Mischievous Kiss - or why I love Korean drama structure
I haven't been posting much about Mischievous Kiss despite enjoying it - for one it is not a particularly metable show (to me), and for another, I am 2 episodes behind due to my mad Giant obsession.
Despite this, I have been really liking it - it's an understated, mellow delight - a sort of 'everyday' type story. It does not have a complex driving plot or even a high/wacky concept (nun crossdresses as a boy and joins a band! etc) - it's just a fun story about a somewhat arrogant boy and a plucky determined girl who fall for each other.
But clearly I and others who like it are in a minority, at least when it comes to viewers who actually count - those who make ratings in Korea.
There, MK's ratings are abysmal. In all my years of drama-watching, I have never seen ratings this bad on one of the three main networks. The latest ep averaged 2.8%. (For comparison, one of its rivals, Baker King, just ended its run on a triumphal 50.8%). There are some dramas that don't do that well and end up in mid-single digits (another favorite of mine, Robbers, ended up around 5%), but ratings like MK's? I've never seen the like.
And here is where my liking for a Korean TV structure comes in. A show with ratings this horrible in the US would not last more than another episode or two. But here - all that happened is that MK got cut down to 16 episodes (usually the minimum length for a drama). Yes, MK, which is doing so abysmally will still get to finish its storyline, if probably now a little shorter than it would have been otherwise. MBC is knon for being the worst among the networks for cutting dramas that do not perform up to par, but even they don't ever suddenly yank them off the air - the worst that happens is that they declare the cuts so suddenly and close to the end that the makers are left scrambling to finish it properly due to last minute nature of the changes (see Heading to the Ground). But still, however much shorter and last notice, they get to finish. (And unlike with some other dramas they cut, MK makers got the news enough in advance that it should not affect the quality).
So, I don't feel too bad for MK.
Despite this, I have been really liking it - it's an understated, mellow delight - a sort of 'everyday' type story. It does not have a complex driving plot or even a high/wacky concept (nun crossdresses as a boy and joins a band! etc) - it's just a fun story about a somewhat arrogant boy and a plucky determined girl who fall for each other.
But clearly I and others who like it are in a minority, at least when it comes to viewers who actually count - those who make ratings in Korea.
There, MK's ratings are abysmal. In all my years of drama-watching, I have never seen ratings this bad on one of the three main networks. The latest ep averaged 2.8%. (For comparison, one of its rivals, Baker King, just ended its run on a triumphal 50.8%). There are some dramas that don't do that well and end up in mid-single digits (another favorite of mine, Robbers, ended up around 5%), but ratings like MK's? I've never seen the like.
And here is where my liking for a Korean TV structure comes in. A show with ratings this horrible in the US would not last more than another episode or two. But here - all that happened is that MK got cut down to 16 episodes (usually the minimum length for a drama). Yes, MK, which is doing so abysmally will still get to finish its storyline, if probably now a little shorter than it would have been otherwise. MBC is knon for being the worst among the networks for cutting dramas that do not perform up to par, but even they don't ever suddenly yank them off the air - the worst that happens is that they declare the cuts so suddenly and close to the end that the makers are left scrambling to finish it properly due to last minute nature of the changes (see Heading to the Ground). But still, however much shorter and last notice, they get to finish. (And unlike with some other dramas they cut, MK makers got the news enough in advance that it should not affect the quality).
So, I don't feel too bad for MK.