Lee Dong Wook's return to television with JTBC's Good Man is struggling. The drama is facing low viewership ratings and criticism for its old-fashioned concept.
The actor, recently coming off the failure of Divorce Insurance—which reached a rare 0% viewership—now feels the pressure as Good Man risks becoming his second consecutive flop.
Premiering on July 18 as JTBC's new Friday night show, Good Man aired two back-to-back episodes, attracting viewership ratings of 3.0% and 3.2%.
Despite airing two episodes to boost engagement, these numbers fell short compared to SBS's Our Movie and MBC's Casino, which scored higher at 3.5%.
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Good Man follows Park Seok-cheol (Lee Dong-wook), the kind-hearted grandson of a long-standing gangster family, as he reunites with his first love, Kang Mi-young (Lee Sung-kyung).
The series aims to mix sentimental noir with lighthearted family drama, but its outdated theme and lengthy two-hour runtime (including commercials) have received mixed reviews.
Even members of the cast shared their concerns. Actress Ryu Hye-young noted during the press conference, "The title sounded old-fashioned," while Lee Dong-wook admitted, "The gangster theme may feel cliché."
He pointed out that his portrayal did not romanticize gang life but aimed to show its human side.
Although the show introduces emotional backstories and humorous sibling interactions to refresh the genre, critics believe its slow pacing and outdated noir style may not attract a broad audience.
With viewer fatigue growing from its long format, the drama's future is unclear.
All eyes are now on Lee Dong-wook to see if he can recover from this tough spot or if he will experience the disappointment of back-to-back failures in an increasingly competitive drama market.
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