The Greatest Love (tv series)
| The Greatest Love | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional Poster for The Greatest Love |
|
| Also known as | Best Love |
| Format | Romance Comedy |
| Directed by | Park Hong-kyun Lee Dong-yoon |
| Starring | Cha Seung-won Gong Hyo-jin Yoon Kye-sang Yoo In-na |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Kim Jin-man |
| Running time | Wednesday & Thursday 21:50 (KST) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MBC |
| Original airing | May 11, 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Royal Family |
| Followed by | Heartstrings |
The Greatest Love a.k.a. Best Love is a 2011 South Korean romantic comedy series broadcasted by MBC.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
From the famed Hong Sisters comes this hit romantic comedy about true love in the fake world of entertainment.[1]
Gu Ae-jung (Gong Hyo-jin) was the most popular member of girl group Kukbo Sonyeo, literally meaning "National Treasure Girls," some 10 years ago, but fell from grace after becoming embroiled in scandals. She makes appearances on television programs to eke out a living for her troublemaker father and brother. On the other hand Dokko Jin (Cha Seung-won) is the most beloved star in the nation, topping all kinds of popularity polls and appearing in many commercials, but has several character flaws. Ae-jung discovers a secret about Jin by chance and reveals it on a talk show, incurring his fury. However, their ill-fated relationship unfolds in an unexpected way as Jin falls for Ae-jung and tries to win her heart.[2]
Yoo In-na plays the role of another star Kang Se-ri, who used to be in Kukbo Sonyeo with Ae-jung. But whereas Ae-jung was more famous in her heyday and Se-ri was a nobody, now every girl wants to be just like Kang Se-ri. She dated Dokko Jin for a short time, but despite their breakup, they keep up the pretense that they’re still dating to avoid negative publicity. Se-ri is also the host of popular TV dating show Couple Making Season 3. [3]
Yoon Kye-sang portrays Yoon Pil-joo, a well-mannered, thoughtful and caring doctor of Oriental medicine. He has no interest in celebrities and their outrageous lives. Under pressure from his mother, he agrees to appear on a TV dating show, but after finding out that Ae-jung will also be appearing on the same show, he becomes very eager to meet her.[2][3] Fictional dating show Couple Making Season 3 is based on MBC’s real variety program We Got Married, where they throw celebrities into fake relationships for the cameras. The concept is a competition-based mat-seon program, essentially setting up people on blind dates for the purposes of finding a marriage partner. The major difference is that in Couple Making, celebrity ladies compete over a non-celebrity eligible bachelor who gives them roses to prevent their elimination (a la The Bachelor), which is how Yoon Pil-joo ends up as a contestant on the show. [4]
The mix of the main characters’ mismatched personalities with the necessity to maintain (or recoup in Ae-jung’s case) public sentiment makes for great hijinks and drama, not to mention an interesting meta social commentary on the entertainment industry and the star-making and -breaking power of image.[4]
[edit] Production
Writers Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran, aka the "Hong Sisters,"[5] are known for their witty lines in dramas such as Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang (2005), My Girl (2005), Fantasy Couple (2006), Hong Gil Dong (2008), You’re Beautiful (2009) and My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010). According to Director Park Hong-kyun (who previously helmed Queen Seondeok), the Hong Sisters' adeptness at character comedy is how The Greatest Love hopes to differentiate itself from other trendy dramas airing on Korean television in Spring 2011. Though the drama draws from gossip people hear about celebrities, Cha said during the drama's press conference that he also wants to show a bright, healthy side of the entertainment scene in Korea. He admitted that entertainers do hide behind their image due to their job. "However, this drama will show they are just genuine people off-camera," Cha said. Yoon added that, "The script is very realistic, giving a fun sneak peek into what is going on behind the scenes."[2]
Cha has described his comedic acting as technical while his co-star Gong's is more naturalistic and reactive. They believe they struck a good balance between their two acting styles, which benefited the drama greatly.[6][7]
[edit] Ratings
The Greatest Love posted an average viewership rating of 16.6 percent on Total National Multimedia Statistics’ (TNmS) chart and 19.5 percent on AGB Nielsen Media Research’s (AGB) poll, with its final episode, in particular, marking 21 percent on AGB's survey to surpass the 20 percent mark for the first time. It topped the Wednesdays and Thursdays primetime TV chart for five consecutive weeks.[8]
[edit] Cast
- Cha Seung-won as Dokko Jin
- Gong Hyo-jin as Gu Ae-jung
- Yoon Kye-sang as Yoon Pil-joo
- Yoo In-na as Kang Se-ri
- Yang Han-yeol as Gu Hyung-kyu (Ae-jung's nephew)
- Jung Joon-ha as Gu Ae-hwan (Ae-jung's brother/manager)
- Lee Hee-jin as Jenny
- Im Ji-kyu as Kim Jae-seok (Jin's manager)
- Choi Hwa-jung as Representative Moon (president of Jin's agency)
- Bae Seul-gi as Han Mi-na
- Jung Man-shik as Manager Jang
- Choi Sung-min as Kim Eun-ho (Couple Making PD)
- Kim Mi-jin as Han Myung-jung (Couple Making writer)
- Park Won-sook as Pil-joo's mother
- Han Jin-hee as Gu Ja-chul (Ae-jung's father)
- Jeong Gyu-soo as Cardiac surgeon
- Hyoyoung as Harumi
Cameos
- Episode 1
- Episodes 1-2 (Quiz to Change the World)
- Episodes 3-4
- Episode 9
- Episode 10
- Episode 14 (Section TV)
- Episode 15-16 (Ideal Type World Cup)
[edit] Soundtrack
The Greatest Love Original Soundtrack was released on July 14, 2011.[9] Notable contributors include K.Will, G.NA, SunnyHill, IU, Baek Ji Young and Superstar K2 winner Huh Gak.
01 리얼러브송 - 케이윌 K.Will
02 내 사람이라서 - G.NA
03 두근두근 (Original Ver) - 써니힐 SunnyHill
04 내 손을 잡아 – 아이유 IU
05 나를 잊지 말아요 – 허각 Huh Gak (Superstar K2)
06 눈물나게 사랑해 – 빅마마 소울 Big Mama Soul
07 아이캔’t 드링크 I can ‘t drink - 백지영 Baek Ji Young
08 LOVE LOVE - 최수진 Choi Sujin
09 Hero (inst)
10 Destiny (inst)
11 네잎클로버 (inst) (四葉)幸運草
12 Good boy (inst)
13 사랑은 (inst) 愛情
[edit] References
- ^ Greatest Love DramaFever.
- ^ a b c TV soap to peek into celebrity life Korea Times. May 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Synopsis and Character Descriptions MBC Global Media.
- ^ a b Best Love: Hong Sisters’ meta lens on k-variety Dramabeans. April 22, 2011.
- ^ Interview with the Hong Sisters 10Asia/Electric Ground. June 27, 2011.
- ^ Interview: Actor Cha Seung-won 10Asia. June 27, 2011.
- ^ Interview: Actress Kong Hyo-jin - Part 1 10Asia. July 8, 2011.
- ^ MBC “The Greatest Love” exits after 5th straight win on TV chart 10Asia. June 24, 2011.
- ^ http://www.yesasia.com/us/the-greatest-love-ost-mbc-tv-drama/1024675516-0-0-0-en/info.html
[edit] External links
- MBC Official Site (Korean)
- The Greatest Love at HanCinema
- Episode recaps at Dramabeans
