"Future's Choice" versus "The Suspicious Housekeeper"
The new drama “Future’s Choice’ got off to a good start this week, only slightly trailing the ratings for the existing frontrunner “The Suspicious Housekeeper.” It’s hard to predict future ratings from one night, since one of the contenders “Goddess of Fire” was postponed for a baseball game. But the new drama's future looks promising.
"Goddess of Fire: Jeonji," the historical drama, starring Moon Geun Young, Lee Sang Yoon and Kim Bum has been third place for weeks now. The series about Korea’s first female potter has little chance of increasing ratings, as it winds down and will probably not attract new viewers for the final episodes.
“Suspicious Housekeeper,” the drama about a mysterious housekeeper and her influence on the dysfunctional family she serves came in number one with a 10.6 percent Nielsen Korea rating. The drama deserves more attention that it gets due to its excellent performances by actors Choi Ji Woo, as the strange housekeeper, and Lee Seung Gi, as the widower who finds it hard to connect with his children.
However, the new contender “Future’s Choice” shows some promise and came in close behind at 9.7 percent.
“Future’s Choice” also has a winning cast going for it, with stars Lee Dong Gun, Yoon Eun Hye, and CNBlue’s Jung Yong Hwa.
It has been a while since Yoon Eun Hye appeared in a romantic comedy. Last year she starred in “Missing You,” her first melodrama, but she is best known and much loved for her roles in “Coffee Prince,” “Princess Hours,” “My Fair Lady” and “Lie To Me.”
Lee Dong Gun has not appeared in a drama for five years and was last seen in the 2008 MBC drama “Night After Night.” In this drama he plays a broadcast announcer.
The drama is Jung Yong Hwa’s third. He became a kdrama favorite after appearing in “You’re Beautiful” and then starred in “Heartstrings,” playing musicians in both roles. In “Future’s Choice,” he is the broadcast company heir working as a cameraman.
The show’s first episode started with Yoon’s ditsy slightly manic character Na Mi Rae stuck in a boring job and dreaming of becoming a writer. Fortunately, she is visited by her future self and prompted to make some changes. While the motivations of that future self remain unclear for now, she is sure that Na Mi Rae should not marry Kim Shin, played by Lee Dong Gun.
In the variety show category, the KBS series “Hello” had the best ratings at 8.6 percent, while the SBS show “Healing Camp came in at 6.2 percent.
