Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Possible extension for Personal Taste

Producers for MBC’s Personal Taste are currently in talks to extend the drama another four episodes, bringing the total to 20 rather than the scheduled 16.

A source with MBC’s drama department stated, “We are sounding out the issue of an extension cautiously. In the event the cast members agree to the extension, we are looking into four more episodes. This will be decided within this week.” A different source within the same department said, “We haven’t decided whether to extend the drama so we don’t know how many more episodes there will be. The production company is also deliberating whether to extend or not.”

Getting the exhausted actors onboard for an extra two weeks has been indicated as a prime issue, as they may not feel up to more all-nighters and hectic shooting schedules. Also, actor Kim Ji-suk is scheduled to enter army service just four days after the intended finale. The production will have to figure out how to manage without him, or work something else out.

The drama is managing with ratings numbers that are okay, but not great (low- to mid-teens). Still, in context the performance has been relatively strong, and this is the station’s highest-performing show in this slot since 2008, considering that MBC has had failure after failure (numbers-wise; I’m not talking quality here) in the Wednesday-Thursday race. (You can read more in this post, which details the trend.) As such, there’s some hope that Personal Taste may begin a revival for the broadcaster.

Furthermore, Lee Min-ho is once again attracting buzz for his performance, and as with his star-making turn in last year’s Boys Before Flowers, he’s setting fashion trends (for Jin-ho’s breezy, office-casual stlye) and getting more CF deals as a result. As the romance with Sohn Ye-jin heats up, viewer responses have been generally favorable.

credit : javabeans

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