Who’s watching Ja Myung Go?
by javabeans
And I ask that as a real question, not in sarcasm, because it seems the large-scale extravaganza is meeting with all sorts of “disheartening” setbacks and “embarrassments,” as several articles point out.
SBS’s current Monday-Tuesday drama Ja Myung Go [자명고] was hyped up as a big action historical series starring Jung Ryeo-won and was expected to do much better than the single-digit ratings it’s pulling in.
On top of that, the drama recently had an on-set accident: On April 21, a torch apparatus exploded at the filming location in Goyang, Kyeonggi province, and set off a fire. The accident injured one staff member and sent that person to the hospital with burns.
There were no further injuries, but the production dodged a bullet, as the explosion occurred near a stack of lumber and other props. Kim Ga-yeon wasn’t hurt, but was close enough that her clothes were damaged with soot.
On top of that, on April 20, actor Na Han-il (in the role of Wang Gweng) was arrested and is being investigated by the Seoul district public prosecutor’s office on suspicion of obtaining an illegal loan (in the 10 billion won range, or $7 million). Worse yet, Na is suspected of offering bribes to a Financial Supervisory Service executive and a bank executive to get the loan.
Ja Myung Go had an inauspicious premiere against the finales of East of Eden and Boys Before Flowers, but that was expected, if unfortunate. However, it failed to recover its ground and now, after 13 episodes of its planned 50, stands in the 9%-10% range. It was expected to recover when the characters grew out of the childhood scenes and the adult actors took over — in particular, when Jung Ryeo-won made her first appearance in Episode 12 — but the numbers only rose about 1% to 10.8% for yesterday’s broadcast.
(Again, I’ll say: Ratings aren’t important, except when they are. They are less significant in deciding a drama’s quality, but one can’t deny their importance in other aspects. For a project as big as this one, hovering in the single-digit range is a letdown, to say the least.)
As if that weren’t enough, there are also disgruntled rumblings from one faction of the older cast, drawing lines in the sand between the “fusion” sageuk aspect of the drama and what they see as a “true” sageuk. Some complaints have been heard expressing doubt that there is enough plot to sustain 50 episodes.
One source close to an actor said, “With one group saying this is fusion and one group saying this is a traditional sageuk, how can viewers become immersed in the drama? One well-regarded veteran actor says, ‘This isn’t the right way,’ but is trying his/her best to follow along no matter what. Of course viewers would be able to sense that awkwardness.”
Via Herald Biz, Chosun, Segye, Korea Times
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Tags: drama ratings, Ja Myung Go, Jung Ryeo-won, Park Min-young
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51 amara okafor
June 15, 2009 at 8:45 PM
i haven't started watching it yet. but i am really interested in it.
since it's a new drama and there aren't many eps out yet i will probably wait until more eps come out. i am huge asian drama fan and i can watch like half a show in one day. so the few that r out rite now wouldnt be enuf. i can't wait a whole week! to answer the question "who's watching ja myung go?" my answer is yes!
although i technically havent, don't worry it suits my style so i will eventually
i'm sure i'm not the only fan
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52 DramaQueen
June 30, 2009 at 10:35 AM
I am watching it but the English subs are too sparse.. plenty of "raw" files but they are not subbed... so unfortunate I think I would watch it alot more if there were subtitles. I only watched the first 3 episodes :(
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53 Sunhiko_Drama_Lover
June 30, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Hehe~
Well, I think that the drama is amazing.
I love it~
It's at the suspensful part right now.
I just found out about the drama by luck.
But i'm glad i did. -^^_
And i find it interesting to find JKH, PMY, and JRW in these "older" dramas.
But i love how they act. x]
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54 patti
July 1, 2009 at 4:45 PM
could anyone tell me the name f the singer who sings the theme song from Jamong?
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55 Natasha
July 8, 2009 at 9:35 PM
I believe it's Tiffany (from SNSD i think) , saw it somewhere.
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56 shinatsuka
August 9, 2009 at 5:22 AM
Hi everyone.. wow.. lots of comments and critics.... kinda dissapointed to read all critics and comments because I watched the whole drama. (ep 1 to finale). yeah, maybe a bit boring with lots of er.. 'imbalance' here and there.. but i still watch it to the end. Maybe I'm not that choosy b;coz i was informed that it was the first Ryuwon's saeguk drama.. maybe for the lead actors and actresses, this was their first time.. and it would e very unfair if i said that they were not good at all. there are huge rooms for improvement and I actually watche dthe last episode more than 5 times because i just couldnt had enough... not talking about dissatisfaction, but it was so sad...... their loves are strong and deep... and when hodong made the painstaking decision to end up their life together... that was really........ dunno what to say.... sad? it was beyond that... i even cried.. haha... anyway, thanks for letting the actor and actresses about their weaknesses, thus they can improve later in the future.. smile... :)
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57 mila
September 3, 2009 at 8:37 AM
The lead characters like Princess JaMyung, Prince Hodong and Lahee are very good in there acting...they should end the drama that Prince Hodong and Princess JaMyung will have a peace treaty and remarried so that Gogoryu and Nakrang should join together...Conratulations...
And the 2nd princess ( the witch) pushed the dead body of Lahee. to the river and. the only one alive among Nakrang people...maybe bec. of her clever personality.
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58 Kelli Star Park
September 4, 2009 at 7:20 PM
jamyung is the best and i think to JAMYUNG love is a crime
JAMYUNGJAMYUNGJAMYUNGJAMYUNGJAMYUNGJAMYUNGLAHEE
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59 Kelli Star Park
September 4, 2009 at 7:30 PM
the peps in the cast are very strong brave in the move and the ending is sad and lahee and jamyung love alike and somethings don't this iz the best move or should i say korean drama but i always wis i was like jamyung and peoples i am not adicticed or whatever about jamyung i like the other people too (not in a gay way ok) well whatever
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60 sarah
September 7, 2009 at 4:31 PM
I LOVE THIS SHOW
I WISH IT NEVER ENDED
PEOPLE WHO HATE IT ARE CRAZY
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61 Jonnae
January 15, 2010 at 4:35 PM
Hey! I love this drama! Do you know where I can find ep 33 with english sub for this drama?! :O Aja-aja apparently closed their site for public people. :(
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62 DADA
February 17, 2010 at 11:33 PM
I LIVE IN THAILAND, I LOVE JUNG RYEO-WON AND THIS MOVIE.NOW IT'S ON AIR AND VERY HOT HERE PEOPLE AROUND ME ALSO LOVE IT TOO!!!
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63 helen
March 14, 2010 at 3:36 PM
well koreans have a strange tast this is my fav kdrama so far and the rating just ruined it cause the ending was awful they killed everyone
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64 liliana
March 15, 2010 at 3:39 AM
the serie of ja myung go it very wonderful
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65 favegirl13
April 12, 2010 at 10:44 AM
i loved ja myung go
of course i helped segment it so i should love it
I thought is was beautifully written and the clothes (.... to die for)
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66 zolo
September 4, 2010 at 3:08 AM
wow very nice movei
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67 Dynastat
January 9, 2011 at 8:48 AM
I've just finished watching Princess Ja Myung Go.
I love the drama. I can't stop watching it.
It's hard to believe about low rating in Korea.
Ja myung is so adorable and beautiful. Every actors and actress did good actings. But I think the story while Prince Ho dong was a child should have been shorten.
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68 Dynastat
January 9, 2011 at 11:56 PM
Princess Ja Myung(Puk-ku) loves Ho Dong because he has good mind and she knows that deep inside Ho Dong's mind, he lacks of maternal love as she has lacked. So she both loves and pities him much but not more than her people and her family.
Prince Ho Dong loves Puk-ku more than everything but not more than his father and his people too. When he was poisoned and almost died, he saw Ja Myung who save his life as his mother. And that's why Ho Dong loves Puk-ku so much even can die to have her by his side and can do everything even to use evil method to lie Princess La Hee who love him and destroy Nung-Nung city. Because it's the only way he can do to have Puk-ku.
Indeed he wants to have Puk-ku by his side more than to be a king. I think that if there is a way for him to lives peacefully with Puk-ku, he will do it even he cannot be a king.
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69 JaMyungGofan
June 13, 2011 at 4:09 PM
True, I don't know what is up with the Korean ratings. I just finished this drama two nights ago and I have to say I was so hooked. I watched some episode that I really enjoyed over and over. When I finished the show it just got me hanging there wanting to have more of the show and now to learn that it was suppose to be fifty episode; I dearly wish it would have been. It can be even longer or go on forever, I'll still watch it. Their childhood did play for thirteen episode and I did think they could of had shorten it but the story did get more interesting when they became adults. I was actually happy that Ja Myung Go was actually more of a love story then politics. Maybe its because of my young age as someone as stated. I do kind of hated it that Hodong had more loving scene with Rahee then with Ja Myung even though behind Rahee's back Hodong and Ja Myung were both hurting and wanting each other. I honestly think their love was deep; how Hodong became determine to conquer Nakrang because he wanted to reclaim Ja Myung. Nuff said, I think I should make my own blog about my Ja Myung Go addiction since I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT!
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70 Grace
August 20, 2014 at 5:53 PM
I have seen this drama 3 years ago and it is still my favourite. I just cannot get over it... I wish it were longer. They should've cut the first 14/15 episodes and added them to the end.
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71 olach
March 8, 2016 at 3:17 PM
we are watching this drama times, until this time.
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