The Ratings Game - my 0.02

[dangermousie]

I was really sick last evening, but Mr Mousie, who is better than any kdrama hero to ever exist, coaxed me to eat dinner and then went out and bought me NyQuil so I could get some sleep. I am feeling much better, which is just as well as today is SKKS/Giant doubleheader :P

Comments

[clairiere]

Yeesh, pressed the wrong button

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I haven't seen much of the Hong Sisters' stuff outside a few clips of Fantasy Couple (which many Koreans seem to cite as their favorite HS drama), but the criticisms I often heard on DCgall vs YAB or Gumiho were that they're too manhwa-ish and the HS are just recycling their stuff. Nothing wrong with that, but not exactly an outreach strategy.

Noh's dramas also provide some interesting examples re: this dilemma with ratings. The only one I watched is More Beautiful Than A Flower (2004), and from what I gather, her more family-oriented work (like MBTAF, which is built around a mother, two daughters and youngest son) has indeed done better in the ratings (MBTAF's finale came close to 30%). It too started out in single digits (ran opposite the juggernaut Stairway to Heaven), but began to draw viewers who wanted more grounded storylines, though it'd never have risen much if Stairway had stayed on air (so yes, luck plays a part). But here's the more interesting dilemma-- if MBTAF had been a weekend drama, Noh would have been happy just writing family stuff. But because it was on weekdays (Wed-Thurs), she said she felt like it needed something extra, which was why she threw in the 2nd daughter's doomed, star-crossed love story with the man who was responsible for her brother's death. And both Noh and the director (who will now be leading Daemul's team, but that's a whole different story) said their toughest challenge was to balance the two worlds (the family stuff and what they felt was the contrived melodrama), though I'd never have guessed any tensions from what I saw.

Noh's more recent work (there's a persistent rumor she has something lined up but the network/KBS is reluctant to give her timeslot)-- the criticisms I hear is that it's fine if she wants to be in her own world, but if she wants better ratings, she needs to learn how to engage and communicate with a broader audience than those who're more familiar or receptive to her work. It's her choice, and some have suggested she might feel less pressure writing books than writing TV scripts (they sell quite well apparently).

[dangermousie]

I didn't care for Fantasy Couple at all - I was very bored tbh. It was a solidly made drama but not for me. But for me, HS stuff is divided into 'before HGD' and 'after HGD' period. Before HGD I either liked their drama or could at least appreciate they are good (FC). And I loved HGD something fierce and thought it was so different and deeper than their usual stuff (even Mr Mousie watched it with me). But it's as if after HGD they got bored/tired/lazy/got all the smart stuff out of their system. Both YAB and MGIAG had barely any plot and felt emotionally shallow so there was no compensation for lack of plot - they are like moderately clever, heartless little pieces.

The only one of Noh's dramas I've seen is Worlds Within and it wasn't like anything I've ever seen. It really did remind me of novels I used to read - Herve Bazin or similar. Or maybe shades of Jorge Amado's interconnected, deeply humanistic stories or EM Remarque's love story - with each scene conveying the ephemeral feeling (minus Remarque's sense of loss and doom). It is the only time I have ever come across a drama which felt like a novel in visual form. I can see why it was a flop as it was so different but I will be eternally grateful for having seen it. I also have her Goodbye Solo, which I am sort of hoarding and I actually found Flower with subtitles and I intend to get my hands on it.