I watched two episodes and found them funnier than I had expected (my expectations were quite low though). I wasn't so pleased with the acting of the main male charakter. And I had the feeling that the series is more directed towards an american audience? I liked the actress of the girl.

Back to k-drama: still suffering from Six Flying Dragons withdrawal. Don't know if I will ever recuperate...

And now I'm going to miss Hong-nan, too. She was such a memorable character!

Is there anything airing with a good female character at the moment?

What?!?!?! This white girl never thought she'd see the day when there was a white woman in a K-drama!!!

I have actually plotted out elaborate reasons why a white woman (or any non-Korean woman, actually) would be in a dram. It's one of the things I do before I fall asleep! My current favorite plotline is:

Our white/black/Hispanic/non-Korean-Asian heroine is born on a military base in South Korea. She and a local boy become childhood friends; she learns to speak Korean from him, and teaches him English. Her family is moved back to the USA, but years later, she returns to (what feels like) the country of her birth (maybe she's teaching English?) and they run into each other again. Sparks fly, but can they overcome racism and each family's resistance to find love? /endscene

There are so many typos. Sorry.

May I suggest Miss Korea...if you haven't already seen it, that is! It's a usual 16-epi drama, but so good. (This comes from someone who loves MNIKSS too.)

Yes, I like Drama Specials for being short and hopefully sweet, and packing in everything without wasting too much time.

I enjoyed One Sunny Day with So Ji Sub and Kim Ji Won in it. Simple and focused, and it works.

As anon said kbs world on youtube has a lot of the drama specials, so it's worth having a look at those. quite a few of them are pretty good/funny like "the reason I'm getting married" or "bride in sneakers" (both 1 episode specials)

one recommendation I have is Sirius. Also found on kbs. Think its 4 episodes. It's more a crime show though.

@wapz
I'm thinking Marriage Contract is going to end sad too, so I'm going to keep the final scene of ep. 14 in my mind as the alternate happy ending--where they all hug and there are flowers and smiles. Freeze. Frame.

Hi, wapz...

Just finished watching MNIKSS myself on 4/23 after watching CITY HALL a couple of weeks ago, and reading samsooki's dandy recaps for both dramas, along with most of the comments.

[Adulatory Aside: Yay, samsooki, and your City Hall recap team! Thank you! And thank you JavaBeans & friends for making Kdramas and movies intelligible to English speakers. I deeply appreciate your insights into Korean culture and history. Thanks to you guys, I'm completely hooked, and loving it!]

I really enjoyed Kim Sun-A's performances in both shows. It was refreshing to see mature women characters with functioning gray matter who march to their own drummers, have a sense of self and a lot of heart, and pursue their own paths in the world. Oh, and who have some meat on their bones.

The OST and background music for SAM SOON was terrific, and really added to the emotional impact. "Beautiful Person," based on the Hermann Hesse poem, blew my doors off. I'd somehow managed to miss hearing about the Elton John/Tim Rice Broadway musical AIDA; now "My Strongest Suit" (ep. 10) refuses to leave my noggin. Lots of good music in CITY HALL, too. Useobwa (Smile) by Chae Dong Ha is another Kdrama Ohrwurm.

A suggestion for you:

About a month ago I tracked down MY SON, a 2007 film with Ryu Deok-Hwan in the title role; his performance as King Gong-Min was for me one of the best parts of FAITH. Cha Seung-Won co-stars as the father, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence, who gets a one-day leave to visit his family after 15 years of good behavior. Their performances got me where I live. The story is not as bleak as one might expect. There are a couple of fantasy interludes that reminded me of WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL (in which RDH played a soldier).

I just about got whiplash a few weeks later when I started watching CITY HALL and realized that CSW is the leading man. ;-)

Enjoy!

Also: Is Descendent from the Sun worth the watch? (ignoring the issue about realism which is something I never expected from this writers drama in the first place)

Manin -

*laughing* ..... oh those toddlers!

Regarding Descended of the Sun, what everyone mentioned here is pretty much true. I'll just add that while it wasn't a spectacular drama, it did have moments that kind of worked. ....... Or maybe Song Joong-ki made it work, I don't know. Heh.

Hope you're doing well and feeling better!

I'm kinda that you're getting over the cold. That fatigue and flu just seemed to be holding on. The toddler kdrama sounds adorable. Reminds me of the part of Heirs which I did watch with one guy holding the girl's am and the other guy holding the other arm.

Liar Game is great for working out one's own mind in figuring out the games and rules! And Lee Sang Yoon being somewhat badass definitely does not do the show any harm. I had a real good time with Liar Game.

You have to watch Liar Game. I got hooked and even watched it till 4AM which I rarely do. It's not scary, it keeps your mind awake and active. The antagonist is just creepyyyyy.

Liar Game is a blast. I loved it and I really, really don't like horror. As mary said, the math is the most frightening thing in it.

YES WATCH LIAR GAME YOU WON'T REGRET IT

It's mostly mind games and general plot stuff with no romance, nothing too scary \pwp/

Well, I was going to post my own comment... but I think I'll go vote first Thanks! :) :)

You need to see some beauty in art before the presumably heartbreak this coming week end, GB. Did you prepare something strong within reach and stock up tissues?

I'm anxious yet dreading Saturday eve to come.... U_U"

witheachnewmorning -

It is unfortunate when this situation happens. I'm sure everyone involved in making dramas works very hard and intentionally do not set out to make a low-rated show. But low ratings/viewership/bad critiques do happen. ..... On a bit of a different note, yet somewhat related, it's always interesting to see what the viewers gravitate towards at any given time. That always opens up a lot of questions
and fascinating topics.

I think of 2 measurement for drama, rating hit and critical acclaim, time will tell how people perception about a drama in term of critical acclaim.
Popular thing is trend that show what the viewer wants and like at the moment.
CBA really picked a bad slot, I wished it could be higher but on the other hand I am curious on why they has decreasing viewership.
Maybe the viewer was tired of the redundant gag they convey like many of us tired of jerk type of character, maybe the story doesn't picked up much, maybe the makjang look-alike story is too familiar for them, and perhaps other reason aside the competition, since many drama can picked up the interest later.
Secret on 2013 start with N/R and rise above heirs in rating and acclaim,
Kill Me Heal 2015 has okay star and negative pre-produce reps but rise to the buzz hype later,
Protect the boss suddenly just rise to the tops, even GMB rise steadily despite DoTS hype.

I think viewer in diff place has diff situation when at that time/moment they view things differently.
I watched gag concert, SNL Korea and the laugh is pretty much the same one given in CBA.
I think CBA is good drama but maybe it doesn't work for the audience over there because they think it's not that unusual like many cop procedural show deemed normal in western viewers.

LMAO @ that Mrs Cop 2 description. Did you watch it raw or were you doing chores while watching it? How can one watch an entire hour's worth of drama and only catch that?

Oh, hahahaha, that's very telling, Korfan. Your eyes are only on KB. No one and nothing else matter. *lol*

He's pretty swoony in there, isn't he? ^^

I can't bring myself to watch Mrs Cop. I keep clicking on it and then I just can't go on. So I just click off and close the browser. This is one of the few times where I find myself unable to connect with a kdrama character. Maybe it's because the drama wants us to believe she's a wonderful passionate crusader and they have all that music to force us to see how dang dramatic she is...but --since I don't connect to her-- all that musical cueing just pushes me away from her.

Lee Seo-jin is adorable. In fact, all the forty-something ahjusshi actors are doing super great this season. Between Seojinnie, Yoon Sang Hyun, the actor in Neighborhood lawyer, and the lead in Memory, they're all pretty much rocking their roles.

Is it possible to watch Mrs. Cop 2 without having seen the first? I know they've had a change of cast, but sometimes that doesn't mean you can watch them out of order.
Your description's really making me want to watch it. (Is it because you mentioned Kim Bum, you ask? Huh? Did you mention Kim Bum? Didn't even notice that. I just thought your plot description sounded thrilling... *shifty eyes*)

Kay ~

I've been telling myself to watch TJOF, haven't yet.

Zhao Li Ying = Squee

Aw man. I'm sorry to hear about your mouth pain.

Soups! Soups are the key. Do you like garlic? If yes, this is a tasty and fairly simple recipe: http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2012/12/provencal-garlic-cure-all-soup.html.

Doesn't your dentist give you painkillers?

I had molar issues too (darn those wisdom teeth!) last week and I was groaning and fake-not-really-fake crying until I saw the dentist and was prescribed some painkillers. I smiled so widely after that day and I'm all fine now.

No antibiotics too?

I'm so sorry about your molar!! I hope you really like mashed potatoes, smoothies and creamy soups to make it less of a stress.

I always love hearing about C-dramas, I'll look into this one!

How is Memory doing? I really liked it but I just couldn't deal with the angst? I can watch Marriage Contract because there is hope (kinda sorta) of a happy ending. But Memory is just so relentlessly sad. Plus there are just so many evil chaebol heirs/corporate viciousness I can take without feeling overwhelmed by depression and the repetition of the trope.

Thank you, I forgot to mention Prince in my post. My teacher stopped class for ten minutes yesterday to honor him with some cultural education (Party like it's 1999).

Good luck!~

Good luck! I believe in you, and I'm sure you will find ways to succeed whatever happens. :)

Entertainer is boring so far, but I thought maybe it is setting the stage for something I little more fun. I too am watching for Ji Sung. He's brilliant and all kinds of pretty.
After watching the first and second episode I think Hyeri was a very poor casting choice. Hopefully she jells better with her role as the episodes progress.

Entertainer: I'm going to give it a couple more episodes to see if I can continue warming up to it. Episode 2 is starting to bring pieces and people together better, however I feel there's a certain level of over-acting and over-reacting in the show that takes me out of the story. Can't seem to stay engaged in it in the same way with many other first 2 episodes. I usually find that more care is put into the early episodes to grab and hold the audience (and then it can maybe go downhill but with a captive audience still in tow to know how things pan out). This is one of the rare times that the first episodes do not hold my attention entire.

Min Hyuk is more expressive and better in the Ep 2 and Ji Sung is getting more subtle, but Hye Ri looks like she's trying too hard or something. Chae Jung Ahn, however, is great. Liked her in Yong Pal and really like her here.

What I would have liked, for a change, is no loveline at all... just a show focusing on 2nd chances for people misjudged and beating the odds. If there has to be a loveline, I'd prefer it with the older actors together, they seem so much more suitable than the awkward Ji Sung-Hye Ri pairing. Let's see how it goes.

I thought about which show I enjoyed the most this week - and it was Monster. I feel like this show is expanded version of Big Man. All fabulous evil character actors are here. And there is Jo Bo-ah! as rich brat who will make the show more interesting.

I love Signal's OST! And I'm hoping for season 2 as well. What do you think would happen with it? More in the past, set in the future... I don't know. So many possibilities!