MBC Lines Up Women-centric K-drama Their Castle After Splendid Politics

I really wanted to love MBC‘s big tentpole prime time drama of 2015 that is Splendid Politics (Hwajung), but alas that did no happen. It has a fantastic cast and all the promotional push to bring back the glory of the great long sageuk dramas of yore but ended  up boring me to bits most of the time, with not enough interesting interludes to string me through the tedium. The ratings hover around the 10% mark which makes this drama not a failure but definitely a disappointment.

Before Splendid Politics the network aired fusion sageuk Shine or Go Crazy in that Mon-Tues time slot but the next drama will be taking a breather from historical fate and politicking to modern female conflict. MBC is lining up Their Castle to follow Splendid Politics, and looks to be borrowing a page from the decently rated KBS women-centric drama Unkind Women since the drama has a similar general synopsis of women bickering and behaving badly. MBC also clearly has eyes on how much better weekend dramas are doing in ratings so the screenwriter is a MBC weekend makjang veteran paired with a MBC PD with prime time cred. Continue reading

Cha Seung Won is Intensely Riveting in First Teaser for Splendid Politics

I’ve totally got my serious hat on to prepare myself for the upcoming 50-episode MBC sageuk Splendid Politics (Hwajung). I’m glad MBC stuck with the original title of Splendid Politics rather than the alternate Princess Jungmyung, based on the storyboard … Continue reading

Cha Seung Won’s Intense Gwanghaegun Makes His Debut in First Stills From Splendid Politics

With MBC starting off promotions for upcoming 50-episode sageuk Splendid Politics (Hwajung) with official filming stills of Cha Seung Won as Gwanghaegun (Prince Gwanghae), it’s pretty clear that his anti-hero leading man will be the lynch pin of this series. … Continue reading

Drama Script Reading Double Dose: The Girl Who Sees Smells and Splendid Politics

With winter wrapping up, spring-like warm weather is a-coming and so are two new prime time K-dramas. To save me the hassle of doing separate posts on them, MBC‘s upcoming 50-episode long sageuk Splendid Politics (Hwajung) held its first cast … Continue reading