''The King of Dramas'' () is a 2012

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n television series, starring

Kim Myung-min Kim Myung-min (, born October 8, 1972) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the television series '' Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shin'' (2004), '' White Tower'' (2007), ''Beethoven Virus'' (2008), ''Six Flying Dragons'' ...

Jung Ryeo-won Jung Ryeo-won (born January 21, 1981) is a South Korean-born Korean Australian actress. She began her entertainment career as a singer in the now-defunct girl group Chakra, and first rose to fame in the hit television series '' My Name Is Kim S ...

and Choi Siwon of

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their prominent ...

. It is a satirical dramedy about what goes on behind the scenes in making a

TV drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

. It aired on SBS from November 5, 2012, to January 8, 2013, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 18 episodes.

Plot

Set against the backdrop of the Korean entertainment business, ''The King of Dramas'' revolves around Anthony Kim (

), the brilliant CEO of a drama production company who will do anything and everything for the sake of money, fame and success. He is known to possess the Midas touch as he has created blockbuster dramas and Hallyu stars. When a death on the set precipitates his fall from grace, Anthony attempts to regain his former status by putting the drama ''The Morning of Keijo'' on air. And to accomplish that, he needs the help of idealistic Lee Go-eun (

), who dreams of becoming a top writer someday, and the handsome but egoistic actor Kang Hyun-min ( Choi Siwon).

Cast

;Main characters *

as Anthony Kim - a drama production company CEO, who is commanding and shrewd, even under adverse circumstances. *

as Lee Go-eun - an idealistic, rookie writer. *

Choi Si-won Choi Si-won (; born 7 April 1986), known mononymously as Siwon, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, model, and actor known for his work as a member of South Korean boy group Super Junior. Choi committed as special representative of UNICEF K ...

as Kang Hyun-min - self-absorbed top star and Hallyu celebrity, lead actor of ''The Morning of Keijo''. *

Jung Man-sik Jung Man-sik (; born December 11, 1974) is a South Korean actor. His name is also romanized as ''Jeong Man-sik'' or ''Joung Man-sik''. Filmography Film Television series * '' Jungle Fish 2'' (KBS2, 2010) * '' Athena: Goddess of War'' (SBS, ...

as Oh Jin-wan - Anthony's nemesis, the underhanded CEO of Empire Productions. *

Oh Ji-eun Oh Ji-eun (born December 30, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her roles in the weekend drama '' Three Brothers'', the daily drama ''Smile Again'', the sitcom ''Living Among the Rich'', the entertainment industry satire ''Th ...

as Sung Min-ah - prickly lead actress of ''The Morning of Keijo'', who shares a past with Anthony. *

Kwon Hae-hyo Kwon Hae-hyo (born November 6, 1965) is a South Korean television, film and stage actor. He is also an activist, involved in the Unite Our People Movement Headquarters, the Abolish the Family Registry and Create Family Equality Organization, the ...

as Nam Woon-hyung - current head of drama programming. *

Jung In-gi Jung In-gi (born September 12, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Jung made his acting debut in 1990, and has remained active in mainstream and independent film as well as television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunic ...

as Gu Young-mok - director of ''The Morning of Keijo''. ;Seoul Broadcasting Corporation *Song Min-hyung as Deputy director Kim *Jung Han-heon as Deputy director Park *Kim Seung-hwan as Lee Sung-jo *Lee Dong-hoon as Yoon Kwang-jae *

Yoon Joo-sang Yoon Joo-sang (born June 25, 1949) is a South Korean actor. In 2009, he won the Best Supporting Actor award during the 2009 KBS Drama Awards for his role in ''Iris''.'' Filmography Film *''Cane (Hoichori)'' (2011) *'' Miss Gold Digger'' (2007) ...

as Moon Sang-il - former head of drama programming. *Jeon Gook-hwan as SBC station CEO ;World Productions *Seo Dong-won as Joo Dong-seok *Heo Joon-seok as Han Kang-wook *Park Sang-hun as Park Seok-hyun *Yoon Yong-jin as Gu Hee-jae ;Empire Productions *Seo Joo-hee as Jung Hong-joo *Kim Kyung-bum as Director Heo *Jang Won-young as Drama director Hong *Lee Hae-woon as PD Park *

Park Geun-hyung Park Geun-hyung (born June 7, 1940) is a South Korean actor. His career in film, television and theater has spanned over five decades. Filmography Film *''7 People in the Cellar'' (1969) *''Lovers of Seoul'' (1973) *''Spies in the National A ...

as Chairman of Empire Productions ;Extended cast *Choi Soo-eun as Yoon Bit-na - the pop star Hyun-min is dating. *Sung Byung-sook as Park Kang-ja - Go-eun's mother and restaurant proprietor. *Oh Hyun-soo as Choi Do-hyung *Park Kyu-sun as Bae Kwang-soo *

Jeon Moo-song Jeon Moo-song (born September 28, 1941) is a South Korean actor. Jeon began his career on stage in the play 'Chunhyangjeon' in 1964 and has since been active in Korean theatre, film and television. In 1977, he performed as the title character ...

as Watanabe - Japanese

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

investor. *

Mina Fujii is a Japanese actress. She started her career in the entertainment industry at the age of nine. She is best known for her role in the TV adaptation of '' Bloody Monday'', ''Kyōfu'', and for appearing in TVXQ's "Dōshite Kimi o Suki ni Natte Sh ...

as Akiko - Watanabe's wife *

Jang Hyun-sung Jang Hyun-sung (born July 17, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He started his acting career as a member of the ''Hakjeon'' Theatre Company, before transitioning to film and television. Jang is best known for starring in director Song Il-gon's art ...

as Watanabe Kenji - new CEO of Watanabe Group. *

Jung Chan Jung Chan (born February 23, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film * ''The Young Man'' (1994) * ''Extras'' (1998) * '' Over the Rainbow'' (2002) * ''Road Movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave ho ...

as chairman of Taesan Group *

Park Shin-hye Park Shin-hye (, born February 18, 1990) is a South Korean actress and singer. She gained recognition as a child on TV shows such as ''Stairway to Heaven'' (2003), and ''Tree of Heaven'' (2006). Later on, she would achieve further success when ...

as lead actress of ''Elegant Revenge'' (cameo, ep 1) *

Choi Tae-joon Choi Tae-joon (, born July 7, 1991) is a South Korean actor, model and TV host. He first gained recognition for his villainous supporting role in the disaster-mystery drama ''Missing 9'' (2017). He has since taken on lead roles in melodrama ''E ...

as Oh In-sung - lead actor of ''Elegant Revenge'' (cameo, ep 1) *Park Joon-geum as Hyun-min's mother (cameo, ep 7)

Production

This was Kim Myung-min's first TV series in four years; his last series was ''

Beethoven Virus ''Beethoven Virus'' () is a 2008 South Korean television series starring Kim Myung-min, Lee Ji-ah, and Jang Keun-suk. The show drew attention for being the first Korean drama to depict the lives of classical musicians, an orchestra and ordinar ...

'' in 2008 and the actor had focused more on his film career in recent years. The series is directed by Hong Sung-chang of ''

You're Beautiful "You're Beautiful" is a song by English singer-songwriter James Blunt. It was written by Blunt, Sacha Skarbek and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album, ''Back to Bedlam'' (2004). It was released as the third single of the album in 2005. In th ...

'' and written by

Jang Hang-jun Jang Hang-jun (born September 17, 1969) is a South Korean film director and television director, and also screenwriter in both fields. He is also professor at the Department of Theater and Film at Digital Seoul Culture Arts University. He made ...

of ''

Sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

''. Filming began on September 14, 2012, in

Yeouido Yeouido (Hangul: 여의도, en, Yoi Island or Yeoui Island) is a large island (or eyot) on the Han River (Korea), Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It is Seoul's main finance and investment banking district. Its 8.4 square kilometers are home to ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. Choi Siwon filmed his first scene on September 26 with Jung Ryeo-won. He sang a solo during his character's fan meeting scene, for which he recruited his fans as extras. It was announced on December 17 that the series was extended by two episodes from the original 16 to 18. The finale aired on January 8, 2013, with the last two episodes focusing on the romance between the characters of Anthony Kim and Lee Go-eun.

Reception

References

External links

''The King of Dramas'' official SBS website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King of Dramas, The Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas Korean-language television shows 2012 South Korean television series debuts 2012 South Korean television series endings Television series about television South Korean romantic comedy television series South Korean comedy-drama television series