The Drama Behind Dramas: Part 2

Due to the popular response regarding my first article, I decided to make a second part. After all, there are so many drama scandals to talk about!


"Almost No Daemul"


Daemul is one of those projects that seemed impossible to come true. It suffered so many delays, changes and problems that it’s a miracle it somehow made it to the end (or aired at all!). News about this potential drama started in late 2007, then the project was delayed, then they secured the lead actors in early 2010. Later that year it FINALLY started airing, but right in its second week they were already switching the writer, then one week later one of the directors quit and was replaced and then another week later the main director quit too.

Thanks to all these crazy changes, by the end of its fourth week the drama was already adopting a live-shoot system. And this was a 24 episode drama, which means the actors had to work under those conditions for 12 whole weeks!

In the end the most astonishing thing is that the drama managed not only to air all its episodes, but it was also a ratings hit! It scored ratings of 25% and remained the highest rated drama throughout its run.

Anthony would be proud!




“What’s Not Up?”


Back in 2010 we began hearing news about a musical drama called What’s Up. They started casting and producing everything even before getting an air date. After all, doing all that choreography and learning all those songs takes time, doesn’t it?

At first it was supposed to air in March 2011 on a public channel. Then in May one of the main actors, Big Bang’s Daesung, got into a huge scandal involving a car accident. But thankfully late that year they got a chance to air on a small cable channel. What’s Up finally premiered in December 2011.

Unfortunately by that time all the actors were busy doing other things. The lead actor Im Joo Hwan was doing army duty, Daesung was laying low after his scandal and other cast members were doing other dramas.

In the end the drama was seen by very few people in South Korea and it didn’t get that much publicity. Which is a pity, because it really is an amazing drama.



A Whole New "Faith"


Faith was a popular drama last year, but what you probably don’t know is that it was supposed to be SO MUCH different! It all started in 2010 when Lee Jun Ki was supposed to be the lead actor, but then he was shipped off to the army and Kang Ji Hwan replaced him.

The original project had a gigantic budget, it was supposed to include lots of CGI and be shot in 3D. As soon as Kang Ji Hwan joined the team they immediately started shooting promotional material, including an AMAZING trailer which you can see below:


Unfortunately Kang Ji Hwan was wrapped up in law suits regarding his management company, so unfortunately he had to drop Faith and any other drama until his problems were solved.

Finally in early 2012 they found a new hero in Lee Min Ho and a few months later the drama aired. By then the production team had lost most of its budget (apparently they spent one third of it just shooting the promo with Kang Ji Hwan) so they had to rewrite the whole drama to suit this small budget.

Poor Lee Philip was supposed to play a big part in the original Faith, but in this new version his role was cut down to something insignificant. By the middle of the drama he rarely even showed up. Then suddenly he had to quit the drama because of an eye injury. Strange!

While Faith aired, the writer of Time Slip Dr Jin (that terrible mess of a drama) actually sued the writer of Faith for copying their plot. It’s laughable, really. Plus, is you compare those two writers’ reputations, it’s like a goldfish is trying to sue a whale.

The final scandal regarding Faith ends up being the most tragic one: in 2013 its producer Kim Jong Hak commited suicide. Apparently due to the drama’s budget problems, there were still several debts to be paid and the producer was being subjected to an investigation. He was a very important figure in the world of dramas.


In the end we can understand that all these drama scandals do have real consequences. Many people’s jobs are on the line. Sometimes it seems that King of Dramas might not be so far from the reality.