viewership numbers for the series

[ajk]

(click for full size)


This is a chart that I put together of the episode-by-episode ratings for the series (which just finished running in Korea). The red is the nationwide rating, in percentage of TV viewers; the green is for Seoul only. It amazes me to see where the numbers are going.  I would have expected very much the opposite.  Once we started getting the huge doses of Monster Girl, the ratings only held flat; they didn't tank.  And the overall trend upwards, the way they've trashed so many good and potentially good things about the show, I just don't get it.  Some of this is probably due to the summer ending and more people staying inside and watching TV, but even so...I assumed that the writers would be punished in the ratings for the direction the show took, but obviously not.  Frankly it's very disheartening, because it tells KBS that people will willingly buy into crappy writing, at least for a daily drama.

The source for these numbers is wiki.d-addicts.com/A_Tale_of_Two_Sisters/Episode_Ratings

[mikey]

I’m beginning to wonder if the “Golden Age” of Korean dramas has already come and left us …

When we all started watching K-dramas (has it really been ten years for some of us?) we all found them to be exciting and exotic. Of course, some of that excitement was learning about a whole new culture that had previously been unknown to us, but even so, the quality of the dramas was, for the most part, first-rate.

The contemporary dramas were thoughtful and serious, and the comedy dramas were a delight, with genuinely loveable characters. The historical dramas were action-packed, and they were generally true to real history. Of course, there were a few occasional duds: the now notorious KBS daily drama “My Precious Child” was roundly panned by everyone for its lame storyline, but it was, thankfully, the rare exception.

Nowadays, though, what’s going on? Historical dramas have gone into cookie-cutter mode: essentially the same recycled storylines, just with a different cast of characters (and, sadly, the history they present nowadays is also mostly fictional nonsense). And, on the contemporary front, we have shows like “A Tale of Two Sisters" floundering about with its mostly obnoxious characters and a barely tolerable storyline, and yet it’s pulling sky-high ratings.

I remember when the really lousy K-drama was a once-a-year occurrence. And here we are today, where I find myself getting interested in only one or two K-dramas a year. The rest are (at best) “meh” dramas – something to watch, but also something I don’t get too upset about if I miss an episode or two … or even miss entirely.

Yes, I know that, in the end, ratings are the only thing that matters. If these sorry storylines are pulling in the viewership, what can we say? But, has the quality really slipped that much, or are we just getting so jaded that nothing satisfies us anymore?

And why are the Koreans still gobbling this stuff up?

[ajk]

Great post, mikey...and I wasn't ignoring it; I just don't have as good a perspective as you do, since you've seen more of these shows and been watching for longer. I was just sort of stuck on the fact that the trend on that chart is up when I assumed that of course it would be going down.

Would be real interesting to hear from viewers in Korea about what the explanation is for it. Especially since the target audience for daily dramas doesn't seem to me to be the kind that would clamor for more storylines of the youngest characters acting all stupid.

[TheBo]

It seems to me that originally, there were two basic audiences (in Korea). For dailies, there were grandmas and stay-at-home moms who wanted a good story featuring the sorts of situations they themselves faced in their everyday lives. For historicals, it was dads and history buffs, who wanted to know what actually had happened, and history buffs included a whole lot of Korean people who were interested in their own national origins. The third category, limited-run series for nighttime viewing, series like Winter Sonata, would entertain everyone with a dramatic, well-written storyline.

Then we decided that we could capture a younger market by showcasing gangsters or pop stars (modern dramas and dailies) and throwing in some wuxia (sp?) fighting and imaginative rewriting of history (historicals). Because, well, how much more history was there for us to go over again anyway? How could we spice it up to keep people interested? And, I think you're wrong AJK--I think everyone's target audience became "the kind that would clamor for more storylines of the youngest characters acting all stupid"--younger people. They wanted younger viewers. Pretty soon, it was all spice and no substance, worse than that, we then lost the spice in favor of sugar and fat. After awhile, we didn't even have to come up with our own stories. Let's just raid the Japanese.

If that makes any sense. I do tend to rant.

[ajk]

I'm only talking about the daily dramas. Presumably those things run during the daytime when the younger viewers are in school or at work. The prime-time dramas, certainly the Korean networks have set their sights on younger viewers just like the networks here do. We can certainly see that. But why would audience for dailies have shifted so dramatically? That would be hard to figure.

When this series started it had storylines going about characters in a lot of different age ranges. But then midstream they made it all about six characters in their mid-to-late twenties and pretty much abandoned every storyline involving anybody else. And it's been repetitive and implausible and most of it has been totally unsatisfying. If this were a weekend or prime-time drama then you could almost see some twisted logic in it (show more of the pretty people for the fangirls) but for this daily, I just don't get it.

[sageuk]

Ah yes, appealing to the lowest common denominator...

[TheBo]

That's been my rant on the daily dramas for some time now. When I first started watching--Who's My Love or even Yellow Handkerchief--there was always a large roster of characters of different ages, and those characters interacted and "came to understand each other." From beginning to end, we saw elders and youngers interacting. It was a formula, but it was a satisfying formula. Now, as you say, we just focus on the young people. It's very shallow and not very, um, tasty.

[mikey]

After awhile, we didn't even have to come up with our own stories. Let's just raid the Japanese.

Completely forgot about that, but you're right: the Koreans lately have been taking some really good Japanese drama shows, and then screwing them up. Very disappointing!

When I first started watching--Who's My Love or even Yellow Handkerchief--there was always a large roster of characters of different ages, and those characters interacted and "came to understand each other." From beginning to end, we saw elders and youngers interacting.

Looks like Bo's hitting 1.000 these days. Weren't those great shows? Almost everyone loved "Yellow Handkerchief." And wouldn't it be terrific if they'd show "Who's My Love" again, just so we could all remember much fun a Korean drama can be?

[TheBo]

Yah, my boyfriend still occasionally checks around for torrents or streaming of WML (without my asking him because he remembers I loved it so much) and it's no dice. I must mention it once or twice a month. I would love to see it again.

[HungV]

I couldn't agree more with you guys, every aspect has been aptly aforementioned. Regarding Korean dramas, I have been a seasoned 8-year fan of Korean hisotricals, and accustomed to the simpleness, profundity, true-to-life and pure traditional storylines of the old historicals. To me, they were like good books I would chew and digest, and couldn't even put them down.

@bo: You're correct, it's definitely Wuxia (Hanja:武侠; Hangul:무술 musul)

This is one of the most famous and popular styles of Chinese dramas; yet, frankly speaking, I don't like it nor do I have any interests in it. Moreover, it's sad to hear that this so-called Woxia & Chinese historicals have been flooded almost every TV station in my country since the late 80s and still be the most popular fashion nowadays.

[TheBo]

I guess the suffering (bad TV) is more widespread than earlier suspected.

[sageuk]

Its a disease I tell you. A disease that must quarantined, and purified with fire.

[ajk]

And apparently this twenty-something stuff in the dailies isn't going away, either. The daily drama that took Two Sisters' timeslot and has started airing is called "Melody of Love" or "Love Rides the Song." Apparently it's big on twenty-something romance--and it's getting very high ratings. For the early episodes they're several points higher than the early episodes of Two Sisters.

Looks like it has something to do with the musical theater industry so maybe they're trying to mimic "Glee." Whatever--it even more begs the question of who's watching this stuff when it certainly doesn't seem appealing to the daily-drama demographic.