''Successful Story of a Bright Girl'' () is a 2002 South Korean television series starring

Jang Na-ra Jang Na-ra (; born March 18, 1981) is a South Korean singer and actress active in both the South Korean and Chinese entertainment industries since 2001. She rose to prominence with her hit studio album ''Sweet Dream'' in 2002, and starred in wel ...

, Jang Hyuk, Han Eun-jung and

Ryu Soo-young Ryu Su-young (born Eo Nam-seon on September 5, 1979) is a South Korean actor. He made his first appearance on television as a college student on a cooking show in 1998, then starred in the controversial film '' Summertime'' (2001). This was follo ...

. It aired on SBS from March 13 to May 2, 2002, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 16 episodes. The

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

series recorded a peak viewership rating of 42.6%.

Plot

Cha Yang-soon (

) is a simple girl living in the countryside with her grandmother. She spends most of her time dreaming of someday meeting her Prince Charming; in her fantasy, she saves him from harm with her martial arts skills, and they live happily ever after. Han Gi-tae ( Jang Hyuk) is the spoiled and arrogant president of a successful makeup company, Snowy Cosmetics. While in the country on business, Gi-tae goes parachuting and accidentally falls straight into Yang-soon's outdoor bathtub while she's taking a bath, and it's hate at first sight for the two. Soon, dire circumstances impel Yang-soon to move to the city in search of a job that will allow her to settle her parents' massive financial debts. To earn all the necessary cash, she becomes a maid for a wealthy family and moves into their house. At her new job, she comes face-to-face with Gi-tae, who happens to be one of her employers. At first Yang-soon has trouble adjusting to city life; she gets bullied at school and doesn't get along with Gi-tae's girlfriend Yoon Na-hee ( Han Eun-jung). But she soon makes friends with siblings Song Seok-gu ( Yoon Tae-young) and Song Bo-bae ( Choo Ja-hyun); Bo-bae becomes her best friend, and Seok-gu seems attracted to her. Also, the short-tempered Gi-tae slowly warms up to her as Yang-soon teaches him a thing or two about manners with her folksy, down-to-earth, no-nonsense approach to life. But things take a serious turn when Gi-tae, the heir of the family business, finds himself betrayed by a pair of duplicitous family members: his rival and cousin Oh Joon-tae (

), and Joon-tae's father. Their behind-the-scenes intrigues lead to Gi-tae's professional downfall. Distraught by the situation and suddenly penniless, Gi-tae has no one to turn to except Yang-soon. She teaches him to stand on his own two feet, and with hard work and creativity, gain back everything he's lost.

Cast

Main

as Cha Yang-soon * Jang Hyuk as Han Gi-tae

Supporting

* Han Eun-jung as Yoon Na-hee *

as Oh Joon-tae * Yoon Tae-young as Song Seok-gu * Choo Ja-hyun as Song Bo-bae *Jung Min as Young-chan, Gi-tae's friend *Oh Seung-eun as Jin-joo, Na-hee's friend *

Lee Hye-sook Lee Hye-sook (born September 4, 1962) is a South Korean actress. She began acting in 1979, and has remained active in Korean cinema and television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting mo ...

as Moon Jung-im, Na-hee's mother * Hong Yo-seob as Director Oh, Joon-tae's father *

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 Chief Joo, product development chief *Choi Yong-min as Chief of public relations *

Lee Seung-hyung Lee Seung-hyung is a South Korean actor. He is best known as a supporting actor in television dramas, notably in ''Brilliant Legacy'' (2009) and ''Prosecutor Princess ''Prosecutor Princess'' () is a 2010 South Korean television series starring ...

as Assistant chief of public relations * Kim Young-ok as Yang-soon's grandmother *Park Soon-chun as Yang-soon's mother *Jo Hyung-ki as Yang-soon's father

Accolades

2002
SBS Drama Awards The SBS Drama Awards (), also known as SBS Awards Festival, is an awards ceremony presented annually by Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) for outstanding achievements in Korean dramas aired on its network. It is held annually on December 31. The hi ...

*Top Excellence Award, Actor: Jang Hyuk *Top 10 Stars:

, Jang Hyuk *New Star Award:

, Han Eun-jung

2003
Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, are awards for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea. The awards were first introduced in 1965 by Chang Key-young, the founder of the Hankook Ilbo newspap ...

*Best New Actress (TV):

Remake

A 2011

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese remake titled '' Sunny Girl'' (陽光天使; lit. "Sunshine Angel") starred Rainie Yang and

Wu Chun Wu Chun ( zh, t=吳尊; born Goh Kiat Chun, Joseph Wu on 10 October 1979) is a Bruneian actor, singer, and model. He was a member of Fahrenheit, a Taiwanese Mandopop vocal quartet boy band, from its debut in 2005 to June 2011, singing bass. Wu ...

in the lead roles. An Indonesian remake was titled ''I Love You, Boss!''.

References

External links

''Successful Story of a Bright Girl'' official SBS website
* *{{IMDb title, 0396350 2002 South Korean television series debuts 2002 South Korean television series endings Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas South Korean romantic comedy television series