Summer totally crept up on me this year, probably because the weather has been unusually chilly with the June gloom. Summer is usually a jam-packed entertainment season since when the students are out the entertainment industry loves to throw more goodies at them. Soon Taiwan entertainment will get back one very delicious goody in the form of Joe Cheng, who … Continue reading →
If ever there was a chance for every Korean actor to try out a sageuk, 2013 would be that there. The television schedule is so jam-packed with sageuks there is literally something for everyone. Even if the drama ends up sucking a transformative performance in a sageuk still counts for something, for example Kim Tae Hee had made me a … Continue reading →
I was on a flight Sunday that was massively delayed, which worked out to allow me to chill at the airport lounge and watch all three of the new TW-dramas premiering that night. SETTV had Love Around with Annie Chen and George Hu, going up against CTV‘s Love SOS starring Daniel Chan, Jian Man Shu, and Patrick Li, and both … Continue reading →
I like to think the higher-ups at Fuji TV took a look at its upcoming line up and realized that Summer was coming and it needed to let loose and have some fun. Right now its Getsuku (Monday@9) time slot is filled by the high profile Galileo 2 (with Fukuyama Masaharu back but the leading lady got sacked for a … Continue reading →
Oh boy, this is NOT a good way to start my week. As both Gu Family Book and Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love heads towards the tail end of its airing (with whatever narrative tricks it has up to sleeve, good or bad for the remaining viewers to ascertain), their follow up dramas have started to ramp up its pre-release … Continue reading →
While MBC Mon-Tues will continue on with its sageuk streak what with Goddess of Fire Jeongi slated to follow Gu Family Book, SBS is taking a breather from sageuk land and turning to another type of period drama. When Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love ends in a few weeks, up next will be Empire of Gold starring Go Soo, … Continue reading →
Not all onscreen pairings are created equal, some sound great on paper and fizzle in action, others come out of left field and blow everyone away unexpectedly. Since Aaron Yan has never worked with SETTV before, it never crossed my mind he would manage to work with one of their stable of up-and-coming young actresses. Now he’s about to co-star … Continue reading →
I really don’t mean to nitpick on Gu Family Book but the entire production is like Monet and its hard to merely view from a distance when a thoughtful viewer’s urge would be to look deeper and understand more. The acting and script bumpiness aside, I really want to talk about PD Shin Wool Chul, the man behind the camera … Continue reading →
It’s going to be a long 5 months before Ha Ji Won returns to the small screen with her headlining role in the MBC anniversary sageuk Hwatu, all whopping 60-episodes of it chronicling the life (with fictional flourish) of real historical figure Empress Qi of the Yuan dynasty, a Goryeo-born noble lady married off to the Yuan Emperor. The production … Continue reading →
Is there anyone who misses King Flower as much as I do? I sure hope not, because that drama is one hot mess and unless one has the ability to sift through rubble for the treasure then this one is a miss. I’ve waited four (4!) long years for Chris Wu to really steal a drama to the extent he’s … Continue reading →
The sudden rise to attention of rookie actress Ha Yeon Soo reminds me of another young starlet that burst out of nowhere and caught everyone’s attention. Jung So Min in Bad Guy, anyone? Ha Yeon Soo actually is even more rough around the edges and untried than Jung So Min’s first acting gig, but she’s asked to do more in … Continue reading →
I’m not sure how Vanness Wu is doing this, but the man is literally blowing me away time and again. As an actor he continues to improve, even if he’s not really ever going to reach thespian status, I can see his effort and hard work yielding results. Compare him in Material Queen (first half of the drama before the … Continue reading →
I’m pretty sure the most popular OTP in Taiwan dramas right now just landed on the cover of the June edition of S Pop magazine together. The two leads of the popular and highly-rated daily SETTV sitcom Two Fathers have taken the My Two Dads (or Three Men and a Little Lady) conceit and refreshed it for a new generation … Continue reading →