses whose dramas I’d check and then watched most before taking a hiatus. I’ll forever check out their dramas even the genre or the plot doesn’t seem that interesting to me.
@Somebody, people who read this blog since years know that YEH was my 1st favourite korean actress not because she was the best ( i’m too old to be a delusional fan)but she had such an unique aura and her photoshoots were and still until this day the best ones for me . The young generation may not know but she was back then one of the highest paid actresses in Skorea and she was everywhere ( Basic house, Vivien, YSL, M.A.C, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, …) She had chemistry with everyone , even Son Ye Jin used to be one of her friends , but after the scandal of plagiarism which didn’t even reached court, she was blacklisted and went through depression, now she is living a sane life, she has her YOUTUBE Channel , she wants to act again but i suppose that offers may be not much or not the kind of projects she likes. A lot of actors who used to lead projects are complaining nowadays that they lack offers . Kim Ha Neul is still working but she used to be a top star with a lot of her movies doing well in box office, Moon Geum Young , Moon Chae Won are also actresses that i miss .
Oh NO! She was blacklisted and that’s why! That’s really too unfortunate. I’m really pissed off by the cancel culture so prevalent in the Asian ent industries that led to Lee Sun-kyun’s suicide. Now knowing YEH’s absence from the current Kdrama scenes all thanks to the cancel culture again makes me so sick of that, while some real offenders continued to grovel in the industry.
I’m the one hating ppl cancelling others for any unjustified reasons. It’s a loss to the K drama industry that YEH isn’t active anymore. Not only her aura, her speaking tone is also very unique that’s still vivid in my head. Having watched some boring actresses that fans glorify to the moon instead nowadays makes me miss her more. Sigh. I hope she has a chance to come back.
@cahill @Somebody, I also love Yoon Eun Hye…she is such a darling to me. Just like @cahill, we watch her YT channel often. She loves butter rolls, pasta, and cakes. She too loves to cook.
@Hl, she is also good at drawing, her dance challenge of Blackpink ‘s Lovesick girl is great, she was awesome in Once In lifetime Kilimanjaro, She is a master chef, she doesn’t need a stylist since she has a great fashion taste, people say that she didn’t age well i disagree she looks charming and pretty with great skin, she stills unique , she likes to challenge herself, …people should watch her channel just to see that she is way better than a lot of actresses . Not a superficial one .
@Selena, I didn’t start to watch K drama until 2013 perhaps? I think that’s the year BOF went viral overseas but it wasn’t the first K drama that got me hooked. My first K drama was Winter Sonata though I didn’t watch until 2013 and it piqued my interest to explore more K drama. I watched BOF mush later but it didn’t do much to me. Nonetheless, I went on to watch other dramas of LMH later. I liked City Hunter and Faith very much and became his fan right after that. He isn’t my fave. But I never discount his influence in Hyllua. Ppl who discredit him are ignorant at best, and malicious at worst.
Also, so many including my fave have raved about My Liberation Note. I must watch this drama sometime. It doesn’t look like the type of my genres. I prefer fantasy, action, mystery, suspension, black comedy and now including crime dramas, and less about slices of life and melo etc. But there are exceptions if the production quality overall is pretty good and acting is critically acclaimed.
bol is entitled to her opinion here, whether she’s a number 1 fan of LMH or not and you don’t like it. She has the right to express her passion about any drama, any actor, or anything you dislike. Ok to argue back against her opinions. But some ppl went overboard to mock her coming out of tomb being delulu. LOL. This bol girl perhaps is just a certain casual reader of Koala’s blogs. If the same egregious remark were targeted at me, ppl had to get ready for shit I would throw back on them. LOL.
Fans should focus their comments on drama related, not the person who makes comments unless that person started gaslighting you using shitty wording such as jackshit and assess and delulu etc. Then from that point on, whoever started the drama should expect insults back to you. Karma! LOL.
Confused by your comment. I don’t see anyone insulting bol. The comment that used the term “delulu” and “coming from the grave” that you’re referencing was directed at Adyinvader47, who called someone that disagreed with them an “old hag” first.
Sorry! I missed Adyinvader47’s comment.