"Good Doctor" Ratings Live Up To Good Prognosis

The KBS series "Good Doctor" continues to get the highest ratings for its time slot, with this week's ratings rising to 15.8 percent.

The series focuses on a doctor, Park Shi On, who has a form of autism that allows him to be a genius at medicine and a misfit when it comes to social interaction. This creates endless problems at the hospital where he is admitted to practice largely because of the director's personal encouragement. Park Shi On is the first to spot a medical malfunction and suggest the right cure but the last to notice when he is acting inappropriately and his actions could harm someone else's career.

Joo Won's excellent portrayal of the determined yet socially disabled doctor really stands out. His hunched-in shuffle alone shows you how frighteningly narrow his character's focus can be. Moon Chae Won's mothering of Park Shi On is endearingly sympathetic. But most of the other characters have little patience for the disabled doctor.

As the drama is set in a hospital, there are plenty of life-threatening emergencies that keep the plot moving quickly along but wanting Park Shi On to be recognized for his true worth may be what keeps viewers rooting for the show.

Or maybe it's just that the cast of "Good Doctor" has promised to dance to have Crayon Pop's "Bar Bar Bar" and hug fans if the drama hits 20 percent in viewer ratings.

The competition also rose a little in viewer ratings with the SBS series "Empire of Gold" rating 11.2 percent and MBC's "Goddess of Fire: Jeonji" earning 9.6 percent. On tvN, the ghost drama "Who Are You?" rated 1.035 percent.

"Empire of Gold," starring Ko Soo, Lee Yo Won and Son Hyun Joo, takes place over a period of 20 years, starting in the 1990s and follows the power struggles within one family for the control of their business empire. No one fights fair in love or war.

"Goddess of Fire: Jeonji," which follows the life of the first female potter in Korea, stars Moon Geun Young, Lee Sang Yoon and Kim Bum. Some netizens have criticized the drama as moving too slow and not having enough plot twists. When it comes to the love triangle, fans seem to favor  Moon Geun Young's character Jung winding up with her protector warrior Tae Do, played by Kim Bum.

The KBS variety show "Our Neighborhood Variety and Sports" earned 7.5 percent of the ratings, while the SBS show "Incarnation" earned 6.1 percent.