Top 5 Entertainment Industry Romances

Top 5 

Entertainment Industry Romances

One of K-Drama’s favourite scenarios has to be the entertainment industry. Most often set as a rom-com, dramas that take place in the entertainment industry are usually full of sharp wit and tongue-in-cheek humour. As the writers themselves are pretty deeply ingrained in the entertainment world, these dramas can be pretty rich in detail, and give us outsiders a bit of a peek into the world of glitz and glamour and scandals. Of course, they can also be completely unlike reality, but that’s almost the point- anything could be going on behind the scenes.

5: Dream High

‘Dream High’ is more like Entertainment High School rather than straight up Entertainment Industry, but it’s along a similar vein. Rather than focusing on characters that have already made it big in the entertainment world, this drama follows the lives of a bunch of young kids working to get there- much like an origins story. It depicts the cut-throat world of those trying to become stars, and just how many hoops you have to jump through until you can start choosing your own hoops. Each of the kids has a different struggle, and each story is filled with heart and laced with humour. The cast are all brilliant, most of them being successful idols themselves, and deliver endearing characters. The romance is admittedly rather light, but it's there in a sweet, high school, first-love kind of way. The love-triangle is super convincing, and it’s hard to pick which guy will win the girl’s heart. In the meantime, IU and Wooyoung have an adorable secondary love-line that will keep you satisfied until the main love-line kicks in.

4: My Love from the Stars

There’s so much else going on in this drama that it can often be easy to overlook that one half of our killer romance is actually a super famous top actress. While creepy murderers and alien shenanigans are definitely more in-your-face than the entertainment industry, our heroine being a top actress is actually what drives much of the plot. Our heroine is an actress that has fallen out of favour due to scandals and has to claw her way back to the top- of course she also has the help of her mystical alien Do Manager. The romance is absolutely on fire, and having one of the leads as a famous actress gives the romance the usual hiccups- can’t be seen being romantic in public, hero gets to swoop in and save the day when anti-fans try and spoil everything etcetera, etcetera. 

3: The Producers

When you think ‘entertainment industry’ you usually go straight to actor and idols, but ‘Producers’ takes a nice little look in on those that work behind the scenes and the different stories they have to tell. The drama is shot in a deeply funny mocumentary style, and is enhanced with tasteful cameos of famous actors and singers portraying themselves. Again, this is one of the dramas with better crossed love-lines as it’s never clear who’s going to end up with who. Our main characters are mostly PDs, and show us what kind of work goes in behind the scenes of our favourite music and variety shows. The drama has the typical entertainment hierarchy with the entertainment companies on top, PDs and behind the scenes workers down the bottom, and the ever-changing fanbase holding a hell of a lot of power. 

2: You’re Beautiful

Everything about this drama is entertainment industry. The main characters are a bunch of boys (and one cross-dressing girl) that are part of a hit boy-band. Of course, scandals are the big issue in this drama with most of the tension coming from the fear of the members being found out (both because one's cross-dressing and also because they are maybe sort of dating each other). Our hero is absolutely delightful as a completely stuck-up star, and it’s endlessly fun to see his softer side start to show once he started to actually feel things. The soundtrack is particularly good, and the whole show is totally caught up in the magic and mayhem of Korea’s entertainment world.

1: The Greatest Love

Of all the K-Dramas I’ve seen, ‘Greatest Love’ probably explores the entertainment industry in the most depth. It goes a step further than a drama that simply shows the hierarchy, and shows the hierarchy within the hierarchy. Not all actors are the same level, and ‘Greatest Love’ depicts this by having each half of the romance come from completely different levels. Our hero is an A-Grade actor at the peak of his career and our heroine is a has-been idol who hasn’t done anything decent in years. While work flows naturally to the hero, the heroine has to fight hard for every appearance and every shred of work. The drama focuses heavily on the opinion of the public and how it can either make or break someone’s career, regardless of what the truth behind the scandal actually is. The romance is extremely addictive, and hits most of the entertainment-industry-romance-complication bumps in a fresh, funny, and heart-tugging way.

What are your favourite Entertainment Industry romances?

Top 5 Gong Hyo Jin Dramas

Top 5 

Gong Hyo Jin Dramas

Gong Hyo Jin is in no way an unknown face K-Dramaland. Her dramas somehow always manage to make it onto people’s favourite lists, so chances are if you’ve already dipped your toes in the K-Drama water, it's likely you've already encountered her. Gong Hyo Jin has a knack for picking great projects (there have been some duds also, but we’ll ignore that for the moment), and tends to play her characters with a straightforward, likeable attitude. Her chemistry with her costars tends to be pretty explosive- making for some delightful, addictive romances. Regardless of if you liked or loved (or heaven forbid disliked) the drama, shows with Gong Hyo Jin always remain memorable.

5: Jealousy Incarnate

It’s not my favourite drama- far from it. But the fact is, when considering a ‘Top 5’ you can’t ignore the opinion of the masses. And according to the masses this is a fabulous drama. Gong Hyo Jin’s character does feel a little similar to other characters she’s played, but the effect was still nice. In a world so full of Candy heroines, Gong Hyo Jin always feels like a breath of fresh air- and she continues to be that way in ‘Jealousy’. She brings the humour in a fantastic way, but what really sells the show is her adorable bickering dialogue with Jo Jung Seok. The two get along like a house on fire, and that alone is worth the watch.

4: Master’s Sun

Gong Hyo Jin plays another plucky heroine, with the small addition of seeing the dead. The show really captures Gong Hyo Jin’s wonderful ability to bring out the earnestness of her character in the midst of a comedic scene. While there can be some hilarious ghost shenanigans going on, Gong Hyo Jin’s character never feels like a ridiculous cartoon character. She plays the part (as she usually does) with a delightful mix of humour and sincerity, and it gives the show a great deal of heart. Also, she’s got wonderful chemistry with the lead, So Ji Sub.

3: The Producers

Definitely one of my favourite Gong Hyo Jin dramas- the mockumentary style seems as if it was made for her. It totally capitalises on her straight-faced humour, and somehow it’s always funny to see her blatantly state something in interview, and then act the complete opposite (unknowingly of course) once the cameras were turned. The writers seemed well aware of what Gong Hyo Jin’s strengths are, and so the story and character just suit her perfectly. The character’s overplayed and often misplaced confidence becomes doublely hilarious when paired with bright-eyed honesty that Gong Hyo Jin exudes. And let’s not forget the love-lines. There are love-lines everywhere so Gong Hyo Jin gets to rub her chemistry on everyone. She has an adorable noona-romace line with Kim Soo Hyun, and a comfortable, hilarious friends-to-lovers line with Cha Tae Hyun. It’s icing on the cake that Cha Tae Hyun is such comedic gold- when you put the two together the result is marvellously hysterical.

2: The Greatest Love

This is one of Gong Hyo Jin’s funniest works in my opinion. While much of the humour comes from the wackiness of her costar Cha Seung Won, Gong Hyo Jin plays her character with the same straight-faced humour she’s known for, which provides a solid base for the comedy to work around. She grounds the series in reality and gives it a sincere tone, while allowing full room for Cha Seung Won’s antics. What sets this drama apart from the rest is the constant banter between the two characters that is laced with humour, wit, and often deeper meaning. While the comedy is what makes the drama stand out, the romance is what gives the show an addictive quality, and Gong Hyo Jin is charming throughout. 

1: Hello My Teacher

I still remain completely and totally baffled as to why this drama is so wonderful. It really shouldn’t be when you look at it on paper, and yet whatever Top List I’m trying to make, I always want to sneak it on because I LOVE IT. The ridiculous chemistry between Gong Hyo Jin and Gong Yoo is probably what did it. The drama is fairly early on in both their careers, so the casting director probably didn’t even know what an absolute gold mine he was hitting when he put them together. The whole story becomes hilarious and heartwarming just because the two leads make it so. No one else in the drama really matters, and doesn’t that just go to show what great actors they both are- they completely monopolise screen time and story, yet make it into a highly successful drama rather than a total flop.

What are your favourite Gong Hyo Jin dramas?

The Greatest Love

The Greatest Love

8/10

The Greatest Love

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                            Year: 2011

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Gu Ae Jung was once the popular leader of a famous girl group, but after the group disbanded her image was ruined. Meanwhile, Dokgo Jin is a popular actor at the hight of his career. Ae Jung continues to meet Dokgo Jin in a series of chance encounters, and their relationship turns from general dislike into a begrudging friendship.

Cast:

Cha Seung Won (Dokgo Jin)

Gong Hyo Jin (Gu Ae Jung)

Yoon Kye Sang (Yoon Pil Joo)

Yoo In Na (Kang Se Ri)

Lee Hee Jin (Jenny)

Im Ji Kyu (Kim Jae Suk)

General Thoughts:

I see now why the Hong Sisters have such a good reputation. The writing for this drama was fun, witty, and the dialogue really made the relationship between our two leads much more enjoyable. Two thumbs up.

Fun and funny

Having one of our leads being a famous celebrity is nothing new, but I must say that I enjoyed this scenario much more than I have enjoyed the celebrity aspect of K-Dramas previously. For starters, the Entertainment Industry wasn’t treated as the greatest thing ever, nor was it treated as this horribly dark place with a shiny exterior- it was just a business with a lot of employees, each trying to get ahead in their careers. Like any other workplace there were nasty people in it, but there were also good, likeable people in it. One of the better aspects is that the President of Dokgo’s company wasn’t an evil, money-hungry woman- she was a business woman, and even when she was slightly meddlesome, it was clear she was intervening out of a desire to do what was best for both Dokgo and Ae Jung- which is always nice to see.

And boy, 'fans' can get pretty darn nasty

A large part of this drama’s conflict is the idea of image, which is an interesting idea to explore. Despite being a wonderful, lovely person you can have a bad image, and good image is what you really need to be successful. It was interesting that the drama treated the celebrities images as a tangible thing, rather than an abstract concept. It was something to be traded and given away- but also something that could be taken from you.

Ahh...the things you'll do for a good image

The biggest conflict was definitely how the relationship between our leads would impact their images. Other dramas I’ve seen haven’t really managed to snag what is so important about image, but ‘Greatest Love’ did an excellent job. It was always understandable why the two didn’t want to run headfirst into this relationship, because without image neither of them have a way to make money and support themselves- because their image is their career. It was much more interesting to have the conflict between our two leads as something internal rather than external. While the problem itself was purely external (how will the public respond), it was the way Dokgo and Ae Jung handled that problem that sparked much of the interest. It wasn’t as though they were two people deeply in love separated by some great external force- they were just two people who liked each other but weren’t sure how to go about it, as the relationship would have a negative impact on not only themselves, but the other person as well. The entertainment and investment came not from if they would move forward together but how they were going to move forward. The push-and-pull paired with witty dialogue was wonderful to watch and drew us in as an audience.

The pull made all the push worth it

Despite not having a lot of showy plot (there were no huge fights, or dangerous villains or mysteries to uncover), the show was extremely entertaining from beginning to end, and much of that credit has to go to our leads. Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin were just superb.

Half the fun is just waiting to see what ridiculousness he'll do next

They perfectly sold the relationship between the two characters and made it feel real- despite the occasional absurdities of their characters. I mean, what man that age can’t differentiate between his heart beating and liking a woman? But Cha Seung Won sold the character and his slight ridiculousness, and the humour that resulted from his confusion made it easy to overlook the over-simplified reasonings of Dokgo Jin. He was just hilarious. He never gave a half-hearted performance and really dived into the comedy. Gong Hyo Jin played a nice stable character for his silliness to bounce off of, and actually made the humour seem more real. Alone, Dokgo Jin seems ridiculous, but paired with the world the Hong Sisters created and Ae Jung, it becomes quite plausible that he’s a man that turns into a bit of a weirdo when he’s alone or around people he’s comfortable with. The show gave us a very understandable world filled with likeable, funny characters that really dazzled, and the whole thing was just an extremely enjoyable, fun ride.

What Was Great:

The Cast:

Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin are just perfect. Usually one of the leads tends to sparkle a little bit brighter than the other, but the two here were so perfectly matched. Not only did they have a heap of romantic chemistry going on, but their comedic chemistry was also firing on all cylinders.

They suit each other like it's nobody's business

The two really bounced of each other’s energy in the comedic scenes (of which there were so many), and so the humour just seemed to build and build as the drama went on. Not only that, but they were both able to so perfectly undercut a comedic scene with a moment of real sincerity, which gave the show a lot more heart than your standard rom-com.

Pretty sure he pinched this move off Kim Jong Kook

Yoon Kye Sung did an amazing job as the second male lead. Despite Pil Joo not being that exciting on paper (he’s your typical nice guy second lead), Yoon Kye Sung gave him a whole heap of personality that a different actor probably wouldn’t have been able to generate. He gave Pil Joo a bit of a dorky, nerdy air about him, so he wasn’t just a dreamy doctor- he was a dreamy doctor who was a bit too in love with his job and seemed just a tad detached from the world around him. He was also never simplistically nice- Yoon Kye Sung clearly showed Pil Joo’s pain and heartache, but also his dislike for Dokgo. A couple of times he teetered on the edge of doing something douchey to discredit Dokgo or make himself seem better to Ae Jung, but after some quiet deliberation he always made the nice guy choice. He might not have ended up with the girl, but man he made one hell of an adorable, endearing character. If I didn’t find Dokgo so amusing yet sincere, I probably would have ended up on the Pil-line. These three leads were really the heart and soul of the show, and it was the interactions between these characters that held a lot of the show’s entertainment- be it comedy or conflict.

A Multitude of Metaphors:

I probably didn’t even grasp the meaning of half the banter that floated around in this drama, but what I did catch on to was so, so, so funny.

Never before has a potato held so much meaning

Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of push-and-pull relationships as I tend to find them a bit tedious- ‘I love you but I won’t go to you blah blah blah’. But pairing the push-and-pull dynamic with a bunch of hidden meanings becomes far more interesting. When characters straight-up say what they mean and the relationship still doesn’t move forward it can be a little exasperating, but when they communicate their feelings through metaphors it somehow becomes much more enjoyable. Sure, if handled badly the metaphors would probably still be exasperating, but here it was all handled in a funny, witty way, and there was always forward movement on one end of the relationship.

Because you for sure need a heart monitor to make sure you're in love

There were potatoes and flowers and heart-beats and cartoon characters and Pororo and cars and broken machinery and superheroes, and I don’t even think the writers could keep track of how many metaphors they put in there.

What Wasn’t:

Some Small Plot Weaknesses:

The strength of the show was really its characters and cast- not so much the plot. With so much going on between the two leads, and even the second leads, it didn’t really matter that there wasn’t a heap of other external stuff going on. However, there were a couple of times it was a bit obvious that the plot was really only being held up by the greatness of its characters.

I so prefer angst-ing together to separation angst though

The whole National Treasure Girls plot seemed pretty thin to me. I was expecting something huge to have happened to explain why Ae Jung’s old manager hated her so much, but there wasn’t a lot of substance to it. While the situation behind the girl group’s breakup was sufficient, the manager seemed a bit too obsessive and butt-hurt about something that didn’t seem to impact him all that much. It was also pretty weak how we didn’t get to be a part of Doggo’s surgery. A lot of the series had Dokgo protecting and supporting Ae Jung, and I really wanted her to be with him during his surgery- or at least during his recovery. The idea of Dokgo dying played a pretty important role in getting the two together and admitting their feelings for each other, so it did seem a little weird that we went from the middle of Dokgo’s heart surgery to two months later with not a lot of dramatic tension behind it. We’d been building up to this moment for several episodes, so even if we didn’t really think our main man would die, it felt odd not to have a big recovery moment.

Re-watch?

Potentially. These days I rarely watch things twice as K-Dramaland keeps churning out so many new things I want to watch. Even if I don’t watch the whole thing again, I might come back for an episode or two.

When potatoes and flowers don't work, a snog always gets the message across