Singer Kim Hyun Joong has announced that he will be starring in a drama soon.

On November 29th, the star attended a press conference for the ‘2011 MAMA‘ in Singapore’s Sands Expo Convention Center. He said, “It hasn’t been officially revealed yet, but I will be acting in April of next year. We originally had a world tour in mind, but we postponed that for the drama.”

He continued, “I heard that I did well on the Billboard charts. I am very happy about that. It feels real that being #1 in Korea means being #1 in the world.”

Stay tuned for more updates on Kim Hyun Joong’s new drama!

Source:
http://www.allkpop.com/2011/11/kim-hyun-joong-to-star-in-a-drama-next-year

Title: 빛과 그림자 / Lights and Shadows
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Episodes: 50
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: 2011-Nov-28 to 2012-May-15
Air time: Monday and Tuesday 21:55

Production Credits
Director: Lee Joo Hwan
Screenwriter: Choi Wan Kyu

Synopsis
MBC’s special 50th-anniversary drama production “Light and Shadow” draws a man’s up and down life with modern history as its background starting from the 1960s during the Vietnam War. Ahn Jae Wook will play the role of Kang Ki Tae who is the first national entertainer for soldiers in war fields.

Cast

Main Cast
Ahn Jae Wook as Kang Ki Tae
Nam Sang Mi as Lee Jung Hye
Lee Pil Mo as Cha Soo Hyuk
Son Dam Bi as Yoo Chae Young

Supporting Cast
Jun Kwang Ryul as Jang Chul Hwan
Lee Jong won as Jo Myeong Gook
Sung Ji Roo as Sin Jeong Goo
Shin Da Eun as Kang Myeong Hee
Son Jin Yeong as Hong Soo Bong
Ahn Kil Kang as No Sang Taek
Lee Se chang as Choi Seong Won
Kim Hee Won as Yang Tae Seong
Ryu Dam as Yang Dong Cheol
Jun Gook Hwan as Kang Man Sik
Park Won Sook as Park Kyeong Ja
Kim Mi kyung as Kim Geum Rye
Seo Seung Man as Johnny Boy
Kim Dong Gyoon as Cherry Boy
Ha Jae Sook as Kim Gye Soon
Lee Ah Yi as Lee Kyung Sook

 
Lights and Shadows Trailer

The song isn’t released yet, but Jung Il-woo will be featured on the upcoming Flower Boy Ramyun Shop OST with the title track on its Part 3, “Someone Like You” (너란 사람).

Jung plays the delightfully immature, spoiled Chi-soo in the drama, and it’s been a hoot watching him grapple with actual human feelings the more he finds that not everybody (namely, our intrepid heroine) is going to kowtow to his every demand. It’s like Chi-soo’s got the social awareness of a 3-year-old, but wrapped up in an adult body. The song will be a warm ballad that’ll accompany Eun-bi’s (Lee Chun-ah) growing feelings as she starts to see more of Chi-soo’s childlike sincerity. Aw. We’ve sure seen a lot of the childlike, so it’s time for the latter part of that equation to step up to the plate.

If you’ll recall, Jung also contributed a track to the soundtrack of his last drama, 49 Days (posted below), which is one of my favorite tracks from that series. He’s reportedly working himself ragged (not a new state for him) with all-night shoots, song recording, and cameo appearance filming. Busy boy is busy.

Jung’s track releases on the 24th.

Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/11/jung-il-woo-sings-a-track-for-for-ramyun-shop-ost/

So the rumors were half-true: Yoon Eun-hye isn’t taking on romantic comedy series Wild Romance, but Lee Dong-wook is.

He’ll be joining Lee Shi-young, who was recently cast as the female lead, a judo athlete turned bodyguard. He plays a baseball player, and their relationship gets off to an inauspicious start with some “unpredictable bad luck.” I foresee lots of comedic clashes in their future, before the antagonism turns to love.

I love Lee Shi-young — she can make even the worst writing somewhat watchable (see: Poseidon) — and I think Lee Dong-wook has solid comic chops, so I’m looking forward to this pairing. But more than the casting, I’m particularly keen on this drama because it comes from writer Park Yeon-seon, who wrote Alone and Love and Mixed-up Investigative Agency, both of which were standouts. Directing is PD Bae Kyung-soo of Infamous Chil Sisters; actor Oh Man-seok has also joined the cast.

The drama is set for 16 episodes and premieres in January. It’ll air on Wednesdays and Thursdays, in the post-Man of Honor timeslot.

Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/11/lee-dong-wook-added-to-wild-romance/

It has just been announced that SNSD will become the hosts of their own talk show.

jTBC channel held a press conference on November 15th and explained, “We are producing [a show called] ‘SNSD’ featuring SNSD.”

Although this has been done before in Japan with SMAP on ‘SMAPxSMAP’, this will be the first time that a talk show starring members of a group will be produced in Korea.

‘SNSD’ will feature the nine members as talk show hosts, and will be produced by PD Yoon Hyun Joon, who has produced other talk show programs such as ‘Win Win’.

The official air date has not yet been announced, but it was revealed that ‘SNSD’ will be aired every Sunday at 7:30 PM. The time slot will put them in competition over viewer ratings with KBS‘ weekend dramas, and MBC and SBS’ news.

||–-----||

Update: [Allkpop]

jTBC has announced that instead of a talk show like it had been reported, a variety show will be produced featuring all the members.

The show’s air time has conflicting reports on whether it will be aired on Saturdays or Sundays. If the show is aired on Saturday, it will put the show in competition with MBC’s ‘Infinity Challenge’, KBS’s ‘Immortal Song 2′, and SBS’ ‘Star King’.

The tentative air date has been reported as December 4th.

Source:
http://www.allkpop.com/2011/11/snsd-to-host-their-own-talk-show

T-ara‘s Eunjung met with an unfortunate accident on set while filming for her new drama, ‘Queen Insoo‘.

Representatives of Core Contents Media revealed, “On November 14th, Eunjung headed straight for the ‘Queen Insoo’ set after completing her choreography rehearsal.” They continued, “Unfortunately, due to the cold weather and the fast speed of the horse, Eunjung lost her grip on the reins and fell.”

The representatives assured that Eunjung was given painkillers after she was rushed to the hospital. Shooting schedules will be readjusted accordingly after closer examination.

In related news, T-ara will be making their comeback performance on November 17th through Mnet‘s ‘M! Countdown‘.

Source:
http://www.allkpop.com/2011/11/t-aras-eunjung-falls-off-a-horse-while-filming-for-queen-insoo

Title: 브레인 / Beu-re-in / Brain
Genre: Medical
Episodes: 16 (to be confirmed)
Broadcast network: KBS2
Broadcast period: 2011-Nov-14 to 2012-Jan-3
Air time: Monday and Tuesday, 21:55

Production Credit
Director: Yoo Hyun Ki, Song Hyun Wook
Screenwriter: Yoon Kyung Ah

Synopsis
A drama that deals with the brain and neurosurgeons.

Lee Kang Hoon (Shin Ha Kyun), who graduated from the top medical school, works at the top hospital, and is the top neurosurgeon around. Basically, he’s Brain No. 1. (And he works on brains, too!) He has ambitions to become the director at his university hospital. He is obsessed with success, which is probably both his greatest flaw and strength, since it makes him steely and fierce.

However, once he meets his sunbae Kim Sang Chul (Jung Jin Young), the prickly genius doctor and world famous neurologist, he turns over a new leaf and becomes a sincere doctor. Seo Joon Suk (Jo Dong Hyuk) is a doctor and will become Lee Kang Hoon’s rival. Yoon Ji Hye (Choi Jung Won) is also a neurosurgeon who grew up in an ordinary family. She is extremely strict in matters of work and study, but has a warm bedside manner with her patients.

Cast
Shin Ha Kyun as Lee Kang Hoon
Jung Jin Young as Kim Sang Chul
Jo Dong Hyuk as Seo Joon Suk
Choi Jung Won as Yoon Ji Hye

Supporting Cast
Lee Sung Min as Ko Jae Hak
Ban Hyo Jung as Hwang Young Sun
Park Cheol Ho as Park In Bum
Im Ji Eun as Hong Eun Sook
Jo Soo Min as Im Hyun Jung
Kwak Seung Nam as Yang Bum Joon
Shim Hyung Tak as Jo Dae Sik
Lee Seung Joo as Dong Seung Man
Kwon Se In as Yeo Bong Goo
Kim Soo Hyun as Jang Yoo Jin
Song Ok Sook as Kim Soon Im
Kim Ga Eun as Lee Ha Young

Note
This Drama was original casting by Lee Sang Yoon, Yoon Seung Ah and Lee Hyun Jin, but they all left on 20/Sep/2011 after had their first script reading on 17/Sep/2011.

Brain Trailer

The highly anticipated drama series, ‘I’m a Flower, Too’ aired its first episode on November 9th, and had viewers laughing over the exchange between Lee Ji Ah and B2ST‘s Kikwang.

Rookie cop Miru (Kikwang) visited Bongsun’s (Lee Ji Ah) precinct to introduce himself for the first time, but was caught off guard in an embarrassing situation when he ran into her changing into her uniform.

The shocked and furious Bongsun exerted her authority by commanding him to introduce himself.

Miru, immediately attracted to her straight-forwardness, was quick to ask her how old she is, where she lives, if he can call her nuna, and whether or not she has a boyfriend.

The seemingly cold and uninterested Bongsun replied to his questions with, “Secret. My house. The two words I hate most: nuna, oppa.”

She then answered his ‘do you have a boyfriend’ question with a curt reply, “Sorry. You’re too short“.

This episode was especially hilarious as there were photos of Kikwang, the idol, posted on the walls of Bongsun’s room, and Kikwang also appeared in her dreams as himself.

Credit:
http://www.allkpop.com/2011/11/spoiler-im-a-flower-too-featuring-lee-ji-ah-and-b2sts-kikwang-airs-its-first-episode

Lee Beom-soo, Jung Kyeo-woon, Jung Ryeo-won, Hong Soo-hyun

History of the Salaryman is the SBS drama coming from the producers of last year’s hit Giant, and after teasing cast possibilities for a while, the drama has now finalized its main cast.

Lee Beom-soo, who also starred in Giant, was an early lock for the series, with Jung Ryeo-won (Pain, Ja Myung Go) now set to play leading lady. Her name had been previously floated, so there’s no surprise with her, nor with Jung Kyeo-woon (Romance Town) also onboard, although his contracts are still in the works. We do have a fresh name in the mix, though, with Hong Soo-hyun signing on.

That’s great, since she’s fantastic. After a rather slow start in her career (Only You, Sangdoo Let’s Go To School), Hong Soo-hyun really burst out of the gates this year with a couple sharp performances: She stole scenes as the jealous frenemy to Yoon Eun-hye in Lie To Me, then put in a strong turn in The Princess’s Man as the commanding-yet-vulnerable Princess Kyung-hye. I remember thinking she was a lackluster actress in earlier dramas, but she’s on fire now and a definite actress to watch.

The four main leads all participated in the drama’s script reading last week, and will begin filming in the upcoming week, with first shoots scheduled for November 17. It’ll air in January.

 
Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/11/sbss-history-of-the-salaryman-finalizes-its-cast/

Title: 나도, 꽃!/ Na-do, Kkot! / Me Too, Flower!
Also known as: I’m A Flower, Too
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 16 (To Be Confirmed)
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: 2011-Nov-09 to 2011-Dec-29
Air time: Wednesday and Thursday 21:55

Production Credits
Director: Go Dong Sun
Screenwriter: Kim Do Woo

Synopsis
A complex love story involving three women and one man.

Cast

Main Cast
Yoon Shi Yoon as Seo Jae Hee
Lee Ji Ah as Cha Bong Sun
Han Go Eun as Park Hwa Young
Seo Hyo Rim as Kim Dal
Jo Min Ki as Park Tae Hwa
Lee Ki Kwang as Jo Ma Roo

Supporting Cast
Im Ha Ryong as Bae Sang Uk
Kim Ji Sook as Kim Do Mi
Lee Byung Joon as Team leader Kim
Son Il Kwon as whimsical Manager Lee
Jung Man Shik as Kim Do Gyun
Baek Seung Hee as Lee Young Hee
Ki Joo Bong
Baek Bong Ki
Baek Seung Hwan (백승환)
Jo Sung Kyu
Heo Ga Yoon (허가윤)

Me Too, Flower! Trailer

Yesterday, the Wonder Girls swept the charts with their new album “Wonder World“, which reached #1 on numerous Korean music portals to achieve an ‘all-kill’.

In addition to this achievement, it’s been revealed that their music video for “Be My Baby” recorded over 2 million views on YouTube! The video was featured on the main page and received top honors like ‘#1 Top Rated (Overall and Music)’ and ‘#1 Top Favorited (Music)’.

Wonder Girls (원더걸스) - Be My Baby MV

At this moment, the view count currently reads at over 2.5 million views after just two days, thus demonstrating the high level of anticipation for their comeback.

JYP Entertainment stated, “Thank you for the boundless love you’re showing the Wonder Girls’ comeback and music… We will try our best to prepare an awesome performance to match up to your expectations.”

The girls will be holding their official comeback stage through KBS’ ‘Music Bank’ on November 11th.

Credit:
www.allkpop.com/2011/11/wonder-girls-be-my-baby-mv-gains-over-2-million-views-in-48-hours

You’re probably going to get sick of hearing it, but here’s yet more news that cable is standing strong: Channel CGV’s newly premiered four-parter, TV Bang-ja Chronicles, enjoyed a promising start on Saturday with an overall viewership rating of 1.510%, hitting 2.475% at its highest point. Other current cable offerings like Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Vampire Prosecutor and Empress are performing strongly as well.

To clarify, as there have been confused comments in recent ratings posts: Cable dramas have generally aired in non-prime-time slots and therefore don’t compete directly with broadcast dramas, which air in the 10 pm hour (with dailies in the 9 pm slot). A few exceptions: tvN has tried to carve out a spot in the prime-time landscape with Manny, I Need Romance, Birdie Buddy, and Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, all of which have competed with Big Three shows.

But given that many cable dramas are late-nighters (11 pm or midnight), and because cable has an inherently more limited audience, a 1% rating is considered favorable — even if a broadcast drama would be considered a failure in the 5% range or below. Only a year or two ago, a 1% cable show was a big success, but with the way things are changing, I think we’re going to see that baseline tick up to 2% very soon.

TV Bang-ja Chronicles is an adaptation of the sageuk film of the same name, updating the classic story of Chun-hyang. It brought in positive viewer response, thanks to its speedy storytelling, visuals, and portrayal of emotions as Episode 1 kicked off the love story between servant Bang-ja (played by Lee Sun-ho) and Chun-hyang (Lee Eun-woo), which naturally infuriates her other man, the aristocrat’s son Mong-ryong (Yeo Hyun-soo).

TV Bang-ja Chronicles continues airing on Saturday nights for the rest of the month.

Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/11/tv-bang-ja-chronicles-is-another-cable-hit/

Popular duo Tackey & Tsubasa recently revealed the full PV for “Heartful Voice“, a single set for release on November 23rd.

As winter is just around the corner, this 4-minute PV takes the duo to a snowy setting dressed in stylish coats. The song interweaves scenes of the warm relationship between people, despite the cold, with clips of the pair singing.

Takitsuba- heartful voice

Credit:
http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/11/tackey-tsubasa-reveal-full-pv-for-heartful-voice/

With KBS medical drama Brain about a week from its premiere, here are the drama’s first two teasers, as well as character stills of the main cast of neurosurgeons featuring Shin Ha-kyun, Jung Jin-young, and Choi Jung-won.

The way this drama handled its casting process has been pretty clunky (not to mention controversial), which had turned me off the show from the start. Having seen the teasers, though, you can see that they’re clearly going for suspenseful and dramatic, in which case it makes sense to opt for a serious film actor like Shin Ha-kyun (The Front Line) over the younger Lee Sang-yoon (The Duo). And Choi Jung-won (Wish Upon a Star) has been a leading actress for longer than new face Yoon Seung-ah (Playful Kiss), even if I think she’s much more appealing in lighter comedies than serious dramas.

All that said, it doesn’t excuse the poor way the drama dumped its first cast, and begs the question: If you say these actors were all wrong for the parts, why cast them in the first place?

Brain is doing something a bit unusual for premiere week, in airing Episodes 1 and 2 on the same night, Monday. That’s because the following day is going to be pre-empted for soccer, so they’re trying to get the jump rather than falling an episode behind schedule. With Mondays and Tuesdays pretty packed with programming, a new show can’t afford to lose interest, so hopefully they’ll hook viewers with the double header. Medical dramas aren’t really my bag, but they do have some dynamic actors at play here with Shin Ha-kyun and Jung Jin-young, both of whom are pretty damn charismatic.

Brain comes from God of Study’s team, PD Yoo Hyun-ki and writer Yoon Kung-ah. It follows Poseidon and airs its first two episodes on November 14.

Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/11/medical-drama-brains-teasers-and-stills/