MBC received the worst report card with a viewership rating of ‘1%’

《Taeyuna’s Listening Bodbo》
Reporter Tae Yu-na and Ten Asia will properly cover all aspects of the drama based on what she heard and saw on the spot. We will be the eyes and ears of readers in an age where dramas are flooding in on numerous channels.

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MBC's Friday-Saturday drama received its worst report card since its establishment in 2021. Mini-series, excluding one-act plays, showed a miserable viewership rating of around 1%. This may be due to the fierce competition in the same time slot, but the biggest problem is the sloppiness and childishness of the work itself.

'Season of Kkokdu' is a romantic fantasy story that unfolds when Kkokdu (played by Kim Jeong-hyun), the god of death who comes down to this world every 99 years to punish humans, meets Han Hane-jeol (played by Lim Soo-hyang), a visiting doctor with mysterious abilities.

However, 'Kkokdu's Season', which aired up to episode 6, only shows the clumsy Kkokdu trying to get Season's confession and Season getting angry, irritated, and crying over and over again. Not only do they have romantic chemistry, but when they meet, they argue and fight, which goes beyond bickering and is even exhausting.

Even though he is the god of the underworld, the sight of him not being able to move in front of Se-si completely ruined the viewers' expectations for a transcendent being, and the sight of Se-si still not being aware of the existence of Gkokdu and hoping for his memory loss to return only causes frustration.

Even though it is a romantic fantasy, it is natural that the content is poor because it fails to capture either romance or fantasy. The characters Oksin (played by Kim In-kwon) and Gaksin (played by Cha Jeong-hwa), who only cause B-level comedy, have unclear reasons for their existence.

This was partly due to the fact that there were strong competitors such as the dramas 'Agency', 'One Scandal', and 'The Law', but because 'Season of the Kokdu' itself lacked charm, the viewership ratings also declined, starting with 4.8% in the first episode and dropping to 1.9% after 6 episodes. plummeted.

MBC launched a new Friday-Saturday drama in 2021, and the first drama, excluding the four-part ‘Check the Event’, was ‘Black Sun’ starring Namgoong Min. At that time, 'Black Sun' succeeded in achieving a viewership rating of close to 10%, ranking first in the same time slot even in competition with SBS Friday-Saturday dramas.

Afterwards, works such as 'Red Sleeves', 'Tracer', and 'Big Mouth' gained popularity, and 'Red Sleeves' starring Lee Jun-ho and Lee Se-young recorded a syndrome box office success, garnering the highest viewership rating of 17.4%. 'Big Mouth' starring Lee Jong-seok and Yoona also recorded 13.7%, and Namgoong Min and Lee Jong-seok won the 'MBC Drama Awards' grand prize for 'Black Sun' and 'Big Mouth', respectively.

'Tomorrow' and 'Golden Marriage' achieved somewhat poor results, but their lowest viewer ratings were also at 2-3%. The only time it fell to the 1% range was ‘Kkokdu Season’.

Controversy over private life It was buzzing with Kim Jung-hyun's comeback, but when it was finally revealed, it was embarrassingly quiet, 'Season of the Puppet'. In a situation where it has been labeled as the worst report card in history, there is not even a chance for a rebound. This is because SBS will present Season 2 of ‘Model Taxi’, which recorded the highest viewership rating of 16% in Season 1, starting on the 17th. 'Agency' and 'Ilta Scandal' are also showing a further upward trend as they enter the latter half of the year. It is a time when MBC's worries deepen about how far the 'Season of Kokdu', which is in a dilemma, will fall.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr