Let's go old-school

TV & Movies K-Dramas
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Only slightly kidding here: how about a sexy man thread for ahjummas? And I mean real ahjummas, not girls who are being mean to their sunbaes at school/work.

I was happy to find Banker in the search results when it started on Viki in 2019. I had never seen Kim Sang-joong’s work before. I felt sure, once I read his Wikipedia bio, that I would not be disappointed. And I was not disappointed.

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My idea of a truly understated synopsis is what Wikipedia says about Banker: “No Dae-ho, an honest banker, tries to fight corruption.”

It was just when things were starting to get serious around the world, and I just wanted to watch a K-drama that was entertaining and escapist, intelligent and funny, and said simply that not every one of a certain age with certain types of responsibilities in life had lost his/her freaking mind.

Banker had me hooked from the first five minutes of the first episode. It has good music, an excellent show opener, a great script, the absolutely classic K-drama use of comedy relief in the middle of nerve-wracking uncertainty, and an ensemble cast with clear respect and appreciation for one another.

And it is not a problem whatsoever that the main character is portrayed by a handsome leading man who does not look like the average American banker

https://media.giphy.com/media/k6Vbs4FyOEbZK/giphy.gif

(Don’t you love how Giphy has a GIF file for every occasion?)

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LOL :rofl: , I have to check out Banker. I watched a lot of Kim Sang-joon’s dramas and he is a phenomenal actor. Since we are doing attractive older male Korean actors , what about Lee Byung-hun?

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Enlighten me. If his work is currently available on Viki, I’m ready to lose sleep!

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Lee Byung-hun is in many American movies , my favorite drama staring him on Viki is Memories of the Sword.

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Hmm. It’s kind of funny that, because I have been hooked on Viki for so long, I have missed out on a lot of American TV and movies. The quality of a lot of what I have seen over the past ten years has been pretty poor compared to what I have seen on Viki. So, I will definitely have to check out Lee Ahjussi here at Viki Central.

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Lee Byung Hun is one of my favorite actors. He was in “Iris”, “Mr. Sunshine” (NF), “Inside Men”, and he was also in “Red 2” with Bruce Willis.

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I loved Red 2. Was Lee Byung Hun a goodie or a baddie? Another excuse to binge my addiction on Youtube.

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He was a “badass”.

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You wouldn’t say he has eye candy potential, but man does he have a list of dramas under his belt.
The first time I saw him was in Queen Seon Deok and he didn’t speak but his presence was remarkable. He is always a supporting actor, but he always managed to live his characters. I applaud him.

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There are many actors I “followed” for now almost 12 years:

Sexy is not the first aspect I am looking up an actors work but it does not hurt and there are several ways of sexy.

How about:

https://www.soompi.com/article/1374729wpp/lee-seo-jin-rings-in-the-new-year-with-donation-joins-community-chest-of-koreas-honor-society

or

https://www.soompi.com/article/1373654wpp/go-soo-talks-about-why-he-chose-money-game-as-his-next-drama-and-why-its-a-must-watch

or

or

Sorry I can’t come up with a picture gallery … I was collecting some in my early drama years, no longer, since I changed devices 2 times - I started to keep “the memory” slim. Really slim.

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My favorite actor and personality is this cool and sweet man Jang Hyuk, he’s very versatile and his laughing is contagious!


I think Kwon Sang Woo is equally hot :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

another charismatic actor would be Song Seung Hoon :star_struck:

and Ji Sung is a funny and a serious actor as well :wink:

and Joo Sang Wook is very charismatic :relaxed:

and who doesn’t know Jin Ji Hee :laughing:

lastly Oh Ji Ho, I like him in Rom/Com dramas or movies the best

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Prison Playbook was awesome to watch because of this guy.

Park Hae Soo - 박해수 - Rakuten Viki

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I forgot Mr. Voice, how could I?

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Jung Sang Hoon was hilarious in Team Bulldog…he didn’t get the nickname “Dimple Dad” for nothing!
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Just about the time this list of very watchable gentlemen got posted, I got distracted by my phone crapping out on me and having to get a new one, so I could not reply and say, “Oh, yes, lovely men all” until now.

Have seen them all in various contexts and they are all wonderful actors; they have all kept me on the edge of my chair, waiting for their characters (depending on the drama) to successfully blow something up, take down an evil conglomerate, snatch a damsel in distress from train tracks, or FINALLY after many struggles, open their wounded hearts to the woman they are bound to by that red thread of fate.

Since I seem to be, in relationship to to most of the posters on this list, a REAL ahjumma, these gentlemen are young enough to be my sons. The actors I find attractive as men and admirable as actors you undoubtedly would see as cheesy and cringe-worthy.

Character actors in family dramas have always appealed to me. Family dramas themselves delight me because they remind me of all the books I loved as a child and young adult.

I have so many Charles Dickens novels. He had a very “K-drama” life, rising from utter, abject, unbelievable poverty to become first a muck-raking journalist and then the best known, best-loved, highest-paid, wealthiest writer of his era.

When young, he was very handsome, and he snagged a well-to-do wife.

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(from Wikipedia)

Along the way, he and his wife became estranged, he took a mistress, he suffered from the stress of being found out, he and his wife eventually divorced (a scandal in Victorian England), he took ill on one of his many tours (by train) to read from his works to enraptured audiences, and he died after catching a chill, leaving one unfinished work, a tantalizing mystery with no solution.

Because he was busy being rich, he had little time to bond with his children–who all grew up unhappy and mediocre in the shadow of his genius.

https://observer.com/2012/12/daddy-issues-on-the-worthless-brood-of-charles-dickens/

Perhaps because his real life was really, really sad and crappy, his novels are full of main and minor characters that you feel sorry for and/or want to care about, even if they are despicable. His sympathy for the underdog is intense, and his pity for the wicked is as well.

Right now, two “Dickensian” family dramas that have me hooked are Be My Happy Family and A Good Supper. I just love these shows for their writing, their exploration of what keeps families together, what breaks them apart.

I also love all the food porn. :drooling_face:

And THESE are the actors in family dramas that I personally find appealing: Nam Kyung Eup, Byun Woo Min, Kim Young Ho, Han Jung Ho, Choi Jung Woo, Ryu Jin, Im Hyung Joon.

“Ooh, Halmoni, how can you like them? They are so old!”

Exactly. I am older than Kim Hye Ok (who I think does a wonderful, plotting, over-the-top job as the scheming chef in A Good Supper.

https://mydramalist.com/people/1489-kim-hye-ok

Family dramas definitely appeal to me because they don’t spit out actresses and stomp on them once those actresses have “aged out” of the ingenue category.

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@entwyfhasbeenfound,
Hope you’re doing well, do take care. (◍•ᴗ•◍):heart:

I’m sure I’ve watched her in Royal Family, and definitely Baby Faced Beauty. Plus others not listed here on Viki.