Queen Of Housewives

''Queen of Housewives'' (; also known as ''My Wife Is a Superwoman'') is a 2009 South Korean romantic comedy television series, starring Kim Nam-joo, Oh Ji-ho, Yoon Sang-hyun, Lee Hye-young, Choi Cheol-ho, and Sunwoo Sun. It depicts the life of "naejo," housewives who devote their entire lives to their husbands' success, but with a more comedic and aggressive twist. It aired on MBC from March 16 to May 19, 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.

The hit drama topped the ratings chart during its run, and created new trends among married women in terms of fashion and makeup. Actress Kim Nam-joo received numerous accolades for her acting comeback after an 8-year hiatus, and the series also served as the breakout vehicle of actor Yoon Sang-hyun.

Plot

Chun Ji-ae ( Kim Nam-joo) had it all... in high school. Pretty and popular, she was the school's queen bee, while awkward Yang Bong-soon (Lee Hye-young) was the exact opposite. The two were initially friends, until Ji-ae stole Bong-soon's crush, Han Joon-hyuk ( Choi Cheol-ho). Fast-forward to middle-aged married life, and their roles have become reversed. Ji-ae struggles with household finances because she married Ohn Dal-soo ( Oh Ji-ho), a once-promising university graduate turned unemployed pushover, while Joon-hyuk, whom Bong-soon married after Ji-ae dumped him, is now a successful executive.

Dal-soo finally gets a shot at a decent job at top company Queen's Food, where Joon-hyuk happens to be his new boss. Joon-hyuk still carries a torch for Ji-ae, and he makes it a point to make Dal-soo's internship as difficult and demeaning as possible. Meanwhile, determined to help her smart but clueless husband climb the corporate ladder, Ji-ae joins a social wives club to support him. The wives' power plays are directly correlative to their husbands' positions in the company (meaning, the higher-ranking the husband, the higher-ranking the wife), and Ji-ae sets aside her pride to curry favor and jockey for position. She immediately thrives within the wives' inner circle, but she's constantly thwarted by her ex-best friend, Bong-soon.

Then Dal-soo runs into his college friend Eun So-hyun ( Sunwoo Sun), wife of Heo Tae-joon ( Yoon Sang-hyun), the current president of Queen's Food. Stuck in a loveless marriage, So-hyun wants to have an affair with Dal-soo, while indolent chaebol Tae-joon gradually finds himself attracted to Ji-ae. The three couples interact in a confusing mix of romance, friendship, and workplace politics.

Cast

Main characters

* Kim Nam-joo as Chun Ji-ae
* Oh Ji-ho as Ohn Dal-soo
* Lee Hye-young as Yang Bong-soon
* Yoon Sang-hyun as Heo Tae-joon
* Choi Cheol-ho as Han Joon-hyuk
* Sunwoo Sun as Eun So-hyun
* Kim Chang-wan as Kim Hong-shik
* Na Young-hee as Jang Young-sook

Supporting characters

;Ji-ae and Bong-soon's high school classmates
* Park Joo-hee as Go Mi-young
* Lee Seung-ah as Kim Young-sun
* Jung Soo-young as Ji Hwa-ja
* Kim Do-yeon as Ahn Jung-sook

;Queen's Food husbands and wives
* Kim Yong-hee as Ha-chang
* Choi Ye-jin as Hwang-sook (Ha-chang's wife)
* Kim Jung-hak as Department chief Yang
* Hwang Hyo-eun as Lee Seul (chief Yang's wife)
* Hwang Jae-hee as Gong Young-min (HR manager's nephew)
* Joo Min-ha as Jung Go-woon (Young-min's wife, art gallery assistant)
* Lee Mae-ri as Jung-ran

;Extended cast
* Kang Soo-han as Han Hyuk-chan (Bong-soon and Joon-hyuk's son)
* Kim Sung-kyum as President Heo (Tae-joon's father)
* Yu Ji-in as Tae-joon's mother
* Kim Young-ran as Ji-ae's mother
* Baek Seung-hee as Hyang-suk
* Kim Ik-tae as jeweller
* Min Joon-hyun as Ohn Dal-soo's co-worker
* Lee Seung-ho
* Kim Seung-woo as police officer (cameo, ep 3)
* Shindong as couple in sauna (cameo, ep 11)
* Kim Shin-young as couple in sauna (cameo, ep 11)
* Kim Sung-min as Tae-joon's friend (cameo, ep 16)
* Jun Jin as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)
* Yoo Jae-suk as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)
* Park Myung-soo as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)
* Jung Hyung-don as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)

Ratings

Source
TNS Media Korea

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

*Philippines: IBC, title "My Wife is a Superwoman"

References

External links

''Queen of Housewives'' official MBC website

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{{Park Ji-eun

MBC TV television dramas
2009 South Korean television series debuts
2009 South Korean television series endings
Korean-language television shows
Television shows written by Park Ji-eun
Television series by Doremi Entertainment