I am totally wiped out from the marathon day of watching the final episode of a long-running drama and pounding out both a baby recap and a hella exhaustive recap proper. As I was getting ready to call it a day with anything drama related, suddenly my Lee Seung Gi radar pinged and wouldn’t you know it my baby boy … Continue reading →
Verdict – I love this drama, but holy god is it a hot mess. I am a relentless critic when I watch dramas, because otherwise why write about it? I’m pretty certain that I’ve made so many drama friends and foes here at the Playground because I speak my mind, whether its to call a spade a spade (i.e. this … Continue reading →
The endurance, success, and growth of S.H.E. as the top girl group in Taiwan has been nothing short of an industry setting example for all future hoobaes to follow. The girls released their new album late last year and this year marks the 12th anniversary of their debut. S.H.E. consists of Selina Jen, Hebe Tian, and Ella Chen, and individually … Continue reading →
King Flower ended today and I feel a sense of relief and nostalgia already. I really do need a crazy crack drama at least once a year or it’s like a itch I can’t scratch. KF has fit that bill completely, making me crazy addicted and totally at its mercy. Episode 21 pissed me off to no end when I … Continue reading →
While I was watching CP3 (Chinese Paladin 3), my shipping wires were all crossed because I didn’t feel anything for the OTP played by Hu Ge and Yang Mi, and was instead very inappropriately shipping him with Liu Shi Shi. Folks who watched it will understand why I say inappropriate. I also wasn’t particularly enamored of the secondary OTP played … Continue reading →
After watching the just released 10-minute official trailer, there are so many expletive-laden things I want to say about Bu Bu Jing Qing, the upcoming modern day sequel to the time-traveling Qing dynasty period drama Bu Bu Bing Xin, but I’ll hold it all in for now. The 10-minute trailer destroys even the last shred of hope I had that … Continue reading →
A nostalgic walk down memory lane is oh so sweet and I’ve found myself revisiting dramas when the mood calls for it. As a viewer I get pretty attached to some dramas so its no wonder that the cast and crew who actually live and breath making a drama can form lasting friendships at times. As King Flower readies for … Continue reading →
Summer is a-coming and with it hopefully lots of bright, colorful, and cheery fashion to match the temperature outside. I always feel like its cold in Seoul since in dramas everyone is blowing puffs of cold air when they say their dialogues and humongous floor length puffer jackets are de rigeur on set. There are some fashion trends that have … Continue reading →
There are no words to adequately express my anger on Jae Hee‘s behalf for the fate that befell him in Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love. Forget that he was already a drama and movie leading man for many years before he enlisted for military service, to be cast as the second male lead is already baffling to me but … Continue reading →
If ever there was a production team who seemed to take sadistic delight in tormenting its loyal viewers, then SETTV‘s King Flower (Substitute Princess) wins the award hands down. I don’t even know how to describe them anymore – brilliantly machiavellian in manipulating the viewers to dance on a string, increasingly losing their mental acuity like Flowers for Algernon so we … Continue reading →
I think Lee Sang Yoon stands out in a good way amongst the sea of Korean actors currently en vogue. He’s an old-school actor with an old-school movie star charm. Think Cary Grant or Gary Cooper, tuxedos and cigars, whiskey and whispers. In the plethora of pretty boys, he reminds me that sometimes I crave a guy being a really … Continue reading →
Nothing quite says striking while the iron is hot then signing on for a highly anticipated Kim Eun Sook drama. Choi Jin Hyuk, who has been toiling away in the industry for quite a few years, finally got his big break recently playing Daddy Gumiho to Lee Seung Gi in Gu Family Book. I liked his character initially but the … Continue reading →
Ask and ye shall receive? Pray really hard and it’ll come true? Kindred spirits unite and the impossible will become a reality? I don’t know what topsy-turvy back office discussions went on in the production of King Flower but I do know it’s been both an exhilarating and aggravating experience watching it live. Especially the last two months when Chris … Continue reading →