Korean dramas!

[Mrs. P]

Right, I just read the Wikipedia article, and it definitely sounds like the kind of thing I am interested in. So if I can find videos of it with English subtitles, I will look it up.

And, it doesn't matter that a programme is 10 years old! As long as it is good, that is the most important thing. For goodness sake, my favourite programme of all time is over 50 years old!!! ("The Phil Silvers Show")

Out of the Korean dramas I have seen, I would definitely recommend “Franceska” (also known as "Hello, Francesca"). Although it is a “modern” drama, it is not your typical love-triangle story that so many of the dramas seem to be about.

This one is a comedy about vampires! And, unlike a lot of comedies nowadays, it is actually very funny!

CaroLiza_fan

I always get so annoyed when my romantic comedies become melodramas. :P That has happened to a few of the dramas I've been watching lately.

Thanks for the recommendations, CaroLiza_fan! That Franceska show sounds fun! Looks like it will be hard to find. Viki only has a few episodes and Drama Fever doesn't have it, so I'm going to have to go into some other sites and look for it!

Anyway, the drama I'm watching now is Flower Boy Next Door, which is currently airing on one of Korea's cable stations (I'm watching it on Drama Fever). It's actually a wonderful story about a girl who is very introverted and is happy just being locked out from the world in her apartment, but is forced out of those confines with a wacky group of neighbors including a video game designer who arrived from Spain.

The character development is wonderful and there are none of the cliches you see with other dramas. I highly recommend it!

[sather]

Anyway, the drama I'm watching now is Flower Boy Next Door, which is currently airing on one of Korea's cable stations (I'm watching it on Drama Fever). It's actually a wonderful story about a girl who is very introverted and is happy just being locked out from the world in her apartment, but is forced out of those confines with a wacky group of neighbors including a video game designer who arrived from Spain.

The character development is wonderful and there are none of the cliches you see with other dramas. I highly recommend it!

I'm watching that show too. It's AWESOME There's no typical evil characters that Korean dramas often display. Each of characters is so lovely. Most of Korean dramas on public tv channels have trouble with delayed scripts coming out on the shooting day, which makes the quality of dramas sloppy as it towards the end but because this one is on cable they don't seem to have such problems. So sad that it's not popular enough because it's on cable though. :( My sister and I are recommending this to our friends.

And tomorrow the 11th episode is coming

[Mrs. P]

I'm watching that show too. It's AWESOME There's no typical evil characters that Korean dramas often display. Each of characters is so lovely. Most of Korean dramas on public tv channels have trouble with delayed scripts coming out on the shooting day, which makes the quality of dramas sloppy as it towards the end but because this one is on cable they don't seem to have such problems. So sad that it's not popular enough because it's on cable though. :( My sister and I are recommending this to our friends.

And tomorrow the 11th episode is coming

I appreciate the lack of "evil characters." Rather you have very conflicted people who do mean things at time.

I hear you on the live shooting stuff -- it annoys me when they have story arcs that never get tied up because they run out of time.

In general, the cable shows seem to be much stronger, IMO. I loved the other Flower Boy series -- Flower Boy Ramuyen Shop -- as well as Reply 1997.

Anyway back to Flower Boy Next Door -- it's getting quite good -- I love the character development in this show. I especially like their work on the female lead and the actress work on that role. Often time the female leads in dramas tend to be over the top. I like that we have a door into someone who is the exact opposite -- introverted and closed to the world.

[FTnoona]

This isn't Kdrama related, but I just found out the Misha Ge is a huge fan of Kpop! wOw! At first I thought he liked Gangnam Style b/c it was in trend. He's such an effervescent character too!

Anyway back to Flower Boy Next Door -- it's getting quite good -- I love the character development in this show. I especially like their work on the female lead and the actress work on that role. Often time the female leads in dramas tend to be over the top. I like that we have a door into someone who is the exact opposite -- introverted and closed to the world.

The drama seems very slice of life, and caters to the older fan girls that aren't as into idols. Kinda like Gentlemen's Dignity. I am glad that Park Shin Hye's character isn't like her character in You're Beautiful. For me it was cute at first, then it got annoying. Love that although her character seems meek and gloomy, she still has the guts to stand up for herself when needed.

[loopy]

My daughter (10) and I LOVE the teen romance/teens shows. It started with <3 Coffee Prince <3. We loved Boys Over Flowers. We are now watching a very silly Baby and Me. It takes us a long time because I have to promise not to watch ahead and she has very little tv time.

Adding - I was surprised about the editing. There is some language, some adult situations, but in BOF, when guns were seen, they were blurred. At first we thought it was the video. You can show blood, but apparently not guns! I find even with all of that the violence is never gratuitous. And the "respect" issue between parents and their children is almost never seen on the Disney channel.

[FTnoona]

For those of you who haven't watch Flower Boy Next Door, you've got to watch it!
For once there is no over dramatic scenes where there is some crazy misunderstanding which could be solved by simply having faith in the other person and not jumping to conclusion. I think this was only possible because of the sheer optimism and confidence exuded by Enrique's character. The character development for Dok Mi's character was good too and seemed almost realistic given the length of the drama.
The ending was the best ending of any K-drama that I've watched. For me it didn't leave anything hanging.

Loopy what do you mean by the "respect" issue between child and parent?

[loopy]

In Korean dramas, the young people never roll their eyes or act sassy to their elders. If they disagree, it is because they feel firmly about an issue or right and wrong, not that they want to get their ears pierced because it's cool. There is a clear definition between parent and child, young adult and elder. It is missing on most shows aimed at kids 7 and up on networks like the Disney Channel.

[FTnoona]

In Korean dramas, the young people never roll their eyes or act sassy to their elders. If they disagree, it is because they feel firmly about an issue or right and wrong, not that they want to get their ears pierced because it's cool. There is a clear definition between parent and child, young adult and elder. It is missing on most shows aimed at kids 7 and up on networks like the Disney Channel.

Oh ok. At first I thought you meant that the kids in the Korean dramas were disrespectful. I totally agree with you on your opinion on Disney Channel. I first noticed this with the main character of Wizards of Waverly Place because to me it seemed like it was supporting the fact that children should ridicule and be sassy to their parents. When my cousin comes over, I ask her to avoid watching those Disney Channel shows.

[Mrs. P]

For those of you who haven't watch Flower Boy Next Door, you've got to watch it!
For once there is no over dramatic scenes where there is some crazy misunderstanding which could be solved by simply having faith in the other person and not jumping to conclusion. I think this was only possible because of the sheer optimism and confidence exuded by Enrique's character. The character development for Dok Mi's character was good too and seemed almost realistic given the length of the drama.
The ending was the best ending of any K-drama that I've watched. For me it didn't leave anything hanging.

Loopy what do you mean by the "respect" issue between child and parent?

I'm so behind, though! So much going on in life, I'm still on episode 12. Trying not to read the spoilers!

[Mrs. P]

Okay, I finally finished Flower Boy Next Door last week. I didn't like where the show was heading on Ep. 15, it appeared that the K-Drama cliches were starting to seep in, but luckily they were just faking all of us out. I thought the ending was quite lovely.

FTnoona, I do agree that the nature of Enrique's character is a big reason they were able to avoid the cliche. Enrique is clearly not one who is into doing things for one's good and in fact gave Dok Mi a hard time for trying to play the "noble idiot" card.

So I'm now going through Civil Level 7 Servant, which is a spy comedy. It's pretty good so far. It has the star from Ghost Mask, which I loved. It's fun to see a different side to him in this drama!