Cha Tae-hyun to play veteran variety PD to Kim Soo-hyun’s rookie

by girlfriday

OH. I like this. I like it a lot. KBS’s new drama Producer isn’t settling for one male lead, because why have one when you can have two? Right on the heels of announcing Kim Soo-hyun’s potential reunion with the writer of You From Another Star in her newest drama, Cha Tae-hyun (Jeon Woo-chi) has signed on to play the veteran variety producer to Kim Soo-hyun’s rookie. The Yoda to his Luke Skywalker. The Moon-ho to his Healer. This is one trend in dramaland that should never die down.

The drama is set in the backstage world of variety shows, and will be helmed by star variety PD Seo Soo-min, of Gag Concert and Yoo Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook. She’s known for having a Midas touch, and is now the CP (chief producer, aka head honcho) of KBS’s Happy Sunday corner, which includes Superman Returns and Season 3 of 1 Night 2 Days. That explains how she got Cha Tae-hyun onboard since he’s on the 1 Night 2 Days cast, while we already know that writer Park Ji-eun (You From Another Star) was responsible for calling Kim Soo-hyun back to dramaland.

Cha Tae-hyun has been cast to play a 10-year veteran PD of variety shows. He’s described as walking in and out of the Korea Communication Standards Commission (the censorship office) like it’s his own house, though for all his experience on a long list of variety shows, he’s still a PD without a marquee program to his name. Cha Tae-hyun is pretty much perfect for this role — he spends his days on variety sets working with these PDs, and I can’t wait to see him making inside jokes, like meta on meta with a side of meta.

If he signs on, Kim Soo-hyun will play a rookie PD in his department. I already love his character description: He was planning to become a prosecutor, but chose to become a variety PD solely for love. Their leading ladies will be a variety PD and a singer, but we’ll have to wait till the roles are cast to know which way the pairings go.

The show still doesn’t have a set air date, though producers are aiming for a Friday-Saturday slot to compete with the prime weekend real estate that tvN and JTBC have cornered. The plan is to start shooting in March and some stories say that it could premiere as soon as April, but others have it premiering later in the year. It’ll require moving their standard weekend shows around to make a Friday-Saturday slot possible, so that’ll be a factor as well. I’m amused that they’re talking about cutting back on dramas one day, then carving out even more slots the next.

Whenever it airs, I’ll certainly be looking forward to this drama. I know showbiz — and particularly dramaland — is a well-worn landscape around here, but as a fan of variety, I’m going to find a little extra joy in the melding of two worlds that I love.

Via IS Plus

RELATED POSTS

• Kim Soo-hyun considers reteaming with You From Another Star writer
• News bites: October 18, 2014
• Slow Video’s trailer attracts rapid attention
• My Sassy Girl aiming for double revival on big and small screens
• Kim Jong-min and Cha Tae-hyun stick with 1 Night 2 Days
• Cha Tae-hyun lines up new human comedy movie
• Jeon Woo-chi: Episode 1
• Joseon caper film Gone With the Wind is a hit
• 1 Night 2 Days: Episode 376 (Season 2 Premiere)
• Cha Tae-hyun rides to win in Champ