Production in full swing on tvN sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3

61 September 3, 2013September 3, 2013

Production in full swing on tvN sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3

by javabeans

Looks like they’re getting literal with the upcoming sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3, which has fortunately come to (half) its senses by revising its original title, Potato-Shaped Sweet Potato Star 2013QR3. Now if we could do something about that “2013QR3″… (purposely cryptic-sounding to mimic the naming of a new star).

This is the new daily sitcom being produced by producer-director Kim Byung-wook of the High Kick franchise, to be broadcast by cable station tvN. Above is the show’s poster, which shows the cast poised atop what appears to be a planet made out of potato. Heh. I knew there were going to be outer-space references in the plot, but I’ll admit, I didn’t expect literal potato planet. The story gets going when a strange asteroid crash-lands on Earth, called the Potato Star.

At the center of the sitcom’s Noh family is frequent High Kick grandpa Lee Soon-jae, looking rather dapper with his suspender and white mustache. Does this mean he’ll be too busy shooting Potato Star to go on many more Grandpas Over Flowers trips?

This is also the show starring Yeo Jin-gu, child-star-turned-heartthrob, in his first sitcom role. He’s done precocious child roles and heart-twisting melo, but can he do quirky and funny? (Imma say yes, considering that his Moon That Embraces the Sun and I Miss You roles gave him plenty of cute, comedic moments—you know, in between the gut-wrenching angst.)

Yeo Jin-gu recently celebrated his birthday while shooting the poster for the show, and get this—he just turned 16 (or 17 in Korea), but his character is 24. WUT. You really are pushing him along the Yoo Seung-ho path to premature drama-hero-dom, aren’t you? (I have no complaints about giving these talented teenagers leading roles, but could we maybe write them awesome age-appropriate leading roles instead of shoehorning them into typical twentysomething characters?)

According to PD Kim, he was a bit concerned with the age difference until he put Yeo Jin-gu side by side with Ha Yeon-soo (Monstar’s sheep girl, three years his senior), and “since one is a baby face and the other has an older face, I stopped worrying.” So that means he gets a loveline with Ha Yeon-soo, hm? Okay, I can get onboard this playing-older thing if we get a romance out of the deal. (Teenage lovelines in sitcoms tend to be one-sided or unrealized, so I’m all for giving him the requited variety.)

There are plenty of other characters in the mix, of course. In the middle generation and playing Lee Soon-jae’s eldest son is Noh Joo-hyun, married to Geum Bo-ra.

Grandson Go Kyung-pyo (Flower Boy Next Door) is also playing older than his age (23) as the president of a toy company who wears immaculate suits and shows no interest in the Potato Star’s landing, unlike the rest of the family. Go Kyung-pyo, playing serious? After seeing him play all versions of idiot (always lovable, of course), this’ll be an interesting change.

Other cast members include Choi Song-hyun (I Need Romance, pictured at bottom), singer-actor Kim Jung-min, High Kick regular Julien Kang, familiar funnyman Kim Kwang-kyu (most recently the bumbling judge in I Hear Your Voice), and Jang Kiha—yep, the indie-folk songwriter sensation, trying his hand at acting.

Potato Star 2013QR3 premieres on September 23 on tvN.

Via My Daily, Newsen

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1 danna

September 3, 2013 at 2:52 PM

Lee Soon Jae looks so adorbs with that moustache and that doggie

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Kiara

September 3, 2013 at 5:55 PM

Goodness at this rate Grandpa Lee will be in his 60th drama sometimes next year.

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2 Yuhotarubi

September 3, 2013 at 2:55 PM

Looks like there will be a lot of laughs in this one, I just love Yeo Jin-gu, even with the glasses.
I'll be waiting for potato sitcom, and thank you JB for the news

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Jo

September 4, 2013 at 6:13 AM

I love Yeo Jin Gu too!! :***( Why is he so young? He looks really mature in those glasses, I like them, but they do "age" him. I'm really excited for a lot of the male cast but I am dissapointed by much of the female cast. Sigh.

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3 Mystisith

September 3, 2013 at 3:03 PM

Dammit. I'm trying to control myself by saying that YJG is not legal (3 years to go!) and they make him play a 20 something guy in love. >.< If I go to jail, tvN better bring me oranges!

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ys

September 3, 2013 at 3:09 PM

But why oranges?...

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Mystisith

September 3, 2013 at 3:18 PM

Old French tradition: Officially because jailed food lacked vitamins. Officiously because you can hide a hacksaw inside.

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mary

September 3, 2013 at 10:10 PM

LMAO

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Manin

September 4, 2013 at 1:21 AM

Oranges can also be used for invisible ink to send messages. Oh and a prisoner of the Tower of London used them to bribe his guard into letting him escape (and visit other prisoners). So definitively useful ;)

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ultramafic

September 3, 2013 at 8:44 PM

I had the same thought...why they gotta do this to us nooonas. It's really going to be impossible to not lust after him. Let's all accept it and go down to hell together.

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4 fusionjack

September 3, 2013 at 3:17 PM

according to wiki, ha yeon soo was born in 1990. doesn't that make the age difference 7 years, though?

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Annie

September 3, 2013 at 4:05 PM

That's what I thought too. Ha Yeon soo is born in the 1990 and Yeo Jin Goo is born in 97. Physically, she doesn't look that much older than him. But it is rather strange when you realize he's only 16.

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ilikemangos

September 3, 2013 at 5:16 PM

I'm still amazed Ha Yeon Soo is in her 20's when she could pass for a teenager.

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Javabeans

September 3, 2013 at 4:38 PM

Aie, you're right, of course. My math, she has failed me again. ㅠ.ㅠ

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verzaholicbee

September 3, 2013 at 5:07 PM

7 years! Fff, and the younger you are, the bigger the difference. When I read he was 16 I thought it was ok, but then I realized he was 15 a few days ago!

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5 TP

September 3, 2013 at 3:26 PM

I LOL-ed when I found out Jang Kiha is in here. I like his music; don't know much about his acting, so I'm neutral. The sitcon sounds like a hoot, though.

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6 Arhazivory

September 3, 2013 at 3:29 PM

Sniffles. I really want to watch this. Hoping it'll be subbed. Hoping I'll have the time.

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7 pogo

September 3, 2013 at 3:38 PM

Yeo Jin-gu is giving me Daniel Choi vibes in those glasses. Which is good, because I adore Daniel Choi.

But damn you, TVN. We really do NOT need to be thinking of a 16-year-old as a (legal) 24-year-old when he's in character! (though I love Ha Yeon-soo, I'm kinda-hoping things stay a bit on the chaste side in this drama, he's wayyy too young for more adult hijinks)

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ilikemangos

September 3, 2013 at 5:18 PM

Omg, i had the same exact impression, the daniel choi thing.

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ilikemangos

September 3, 2013 at 5:28 PM

And for the 2nd photo, like seung gi.

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im_eve

September 3, 2013 at 8:12 PM

he looks like seung-gi yeah..will he the next heodang? i mean the guy every mother wants to be her son or son in law.

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8 pogo

September 3, 2013 at 3:41 PM

And this:

but could we maybe write them awesome age-appropriate leading roles instead of shoehorning them into typical twentysomething characters?

I second this motion. Why can't he be allowed to play a teenager through the full run of a 16-episode high school drama? As it stands, we've got 20somethings in high school roles ALL THE TIME (IHYV, Heirs) but now the teenagers have to take their place with playing adults? lol

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akikisetsu

September 3, 2013 at 8:48 PM

Agree!!!!!!! I know Yeo Jin Goo looks older than his actual age, but 24 is too much of a stretch. Since they really wouldn't really have a problem on Ha Yeon-soo's side, I thought <21 years old would look fine. But since YJG is good, I guess he can make it work. :)

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9 Requiem

September 3, 2013 at 3:53 PM

Ugggh, is anyone else squigged out a little by trying to get a 16 year old to play a 24 yo with a romance with a 23 year old woman?

This just seems wrong.

I understand there's this whole noona thing, but this seems a little extreme....

And I'm sorry, he does NOT look legal, at all....

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Hazel

September 3, 2013 at 7:27 PM

Not really. I mean, if there were going to be hot-and-heavy sex scenes, it probably would make me a little squeamish, but seeing as how this is a family sitcom, I can't imagine Yeo Jin-goo being put into exploitative, risque situations.

It would have been ideal for YGJ to play someone younger and have a love interest closer to his age, of course, but I don't think a 16-year-old ACTOR paired with a 23-year-old actor is all that transgressive (in real life I might disagree)...especially if the older actor looks younger than his/her age and vice versa. I think we're just more used to seeing the genders swapped in this scenario - both in dramas/movies and reality - with the guy being significantly older (remember My So-Called Life which paired a fifteen-year-old Claire Danes with a 22/23-year-old Jared Leto? But that was kinda weird because Jared Leto LOOKED like a guy in his twenties and there was plenty of intimate kissing depicted).

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Cynthia

September 3, 2013 at 7:32 PM

Lol
This is sort of the same reaction some viewers had with 'I Love Lee Tae Ri' - younger guy, older woman.

But when said 'younger guy' jumped out of the swimming pool in all of his abslicious, water gleaming wonderment, most naysayers got over it real quick.
:-)

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ultramafic

September 3, 2013 at 8:49 PM

If I didn't know his age I would probably think he was 19-ish by the pictures. He does have a deep voice though, so that may make a difference...?? He's always been a pretty mature actor, so I agree with whoever said that if any teen actor can pretend to be a 24-year-old it's probably him.

I wonder how he feels about this...you'd think it would be so odd for him. Maybe he is excited to pretend to be an adult, though, and also looking forward to spending some quality time w a cute noona ^^

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10 RB

September 3, 2013 at 4:19 PM

tvN sure does put out some quirky dramas. Before I was thinking "meh", but a potato planet? Now I'm intrigued.

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11 Jacqueline

September 3, 2013 at 4:21 PM

Am I the only one here who was peeking at Julien Kang's abs? lol

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verzaholicbee

September 3, 2013 at 5:16 PM

Ah, Julien Kang, I wish he were in a good mo-tu or we-thu drama. Speaking only Korean, not as a character who comes from Miguk.

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12 katiamon

September 3, 2013 at 4:25 PM

new mantra: "he's not legal yet, he's not legal yet, he's not legal yet" ... dammit! :(

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Kiara

September 3, 2013 at 5:32 PM

Its ok, in the end you will have a lot of company in jail or hell.

If there is any young teen/man actor in Korea that has the talent to pull this off it would Yeo Jin-gu.

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cheekbones

September 3, 2013 at 9:44 PM

It's just wrong to swoon over him, huh ? Dammit.

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13 Neyssa Nathania

September 3, 2013 at 5:12 PM

ha yeon soo is actually 7 years older than YJG... so surprising. haha ha yeon soo looks so petite and cute i thought she's around IU's age or something

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14 ilikemangos

September 3, 2013 at 5:19 PM

My first k-sitcom. Yay! Excited.

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15 Lilly

September 3, 2013 at 5:35 PM

Now that viki has been sold of I wonder if I will get to see this or a lot of new shows.

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ck1Oz

September 3, 2013 at 8:26 PM

I tried creating this so we could sub it.No go... $$$ for licensing > 100 episodes dramas.

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canxi

September 3, 2013 at 10:36 PM

Sold? I had no idea. To whom?

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kdramas

September 3, 2013 at 11:28 PM

I HOPE not to the evil DF guys! :S

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owlcat

September 4, 2013 at 7:15 AM

They sold it to this Japanese company called Rakuten you can read more about it on their blog

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nomad

September 4, 2013 at 7:21 PM

Just read the news...how come it's making me depressed instead.. :(

16 goldeng

September 3, 2013 at 5:59 PM

aww all this pretty boys~~ and there's Hyuntae's mom too! it always bugs me how dramaland makes grown ass men and women play high schoolers but now, they have left me speechless making a high schooler play a grown ass man... still wrong!

I was going to say Ha Yeon-soo was some sort of a pedonoona... and then I realized she's my age... LMAO!! #fail

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17 Abbie

September 3, 2013 at 7:10 PM

Yeo Jin-gu is playing a 24-year-old? And he's 16? That's a little weird. I would have been even more worried if they paired him with someone actually in their twenties. But since Ha Yeon-soo is only 19, and probably still in high school (I have no idea if she is or not), then I have no problem. Still. Why is a kid playing an adult?

Anything with Lee Soon-jae I'll watch. Ever since I started watching Korean dramas, he's been one of my favorite actors. He's so brilliant, and I love him to pieces. Grandpas Over Flowers intensified that love, so I'll be sad if he can't do anymore trips with the other halbaes.

I'm looking forward to this so much!

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seven

September 9, 2013 at 2:35 PM

She's actually 22 (23 in a month), born 1990. Javabeans somehow screwed up the math. So I supposed you should be worried. He is being paired with someone actually in her twenties!

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18 the50-person

September 3, 2013 at 7:36 PM

WUT. Yeo Jin goo is a few days younger than me! :O and acting as a twenty something?!?!?! Yes you ARE really pushing him down YSH's path

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pogo

September 4, 2013 at 9:07 AM

Look on the bright side, bb - you can love him as much as you want without having to feel like a pervert! (and yes, they are totally pushing him down the Yoo Seung-ho path if he keeps up with this)

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19 whilethemusiclasts

September 3, 2013 at 7:52 PM

This excites me and I'm crossing my fingers that it gets subbed... But at the same time, a daily sitcom is a huge commitment and a tad ambitious for me to actually attempt to stick to.

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20 kumi

September 3, 2013 at 8:31 PM

According to Provisional Designation in Astronomy, “2013QR3″ can be deciphered as "the 17th minor planet discovered in the second part of August, 2013".

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kumi

September 3, 2013 at 8:57 PM

Correction: the 92nd minor planet.

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daktari34

September 3, 2013 at 11:11 PM

Sounds like something Microsoft would name one of their products :/

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21 MariD

September 3, 2013 at 9:12 PM

I was having a good time laughing at all ladies with the Noona crush on Yeo Jin-gu. Then I remember that my current obsession even the oldest member is still 5 years younger them me.
Sigh* noonas fighting! As long as its on TV, it's ok.. Or in real life if they are 21 & over!!!

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22 canxi

September 3, 2013 at 10:44 PM

24?! I'm 22 and I still can't pass for over 15. D': I dunno whether to feel old or young, lol. Also, yeah I agree with others I really do not need to be thinking of him as a guy that's two years older than me. I can usually avoid the noona crushing but that's just mean. Tryna catch us all slipping, tVN! Just gonna have to focus all my attention on Go Kyung Pyo! YAY! I love him, it won't be hard even with his serious character.

Hmm, I like Ha Yeon Soo, I just hope she doesn't get out acted. I felt like she kind of did in Monstar though she was and still is, I think, the talk of the town. Maybe it was the character? She's cute and I like her! I miss her big hair, though.

This sounds fun. Willing to give this a shot. I really liked High Kick 3 and it'd be cool to laugh with another sit-com, haha.

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23 Ninarx

September 4, 2013 at 4:14 PM

Omg, am i actually turning into a noona-killer??? I've always swore I wouldn't but what is this! WHY does he look so hot in a black turtleneck?

Ahhhh this cannot be happening, no!
#notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal #notlegal

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24 pohonphee

September 4, 2013 at 8:11 PM

Woot!! Jang Kiha! He's a adorkably cutie, I don't care if he can't ack. Hah :p

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25 kujaichi

September 5, 2013 at 2:21 AM

Yeah... I'm totally blaming TV for my absolute inability to guess (real life) ages...
You just HAVE to get confused when everyone's always playing the totally wrong age...

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26 Stephanie

September 6, 2013 at 12:12 PM

See even KOREA DENIES his age. If he is being paired with a 90er, me being a 92er shouldn't be a problem right? I can fangirl, yes? But OMG they won't make a 23 year old call him OPPA will they? Honestly, if he were'nt so HOT, it'll be hard to accept. I mean a 30 year old dating a 23 year old is hard enough. A 23 year old dating a highschool freshmen???

Still, Ha Yeon Soo is one lucky girl.

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27 riz

October 18, 2013 at 7:49 AM

I like how you described Go Kyung-Pyo's previous role: 'All versions of idiot;' definitely describes them well. I wonder if this guy would land a lead role - I like him!

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28 kar

January 20, 2014 at 10:43 AM

I do not mind so much the age difference, while they make a good couple. Sung Joon in "Lie to Me" also was playing a role of the adult, and in really he had 6 years younger with Yoon Eun Hye. We shall see whether adorable child Yeo Jin-gu, manages to make his adult role well. I saw the first episode, and I found it all very nasty and vomitive. I hope that in the future this sitcom as good as the wonderful High Kick 3.