[REVIEW] TV series "Good Day"

"Good Day" - Premiere episode, KBS TV (8:25 PM)

There is a consistent rule in a daily dramas, especially in ones produced by major broadcaster KBS. The rule starts off with the existence of a certain type of female lead character who is poor with no family -- or one who is better off not having one at all -- but has a cheerful and sturdy personality. The capable, hard-working man from a loving family who lives with his parents and grandparents, and the cool, rich guy who says he is not interested in becoming the heir to the family business are also must-have characters. The plot must not be too complicated or too realistic either as it is viewed by housewives on a daily basis. A business company is depicted as a place where character Yeon-shil (played by Na Young-hee), who owns the company and bosses her husband around, will utter "Please speed up the new product development and contribute to the sales growth of our company," to Dae-han (played by Jin Yi-han), a new team leader under the age of thirty. Romance is played out comedically, almost. The character Man-se (played by Seo Hyo-rim), who pretended to be innocent by saying "How can I go on a trip with a man, just the two of us?", puts a large bowl under her shirt and lies that she is pregnant to repel her enemy.

Of course, there is no need to place significant meaning to most of the incidents in the beginning of the drama as they are only set up as groundwork to the story to create future conflicts when the main characters decide to get married and everyone sharply opposes the marriage. The suicide attempt by Min-kook (played by Lee Hyun-jin), who tries to kill himself on a Han River bridge after getting dumped by his girlfriend, appears to be one of those incidents. While the comedic acting by several young actors is disappointing -- it is hard to tell whether the disappointment is due to the story or lack of good acting skills -- but actress Kim So-eun appears quite stable, in comparison, playing the main nothing-can-bring-me-down type character Oh-bok. One only wonders whether this drama, whose story began from ordinary set-ups, will progress and follow in the footsteps of other trashy family dramas. If it does not, it will undoubtedly be a truly refreshing development to the story.

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr