This past weekend brought with it the end of a rather quirky and quite hilarious drama and since I haven’t written one of these “you have to go watch it right now” posts in a while, I thought I’d try to get back in the habit starting with Producer.
Airing on KBS2 from May 15 – June 20, Producer took a unique approach to storytelling as it followed the lives of several different television producers in a sort of documentary type setting reminiscent of The Office. Baek Seung Chan (Kim Soo Hyun) is the rookie of the bunch, assigned to the variety department, he hopes to join the team of his college sunbae (whom he’s had a secret crush on for years) but is instead assigned to the program, 2 Days, 1 Night, under PD Ra Joon Mo (Cha Tae Hyun). On the first day of work, Seung Chan has several run-ins with Music Bank‘s main PD, Tak Ye Jin (Gong Hyo Jin), which lands the two in a rather unusual relationship. While observing the production of Music Bank, Seung Chan meets idol superstar, Cindy (IU), who doesn’t seem to serve much purpose beyond irking Ye Jin to no end but things take an interesting turn as the story progresses. Before long these four find themselves caught up in each other’s lives in ways they never could have expected but they come to find that sometimes, the unexpected things in life are what ultimately bring the greatest joy.
To try to explain this drama in any further detail would be impossible as the stories of these four characters, as well as a handful of minor characters, unfolds in such a way that diving into details would require pages and pages of commentary. Let me just say this drama is a lot of fun to watch because you do find yourself so involved in the everyday life of these characters. And what wonderful characters they are! Unique, colorful and incredibly realistic, each of the characters in this story is portrayed in such a way, you find yourself wishing they were real just so you could meet up some day after work for dinner, drinks and laughs. Baek Seung Chan is such an adorably awkward duck, you can’t help but fall for him. Tak Ye Jin is rough around the edges but only because her position in a tough, male-dominated field has made her so. Ra Joon Mo seems to be the most put-together of the bunch but even he has a tough time trying to keep his life and career from falling apart and Cindy… Well Cindy is one of those characters you start out believing is nothing but the worst sort of person imaginable but by the end you couldn’t feel more differently about. I was personally determined to hate her from the start but I failed miserably… So much so it was she who had me bawling my eyes out by the end and she I cheered the most for as the final credits rolled. In short, she became my favorite, which totally took me by surprise.
I suppose some might be put off by the rather unconventional style of this drama but like I said earlier, it does have a feel quite similar to The Office so if you know that going in, you might be better prepared to accept this drama as is. Personally, I was hooked on this one from the very beginning but that’s probably because I know exactly what it’s like to life the life of a television PD (aka producer) because once upon a time I was one. So many aspects of this drama hit home for me and a few caused me to suffer mild anxiety attacks as I recalled, with perfect clarity, the agony and stress that comes with living that life. (There are no words to describe the horror of making a broadcast mistake. Death is all you wish for in that moment. Ugh!) I’m sure for those who don’t have such a connection to the broadcast world, this show won’t hit you quite the same way it hits me. Even so, the originality of the characters and the way their lives intersect should still make this drama a fun one to watch. There were so many times I started laughing so hard my sides hurt and the moments always appeared out of nowhere, which only made them that much more hilarious.
While I can’t guarantee you’ll love this drama any more than I can guarantee you’ll love any drama I recommend, I can tell you this one is definitely worth your time. The cast is phenomenal, the story is original, the love square is agonizingly ambiguous which means you spend a lot of time wondering which side you want to ship more (which is both good and bad, depending on how into your ships you get) and the ending leaves you feeling satisfied, which, as you know, is an impressive feat in the Dramaverse.
Of course my thoughts on a drama don’t always match your own so let me know what you thought of Producer by leaving me a comment below! Oh! And if you’re looking for a more in-depth discussion of this one, be sure to check out my weekly review here!