Personal Taste
| Personal Taste | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Personal Taste | |
| Genre | Romantic Comedy Drama |
| Written by | Kim Hee-ju |
| Directed by | Son Hyung-suk Noh Jong-chan |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Han Hee |
| Running time | Wednesdays and Thursday at 21:55 (KST) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation |
| Release | 31 March – 20 May 2010 |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 개인의 취향 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 凱茵取向 |
| Revised Romanization | Kaeinui Chwihyang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kaein-ŭi Ch‘wihyang |
Personal Taste (Korean: 개인의 취향; Hanja: 凱茵取向; RR: Kaeinui Chwihyang; MR: Kaein-ŭi Ch‘wihyang; lit. "Gae-in's Taste" or "Gae-in's Preference"; also known as Personal Preference) is a 2010 South Korean television series, starring Son Ye-jin and Lee Min-ho. It is adapted from Lee Se-in's 2007 novel of the same name about a furniture designer, Park Gae-in, who lives together with architect Jeon Jin-ho under the mistaken assumption that he's gay.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It was broadcast on Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) from March 31 to May 20, 2010 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 16 episodes.
Plot
Furniture designer Park Gae-in (Son Ye-jin) is kind, impulsive, clumsy, and a complete slob in her personal habits. She lives in Sanggojae (meaning "a place for mutual love"), a modernized hanok (traditional Korean house) designed by her father, a famous and reclusive architecture professor (Kang Shin-il). Naive and trusting, she has been dating longtime boyfriend Han Chang-ryul (Kim Ji-seok) for years despite the fact that he takes her for granted. One day, without so much as a word of explanation, he breaks up with her and all but disappears. Then Gae-in is invited to the wedding of her good friend and roommate Kim In-hee (Wang Ji-hye) and is horrified to discover that the husband-to-be in none other than Chang-ryul; the two had been cheating on her for some time. When she finally comes face-to-face with them, the wedding ceremony breaks out into utter chaos. Gae-in is heartbroken, and determined to never take a chance on a man again.
Meanwhile, to keep his small firm afloat, architect Jeon Jin-ho (Lee Min-ho) is desperately trying to win a project bid for the Dam Art Center against Future Construction, the prestigious company owned and operated by Chang-ryul's father (Ahn Suk-hwan). In order to win the favor of the Dam Art Center director, and win the moneymaking bid, Jin-ho has to find a way to dig up more information about the art center director’s favorite building: Sanggojae, which has never even once been opened to the public,.
Knowing that Gae-in would never let a man (let alone a stranger) be her new roommate, the straitlaced (and straight) Jin-ho pretends to be gay to get access to the house — and all the information that he's sure is hidden within. At the same time, the DAC director (Ryoo Seung-ryong), who actually is gay, finds himself attracted to Jin-ho. Once they start living together, Jin-ho gradually embarks on a mission to make over the inveterate tomboy/slob, but in all the mayhem of the makeover and hiding his true orientation, the unexpected happens and the perfectionist architect begins to fall in love with Gae-in. What will happen when the man who’s pretending to be gay and the woman who thinks he’s gay develop feelings for each other?[7][8]
Cast
- Son Ye-jin as Park Gae-in[9][10]
- Lee Min-ho as Jeon Jin-ho[11][12]
- Kim Ji-seok as Han Chang-ryul
- Wang Ji-hye as Kim In-hee
- Ryoo Seung-ryong as Choi Do-bin
- Jo Eun-ji as Lee Young-sun
- Jung Sung-hwa as Noh Sang-jun
- Im Seulong as Kim Tae-hoon[13]
- Choi Eun-seo as Na Hye-mi
- Park Hae-mi as Jeon Jang-mi
- Ahn Suk-hwan as Han Yoon-sub
- Jang Won-young as Secretary Kim
- Kang Shin-il as Park Chul-han
- Yoon Eun-hye as Yoon Eun-soo (cameo)
- Bong Tae-gyu as Lee Won-ho (cameo)
- Jung Chan as Groom (cameo)
- Song Sun-mi as Bride (cameo)
- Julien Kang as Joe (cameo)
- Kim Nam-gil as man sitting in cafe (cameo)
Architecture
One of the production's main sponsors was Design and Arts Arcadia of Myungseung, and the storyline contains many references to DAAM as the project that all the architectural firms are competing to design for.[14]
The hanok used in the drama series (called Sanggojae in the script) is actually Rakgojae, a traditional guest house in Bukchon Hanok Village, Gye-dong, Jongno District. Meaning "a place to enjoy tradition," Rakgojae was renovated by master carpenter Chung Young-jin. It offers a glimpse of the lifestyle of Joseon-era scholars by incorporating fine art, music, dance and poetry through colorful cultural programs such as a tea ceremony, ink-and-wash painting lessons, Korean musical instrument lessons and kimchi-making classes.[15]
One of the locations frequented by the main characters is Kring art gallery, in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. The creative cultural space showcases a variety of arts ranging from architecture and fashion to installations and digital art. The unique facade of the building is itself a large-scale urban sculpture. Circles are a theme throughout the building, but the front wall is reminiscent of stereo speakers, hinting at the name of the building. "Kring" means "circle" in Dutch.[15]
Ratings
| Date | Episode[16] | Nationwide | Seoul |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-03-31 | 1 | 12.7 (8th) | 13.7 (8th) |
| 2010-04-01 | 2 | 11.4 (12th) | 11.9 (11th) |
| 2010-04-07 | 3 | 12.9 (9th) | 14.5 (6th) |
| 2010-04-08 | 4 | 12.8 (10th) | 14.0 (10th) |
| 2010-04-14 | 5 | 13.0 (7th) | 14.3 (7th) |
| 2010-04-15 | 6 | 12.2 (10th) | 13.1 (9th) |
| 2010-04-21 | 7 | 13.6 (6th) | 15.1 (5th) |
| 2010-04-22 | 8 | 13.0 (9th) | 13.9 (8th) |
| 2010-04-28 | 9 | 14.2 (7th) | 15.8 (6th) |
| 2010-04-29 | 10 | 13.9 (8th) | 15.0 (6th) |
| 2010-05-05 | 11 | 16.2 (4th) | 17.6 (4th) |
| 2010-05-06 | 12 | 14.3 (7th) | 15.8 (4th) |
| 2010-05-12 | 13 | 12.1 (5th) | 13.1 (5th) |
| 2010-05-13 | 14 | 13.2 (7th) | 14.3 (7th) |
| 2010-05-19 | 15 | 12.4 (7th) | 13.0 (7th) |
| 2010-05-20 | 16 | 14.3 (7th) | 14.9 (7th) |
| Average | 13.3% | 14.4% | |
References
- ^ Hong, Lucia (26 January 2010). "Son Ye-jin to star in new drama with Lee Min-ho". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ Lynn Kim, Lee Ji-hye (26 March 2010). "Son Ye-jin says relieved Lee Min-ho "not young-looking" (1)". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Lynn Kim, Lee Ji-hye (26 March 2010). "Son Ye-jin says relieved Lee Min-ho "not young-looking" (2)". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Yoon, Hee-seong (16 April 2010). "On the set of MBC TV series "Personal Taste"". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Yoon, Hee-seong (16 April 2010). ""Personal Taste" will gain flavor, says Son Ye-jin - Part 1". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Yoon, Hee-seong (16 April 2010). ""Personal Taste" will gain flavor, says Son Ye-jin - Part 2". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ "Personal Taste". Korea Tourism Organization. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
- ^ Lee, Ji-hye (26 March 2010). "PREVIEW: MBC TV series "Personal Taste"". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Han, Sang-hee (8 February 2010). "Top Actresses Heading Toward Small Screen". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Han, Sang-hee (30 March 2010). "Younger Men, Power, Money Fill Dramas". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Garcia, Cathy Rose A. (1 January 2010). "Lee Min-ho to Star in New MBC Drama". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Ko, Jae-wan (10 May 2010). "STAR DIARY: Lee Min-ho - Part 10". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Kim, Jessica (12 October 2010). "PIFF: Interview - 2AM member Im Seulong". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ "MBC 수목드라마 '개인의취향' 소재 다암예술원 눈길" (in Korean). Kyeongin Ilbo. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ a b Kang, Michelle (8 August 2011). "Seoul shows its dramatic side". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ "TNMS Media Korea". Retrieved 2012-11-10.