tvN Mega Budget Space Romance K-drama When the Stars Gossip Drops to 2.237% Ratings in Episode 3
The first big crash and burn drama of 2025 is likely going to be When the Stars Gossip (Ask the Stars), and rather apropos as it was the first drama to premiere this year and also has a whole space theme whatnot. The drama premiered to 3% ratings and now in this Saturday’s episode 3 dropped to 2.237%, a meaningful drop for a cable network and especially in light of the huge budget and big name cast. I tried watching episode 3 and found myself at times cringing, rolling my eyes, laughing AT the drama, and then finally FF-ing. This is 100% the fault of the script – plot, dialogue, and characters as written – so much so it’s not worth getting into whether the actors and actresses are delivering a good performance (everyone is mid so far) or have chemistry (none so far). But if you want to see a K-drama dumb story but set in space (fresh setting for sure!) with very sleek directing and you can actually see onscreen the visuals where all the money went in this budget, then this is the drama for you. PD Park Shin Woo of Encounter and It’s Okay to Not be Okay is singlehandedly the only one making a worthwhile product onscreen here while screenwriter Seo Sook Hyang exhibits not a shred of intelligent writing that she did in her previous dramas I loved Pasta and Miss Korea.
I have no interest in this drama. But these ratings are bad for a drama of this caliber.
Instead I am loving Love Scout and dropped Motel California at the beginning of episode two. Everything about that drama felt wrong.
Yep love scout definitely is the best among the currently airing dramas
That rating is bad… really bad for this Budget drama. It might rise later… viewers may wait till the drama comes closer to the end to watch it..then they know if it is worth further investment or time waster.. Viewers like me…
I think the rating is referring to cable TV rating, not online streaming rating from international viewers. The drama is simply not doing well in the domestic market. SK is also undergoing political turmoil and economic downfall, in a very unstable state. I don’t think many S Koreans have mood for entertainment either.
Yes..this reminds me of the horrendous fire in LA currently.. some new US programs have pushed their launch date till later. @Somebody, I hope you dont live near the area. Do take care. Hope you dont have loved ones caught up in those situation too.
@somebody, unfortunately SKorea isn’t the only country which is facing an economic , political crisis and even a social one , actually …see European countries, we aren’t doing great either . Canada, France, Germany,…
I’m luckily living in an area with said least-prone to natural disasters in the States. Nonetheless, it’s not a typical time to have wild fires in the LA region. This wild fire is not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made catastrophe thanks to very wrong policies under disguise of water conservation and environmental protection. Certain moronic politicians are responsible for the disaster and should step down.
I used to live in Norther Cali nearby Napa winery country more than 15 years ago. N. Cali used to be a paradise to live in with beautiful Mediterranean weather. But even Napa country started to have wild fires years ago. Leftists blame extreme weather. Nonetheless, it’s more likely a debacle of public policies from the Cali government abusing environmental protection and green energy. Many Hollywood celebs’ homes have solar panels and used so-called environment-friendly recycled building materials bcos these wealthy snobs would like to show off their progressive values. Solar panels on roof top are huge obstacles against fire fighters’ efforts to rescue a property in flame and recycled building materials are more prone to fire hazards, more flammable than traditional building materials. Karma is real! There are other issues in Cali’s water conservation policies that caused water pressure too low to come out of hydrants for putting out fires. It’s so ridiculous. The Cali governor is a leftard! LOL.
Can’t exclude arson either.
The drama is doing bad internationally as well. The rating on MDL is low and it’s underperforming on Netflix as well. Overall it’s flopping while Love Scout is racing ahead. People are very much in the mood for entertainment but good quality one.
Hard to blame South Korea’s sociopolitical situation for WTSG’s failure, when Love Scout’s ratings are accelerating (at the expense also of The Tale of Lady Ok, which returned to single digits but is still doing very well). Korean viewers are still watching TV, more so than in 2024, judging by the improved ratings of daily dramas and Love Scout. They are just in the mood for simple middle-aged romance and sageuk.
That’s not true, Love Scout and Tale of Lady Ok are getting double digits and the Mon-Tues drama on TvN is getting decent ratings too. It’s a hard pill for LMH fans to swallow, but the drama is not doing well on Netflix either.
@Somebody
I thought it was strange that they used cheap material for such homes.. so it was on purpose
The premise was the nail in the coffin already 🤢 Korean ent can’t do sci-fi. It’s not in their DNA.
K-ent has been slacking lately, anyway, with their superstars aging and no one with super talent stepping in to fill roles, soooo, let’s hope an uptick is on the horizon for them sometime soon.
Writer Seo Sook Hyang’s work is always on the wacky humor side. And that’s not everyone’s style. I’m really liking the show though. Sci-fi has never been something the tv korean audience has liked but the this is a romcom and it should be seen as such.
Oh well the writer of Pasta and Miss Korea!!!! What can I expect LOL? Never been a fan of these two dramas, I actually think Pasta is one of less appealing works led by GHJ. The story of Pasta isn’t interesting even the two leads are pretty good. I followed this space drama for the sake of GHJ and LMH. Agreed the director did a decent job to save the drama. I still appreciate his craft even though the storylines are wacky. But I’ve never expect space romance would work. Usually a successful sci-fi had a mix of thriller and fantasy. Obviously WTSG is too realistic to be romantic. The writer just doesn’t have enough talent to pen out imagination that’s much craved for the sci-fi genre. LOL. I’ve distracted to watch other K and C dramas since watching 2 eps of WTSG. Given the declining rating, I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the drama again and when. Interestingly I found an old drama costarring LMH and Kim Go Eun very fun to watch. I’ve never found KGE appealing or an outstanding actress as many have been raving about. I thought she was pedestrian like her ML and supporting ML in Goblin that had a very lame to tell too LOL. But bang! KGE in The King: Eternal Monarch is so charismatic. Now I’m hooked to her drama with LMH. LMH also suits the monarch role pretty well too,
Sad for GHJ whom I like a lot to have such a disappointing comeback for a long while.
The Rating is completely irrelevant as it is on Netflix.. South Korea has one of the largest Netflix subscribe base and the graphic is much better on Netflix. Ratings are a thing of the past anyways.. Ratings are completely irrelevant even airing on that caple TV was unnecessaary the whole target is Netflix
Interesting. IMDB rating isn’t that bad either. The discrepancy between domestic ratings and international ratings has long been existing in Asian drama genres.
The drama isn’t doing hot on Netflix either. It’s not generating any international buzz.
This argument is silly considering The Tale of Lady Ok (JTBC), Love Scout (SBS), When the Phone Rings (which is no longer airing but was on MBC), heck even Check in Hanyang (Channel A) are also airing on TV and Netflix and they all have higher ratings on TV AND are charting better on Netflix than this mess. It’s very noticeable even in SEA countries who usually eat up any crap South Korea drama especially starring a Hallyu idol like LMH the drama is charting poorly.
If “the whole target was Netflix” it would have been a Netflix Original but Netflix did not think it was worth the money hence why it was finally sold to TVN. This drama is failing on all platforms because from the reviews and reactions it’s just bad.
Qot just last year broke records and the producers make ton lots of money from ads on tv. Ratings really matters for big budget dramas like this else why would they even make dramas for tv?
I really enjoyed the first week and the uniqueness of the circumstances within the drama. But I was expecting them to settle down and get to the actual meat and potatoes of the story this week. Instead it’s just more of the same so far. I agree about the weak writing but for the most part, I haven’t been a fan of the writer’s previous work. Jealousy Incarnate I found really funny, but Pasta and Miss Korea where snoozefests for me.
So far, it feels a bit like the drama has no real story other than somehow emphasizing the space theme. The characters are all just so one dimensional and I’m not sure Won Bin can change that reception lol. Despite that, I still found many hilarious moments and at least it’s not boring despite being sometimes absurd lol.
And yup, the PD is really killing it. I wish he’d pick better dramas to direct tho because despite being outstanding himself, Lovestruck in the City and WTSG aren’t helping his resume. At all.