Monday sees the premiere of a new sitcom about town, not that most people would care since the Korean sitcoms occupy a lesser plane of consciousness since subtitles are rarely available for it. I’m actually quite intrigued by the upcoming Potato Star 2013QR3, which has an even more unwieldy earlier title of Sweet Potato-shaped Potato Star 2013QR3. It’s got a sprawling cast per the usual family and situational comey oriented requirements, but this drama got plenty of media coverage from the get go with the news that current It-boy teenage star Yeo Jin Gu was going to headline the younger cast. Originally Yeo Jin Gu was supposed to star in a SBS drama called Can We Love about a teacher-student romance but that got scuttled and in its place SBS ended up airing I Hear Your Voice which also banked on a noona-student romance. For Potato Star, Yeo Jin Gu plays a computer programmer and has a love line with rising actress Ha Yeon Soo. The core family unit in this drama is led by everyone’s favorite haraboji Lee Soon Jae, who goes for quirky patriarch with an all-encompassing love for his tiny dog. His son is No Joo Hyeon who is married to Geum Bo Ra (who must be thanking her lucky stars she made it out of I Summon You, Gold in one piece), and they have three kids in eldest daughter Choi Song Hyun, middle son Gu Kyung Pyo, and youngest daughter Seo Ye Ji. He Yeon Seo and her mom fall on hard times and she ends up supporting the family, and they rent out a room to Yeo Jin Gu, and already in the preview I see the requisite toilet humor even between the slated OTP. This drama also has plenty of sitcom credibility since its helmed by the PD who did the popular High Kick series, though Potato Star is not airing on MBC like those other dramas and is instead finding a home on cable network tvN. The long preview is out and the drama looks relatively entertaining and easy on the brains with its quirky humor. I quite like the directing and editing, delivering a cheeky and fresh mood that is perfect for packaging a half-hour of laughs a day. Yeo Jin Gu may only be 16 years old in real life but he honestly looks, acts, and has the charisma of someone much older. Unlike the much more wispy and baby-faced Yoo Seung Ho, who at 17 years old was cast in Flames of Desire playing a 25 year old married to Seo Woo. It was surreal to say the least. Here Yeo Jin Gu looks great and has fantastic chemistry with Ha Yeon Soo, who also has a love line with the hilarious Go Kyung Pyo. I hope the love triangle is as fun and poignant as the one in I Live in Cheongdamdong. Check out the cute poster and long preview below.
5-minute preview for Potato Star:
I adore Yoo Seung-ho and he’s far more mature than most actors his age but he really was stretching the limits of disbelief as a 25-year-old in I Miss You.
Yeo Jin-gu, now…..if South Korean girlhood has any sense, he is probably already a heartthrob – they didn’t need to go ahead and make him an actual noona-killer at 16!
Also, yay for Ha Yeon Soo having her next acting job already! Monstar was one of the best debuts I’ve seen from a young actress in ages, and I hope she makes it to leading lady status again, on network tv.
Yup. And she looks totally adorable next to Yeo Jin Goo’s character.
I was seriously smiling throughout this whole trailer! This is going to be my first sitcom, although i know it’ll be hard with subs not coming out as fast. Considering the popularity of it, one can hope we get subs for this.
Soon Jae Haraboji is seriously hilarious with the dog! Love him. I really do have deep respect for these very experienced, much older actors like him.
Yeo jin goo.. Holy. Crap. Why does he get older every time i see him on the screen? He may be younger than yoo seung ho but he is exuding way manlier/mature vibes than him. Even for actors in their 20’s. Yup. Heartthrob in the making for sure.
The thing with daily dramas is, one with a cute enough OTP/enough crack can easily make you ignore its sub-less status and just dive into the madness of raws.
(this is exactly what happened to me after I fell in love with Lee Yubi in Gu Family Book and decided I had to watch ALL of her+Kim Woo-bin in Vampire Idol. All 79 episodes of it!)
He does look older for his age, but he’s 16 and she’s 23… and there’s no way in real life a romance between a minor and an adult would be considered appropriate so I’m really surprised they couldn’t find two actors closer in age. The drama does look quirky and cute though.
I remember 15-year-old Park Shin-hye being cast as a 20something (with a major, melo romantic storyline) with a then 21-year-old Lee Wan in Tree of Heaven so a comparatively chaste romance in a sitcom would not surprise me at all even if I’m uncomfortable with it.
I am so hoping for someone subbing this sitcom..
I wonder where I can watch this drama with dramacrazy gone and viki being bias by not allowing their videos in the place where I’m currently living is just so sad. Please help guys in case you find a site where we can watch the drama…. thanks really.
I see alot of subs for sitcoms…they are just super delayed due to the heavy airing schedule. It’s even worse for the hour long shows they air en masse as a daily in Taiwan/China lol
I am looking forward to this, I enjoyed Highkick 1 and 2 a lot, I didn’t finish the 3rd one though.
I never watch Ha Yeon Soo on anything even though I know she’s from Monstar, but she’s so cute and got that screen charm that works on me. YJG makes me drool, but it makes me feel better since he looks manly enough, haha.
On a side note: Miss Koala, Do you know that å¤§æ¼ è°£have changed name to æ˜Ÿæœˆä¼ å¥‡ï¼Œand they’re refilming(starting from this august) with the same cast but different production company, It’s not Tangren anymore. Apparently, they changed the names (still sound similar) and tweaks to the setting. The drama have been approved and I’ve a mixed feeling about this cos I dislike the new title but glad that there’s hope to that it’s airing.
I keep having to remind myself that Yeo Jin Gu is fucking 15 and I am 10 years too old. I shall admire his talents and his good looks but not take it into noona loving territory. The drama looks so cute. Please Please let viki or dramafever get the rights to it.
Totally. Viki please.
Can someone enlighten me why the show’s called that way?
Potato Star = the asteroid that lands on earth.
2013QR3 = To mimic the naming of a new planet. Also the year we’re in.
This show is going to incorporate alot of outerspace references.
If you picture the planets, it’s actually not really round, but the surfaces are bumpy, kinda like a potato.
Will Hwang Jung Eum make a cameo? :)))
Okay. That Go Kyung Pyo guy picked my interest. He’s cute and funny. Good to know some good looking actors take comedy seriously (I mean, he’s primarily a comedian I believe).
He was mostly on SNL korea so he’ll be bringing his comedic chops to this show.