"Dr. Romantic 2" and "Stove League" Brought SBS Laughter, But "The King: Eternal Monarch" Brought Tears

The SBS Drama Department announced a fresh start in the new year of 2020. The Monday-Tuesday drama "Dr. Romantic 2" and the Friday-Saturday drama "Stove League" had pleasant first steps as they were on a double track. However, the Friday-Saturday drama "The King: Eternal Monarch", which was the most anticipated one for the first half of the year, ended with a disappointing performance, leaving a bittersweet feeling.

Advertisement

◆ "Dr. Romantic 2" highest viewership at 27.1%... "The Royal Gambler"

SBS's first Monday-Tuesday drama "Dr. Romantic" once again hit the jackpot with a highest viewer rating of 27.1% (Nielsen Korea) following season 1, which ended in 2017. The work is a story of 'real doctors' set in a humble stone wall hospital in the provinces and features episodes of young people working fiercely while meeting the eccentric genius doctor Teacher Kim (Han Suk-kyu) to visit the 'real romance' of life. In Season 2, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung played characters who gradually grew up as doctors and humans in Dr. Kim's teachings, making viewers cry and laugh.

The biggest reason why "Dr. Romantic" has been loved is because of the message contained in the work. It gained sympathy from viewers by projecting the sad, realistic problem of only focusing on money-making treatments, and Dr. Kim's responsibility and conviction, which held the lives of patients as most important as a doctor, gave off a deep message. In addition, Han Suk-kyu's heavy acting skills and his slick satisfactory remarks, which are the center of the story, gave catharsis. Attention is focusing on whether "Dr. Romantic" will visit the small screen again with a more powerful story.

◆ "Stove League"... a fancy revolt to sports dramas

"Stove League" is a work that has been greatly loved, breaking the prejudice that 'sports dramas are difficult to make into a hit'. It was praised for its realistic portrayal of the world of professional baseball, breaking away from other baseball dramas that focused on players and coaches. The show, which aired from December to February during the off-season of professional baseball, has achieved the highest ratings of 19.1%, satisfying both baseball fans and those who are not.

What made "Stove League" different from other dramas was that there were no common 'romantic materials' as well as provocative materials such as 'affairs' and 'traitors'. It set a good precedent for success with only compelling stories, not a device for audience ratings. The power of such work has even led to the 'overindulgence phenomenon' in which Dreams, the baseball team in the drama, is as popular as a real baseball team. After the "Stove League" broadcast, the name 'Dreams' or Dreams' leader 'Baek Seung-soo', played by Namkoong Min in the play, often appeared in baseball-related articles, proving the craze.

◆ Over-excessive PPL... Japanese mannerisms... "The King: Eternal Monarch" fails to live up to the names Kim Eun-sook, Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun

"The King: Eternal Monarch" is the most disappointing first-half SBS drama. The meeting between 'hit-maker' writer Kim Eun-sook, 'rom-com king' Lee Min-ho and 'rom-com queen' Kim Go-eun drew expectations even before the broadcast, but after taking off the veil, there were a lot of responses saying the drama was 'below expectations'. This disappointment showed in the ratings. "The King: Eternal Monarch", which began with 11.4% ratings in the first episode, ended in loneliness, failing to seize a chance to rebound and plunging to 8.1% in the last episode.

There were various reasons why "The King: Eternal Monarch" was not loved by viewers. The biggest reason for not catching viewers early in the broadcast was that it advocated 'parallel world fantasy romance', but failed to clearly explain the concept of 'the parallel world'. Various product placement (PPL) instances such as chicken, coffee and LED masks appeared in each episode to cover the 32 billion won in production costs, hindering immersion. It was also shunned by viewers due to the controversy over Japanese colors. "The King: Eternal Monarch" ended quietly with the stigma of 'Kim Eun-sook's greatest failure', since she is a writer who has led a series of ratings hits such as "Mr. Sunshine", "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God", "Descendants of the Sun" and "Secret Garden".