5 more KBS sageuks from the 80s

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

Please forgive the lack of formatting, I'm typing this on my phone in a meeting i Do Not want to be in.

1. Dance of Breaking Sky (파천무), 1980
A Sunday drama of 12 episodes, this drama was supposed to portray Prince Suyang's usurpal of the throne from his nephew King Danjong, and his obsession with Kim Jong Seo's Jurchen Concubine Seolli. Unfortunately due to the establishment of Jeon Du Hwan's Military Dictatorship and the subsequent June Struggle protests, the show was cancelled for resembling contemporary politics too closely, ending the story after skipping the Gyeryu Coup. The show was remade in full in 1990. All 12 episodes of the 1980 version were available on YouTube until last month, and are now only available on torrents.

Featuring Kim Heung Gi as Prince Suyang, Baek Yun Shik as King Munjong, Yun Yu Seon as King Danjong and Jeong Ae Ri as Seolli.

2. Wind and Cloud/Winds of Change (풍운), 1982

KBS' 2nd Daeha Drama, about the decline and eventual fall of Joseon through the eyes of Prince Heungseon, Prince Regent and father of King Gojong. With all 52 episodes remastered-ish and fully available on KBS' paid YouTube subscription service, an abridged version was shown in the lead up to the final episode. The 4-episode abridged version is available for free on YouTube

Starring Lee Sun Jae as Prince Heungseon and Kim Young Ae/Kang Su Yeon as Empress Myeongseong.

3. Gaekju (객주), 1983

The original Gaekju series! I haven't looked at this one or the 2015 version but i think the plotline is of a down to earth merchant who values people over money. Original episode 1 here:

Abridged version: youtu.be/LoJ7AOGxsFQ

4. Flower Ring (꽃반지), 1985

Yu Dong Geun's first historical lead, back when daily historicals were popular. A fictional romance of unknown episode count, for now. Episode 1:

5. Yihwa/Pear Blossoms (이화), 1987
KBS' 7th Daeha Drama, and the only Daeha to be written by someone not from Korea (William Arthur Noble). A fictional historical based in late Joseon to Japanese occupation. With 36 episodes, it was produced in place of Park Gyeong Ri's "The Land", as the author wanted a faithful interpretation of his work. the Land would broadcast after Yihwa's conclusion.

Episode 1:

Episode 36:

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

Those screenshots of Dance of Breaking Sky I promised:

Attachments:

[sageuk]

I know Yu Dong Geun doesn't have a beard in real life on a daily basis-I have seen him on screen in a show without a beard, specifically a modern drama my grandmother was watching, but seeing him in a historical without a beard is so bizarre to look at.

[ajk]

Well once again this is terrific stuff, can't thank you enough for sharing it here. Got some new info for the timeline from it too.

And now in the category of no good deed goes unpunished(!)...a few questions for the timeline:

1. The original Dance of Breaking Sky: Was it a KBS series? I can't find the network for it - the 1990 remake is clogging up the Google searches.

2. The 1990 remake - do you happen to know the episode total? I haven't found that but I did find start and end dates that suggest probably 50-60 episodes. If that's anywhere near correct then it's not just a remake but quite an expansion.

3. Any clue on episode count or network for the 1983 Gaekju? I never even knew there was a previous version of it, only that the 2015 version was based on a novel that was serialized in a newspaper from 1979 to 1983. (You're right about the plot BTW, at least for the 2015 version.)

4. What's the subject matter of Pear Blossoms - is it a romance?

None of these are urgent, to say the least, but if you can fill any of them in it will certainly help.

Thanks again, made my day.


p.s. and 5. The Silver Knife series that you referred to as part of the Women of Legend series, is it based on a real historical woman? I'm trying to plug it into the timeline somewhere but don't have any date or historical figure to link to a date.

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

May 25, 2021 19:03:06 GMT -5 ajk said:

Well once again this is terrific stuff, can't thank you enough for sharing it here. Got some new info for the timeline from it too.

And now in the category of no good deed goes unpunished(!)...a few questions for the timeline:

1. The original Dance of Breaking Sky: Was it a KBS series? I can't find the network for it - the 1990 remake is clogging up the Google searches.

2. The 1990 remake - do you happen to know the episode total? I haven't found that but I did find start and end dates that suggest probably 50-60 episodes. If that's anywhere near correct then it's not just a remake but quite an expansion.

3. Any clue on episode count or network for the 1983 Gaekju? I never even knew there was a previous version of it, only that the 2015 version was based on a novel that was serialized in a newspaper from 1979 to 1983. (You're right about the plot BTW, at least for the 2015 version.)

4. What's the subject matter of Pear Blossoms - is it a romance?

None of these are urgent, to say the least, but if you can fill any of them in it will certainly help.

Thanks again, made my day.


p.s. and 5. The Silver Knife series that you referred to as part of the Women of Legend series, is it based on a real historical woman? I'm trying to plug it into the timeline somewhere but don't have any date or historical figure to link to a date.

1. Yes, it's from KBS, before they split into KBS1 and KBS2.

2. The 1990 version is 50 episodes, but it's referred to as a remake because the 1980 version was cancelled and didn't get to use the intended story.

3. Gaekju '83 is also from KBS2, but I don't have an episode count. Thanks to Naver's newspaper archive, it's not entirely impossible to find one, but I'll be going through weeks of papers to find out. It was a Monday-Tuesday drama that became just a Tuesday drama later on.

4. According to KR wikipedia Yihwa is about "reexamining history through the eyes of young people." The full original novel, which aims to "represent Korean affairs from the standpoint of the Korean" is here, in English archive.org/details/ewaatalekorea00maingoog but I don't know if the drama followed the novel faithfully.

5. Silver Knife is about a fictional noblewoman, not linked to any particular historical figure.

[ajk]

Thank you sir! Much appreciated. Don't go looking for the other things just for here; it's not that important, and eventually somebody will post the information somewhere anyway. Things do tend to turn up over time as more and more random things turn up online.

Glad to fill in some more holes and zap some of the orange text!

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

Oh just a question, where is this timeline you mentioned? I tried searching in the forums but it seems to have changed links a few times.

[ajk]

It's in the EWG board right now; I keep moving it to the current historical. Sticky thread; first post in the thread.

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

Behind the scenes for Yihwa! You can see the actors for King Gojong (Nam Il Woo) and Empress Myeongseong (Kim Gyo Sun) here, as well as little Yihwa (Kim So Yeon). 
Filming in the summer seems grueling in these clothes.