Season 1
[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Castaway Diva (2023, tvN) written by Park Hye-ryun starring Park Eun-bin, Kim Hyo-jin, Chae Jong-hyeop, Cha Hak-yeon of VIXX and Kim Joo-hun. Grace admires actress Park Eun-bin and her extraordinary acting abilities where she shines playing weirdo characters. Grace critiques the ridiculous ageism and sexism of the Korean entertainment industry by treating a woman in her late 30s as washed up. Grace highlights the relationship between two singers Ran-joo and Mok-ha, and how they lift each other up. Grace encourages everyone to ask themselves, “Why give up on the thing you love?” Grace discusses the SAG strike and how it affected the entire town and hurt artists and local businesses financially. If there is artwork you love, go and treat yourself so that you and the artist may connect cosmically. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses an old school K-drama called Into the Sunlight (1999, MBC) starring Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Ha-neul, Cha Tae-hyun and Jang Hyuk. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Destined with You (2023, Netflix) starring Rowoon and Jo Bo-ah. Grace is disappointed by K-dramas’ boring trope of past lives coming back to haunt couples in the present life. She wants to see something new. Grace discusses Jo Bo-ah’s co-hosting gig on Baek Jong-won’s Back Alley with chef and restauranteur Baek Jong-won and Kim Sung-joo. Grace also admires Rowoon’s charm. Grace also discusses how art is given to loved ones as a gift and wonders what the function of these artworks are. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Daily Dose of Sunshine (2023, Netflix). The show stars actress Park Bo-young and tackles mental illness stigma, socio-cultural factors that contribute to mental illness, and the helplessness that people feel. Grace is still battling a cold, and her psychologist is telling her to quit therapy because she’s all better. Grace also discusses her first sangha experience at the Won Buddhist Center with a Korean monk. Grace also talks about the Korean Friendship Bell park in San Pedro. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
No K-drama today. School is closed because the host is ill. Get your flu shots!
No K-drama coverage today. Grace is home visiting her parents for the first time in 7 years and is having mystical encounters with friends, animals, and family. It’s a wild time. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Doona! (2023, Netflix) starring K-pop star Bae Suzy formerly of Miss A and actor Yang Se-jong. Grace borrows a concept called the “superfemale” named in Richard Dyer’s 1979 star studies text Stars to analyze Doona’s K-pop star figure as a superfemale archetype. Grace is also humbled by the show’s ending and pleasantly surprised by its maturity. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show The Light in Your Eyes (2019, JTBC) starring veteran K-drama actress Kim Hye-ja. Kim Hye-ja’s first Korean TV series entitled Frog Husband (1969) which was controversial but showed MBC and its competitors that TV viewers want scandal. Kim Hye-ja is also famous for speaking up on her frustration for being older and more experienced and a better actress in her older age and yet having less and less roles written for her. Grace gets into the significance of fishcakes in kimchi jjigae in The Light in Your Eyes as well as the appreciation for Son Ho-jun’s comedic brilliance on this show. Grace’s guest is Berlin-based comedian Julieta Degese (@dcgjulieta on Instagram). Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is April 23, 2024: https://shorturl.at/fAFY1. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
Grace reviews a few shows from the past that are ideal for autumn viewing to chase those fall blues away such as Autumn in My Heart, Something in the Rain, and Now, We Are Breaking Up. All three shows are romantic K-dramas with a depressive tone that captures the seasonal changes that people feel around this time of the year. Grace recommends watching Autumn in My Heart to compare against Now, We Are Breaking Up even just to track Song Hye-kyo’s acting improvement jump between two decades. Grace also asks all artists never to discount the small steps they take towards the bigger execution of their project ideas. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Please visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.
[Spoiler Alert] K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television now has a pre-order link available on Amazon! Release date has been updated to April 23, 2024. Grace discusses the show Behind Your Touch (2023, JTBC) written by Lee Nam-kyu and directed by Kim Suk-yoon who also directed My Liberation Notes. Grace brings up the concept of the gireogi dad, dabang, and rural villages with serial killers. Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the show at http://www.patreon.com/kdramaschool. Please visit the K-Drama School Store at http://www.kdramaschool/com/store. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.