When the Stars Gossip Records Lowest Ratings of 1.783% in Penultimate Episode 15 and Heading into Finale with Viewer Fuming About a Physical Scene Between the Leads
So I have been following along with When the Stars Gossip even after the ridiculous and laughable space sex scene that ended episode 8 but didn’t feel the need to write more about it. It felt like the remaining viewers were along for the ride out of loyalty for the leads, sheer boredom with nothing else to do, or morbid curiosity to see where the drama could lead. The second half of the drama was spent on earth with even more awkward forced romance between leads Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin, the usual coincidences leading to one of Lee Min Ho’s adopted moms being Gong Hyo Jin’s birth mom, and building conflict between the space agents on earth discovering the secret embryo experiments on the station with the attempt to implant the fertilized egg into the chaebol daughter-in-law. Episode 15 felt like the culmination of “is this drama really THIS BAD?” as even the remaining domestic viewers have rebelled thanks to a confrontation scene between the leads where Lee Min Ho actually grabs Gong Hyo Jin by the scruff of her neck in accusing her of destroying a mom’s baby because the fertilized egg was destroyed by the space agency since it was, I dunno, unsanctioned and unethical experimentation. It was a tough scene and unnecessarily physical and viewers hate it, even more so when later its discovered the space sex has led to Gong Hyo Jin’s character being pregnant with Lee Min Ho’s baby. I can’t even make this shit up. I can only end with sharing what viewers are saying about this drama “thank god it’s ending soon”.
I have watched A LOT of asian’s dramas and I LOVE this drama.
I enjoyed the main casts, and think they did a great job with their characters.
I just finished the last episode and cried half of the show.
The ending was very good with leaving the audience, or at least myself that their is hope, and our children are our last hope for this crazy world at this time.
To the directors, please continue to make movies like this.
And to the casts, thank you for your great job to bring this to people like me, that is looking for romance, suspense, and lastly hope.
I loved this drama! It shows a talented cast of actors believing in the script & honoring it with terrific performances. I so glad the creators did not cop out & give it a typical kdrama rom-com ending to please the haters. Despite the outlandish plot it was enjoyable & had emotional depth.
The final sequences were beautiful & makes you think about issues of motherhood, life, ethics & family.
As someone on qoo aptly pointed out; this drama would have benefitted from being an OTT exclusive where it could die a quiet death and vanish into the abyys. By airing on cable, it has been slowly and loudly dying weekly instead. I dont recall a high profile drama rating this poorly and being received this badly in SK in a very long time. Jirisan and King had its own group of domestic fans at least. Stars has none.
Btw the ending is being thrashed even more.
At least jirisan rating is on average between 8-10%. While this one is really dying
Sorry for sharing sth off the topic but I was just checking the news and found out “Ne zha2” has overtaken “Inside out 2” place and become the highest grossing animated movie world wide and is about to break more records. I am looking forward to watching it when it hits the screens in our region. hope other production teams take note and learn a lesson or two. There is no need to look for wild ideas to attract the audience just try to respect their intelligence.
The last episode is even worse if that is even possible. T.T
You got to give the actors props for sticking it out. I’m sure they learned a lot from this project and will probably be the wiser to choose carefully and mindfully next time. Not sure if the writer will be sought out for as much after this project though. Or maybe this sci fi, melo comedy is just not her stuff. She could probably fare well for daily or weekend dramas. You know the long winded stories.
What to say? FL is a hard watch. She’s one of the few actresses who is so conscious of herself when acting, it bleeds thru the screen (same exact thing as Yang Mi). Watch her Camilla blooms drama and you’ll see. And LMH? I think his star has dimmed. He doesn’t know how to pick scripts and for some reason isn’t clever to screen test opposite leads. Of course this is my opinion only.
Regarding GHJ ; she seems to have lost her charms in this drama. First too much Botox …. The dressing doesn’t help; pulled air , big cosmonaut suit, horrible black top body. But specially, the storyline making her acting too serious and rigid as commander with a fate too tragic throughout the drama. It looks like she carries all the misery in the world .Most of the time Eve takes it all without reacting (in ep 6 and ep 15 when Ryong calls her a murderer , she doesn’t react…) So it ‘is s an ambivalent impression between what you are expected ( please Eve wake up and move on ) and the character created by the script ( tragic one; she lost everything) and that how to interpret it ( poker face or devastated face ) yes you have some extrapolated romantic and happy time with Ryong and the baby but interaction are most boring. In any case , LMH doesn’t bring any deep to this pairing and make not GHJ shining or brings her acting a level higher as expected with drama couple. It has been said that she is too old for LMH , I think it LMH who doesn’t deserve her
Off the topic but lmh is not able sell fanmeet tickets in sk properly even when the drama is airing. This itself show that the drama did not help in lmh popularity whereas compared to other actor it is different .seriously I don’t exactly how many people like this show ? But seriously doubt that it can be money laundering drama & if not ,then the script doesn’t look good
Yeah I think it can be put in money laundering drama category for this year. It’s on par with last year the impossible heir
I observed that reviews of WTSG among those who have been actually following the drama ep by ep are pretty divided, either loving or hating it. Those who with Western upbringing gave more positive reviews while those who with Asian roots/upbringing are very scathing about it. Positive reviews applauded the new concepts stepping out of the comfort zones of Kdrama. Criticism slammed awkward love lines and illogical plot holes here and there.
I personally agree with some positive reviews that found WTSG a somehow novel beast not following old trails of Kdrama predecessors that were so predictable along the way. There were quite a few space themes telling interesting episodes before they landed on earth again. On the other hand, I also feel the romance a bit cringing, very unconvincing. The overall dynamics of the relationships in WTSG somehow shallow, failed to connect with audience. The development of the storylines on earth is incoherent. This may explain why the drama has such dismal ratings in SK and among Asian fans. My impatience with the love stories (if there’s any LOL) in WTSG has grown even greater after finishing classy My Liberation Notes around this time. WTSG’s character development and romance appear totally a disaster compared with MLN. No harm, no comparison (in a Chinese slang) LOL. As much as I’m fond of GHJ and LMH, I only took them as a couple on screen cuz I knew the writer told them to do so. LOL
The development of the storylines on earth is incoherent. In particular, some plots in the latest eps. 14-15 just didn’t make much sense. Forget about accuracy and authenticity! If the writer had been able to extend that black humor fleshed out in the subplot of lottery collusion in space, the drama wouldn’t need be melo, but might have been a successful black comedy with all the exaggeration and quirkiness. Unfortunately, the writer isn’t on par with the screenwriters of Everything Everywhere after all. She had a shot and I see the potential. She should boldly try more black comedy that may be successful later. I don’t see her talent in writing romance (rom com or melo) anyway. I’ve never been a fan of her rom coms before. They were all trivially staid. But she may be able to flesh out black humor.
Defending this drama until the end, huh?
Defending her fave actor to the end
I don’t think that was truly a defense. most of what Somebody wrote was criticism. The space theme is novel and new for kdramas, there’s no denying that. It just doesn’t help that the writing and execution was poor.
@JIA – Actually, she (@somebody) comments on every WTSG article here in Koala’s playground defending and making excuses for LMH and this drama.
Have a fetish for picking a fight, keyboard nugus – @Connie, @Marie, @Anon(definitely a recidivist LMAO), and @Tori? I’m so ready anytime. LOL.
If I like apple, any problems with you about my personal taste? Is my preference hurting your sick stomachs LOL? Have I killed anyone by liking something or someone? I like both GHJ and LMH, so it’s legit for me to follow and talk about their works!!!!! What can you do about me then, trolls? Go report me to your mental police since your snowflake psychology is apparently violated! LMAO.
At least she’s not trying to pretend that she’s impartial anymore. I call that progress lol
@Someone, when have I ever said that I’m impartial? Stop shoveling your words into my mouth! LOL.
No one is impartial. Everyone has her own preference and is biased. Even NYT film critics and judges of Academy or Golden Globes nominations aren’t objective and all have their own bias and favoritism. We’re here just to ramble our personal taste. Funny if keyboard nugus think they are writing any scientific thesis about the truth of universe! LMAO.
@Somebody, black humor . i’m in . Someone post that LMH ‘s fanmeet tickets aren’t selling well even with a drama airing . It explains why Park Bom is helping his ” hubby” getting attention thanks to her posts !!! Very french black humor , no offense because i hope that PB is doing well and i have a kind of fondness for LMH even i didn’t watch all his dramas .
hahaha. Perhaps PB is following WTSG and couldn’t help fangirling her dream hubby LMH again. PB had been know for being dramatic during the heydays of 2NE1. To me, her post wasn’t out of blue off her persona . It could be just a quip showing her love for her idol (ya can’t idols also have their idols?) LOL. But K netizens have no sense of humor and might have taken funny fangirling the wrong way.
I didn’t watch all the dramas led by LMH either. But I liked him in all his dramas I have watched so far. Faith, City Hunter, and the Heirs, the one I just finished!! I’m not a fan of school dramas, not to mention chaebol stories that I have the least interest. I picked up the Heirs out of curiosity cuz keyboard nugus had been rambling shit LOL about LMH being such a bad actor or just pedestrian, and that piqued my interest to see how bad he was in the Heirs LMAO. To my surprise, I ended up liking the Heirs and found so many then-promising young actors in the series who all had their shining moments on their career paths later on. These talented actors included Kim Woo Bin, Kim Ji Won, Kang Ha Neul, and Park Hyung Sik (oh did I leave out anyone else?). Not a fan of LMH, but I don’t deny his star power as many nugus are so desperate to write off LMAO. The Heirs indeed became a hit that brought so many young talent to limelight. LMH’s star power and acting did contribute a lot to that drama besides the famous writer.
Nugus must foam at the mouths again cuz I’m literally praising LMH and the Heirs now, unlike in my first comment where I was more critical of WTSG. LOL.
I forgot the King among LMH’s dramas I watched. I watched the King also cuz LMH naysayers bitched about him for lacking chemistry with costars. I had fun watching the King too. LOL. I also like KGE in the King. Before then, I was indifferent to KGE even so many had been constantly raving about her acting cuz her drama, Goblin, failed me .
Defend your fave all you want but please can you stop being racist?
Where in the comment did you see me being a racist? In your overactive mental gym? LOL. SHAKE MY HEAD!
Whatever. You’re rude and racist. And a gaslighter. And unable to see those.
@Anne, I’m probably a gaslighter of other gaslighters cuz I don’t mind tooth for tooth, just to give mockers and trolls same taste of medicine. LOL.
Tell me why can’t I be rude to ignoramuses? Is that a crime to tease back? You guys reap what you sow! And it’s pitiful you aren’t able to see that. LOL
@Somebody – “tooth for tooth” / “Nugus must foam in the mouth” / “Overactive mental gym” / “Busybody Nugu”
1. You’re the only one fighting here and speaking like a roadside thug. No one else gives af.
2. You’re the only one foaming in the mouth here writing paragraphs of angry messages and ending it with a “LOL”. No one else gives af.
3. You’re the only one with an overactive mental gym claiming this drama is for non-asians as tho it isnt flopping in non asian countries. No one else gives af about it, they’re just telling you to quit being a racist.
4. You’re the only one who’s a busybody nugu concerning yourself about what others are watching, like a busybody. No one else gives af what you watch.
Its why everyone you are talking to stops responding after 1-2 times. You’re just not worth the time. Although your mental breakdowns are somewhat amusing. I do have a genuine question which I hope you can answer truthfully: are you still in middle school? Because that would explain things.
Actually nvm I prob wont have time for your very long thug-like rant anyway. Save it.
@R You hit the nail in the head on this one. Many times I wonder if this “Somebody” is some immature, lonely middle schooler who just wants to argue because no one gives her any attention.
@R, LOL. Just calm down and take a pill! I get it We have had history before. I’m not surprised you worked up cuz you’re just an angry Asian bird as usual. Get a grip and take a deep breath. Nobody except for the same keyboard busybody nugus in your close-rank would bother to read your long ass rambling. LOL.
@Peppa, at least you were able to cut yourself short before I got bored of long-winded rambling. LOL. And I gave you kudos for just having a ridiculous break. @R has always had trouble getting to the bottom line. I just don’t bother with her verbose BS at all. I know many keyboard nugus visiting this site are thirsty attention whores! But you must be disappointed that projection from yourself fails on me LOL. Look at the slew of deranged responses to my OP from each nugu except for @Jia and @Cahill who were the only two sane people in this thread. LOL. You nugus were just having a party together in your mental gym. Have a great time! I’m not interested in watching you all on high. LOL.
Now from every somebody’s long rambling I only catch asian this and that, westernized asian superior, vitriol, oppa lover, mental gym, LOL LOL LOL, WHERE WHERE WHERE? with new phrase busybody nugus added.
This started out as one of my all-time favorite Korean dramas, but the ending in the progression of the story was terrible. Great actors, but the writers really bombed with this television series. They should be accountable for this mess. I would never have watched it if I had known it would end this way.
Defending her fave actor to the end
If WTSG can be called one thing, it’s consistent.
From the first episode till the last, it consistently made sane viewers question why anyone would invest $50M on it. Both actors need a huge hit to leave the stink behind. I like them both so rooting for them to do a better drama.
Let’s put this in money laundering drama of 2025. This is exactly how I felt with the impossible heir, all that big budget for what
Wait! Was the Impossible Heir a big budget? I can’t see that at all LOL.
BTW, what happens to Lee Jae Wook’s new drama?
Lol you’re surprised right? After all the main actors in impossible heir are all young actors. Of course it wasn’t as expensive as star gossip but the budget of 20 billion won (at least that much was reported on the news) is nowhere to be seen
Did ljw has new drama coming out? I haven’t heard about it
Hong Rang, a historical drama! That’s his next drama reportedly to premiere long ago in 2024? I so much look forward to HR. But it’s been very quiet. I hope nothing would be a jinx this time. LJW was so wasted in TIH. LOL.
Don’t jinx it. The synopsis is too cryptic to make out what the story is about, but from the og novel spoiler in discussion, it’s basically similar to the impossible heir
Revenge with love story… although if it’s written well there shouldn’t be a problem…
This Global Flop finally limps to the finish line lol. The last episode is more badly received than the preceding if that’s even possible. The ratings after episode 2 never touched 3% and surely tvN execs are heaving a huge sigh of relief that this very expensive stinker is over. Good luck Potato Star. It’ll be an uphill battle.
The time slot is wasted for this
WTSG is such an embarrassing flop that it lost to low-budget dramas airing on Channel A. That includes The Witch, which was on the shelf too for some time.
Lol it was fun hate watching this stupid as rocks drama, much to the chagrin of some here
Ratings remained dismal to the point of embarrassing till the bitter end. Shocking… not.
I hope GHJ picks her next drama and quickly. I consider this a major blip on her resume, but a blip nonetheless. Looking forward to her bouncing back soon.
That’s kinda psychiatric problem for you to be concerned about. LOL. I dropped QoT immediately without a 2nd thought once found it boringly cheesy with some acting over the top and have never regretted. Why putting yourself in excruciating pain? LMAO. Do we follow a drama for entertainment or not? LOL again.
Who are you again? And why would I need to explain myself to some “nugu”?
LOL. At least you finally realized everyone here was nothing but a nugu. We both are on the same page about this, nugu! Nothing else is in common. LOL.
@Nugu
Glad you think so
Be my guest, @Busybody_NUGU! LMAO.
There goes my worst kdrama of all times…King The Land and Boys Over Flowers can now hand over the throne to When The Stars Gossip
Do you really mean King the Land? Or Fashion King?
must be Fashion King. That has totally slipped my mind. What a wast of time it was ages ago. King the Land is way better. not saying it’s great, though. But definitely by miles better. and surely better than BOF
It’s like ~7 post Koala made about that drama, and all of them made many comments. I didn’t watch Star gossip yet, but, based on that, I think, no matter of quality of that drama, this is something what can make me emotional, lol.
Haven’t seen a more universally hated drama since Melty lol. I did not watch past a few episodes, so I can’t really say much other than I wouldn’t attempt continuing even if it’s just due to morbid curiosity. Some dramas are just meant to be forgotten. Final episode came at 2.8% and *spoiler* apparently GHJ’s character dies senselessly. I don’t obv know the circumstances but the writer betrayed the 1% of audience who stuck around. How diabolical
Sorry but final rating is 2.6
LOL, it made sense for GHJ’s character to not survive the labor at the end. Otherwise, WTSG would not be only a sci-fi, but also a K version of Xianxia. LMAO.
Sure sure. Good that you think so. You’re one of the very limited viewer who actually enjoyed this drama without apparently being an LMH fangirl. So looks like this writer pleased somebody.
I feel like this show could have been one of those netflix original series where they release all episodes. So the viewers can just view it in one-shot and forget about it after lol
Thanks to everyone who created this masterpiece
So the incredible story of Gong Ryong and Eva has come to an end. And the ending did not disappoint me at all. I am absolutely delighted with this drama and will say so every time! No drama has ever made me empathize with the characters so much (all of them without exception), no drama has ever turned my soul inside out, no drama has ever filled my heart with pain and torn it apart, no drama has ever taken my breath away and made me cry. I have never experienced so many different emotions in any drama as in this one. For me, this is the best drama to date, it is a masterpiece! And I want to thank from the bottom of my heart everyone who worked on this masterpiece. You have done a tremendous job. An interesting plot, everything is logical, consistent and realistic, nothing superfluous, and each story told is like a brushstroke of an artist, which complements the overall picture and creates the right mood. Great acting by all the actors without exception, no, they didn’t even act, they lived. The deep meaning that ran through all 16 episodes like a thin thread kept me awake, and I thought about it almost all night. Great graphics, unforgettable OST, everything in the drama is at a very high level, so for me this drama is a masterpiece. I will definitely watch it again and again!
I agree! It was thought provoking with wonderful performances by a talented cast. Kudos to the director & writer for adhering to real science & the integrity of the story until the end.
This drama was ridiculous. They made astronauts looking like clowns. It’s kinda sad when you know the hard work behind the chance to be selected. But if the romance is good, it can save a drama for me. But in this case, I never understood why the FL was interested in the ML, he was so full of himself and selfish. The actors didn’t have any chemistry. So it was a disaster on every point.
Finally finished the last ep. Welp, the development and the ending must have disappointed many Asian fans who tend to root for happy ending romance. I also love happy ending more than sad conclusion. Nonetheless, since I couldn’t relate much to the romance from the get-go, therefore, there has never had much expectation from me about the love story LOL. For the love lines (of the OTP or the 2nd couple or any others too), I just went with the ride and didn’t feel any emotions. The acting is good overall. The directing is decent and artistic in many shots. (I’ll pay attention to this director’s works in the future thanks to how he managed the cinematography of this drama and the sequences of the events.) People are wondering where the huge budget has all gone. Well, just compare the obviously more brilliant CGI with other laughable CGI in most Asian dramas (not IMO though, this was from a pro working in the industry)! Do people not know CGI is pretty costly, not to mention a lot of eps were shot in the gravity-lost setting? Have some savvy to figure out, folks!
The weakest part is the writing as I have mentioned several times, specifically the love lines many Kdrama fans have been rooting for most of the time. That being said, ep 16 was way better and more sensical than the preceding ep 14 and 15.
For me, WTSG isn’t that bad as the SK ratings reflect or as many negative reviews condemned, let along some mockers have been dissing non-stop for the purpose of dissing cuz how desperate they appear to see LMH’s dramas flop LMAO. (I guess there is some competition between their faves and LMH. LOL) TWSG is watchable. Those who haven’t watched the drama yet and still hesitate to should give a shot and see it yourself. As a matter of fact, some concepts in some eps like those with the setting in the space station were quite novel and creative vs. typical Kdrama tropes that have turned snoozefest for a long while and been abused in many K dramas even including very popular hits. Also, the writer and the cast had their shining moments delivering black humor that cracked me up. From these perspectives, I see the potential for Kdrama to explore a foray further into experimental horizons, not always stuck with staid melo or rom com. On top of this, without the star power of GHJ and LMH, this drama wouldn’t have grabbed so much attention from people, be they fans or antis LOL.
All this being said, I’m also happy the series is officially wrapped up LOL. I don’t have any withdrawal symptoms like I did for my all time favorite like Flower of Evil, Beyond Evil, Hot Stove League, Moving, Castaway Diva, and My Liberation Notes et., to just name a few. That should well summarize my review of WTSG.
This drama in a nutshell is a pro life propaganda that glorified cheating. Ew. Just ew. I dropped it around ep 10 when they came back to earth but hearing the direction it took, I’d like a refund on the wasted time spent. It stinks more than last week’s garbage. What anyone was thinking when they signed up / invested in this trash, I’ll never know.
Because I have liked a lot of LMH’s work I thought I would stick with it. I thought it couldn’t get worse. It did. I think even the script got stuck in the actor’s throats in the last episode – all those seasoned actors ACTUALLY LOOKED like they were acting. The plot holes in the last episode were huge and numerous. The ending is vague with multiple perceptions on what it meant. Someone brought to my attention the netflix trailer from a few months ago (do a search for it!) and you will see it is NOTHING like the eventual drama. Did the actors believe they were going to shoot a different drama (the trailer shows a disaster movie with comedy) and the script changed after they signed up? Whilst I didn’t want to give it any hate, I can understand why people are feeling let down. 16 hours of their life they will never get back!
After watching last episode , seriously some people here writing some cheesey dictionary words to defend this drama .I think there taste is weird , overall this drama is a bullshit and time waste ,no logic and no science only left is biology about reproduction sex,baby making, cheating,fly making,pro-life etc ,still any people like this drama in the name ‘unique’then they should be awarded for there patience and fanservices & I have just read some kneitzen crazy comments seriously but one comment
was still funny
that I can’t write. I think this was my first drama that criticism I enjoyed lot because drama was not interesting but comments and critisism was much was funny especially Koreans one
I feel ashamed to be a Lee Minho fan. and his sex scenes broke my heart terribly .not only me i think he broke his all fans heart. How he choose this kind of shit
I feel ashamed to be a Lee Minho fan. I never imagined you would break our hearts like this. You once said at a fan meeting that you would never break our hearts by acting in a vulgar scene. And you acted in such a dirty scene in the name of space sex?