Korean Weekly News - April 9

Korea is getting its own version of Erin Brockovich, it seems. Eagle Pictures, now enjoying the financial benefits of being responsible for the most successful Korean film of all time -- 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) and its 12+ Million viewers -- recently announced their next project will be about the life of famous lawyer Kim Yeon-Ho. Kim handled the case of 1,200 Korean women who filed a class action lawsuit against Dow Corning Corporation (an American company, and the world's leader in silicon implants) after their silicon implants caused some side effects after surgery, winning the cause and a hefty $25 Million in compensation for the victims. President Jung Jin-Wan said after doing research and interviews with Kim they're now writing the script, for what will become a sort of Korean Erin Brockovich. Now while we wait for casting (not only actors, but director. Still hasn't been decided), who do you think would make a great lawyer in a Korean film? People like Jeon Do-Yeon, Moon So-Ri or Jang Jin-Young are too easy to pick, so I'll go out on a limb and predict something which might turn out to be just that... something. I could see Choi Jin-Shil coming back to Chungmuro with something like this. Fits like a glove. She's older, more mature, and has regained the 'trust' of the public with last year's 장밋빛 인생 (Life in Pink). And so that's your perfect lawyer. We'll see.

Figures for the month of March were released, in a recent report by IM Pictures, revealing a total of 3,115,150 viewers went to the theater last month, an increase of 4.5% compared to last year's figures. Although there's predictably been a decrease of over 20% compared to February (March and April are notoriously slow months, just like in many other parts of the world), this is the best score for March since 2000, when 반칙왕 (The Foul King) was hitting it big in theaters. The most impressive figure though was the market share of Korean films, going from last year's 20.9% to this year's 67.5%, just a small decrease from February's 68.5%, and again an incredible showing for domestic films. Responsible for this success are 음란서생 (Forbidden Quest), 청춘만화 (Almost Love) and obviously 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown), along with minor hits like 방과후 옥상 (See You After School). As for distributors, Showbox was on top for the first time in six months -- last time was August with 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2). Two of their top sellers were Almost Love and 데이지 (Daisy), which did disappoint (in every sense, it seems), but it's still almost a Million tickets. Second was CJ Entertainment with Forbidden Quest, third The Kind and The Clown's Cinema Service. Closing the top five MK Pictures of 여교수의 은밀한 매력 (Bewitching Attraction) and finally Warner Brothers with V For Vendetta. So a surprisingly strong March for the industry, once again showing Chungmuro's strength despite all the controversy about the screen quota.

=============================
TV DRAMA NEWS
=============================

Although we'll cover it in depth in next week's TV Drama Previews, SBS' 스마일 어게인 (Smile Again) has decided who will play its main female lead, and no, it's not who you think. Seems like Ha Ji-Won made a smart choice and will focus on Yoon Je-Gyun's film, as opposite Lee Dong-Geon will be starring none other than: a half ton of Portland cement! Or better, Kim Hee-Sun, whose subtlety in the acting department reminds me of this essential material in the construction industry. This will mark Kim's return to the small screen after last year's 슬픈연가 (Sad Sonata), which was indeed sad, but for reasons not involving sonatas nor love. The Wednesday/Thursday show has already booked its slot for the end of May, when it will replace 불량가족 (Bad Family). Kim plays Oh Dal-Hee, a female softball player who ends up falling for 'Mr. Ambition' played by Lee. Her youth was full of all the tropes associated with Kim's usual roles: poor, beautiful and full of dreams. Shooting for the Drama will start at the end of April, for what looks to be one of the most exciting Dramas of the season. Not.

If you remember, we talked last week about the latest 베스트극장 (Best Theater) and its peculiar choice of names for their characters (Lee Na-Young and Lee Joon-Gi). Well, the show -- which broadcast yesterday, falling out of the Top 10 -- had another curious 'first' to deal with, which potentially makes it an interesting view: it was written by Go Yoon-Hee, responsible for one of last year's best film scripts, for the Kang Hye-Jung/Park Hae-Il 'romcom' 연애의 목적 (Rules of Dating). This is a first for Go, who shows Best Theater is trying to shake things up a little bringing not only fresh talent, but also people from Chungmuro. The show, produced by Yoon Jae-Moon, stars the talented Kim Byeol from the great 태릉선수촌 (Taereung National Village), along with new faces like Ju Ho, Jin Ga-Young and Jung Gyeo-Woon.

Potential problems for the second season of 궁 (Princess Hours): writer In Eun-Ah will not be part of the show anymore, as Eight Peaks president Song Byung-Joon recently announced. The recently concluded show, which almost touched the all important 30% ratings near its end but is nonetheless one of this year's big hits -- especially amongst teenagers -- won't have the luxury of a manhwa to adapt for its second season, so in a way it sort of makes sense changing the writer. Sources close to Writer In commented that she was under a lot of pressure because of the announcement of this new season, as she'd essentially have to write everything from scratch, only saving the basic relationship between the major characters. But apparently this was the plan from the beginning, as In never signed any contract for season two, whereas most of the impressive crew (Hwang In-Roi as PD, Min Byung-Cheon helping with visuals and many more film people joining the staff) and all the major cast members have signed on for season 2, although negotiations still aren't complete. What this means for the show now is up for debate, as I personally feel the biggest influence in making it a success should be pointed towards art direction and the veterans' performances, but of course writing was pretty good as well. Pre-production for this new season will start in September, and the show will broadcast in early 2007. As a side note, a DVD of Season 1 will be released in May, although the inclusion of English Subtitles is still a question mark. Since I'll review the first Season in a few weeks, I'll give you more updates on that later.

===========================================
TV DRAMA 'SPRING-SUMMER COLLECTION' PREVIEWS PART 2
===========================================
Note: Continues with Part 3 (of 4) Next Week

불꽃놀이 (Fireworks Display)
MBC May 13 - 16 Episode Weekend Drama, follows 신돈 (Shin Don)
PD: 6
정세호 (Jung Se-Ho)
Jung is pretty famous, more for the flashiness of his shows than for their quality, but he does have a lot of experience in the field. He was the man responsible for the deliciously corny 엠 (M) and 청춘의 덫 (Trap of Youth), which transformed Lee Jong-Won in the most hated man in Korea for a couple of months. By 2000's 경찰특공대 (S.W.A.T. Police) he was already showing adapting to the new and 'improved' industry wouldn't be too easy, problems which were evident in 정 (Affection) and especially the lame duck lawyer Drama 로펌 (Law Firm). Can he bring back some of that corny magic of the past? I doubt it, but at least he shouldn't make an embarrassment out of this. I hope.
WRITER: 5
김순덕 (Kim Soon-Deok)
돌아온 싱글 (Return of The Singles) was SBS' attempt at cashing in on the 'adultery romcom' craze MBC created a few years ago with Kwon Seok-Jang's Dramas, like 앞집여자 (The Woman Next Door). Result? Taken off the air a month ahead of time. Of course that's not necessarily Miss Kim's fault, but with good actors like Kim Sung-Min and Kim Ji-Ho, the result should have been better.
CAST: 3
강지환 (Kang Ji-Hwan), 한채영 (Han Chae-Young), 박은혜 (Park Eun-Hye), 윤상현 (Yoon Sang-Hyeon)
Can veterans we don't know yet and young Kang Ji-Hwan carry this pitiful looking cast? My guess is... no. The youngster who made a big splash in last year's 굳세어라 금순아 (Be Strong, Geum-Soon) does have potential, but it's not really enough to overcome the lack of experience, or simply lack of acting skills of the rest of the cast. Han Chae-Young might have improved a tiny bitsy little since her 가을동화 (Autumn Fairy Tale) days, but she's still a (pretty, kind of) stiff who couldn't even live up to the breezy comic shenanigans of 쾌걸춘향 (Sassy Chunhyang), from the 'Queens of Comedy' on Korean TV the Hong sisters. And let's not even talk about dramatic acting for her. Joining the cast is Park Eun-Hye, who should enjoy the popularity (in Hong Kong) while it lasts, which might be just as long as Jang-Geum took to make her royal banquet, as her 'performance' in 열여덟 스믈아홉 (18:29) showed. And as for Yoon Sang-Hyeon, I shouldn't really judge him based on one performance, as 'Mr. Constipation' in 백만장자와 결혼하기 (To Marry a Millionaire), but something tells me the digestion problems still haven't been solved. Get him some diuretic, pronto!
OUTLINE: 5
Han Chae-Young and the two most significant reasons for her popularity with teenagers star as a 노처녀 (an old broad. Han Chae-Young. Haha, brilliant! What's next, Moon Geun-Young playing a grannie?), a master of disguise trying to get back at the man who betrayed her. And who would that be? Mr. Yoon Sang-Hyeon, who is now enjoying the company of Park Eun-Hye (curious taste that fella). Wait, what do you say, we miss the final angle of this 사각관계 (love rectangle)? That'd be Kang Ji-Hwan, taking over daddy's business after quitting his career in soccer. Pretty simple outline, but since no details about upcoming 'secrets of birth' or other nefarious occurrences have been revealed, we sit firmly in the middle. With a tendency to go downhill...
RATINGS POTENTIAL: 6
So Han Chae-Young dropped out of 불량가족 (Bad Family) because it 'didn't fit with her image'. Then, is this what fits with her image? Then she shouldn't be too sorry when it scores between the 10 and 15%, and vanishes from everyone's memory a week after conclusion. If she's happy with that, so am I!
OVERALL: 5.00

--

대조영 (大祚榮, Dae Jo-Young)
KBS1 August - 100 Episode Historical Drama, follows 서울 1945 (Seoul 1945)
PD: 8
김종선 (Kim Jong-Seon), 윤성식 (Yoon Seong-Shik)
The team behind the mammoth hit 태조왕건 (Wang Gun) come back for another Historical Drama, this time taken out of the Goryeo Dynasty, catapulting us to the dawn of the Balhae Empire -- the one portrayed in Kim Young-Joon's 무영검 (Shadowless Sword). Of course Kim has worked on many other Dramas, including the vastly overrated 왕과 비 (The King and The Queen), but the big critical and popular success of their previous work should be enough to hit the jackpot here.
WRITER: 6
장영철 (Jang Young-Cheol)
And here's the major problem, thing which sets this show apart from contenders like 주몽 (King Jumong), 연개소문 (Yeon Gae Somun) and 태왕사신기 (The Great King), all benefiting from excellent writers. Jang worked on the messy remake of a classic from the 80s, that 2004 인간시장 (2004 Human Market) which only ended up reminding people how good the original was. But also on the rather average 정 (Affection). He's probably helped by other writers, but as his first major Sageuk, it's not an easy subject to tackle.
CAST: 8
최수종 (Choi Su-Jong), 정보석 (Jung Bo-Seok), 이덕화 (Lee Deok-Hwa), 박예진 (Park Ye-Jin), 홍수현 (Hong Su-Hyeon)
Historical Dramas are less likely to suffer from bad casting than most other shows, as the focus almost always ends up being wider than your average Trendy Drama or miniseries. But even though I haven't seen the rest of the veterans, this is a very good cast. Choi Su-Jong, Lee Deok-Hwa and Jung Bo-Seok are Sageuk veterans, with Jung currently busy in the fantastic 신돈 (Shin Don), and of course Choi is still fresh off his success in last year's 해신 (Emperor of the Sea). Lee Deok-Hwa was recently seen in 제5공화국 (The Fifth Republic), one of his most memorable roles of the last few years, playing Jeon Du-Hwan. As for the ladies, Park Ye-Jin is one of the 'lost talents' of this generation, wasted on uninteresting bit roles and often too concerned about her beauty to focus on her considerable acting talent (a sort of female Kwon Sang-Woo, so to speak). But she usually does OK in a Sageuk setting, as 장희빈 (Jang Heebin) showed a few years ago. Also, I always had a thing for young Hong Su-Hyeon, who did great in 상두야, 학교가자 (Sang-Doo, Let's Go To School), and was one of the few things worth watching in the disastrous Daily Drama 금쪽같은 내 새끼 (My Precious Child). So far so good.
OUTLINE: 10
As we're dealing with history that's rather 'new' to most people, the majority of this season's Historical Dramas have all very interesting outlines. But I single this out in particular, despite my reservations about the writer's ability to give them justice, for two reasons: 1) Balhae, the Kingdom emerging from the ashes of the Goguryeo Dynasty, is one of the most obscure and interesting periods in Korean History, not only in purely historical terms, but even for what concerns technology, society and influences from neighbouring tribes and kingdoms; 2) Dae Jo-Young, our hero, is really as anti-hero as you get, sometimes described as a very eccentric rebel. He was son of a General who fled along with other Goguryeo generals in the aftermath of the war against the Shilla/Tang allied forces. After the death of his father, General Geolgeol Joongsang, he established the kingdom, which at the beginning was just considered a 'prefecture' by the Tang. We're not just dealing with remnants of the Goguryeo and Shilla dynasties along with the Tang, but also tribes like the Khitan and Gokturks. In short, a pretty exciting period, which is still largely unexplored in the realm of TV Dramas. And if they do it well, this could become a classic. Look out for the Battle of 천문령 (cheonmoonryeong, his huge victory against the Tang which essentially helped him create the Kingdom), a sort of equivalent of the big naval battles during the 임진왜란 (Japanese invasion of Korea) in 불멸의 이순신 (The Immortal Lee Soon-Shin), which could be this show's early killer ap.
RATINGS POTENTIAL: 8
If ratings for 서울 1945 (Seoul 1945) remain stagnant around the mid 10s, this show could start around that target. But Choi Su-Jong is a big name, who should bring back all the older Sageuk viewers who were turned off by the 'hybrid' experiments in Seoul 1945. And that's a very faithful audience, who supported average shows like 무인시대 (The Age of Warriors) with good ratings even when reviews were far from positive. I'd say a slow beginning with ratings from the 15 to the early 20%s, then maybe even higher, around the 30% by its middle point.
OVERALL: 8.00

================================================
WHO THE X WOULD WATCH KOREAN TV DRAMAS?
================================================

SHAOLIN SPA

We've had Shaolin monks, fighters, soccer players, and now here's Korean TV's latest entry into the canon: Shaolin... scrubbers?

If you're not familiar with Korean culture, the role of 때밀이 (scrubber) might feel a little unfamiliar, but it's as important to the country's well being as that of lawmakers using taxpayers' money to do good deeds only (and that's the truth, I swear). Essentially, the scrubber is the guy (or most frequently the ajumma) who gets paid to scrub your back, washing away dirty thoughts and dirty... things after a long day at work, in that miracle of technology that is the 찜질방 (spa, public bath house). Yes, the place where you can find everything from boiled eggs to karaoke rooms. It's even been represented several times on the big screen, last in line Go Doo-Shim's award winning performance in 인어공주 (My Mother, The Mermaid. And this slice of Korean society was represented in one of KBS 드라마시티 (Dramacity)'s latest episodes, entitled (I'm not kidding you) 때밀이 넘버쓰리 (Scrubber No. 3). Hey! That rhymes, at least in Korean...

After months (maybe years) of skipping Dramacity, or watching every now and then, half bored and often as background noise, that little gem called 태릉선수촌 (Taereung National Village) forced me to reconsider my allergy to 단막극 (one-two episode dramas). So I'm watching Dramacity and MBC's 베스트극장 (Best Theater) once again, and I'm actually enjoying them more than expected. This particular episode caught my attention, not so much because of its writer and PD combo -- although PD Lee Jung-Seop was involved in a few hilarious Dramas, like 낭랑18세 (Sweet 18) -- but it was the cast: underrated Jung Eun-Pyo, responsible for many memorable roles, the most impressive of which might be the 'romantic dance master' in 해적, 디스코왕 되다 (Bet on My Disco); comedy veterans Yoon Moon-Shik and Sung Dong-Il, super-talented theater-cum-tv-cum-film actor Park Cheol-Min, and little Park Geon-Tae from 미안하다, 사랑한다 (I'm Sorry, I Love You).

The life of Joon-Tae (Jung Eun-Pyo) is at a crossroad: his job as a scrubber is not as rewarding as it could be, as he's only No. 3 in the hierarchy. He constantly makes mistakes, and his wife left him with a kid to raise -- emphatically named Young-Woong (Park Geon-Tae)... Hero! -- unable to cope with the misery of having to live with a scrubber, and an average one at that. Living with his best friend, an intellectual the world can't understand named 고시생 (master of ancient -- Chinese -- poems, played by Park Cheol-Min) in a humble little room, our Joon-Tae daydreams of becoming the king of Scrubbers, using his incredible skills to impress the world. But on a fateful day, he comes into contact with a magic book, falling off a mysterious Chinese man kung-fu fighting with even more obscure figures. A book which will become the key to change his future.

That book contains all the secrets to master that 금강차력대마술 (Great Magic of Relaxing One's Body Through Spiritual Concentration). Ahhh... yes, joy to the world, he found a treasure trove! Problem... it's all in Hanja, and his curriculum as a scrubber didn't exactly emphasize on Chinese character reading skills. But his intellectual friend gives him a big gift before departing for the metaphysical world: a full translation of this 'bible of scrubbing'. The doors to thousand year old secrets are finally opened. No more 'scrubber No. 3', now they'll have to call him the King of scrubbers. Thanks to his newfound scrubbing skills, mixing Shaolin techniques, traditional Chinese medicine based on meridian points and Buddhist philosophy, Joon-Tae builds a commercial empire out of his newfound talent, he becomes a star. Until... until the final message hits us in the face. Never abuse the power of Shaolin, especially for lucrative endeavors!

Of course we're essentially dealing with a 'good for a laugh' hour of TV, and your life won't change watching this. But it's creative, taking advantage of its low budget to focus on the uniqueness of its script and plot developments, and performances are spot on, especially Park Cheol-Min (wonderfully eccentric) and the usual little gem from Jung Eun-Pyo, so underappreciated in Chungmuro it's a crime. If you liked the first season of 안녕, 프란체스카 (Hello, Francesca), or you like silly low-budget black comedies, then this is a good catch. Since it's close to impossible this will make it to DVD, you can either watch it from KBS' site (needs registration, but it's free to watch), or the usual download venues. The next Dramacity wasn't up to par, but as a nice surprise it starred a number of alumni from 부활 (Rebirth), including Kim Gyu-Cheol, Go Myung-Hwan and Yoo Hye-Jung. And even better, if you have KBS World (which is about a month behind compared to the Korean version, when it comes to Dramacity), next week they'll show 나 의 아름다운 친구 (My Beautiful Friend), produced by Jeon Chang-Geun and written by Kim Ji-Woo, respectively assistant PD and writer of a little series called Rebirth. I think I'm going to continue watching this...

날 잡아 봐~~라 (COME AND GET ME~!)

Ahhh... what would we do without our dose of cliched TV Dramas? I received a mail the other day from a friend in Korea, telling me to 'watch the latest episode of 별난여자 별난남자 (The Bizarre Bunch), you'll have a laugh'. I had long given up on another of KBS' lame duck Daily Dramas, after all Kim Ah-Joong might be one of the sweetest things on TV, but she's not quite enough to get me to tune in every evening when I can spend that time doing something more constructive and perhaps even more exciting. Like, say, washing dishes.

But, hey, this is currently the most popular show on Korean TV, at least when Im Sung-Han's 'South American Telenovelas, the Korean Way' shockfest 하늘이시여 (Dear Heaven) doesn't steal its thunder. And of course those high 30%s ratings come mostly from the fact there's very little to watch on that timeslot for an ajumma, so that's your answer, perhaps. Anyhow, KBS only seems to get this kind of shows right once out of 6-7, as although 어여쁜 당신 (My Sweet, My Darling) was kind of tolerable (OK, I watched it only because of Lee Bo-Young and Nam Sang-Mi, sue me. But Park Won-Sook's return to insane rich ajummas was kind of fun) the last really memorable work in this line was 2003's 노란 손수건 (Yellow Handkerchief).

After a decent start, with top notch veterans like Lee Young-Ha and Ahn Seok-Hwan leading way, things predictably fell into that abyss of mediocrity this kind of shows fall into by their 70-80th episode (out of around 170, usually). But after avoiding a few dozen episodes, it turns out this show's gone completely crazy with the cliffhanger habits. The show is nearing its end, but I haven't laughed so much watching a Daily Drama since that 'the ship is sinking, and the writer threw herself in the water twenty episodes ago' phase towards the end of 인어아가씨 (Mermaid Girl). Some writers think throwing outlandish plot developments at the viewer every few days will keep them tuning in. Oh... a third of the viewing populace is indeed doing so, but this is feeling a farce more and more.

Then again fans of horribly cliched Dramas have quite a choice nowadays. Yoon Seok-Ho's 봄의 왈츠 (Spring Waltz) is getting closer to the point where all his Dramas come around the middle, on top of a cliff. The smart would just say: 'OK, we got this far, now let's reflect on what brought us here. Think. Speed up the pace a little. Write something dammit. And no, I don't mean agonizingly slow pans to show the scenery because you've run out of ideas.' But no. His shows at this point throw themselves off the cliff because of something. That same 'something' a character in a pretty famous wuxia from 2000 uses to throw herself off a big cliff: the powah of luv-ahhh. I wonder what Yoon is going to do after this sledgehammer injection of tearjerking steroids will have run its course. Pull a Kim Ki-Duk and start again from the first season?

But thankfully he's not the only one populating our worst nightmares. At the beginning of 어느 별에서 왔니 (Which Star Are You From?), I was wondering what meaning that title could possibly have. If Bok-Shil (the equivalent of calling a sassy country girl in an American show Daisy Duke, I guess) wasn't enough, adding all the possible 'Bok-Shil goes To Seoul' (or the other way around, if you prefer) cliches in the book wasn't going to save this from oblivion. Poor Jung Ryeo-Won, she managed to go from a top notch supporting performance in 내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam-Soon) to two complete turds in a row -- and the saddest thing, it's not really her fault, as she still does have a lot of potential. PD Pyo Min-Soo... how the mighty have fallen. And this guy wants to work again with Noh Hee-Kyung? After watching this show for a while, I think I know 'which star they're from'. Andromeda?

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

But fear not, there's salvation. Five shows that are making this beginning of Spring a pretty good time to be a TV Drama fan, to be precise. I'm talking about SBS' 불량가족 (Bad Family) and 연애시대 (Alone in Love), KBS' 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo), MBC's 신돈 (Shin Don) and Dr. 깽 (Dr. Kang). It's been a while since so much quality and variety was available on TV, but it feels good. Variety because Bad Family is mostly a comedy, Shin Don a 'new age' Historical Drama, Dr. Kang and Alone in Love seem to be smart hybrids so far, and of course Goodbye Solo is Noh Hee-Kyung's usual 'Drama verite' winner. Quality because Bad Family is hilarious, perhaps not as much as 마이걸 (My Girl), but still a pleasure to watch. The stars do a wonderful job, especially the veterans (Nam Sang-Mi and Kim Myung-Min do their usual splendid job), and writing doesn't seem to fall in SBS' usual shenanigans, at least for now. Alone in Love started on quite a high note (except its ratings, alas), with a mix of mature wit and childish jokes (wait for the 'brown thing starting with an S' line), excellent acting (Gam Woo-Sung is fantastic, Son Ye-Jin surprisingly rid of all the Korean Wave hoopla which plagued her recent efforts, the supporting cast is doing a good job) and good writing.

What have you done, Noh Hee-Kyung! If you told me I'd be falling for a character played by Kim Min-Hee even two months ago, I'd have hurt myself falling off chairs, tables, beds and every other piece of furniture available at home... laughing, that is. Simply put, Goodbye Solo is magic, the kind of strange atmosphere balancing between bleak realism and that touch of fantasy full of hope her works always seem to transmit. There's scenes here which if put in a film by acclaimed directors would crush the prejudices of pseudo-intellectual critics (some domestic and many foreign), who treat TV Dramas as a sort of 'genre', grouping everything into an unique canon and looking down on them as if they were a third grade art. They say ignorance is bliss, but if you miss fantastic writing like this just because you think all Dramas are cliched and ridiculous, then you get what you deserve. Impressive Drama, if this doesn't make it to DVD, it's a crime. And although we talked quite a bit about Shin Don, MBC's Dr. Kang is proving once again PD Park Sung-Soo wasn't just helped by the talent of writer In Jung-Ok in the past. It's obviously too early to comment on the show, but the beginning is very solid, with the usual great first impression from Yang Dong-Geun, finally back on TV.

Might be the Spring, but now more than ever, It's a good time to be a TV Drama fan. And we've got a ton of tasty Historical Dramas ready to jump at us in a couple of months, so things might even get hotter. And we'll be there to cover them, as always.

====================================
TV DRAMA RATINGS
====================================
04/04~04/08

1. 36.4% 별난여자 별난남자 (The Bizarre Bunch)
Daily Drama - KBS1 [Cast: Jung Joon, Kim Ah-Joong, Go Ju-Won, Kim Hae-Sook, Ahn Seok-Hwan]
Official Website
PD: Lee Deok-Geon
WRITER: Lee Deok-Jae

--

2. 31.6% 하늘이시여 (Dear Heaven)
Weekend Drama - SBS [Cast: Yoon Jung-Hee, Lee Tae-Gon, Lee Bo-Hee, Jo Yeon-Woo, Wang Bit-Na]
Official Website
PD: Lee Young-Hee
WRITER: Im Sung-Han

--

3. 19.2% 소문난 칠공주 (7 Princesses)
Weekend Drama - KBS2 [Cast: Lee Tae-Ran, Go Ju-Won, Choi Jung-Won, Na Moon-Hee, Park In-Hwan]
Official Website
PD: Bae Kyung-Soo
WRITER: Moon Young-Nam

--

4. 17.6% 넌 어느 별에서 왔니 (Which Star Are You From?)
Mon/Tue Drama - MBC [Cast: Kim Rae-Won, Jung Ryeo-Won, Kang Jung-Hwa, Park Shi-Hoo, Im Ye-Jin]
Official Website
PD: Pyo Min-Soo
WRITER: Jung Yoo-Kyung

--

5. 17.0% 어느날 갑자기 (One Day, Suddenly)
Friday Drama - SBS [Cast: Sung Hyun-Ah, Lee Jong-Won, Song Seon-Mi, Yoon Sung-Hoon, Kim Il-Woo]
Official Website
PD: Park Young-Soo
WRITER: Park Hyun-Joo

--

6. 16.7% 사랑과 야망 (Love and Ambition)
Weekend Drama - SBS [Cast: Han Go-Eun, Jo Min-Gi, Lee Hoon, Lee Min-Young, Chu Sang-Mi]
Official Website
PD: Kwak Young-Beom
WRITER: Kim Soo-Hyun

--

7. 15.8% 불량가족 (Bad Family)
Wed/Thu Drama - SBS [Cast: Kim Myung-Min, Nam Sang-Mi, Hyun Young, Im Hyun-Shik, Yeo Woon-Gye]
Official Website
PD: Yoo In-Shik
WRITER: Lee Hee-Myung, Han Eun-Kyung

--

8. 15.7% 강이되어 만나리 (Let's Meet By The River)
Daily Drama - KBS [Cast: Kim Yoon-Kyung, Kim Hyeok, Kim Mi-Sook, Gyeon Mi-Ri, Jo Mi-Ryeong]
Official Website
PD: Jung Sung-Hong, Kim Won-Seok
WRITER: Lee Geum-Rim

--

9. 13.4% Dr. 깽 (Dr. Kang)
Wed/Thu Drama - MBC [Cast: Yang Dong-Geun, Han Ga-In, Lee Jong-Hyuk, Park Shi-Eun, Oh Gwang-Rok]
Official Website
PD: Park Sung-Soo
WRITER: Kim Gyu-Wan

--

10. 13.3% 사랑하고 싶다 (I Want To Love)
Daily Morning Drama - SBS [Cast: Kim Byung-Se, Shin So-Mi, Lee Eung-Kyung, Kim Ji-Seok, Sung Dong-Il]
Official Website
PD: Park Hyung-Gi
WRITER: Yoo Hyun-Mi

--

11. 12.6% 서울 1945 (Seoul 1945)
Historical Drama - KBS1 [Cast: Han Eun-Jung, So Yoo-Jin, Ryu Soo-Young, Kim Ho-Jin, Go Doo-Shim]
Official Website
PD: Yoon Chang-Beom
WRITER: Jung Sung-Hee

--

12. 12.1% 진짜 진짜 좋아해 (I Really, Really Like You)
Weekend Drama - MBC [Cast: Eugene, Lee Min-Gi, Ryu Jin, Jang Yong, Choi Buram]
Official Website
PD: Kim Jin-Man
WRITER: Bae Yoo-Mi

--

13. 11.8% 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo)
Wed/Thu Drama - KBS2 [Cast: Cheon Jung-Myung, Yoon So-Yi, Bae Jong-Ok, Lee Jae-Ryong, Kim Min-Hee]
Official Website
PD: Gi Min-Soo
WRITER: Noh Hee-Kyung

--

14. 11.6% 걱정하지마 (Don't Worry)
Daily Morning Drama - KBS2 [Cast: Yoon Da-Hoon, Lee Young-Eun, Kim Sung-Ryeong, Bang Eun-Hee, Lee Seung-Shin]
Official Website
PD: Han Jung-Hee
WRITER: Kim Sa-Kyung

--

15. 11.5% 연애시대 (Alone in Love)
Mon/Tue Drama - SBS [Cast: Gam Woo-Sung, Son Ye-Jin, Gong Hyung-Jin, Kim Gab-Soo, Gi Ju-Bong]
Official Website
PD: Han Ji-Seung
WRITER: Park Young-Seon

--

16. 11.5% 사랑은 아무도 못말려 (Love Can't Wait
Daily Drama - MBC [Cast: Hong Kyung-Min, Lee Young-Ah, Choi Jung-Yoon, Baek Il-Seop, Yoon Hae-Young]
Official Website
PD: Lee Tae-Gon, Kim Dae-Jin
WRITER: Jung Hyun-Jung

--

17. 11.0% 신돈 (Shin Don)
Historical Drama - MBC [Cast: Son Chang-Min, Seo Ji-Hye, Jung Bo-Seok, Lee Dae-Yeon, Kim Hye-Ri]
Official Website
PD: Kim Jin-Min
WRITER: Jung Ha-Yeon

--

18. 8.1% 봄의 왈츠 (Spring Waltz)
Mon/Tue Drama - KBS2 [Cast: Han Hyo-Joo, Seo Do-Young, Daniel Henney, Lee So-Yeon, Jung Dong-Hwan]
Official Website
PD: Yoon Seok-Ho
WRITER: Kim Ji-Yeon, Hwang Da-Eun

--

===============================
THE TOP RATED DRAMAS OF 2006
===============================
01/01~04/08

01. 37.5% 별난여자 별난남자 (The Bizarre Bunch) - KBS [Now Showing]
02. 36.0% 하늘이시여 (Dear Heaven) - SBS [Now Showing]
03. 31.9% 슬픔이여 안녕 (Goodbye To Sadness) - KBS [Complete]
04. 28.3% 궁 (Princess Hours) - MBC [Complete]
05. 26.7% 서동요 (The Ballad of Seo Dong) - SBS [Complete]
06. 24.9% 마이걸 (My Girl) - SBS [Complete]
07. 23.7% 그여자 (That Woman) - SBS [Complete]
08. 23.0% 황금사과 (Golden Apple) - KBS [Complete]
09. 22.3% 인생이여 고마워요 (Thank You Life) - KBS [Complete]
10. 21.3% 결혼합시다 (Let's Get Married) - MBC [Complete]
11. 21.1% 들꽃 (Wild Flower) - SBS [Complete]
12. 20.3% 고향역 (A Place Called Home) - KBS [Complete]
13. 20.2% 소문난 칠공주 (7 Princesses) - KBS [Now Showing]
14. 20.1% 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo) - KBS [Now Showing]
15. 19.9% 어느날 갑자기 (One Day, Suddenly) - SBS [Now Showing]
16. 17.9% 넌 어느 별에서 왔니 (Which Star Are You From?) [Now Showing]
16. 17.9% 사랑과 야망 (Love and Ambition) [Now Showing]
18. 17.7% 서울 1945 (Seoul 1945) [Now Showing]
19. 16.9% 신돈 (Shin Don) [Now Showing]
20. 15.9% 백만장자와 결혼하기 (Marrying a Millionaire) [Complete]

Sources
Star News: 1, 2, 3, 4,
nKino: 1
Chosun Ilbo: 1