New Dramas Compete In The Race For Ratings

The promising storylines and great casts found in this week's new kdramas may help explain why the initial ratings are so competitive.

According to Nielsen Korea,the initial ratings were pretty close. On Monday, the series "God of the Workplace, won with a 12.3 percent rating. Following closely behind were the fantasy historical drama,"Gu Family Book," at 12.1 and the historical drama, "Jang Ok Jung" at 11.3 percent. By Tuesday, "Gu Family Book" was ahead and "Jang Ok Jung" had slipped to 9.1 percent.

The first episode of the KBS drama, God of the Workplace, in which a super temp gets to impress her workplace superiors, started modestly with a nationwide 8.2 rating, but viewers liked the character of Miss Kim, played by Kim Hye Soo, so much that ratings climbed.

The MBC drama, "Gu Family Book" scored 12.2 percent ratings for its second episode, an increase of one percent from its initial episode. In the first episode, viewers met Gu Wul Ryung, played by Choi Jin Hyuk. He is a gumiho (a mythical Korean fox with nine tails), who has been told not to interfere with the human world. But he can't resist helping Yoon Seo Hwa, played by Lee Yeon Hee, when she is in trouble. And because he is so attracted to her, he wants to become more human. Even though viewers have not yet met the series' main characters, the response to the initial episodes was so good that broadcast rights have already been sold to the Philippines, Hong Kong and Cambodia. Further international negotiations already underway.

"Jang Ok Jung," which began this week started off with strong ratings, no doubt in part prompted by the popularity of lead actress Kim Tae Hee. In the first episode a young Jang Ok Jung, played by Kim, meets Queen Inhyun, played by Hong Soo Hun, and Suk Bin Choe, played by Han Seung Yeon. Inhyun visits designer Jang Ok Jung because she wants to buy a hanbok (Korean traditional dress) but she is not impressed with what she is offered. In the future they will become rivals for the king's attentions. In an innovative "meet cute," the crown prince meets his future concubine/queen when she measures him for clothing. The opening episode earned good scores from reviewers, but ratings dropped anyway.

In other ratings news, the KBS drama, "Cheer Up, Mr. Kim" earned 28.4 percent, while variety shows, "Hello" scored 9.8 and "Healing Camp" earned 5.5 percent.