Kdrama Spinoffs!

Sometimes while I watch Kdramas, I catch myself imagining spinoff television shows based on the characters. Does anyone else do this? Just me? Well, some of my imaginary spinoffs are more desirable than others, but here are a few (mostly joking) spinoffs that have crossed my mind of late:

1. Koreans in Sombreros: The Yeo Jin Story

Lost love! Lost limbs! Frantic wedding day car chases!

C'mon. A Cunning Single Lady/Sly and Single Again prequel featuring Yeo Jin's ill-fated first love would be like a telenovela having babies with a soapy, melo Kdrama. In other words, incredibly trashy, but totally addicting. Can we add in a birth secret for good measure? Sure! Why not dream big?

2. Mastah Chep

I envision this as a cooking reality show where Lee Chun Hee and Gong Hyo Jin each head up teams of competing chefs. The two actors would, of course, take on their previous roles from Dating Agency: Cyrano and Pasta, respectively.

3. Noodles for Young Do

My brother-in-law happened to see bits and pieces of Heirs, and he later asked me, "Why is that Young Do kid so obsessed with noodles? Is that code for going steady?"

Well, in this spinoff, Young Do would throw off the shackles of being a hotel heir and open his own noodle restaurant by the sea. In the process, he would discover inner peace, and, of course, love. A Korean noodle company could fund the project in exchange for delicious product placement. Kim Woo Bin ain't cheap, you know.

4. Barassi's Playhouse!

Why does this dog not have his own children's show? WHY? It's been a while since I learned how to count to ten, but I bet his furry face would have been great motivation.

Oh, and P.S., in this spinoff, Barassi can fly.

5. The Adventures of Geol Oh and Yeorim

This actually isn't a joke. This is a serious ongoing fantasy. Hurry up and get into the army, Yoo Ah In! The sooner you go, the sooner you and Song Joong Ki can be reunited in magnificent glory. 

Who do I have to pay to make this happen? Oh, wait, I'm too poor for that. Which chaebols are available for Coco to marry so that she can bankroll this project? Because I'm usually opposed to selling out my friends, but I might make an exception to see this wonder on the screen.

Exploring Second Lead Syndrome

After watching both Emergency Couple and Sly and Single Again this week, I've been thinking about Second Lead Syndrome again. Both shows feature a woman caught between two men, and in both cases, the female lead is clearly destined to go back to her ex-husband from episode 1. Neither ex-husband is exactly a shining paragon of awesome boyfriend-osity, but hey,  he's rich and he's on the promotional poster, so it has to be true love, right?

It's no secret that Emergency Couple is giving me what might be my worst case of Second Lead Syndrome yet (We're talking Young Do levels here, folks. Things are bad.). In the case of Sly and Single, I feel sad for the second lead, but he doesn't have me clutching my heart and sighing at the TV or anything, either. The comparison of two very similar shows has got me wondering what it is that sparks Second Lead Syndrome (SLS) and why it is that I catch it for some dramas and I just don't care for others. There seem to be a few different factors at play in my self-diagnosis of this ailment:

Go ahead. Just stab my heart with little daggers, why don't you?

What could have been...

Second leads are notoriously bad at spitting out their feelings. While the first leads are dragging women around by the arm and forcing kisses onto them, second leads are always stuck forming painstakingly cautious love declarations, only to be interrupted at the last minute by a phone or something equally infuriating. (Seriously. Stop answering the freaking phone.) 

If viewers are already favoring the second lead, an interrupted love declaration is basically the worst thing a writer can do. It ensures that we will spend the rest of the show wondering what could have been if only the man spoke at a pace slightly faster than one word every thirty seconds. How can we feel satisfied that the female lead made the right choice if she didn't even know she had another option until it was too late?

Oh, Geol Oh, if only you had overcome your girl-instigated hiccups...

On the other hand, there is such a thing as waiting too long, and second leads who beat around the bush for a million years tend to lose my sympathy at some point. Take You're Beautiful's Shin Woo, for example. Yeah, she got interrupted by a phone call on their pseudo-date, but he could have said something a little earlier instead of just staring at her and talking in thinly veiled "stories." 

Then again, if she was too stupid to figure out that the story describing her exact situation was really about her, maybe Shin Woo dodged a bullet on that one. 

It takes two to tango

Mutual interest is the next big factor in second lead syndrome. Sometimes, I want to give male leads a copy of the book He's Just Not That Into You and send them on their way. I'm thrilled when they confess their feelings, but if it's obvious from the start that there's no interest from the female lead, it makes it a teensy bit easier to let the relationship die in my mind. 

If the show develops the possibility of a relationship with the second male lead, though, all bets are off. I think that's what got so many Boys over Flowers fans. She was completely interested in Ji Hoo one minute, and then suddenly she's dating Jun Pyo. Why? Because he shouted about his feelings more adamantly? His family had slightly more money? It's a mystery. Add in a fortune teller announcing that Ji Hoo is her soul mate, but Jun Pyo is her husband, and you've got a herd of angry fans on your hands.

Lesson of the day: Don't trust random island fortune tellers.

Emergency Couple is another example. Jin Hee and Chief Gook had fantastic chemistry for most of the show, which made it that much harder to figure out why the writers wouldn't just cave to their obvious connection and kill Chang Min in a freak bench pressing accident or something. (I'm joking! Sort of.)

Variety is the spice of K-dramas

This one's a biggie. It wasn't until I watched the recycled mishmash that was Nail Shop Paris that I realized just how predictable male characters are in Dramaland (or at least the romcom segment of Dramaland). I know that we've talked a lot about female leads on this blog, but if we want complex, interesting women in our dramas, don't they also deserve complex, interesting men to date?

As it currently stands, many romantic dramas have two tropes: the chaebol lead and the supportive second lead. The male lead has two personality traits: haughty and rich. (Rich isn't even a personality trait, but that's the best we've got, so we'll take it.) As time goes on, he becomes less haughty, and he falls in love. But that's it. Beyond haughty, rich, in love, and maybe sad about daddy issues, you don't have much to work with, personality-wise. 

Then you have the second male lead, who is (slightly less) rich, kind, and supportive. His main characteristic is his willingness to follow the woman around and serve her with his invisible love. 

Now, I love a good old fashioned chaebol love story, but every once in a while, I wish Kdrama male characters had just a little more personality. Haughty vs. nice makes it tempting to root for the nice guy, but you have to admit that some second leads are just a teensy bit boring. How can you blame her for having no interest if he's kind of a snoozefest? 

Sorry, not sorry, Jaejoong fans. His character was like watching paint dry.

When Kdrama writers break the mold and offer complex, intriguing second leads who break the basic mold, that's when I really can't resist. In Dating Agency: Cyrano, the main lead was doing typical male lead shenanigans, while Master was having long, heartfelt conversations with the female lead. They laughed together, cooked together, talked together, and he was secretly a gangster in disguise. It was a refreshing break from the norm, which automatically prejudiced me against her boring grandpa of the boyfriend.

Similarly, in Heirs, Young Do might have been a violent maniac, but if your only other option is another violent maniac, why not at least root for the one with multiple facial expressions and a motorcycle? (Remind me not to become a life coach for teen girls. Something tells me that I would be bad at it. Teens, don't actually date violent maniacs with motorcycles, okay?)

Whatever the reason, Second Lead Syndrome is always lurking around the corner of every romantic K-drama. As far as I can tell, the only cure is to demand a higher quality of male lead to leave their competition in the dust.

New Dramas: Bride of the Century and Sly and Single Again

Until last year, we swore we would never watch currently airing dramas, but now that we've started, it's kind of addicting. While you don't get the benefits being able to marathon the whole thing or knowing if a drama is going to fall apart halfway through before you begin (*cough*Prime Minister*cough*), there is a fun sense of community you get from chatting about current shows as they air, even if they're terrible.

So that brings us to the latest batch. We've been sampling bits and pieces of a few of them, but to be honest, none of them are looking like they're going to break into our favorites any time in the near future. Here are some quick thoughts so far:

Bride of the Century

What it's about: Lee Hong Ki (aka Jeremy from You're Beautiful) plays--what else? A grumpy chaebol heir with a sad past. Newcomer Yang Jin Sung plays--of course--a poor, hardworking girl who happens to look exactly like the heir's fiancee. When the fiancee disappears, this girl agrees to temporarily step into her place. Oh, and there's a ghost who kills the first wife of anyone marrying into the family.

Vivi's take: Everything about this drama--the sets, the styling, the characterizations, the soapy acting, etc--feels very reminiscent of early- to mid-2000s dramas like Full House or Boys over Flowers. Whether or not that's a good thing entirely depends on how you feel about that generation of dramas. For me, I enjoy them as classics, but I can't say that I've ever actually uttered the words, "Man, you know what would be awesome? A Boys over Flowers knockoff! But with a ghost added in!" If that's your jam, though, this is the drama for you!

If it's possible, I think she just out-Jan Di'd Jan Di herself.

While I'm okay riding the old school vibe for what it is, I have a much bigger bone to pick with the first four episodes of this drama. Given the rich chaebol jerk lead, it's not surprising that there are wrist grabs and some forced kisses. I hate it, but it's pretty typical fare for this brand of show. Bride of the Century, however, takes sexual intimidation to a whole new level:

In almost every episode, Kang Joo backs Doo Rim up against a wall or pins her on a bed against her will, and instead of doing it because he wants to be near her, he does it to intimidate and to punish her. Even though she fights back, five minutes later, she's falling in love with him. I just can't root for that.

Then again, the second lead is falling in love with someone who looks just like his sister--wait, sorry, half sister. Gross.

Two saving graces so far: 1. I'm cheering for the sassy ghost to win. I love her. 2. Lee Hong Ki makes some excellent facial contortions.

Sly and Single Again/Cunning Single Lady

What it's about: A man (Joo Sang Wook) and a woman (Lee Min Jung) divorce after years of financial hardship. Years later, he has become a successful businessman, and she wants to win back back and exact her revenge.

Vivi's take: Man, I must have taken grumpy pills before I started watching or something because I'm not really feeling this one, either. Episode 4 started to move into some character development, but mostly, almost allof the characters seem petty, bitter, and mean spirited so far. I wish that the secretary and Seung Hyun would run off and form a spinoff buddy comedy instead. 

You're welcome, MBC. I've just made you a surefire hit!

If Sly and Single spends some time making the characters more likable (and maybe kills off all of Na Ae Ra's family), it could have potential.

P.S. For those of you watching Emergency Couple, I was gradually weaning myself off of my love for Jin Hee/Chief Gook, but after episode 13, you will have to pry this relationship out of my cold, dead fingers before I will let it go.

Coco's take: While I love Emergency Couple now, I wasn't the biggest fan at first because I was expecting it to be more playful and over-the-top based on its behind the scenes and advertisements. I feel like Sly and Single Again is exactly what I initially wanted Emergency Couple to be. It's definitely more in the romantic comedy genre than Emergency Couple, which seems to be more in the romantic drama category. This means that if you are in the mood for something light and ridiculous then Sly and Single Again may be the new series for you. Yes, the main characters aren't that likable yet, but isn't that the point? I'm expecting some major character growth from them, and I think they'll get there with plenty of hijinks along the way. Plus, Joo Sang Wook has me on the hook! (see what I did there?)

Which new dramas are you guys watching? Are you loving something that we haven't started yet? Convince us to watch with you!