MBC revives old crime series with Detective Choi Il-woo
by javabeans
Another remake is on the horizon in dramaland, but this one’s quite different from all the rest: It’s based on a TV show that’s 42 years old.
MBC is reviving Police Detective, which was quite the success back in 1971, and refashioning it into Detective Choi Il-woo. My drama history doesn’t go back that far so I have no personal knowledge of this show, so we’ll have to take their word for it in calling the original a “legendary drama.”
We don’t have much in the way of plot details, other than that the drama will follow a police team as they investigate unsolved violent crimes, as the original show did, but giving the cases a modern bent. It’s as vague as vague gets since we could deduce that from the title alone, but I suppose there must be a reason this one is a remake and not a separate police procedural altogether.
The show promises to tackle current-day social issues, calling itself “a human and social drama, not a twisted crime drama.” I suppose I can get behind that, since there’s only so much torture and blood and perverse human nature you can watch without crying off the genre altogether. I’ve got a limit on how much I can take of gore and guts, but brainy whodunnits, I can embrace.
The titular role of Detective Choi Il-woo has not been confirmed yet, although the news teases of “a very popular Hallyu star” being up for the role. We do have the heroine in place with Lee Hana (Triple, Women in the Sun) playing a cerebral detective. She seems like an introspective sort of actress, so that description suits her. I don’t love her (she has a naturalistic acting style, which I like, but also low energy, which I don’t), but she doesn’t make or break a project for me.
Comedian Kim Byung-man has also signed on to play a veteran detective with a strong personality. Apparently the producers were considering him from their early days of planning, and wrote the script with him in mind. So he’ll be quirky and funny, then.
So far I’m intrigued but not sold. Not without more details of the plot and characters, at least. And naturally, things could change mighty quickly with word of that mysterious Hallyu star they’re hinting at…
Detective Choi Il-woo is hoping to get on the air in early 2013.
Via Sports Seoul
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1 Lttd
October 18, 2012 at 12:19 PM
Doesn's sound too exciting at the moment. But if this mysterious Hallyu star is wonbin.. I'm in. Oh what a dream that would be!
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sumee
October 18, 2012 at 12:26 PM
woooooooooo ho ..WOn bin ..wow ..i mean wow..I have not seen any of his previous dramas ..only watched him in The Man from Nowhere & i was blown
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KitKat
October 18, 2012 at 12:26 PM
i second that.
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sartorius
October 18, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Lemme tell u that if its Won Bin...i AM IN....it could be d crappiest show on earth, not story, no plot, crappy directing, crappy everything.....but for that man i would watch it...i would do anything for that hot piece of meat....
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NikaNika
October 19, 2012 at 3:59 AM
Won Bin? Oh yes, please!
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2 Mystisith
October 18, 2012 at 12:29 PM
I'm surprised one of the Big Three hasn't started a show like this sooner when we see the success of Vampire Prosecutor or TEN on cable. And also when we see all the various kind of cop shows elsewhere. I wouldn't mind a good procedural with less blood and torture scenes.
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kakashi
October 18, 2012 at 12:48 PM
who knows something about TEN's potential second season? A bit off-topic, sorry, but only a bit
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nyss
October 19, 2012 at 5:04 AM
i heard it is planned to air next year. and they also have a movie coming out? not sure about that, but i think i read it at hancinema site. cant wait for TEN!
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3 Hanna
October 18, 2012 at 12:36 PM
What?! Your drama knowledge doesn't extend to 1971?
I'm disappointed, I'll have you know!
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Hanna
October 18, 2012 at 12:38 PM
And on a more serious note, I do like crime series and so, as long as it's at least sort of episodic. This, therefore, sounds like it has potential to be pretty good for me, if they pull it off!
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4 Noelle
October 18, 2012 at 12:38 PM
LoL they had some crazy hair 42 years ago that is fosho.
I wonder who the mysterious H-star is? The actress is blah for me. Triple wasn't good by any means but every time she was on screen I wanted to break my computer.
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mud
October 18, 2012 at 1:35 PM
LOL, those hairstyles.....
I only watched half of Triple and figured the other half wasn't worth the agonizing boredom, but I do agree with Noelle about feeling a tendency to smash things whenever Lee Hana was on screen. She was so dull....
On the other hand, I absolutely adore police procedurals, and if this is based on "the legendary drama", well, my interest is piqued.
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5 kakashi
October 18, 2012 at 12:46 PM
oh, a game, a game! Let's guess! The one who gets it right gets ... something.
The mysterious Hallyu star is ... Song Seung-heon!!
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kakashi
October 18, 2012 at 12:47 PM
probably not. Cha Seung-won?
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kakashi
October 18, 2012 at 12:52 PM
or So Ji Sub?
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Mama J
October 18, 2012 at 1:28 PM
Cha Seung Won came to mind for me. He's done movies where he is a detective, I think. It's not The Towel (sorry I don't know how to do the trademark thingy) because he's currently in training to begin filming a sageuk.
this is your mark....and this is your camera - DON'T LOOK AT THE CAMERA
sorry I couldn't resist the joke but everyone knows I love the guy for his determination and faith anyway, right? And that bod don't hurt.
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jєѕѕα™ 주원사랑 (@jung_kYro)
October 18, 2012 at 3:04 PM
i would love it if it is So Ji Sub..
but please, not Rain..i don't hate him..i just don't like him.. :-)
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Mic
October 18, 2012 at 3:12 PM
Isn't Rain still in the military? Or has he finished? O_o
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Mama J
October 18, 2012 at 3:14 PM
another year to go
jєѕѕα™ 주원사랑 (@jung_kYro)
October 18, 2012 at 3:29 PM
oh, well..i thought he will be released next year.. :-)
Mama J
October 18, 2012 at 3:42 PM
you are right - Oct 2013 one year yet
gaeinalee
October 19, 2012 at 3:40 AM
Lee Junki? He's available...^^
Song Il Gook? Jo Hyun Jae? Duh, I do miss him..
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6 alaki
October 18, 2012 at 1:01 PM
is that the grandpa from Smile, You in the last still? looks like him
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fab
October 19, 2012 at 4:46 AM
Exactly my thought! But he looks exactly the same, he can't do that for 42 years...
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fab
October 19, 2012 at 5:47 AM
Nope It's really him!
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7 Quiet Thought
October 18, 2012 at 1:32 PM
First big difference from 40 years ago? A female detective, apparently. And she's going to be a thinker, as well. Good for starters.
The old black and white setting reminds me of a similar circumstance in Britain right around 1960. The BBC put together a cheap, well-written little counter-espionage show, with the leads being a dashing veteran agent and a talented but violent amateur as a counterpoint. After a season or two, they needed to change off the actor playing the violent amateur, and someone came up with the notion of casting a woman in the role: Honor Blackman, who happened to know some judo. She quit to make movies, Diana Rigg replaced her to play the brainy, cool, tough, and fearless Emma Peel, 'The Avengers' became an international hit, and women have been getting shots at playing spies and cops ever since.
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malta
October 19, 2012 at 4:34 AM
Made a similar observation. Something tells me in the original women were probably only the victims of the crimes or the loved ones left behind. It was another era.
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8 lenrasoon
October 18, 2012 at 3:10 PM
aww i love Lee Hana, i enjoyed watching her in "Alone in Love" and "Me Ri, Dae Gu's Attack and Defense Battle" and she was fun, i just wished she picked better projects (ugh "Triple") so maybe this is the one? i really hope so.
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lenrasoon
October 18, 2012 at 3:17 PM
wow and veteran actor Choi Bool Am didn't change much in these 40ish years, i mean he got old but i could still recognize him in those pictures.
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9 OldCanBGood
October 18, 2012 at 4:10 PM
The show 수사반장 is indeed a famous TV show from the 70's. Think of it as Korean version of Hawaii Five O. If that's still too old, Homicide: Life On the Street that ran in the 90's in the States. The show dealt with some gritty crimes and it was particularly good at looking at the human aspect of crimes, i.e., both victims and villains as human being and not just incidental to a crime that TV crimes shows often are.
Here's the early 80's opening credit of the show:
http://youtu.be/pzLcKCEv4sY
And a short segment from a more recent TV variety show about old TV shows:
http://youtu.be/QSDrXnAVOAU
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annie
October 18, 2012 at 7:14 PM
Oh my God, Homicide: Life on the Street is still one of the best police shows I've ever seen. If this is even half as good I will be so happy.
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Rovi
January 10, 2013 at 9:35 PM
Oh yeah, that's it~!!!
This show was in the top 10 dramas of MBC from the 1960's to 1990's. And yes, this was headed by then "Korea's National Father" (maybe because he did daddy roles often) Choi Bool-am.
It was famous because its BGM went "bba~ra bba~bam bba~ra bba~bam". :)
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10 jomo143
October 18, 2012 at 4:31 PM
I googled "Popular Hallyu Star"
and found a list that must be really old.
Unless Bae Yong Jun really is still that popular?
How about Lee Tae Gon? He hasn't been on tv in a while.
Kang Ji Hwan? I would LOVE that.
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11 cutieblue
October 18, 2012 at 5:00 PM
Does Hyun Bin get out of the military soon? Could he do this one?
Just curious.
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mud
October 18, 2012 at 5:50 PM
I would like to see Hyun Bin do something that isn't strictly romance focused. I know I'm in the minority here, but I couldn't stand Secret Garden, even though I did want to understand what the masses were raving about. To me, it devolved into an adult version of BOF, which was just unbearable. I kind of forgave parts of BOF because it's suppose to be set in high school with high school behaviour, but Secret Garden was about grown-ups and those antics were just above and beyond childish........ but I digress.
I would also bid for Gong Yoo to be in this.
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12 Sajen
October 18, 2012 at 5:55 PM
Lee Hana (Triple, Women in the Sun) also more importantly than either of those is the wonderful Alone in Love.
I like detective stories especially Asian detective stories although I do believe that crime/detective stories is one of two genres that the Japanese do better, the other being slice of life no one in the world does slice of life better than the Japanese, but that's off topic.
so unless they cast someone who can't act as the lead yay
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13 Lidy Wilks
October 18, 2012 at 6:09 PM
maybe its jo gook from city hall playing the lead? he could do other stuff besides rom com right?
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14 noonajumma
October 19, 2012 at 6:51 PM
My k-drama knowledge DOES extend back to the 70's (Aaak!), and I still remember how good the original show 수사반장 was. It had great actors and great stories. I was a little kid, so I don't remember too many details, but can still feel how upset I (and my family) got with some of the stories - heavy on human drama. I have high hopes for the remake. The old show really is one of the classics of Korean television when it was still in its infancy and limited by politics and economic circumstances.
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15 KANGly
October 20, 2012 at 4:01 PM
I would love to see Jo Hyun Jae in this drama.
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16 Tracy
October 21, 2012 at 7:59 PM
Isn't it Choil Il Joo? >_< anyway from this article, seems like Lee Seo Jin is in talks of starring in this drama too^^ http://news.nate.com/view/20121022n09756
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17 Mihansa
October 23, 2012 at 1:18 PM
I'd like to see Lee Seo Jin do that. I'm watching Damo and enjoying it a lot, but will soon run out of past LSJ dramas to catch up on.
He hasn't ever done a police procedural, has he? (though his character in Hon was a forensic psychologist. But Hon was something else). I can see it being a good fit for him, especially if there's also a strong female lead. He's never been afraid to share the spotlight with a fully developed female character, which is one of the things I appreciate about him.
Hope it works out.
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