Looking for the worst drama suggestion

Level up (that Sung Hoon again? He’s everywhere!) being worse than The Undateables? Now that’s going on the next list! I started watching The Undateables because you had posted this elsewhere


With such a stellar opinion I had to check it out and two or three episodes in my reaction to her ability to do comedy was something like

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@irmar-- I share your pain – and even worse than just watching was to have committed to be on the team on several of the dramas you list – working on a series when I couldn’t understand the plot after working on every episode, praying for the broadcasting station to announce episodes were going to be cut
Add My Heart Twinkle Twinkle https://www.viki.com/tv/25936c-my-heart-twinkle-twinkle- I could never figure out the relationship between the title and the drama. I was the channel manager! Can you guess the story is about the fast food fried chicken business? The story started with three sisters but there was a scandal about the middle sister so her part was cut out and she just disappeared from the story. And it turned out in real life the actress who was cut out of the plot was actually a victim and not the perpetrator. The number of episodes were cut. The producer did not even bother to publish the OST. One of the reviewers wrote “Seriously the worst show I have ever watched, without a doubt. Unbearable. Spent half the time skipping, hoping it would get better and the female characters would redeem themselves. It didn’t and they didn’t.”
Add Playful Kiss (Korean version) https://www.viki.com/tv/504c-playful-kiss – This rom com is enormously popular at viki but I thought it was just silly.

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I watched both the Korean and the Japanese version and I really can’t decide which one is worse. It’s the kind of female character I hate, and it gives such a bad example to youngsters: that if you’re clingy and pathetic and beg the man, he will become yours at the end.

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I watched the Japanese version (S1 & 2) over on Cruncyroll, for some strange reason they had a handful of dramas along with all the anime’s.
It’s a good watch to get a fix of the underdog always winning or if you’re a down on your luck gambler because she has better luck than the Irish and an uncanny ability to fend off all love rivals to win out in the end, deflecting them off better than the shield to the Death Star. Hooray for happy endings!

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Ah-- I forgot probably one of the most expensive to produce awful dramas
Arthdal Chronicles! I’m told it was a poor take off of Game of Thrones but I can’t say because I didn’t watch Game of Thrones as I don’t subscribe to the service which produced it. It was like Song Joong Ki was an Asian Pict - except instead of painting himself blue he literally had blue blood, and was a horse whisperer. He played a “primitive” enslaved by the tribe led by Jang Dong Gun as well as the son of Jang Dong Gun. Kim Ji Won was a vestal virgin. Jang Dong Gun played a warrior king whose birth secret is that he also bleeds blue. As I watched the series I kept on thinking every weekend, I should be doing something productive. I kept on hoping it would get better but it didn’t – the ending leaves you in the air with the hint there might be a season 2.

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I simply had to Google this from your description and there’s a lot of chatter about the release date of season 2, so it looks like your wish has been granted! You’ll have to put off de-fluffing your belly button for another day.

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Was going to read the webtoon first then watch the drama for comparison. But the webtoon only had 6 chapters, the rest nowhere to be found (on desktop browser) but I did get the look and feel just on those chapters. I thought I’d see if the show was any good standing on it’s own two legs. Having just finished it, have to agree 100% about it being all over the place.
Just comparing the bits of the webtoon and the shows version of those chapters, I could see why the show was nowhere near the quality of the webtoon.
The really poor editing of the end of episode 4 left me completely baffled for the entire 5th episode with me rewinding to see if I hadn’t fallen asleep and missed a crucial plot point that would explain away the ??? now floating above my head.
Struck by lightning - got it, Falls into sea - right, Rescued - sure, Cuts to 2 months later - ooooh kaaay,
Ma Ri sits next to Jae Min like in ep 1 - ok I can see what they’re hinting at… Ep 4 ends.
EP 5 -Joseon period drama - Wait what? Let me jump back to Ep 4, I must have missed something MAJOR! Nope, next 5 episode is two months later but recounting the past.
5 episodes is a hell of a long recounting, but just as I’m getting the hang of who is who across the times and their story. BLAM the “mini” story ends and we have to join it all up to what happens next.
Someone just poured a big bucket of ??? over me!
I just installed the Android app and found the missing webtoon chapters (behind daily pass so only 2 chapters per day, but I’ll take it!) even there the thumbnails doesn’t have remotely anything looking Joseon period?!
You’d have to mess things up pretty badly if even Twilight was probably better put together than this!

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Yes, unfortunately the webtoon is now locked past ch 6. It didn’t use to be that way, but now it is. It’s a way so webtoon can get more money… It’s possible to get it from a third party website, but I prefer webtoon. But here’s the link to the whole thing on another website Orange Marmalade hopefully that helps… Also for those wondering, there is nothing to do with the Joseon period in the webtoon, it was just something unnecessary that the writer for the kdrama thew in.

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Just like me, haha, I didn’t finish it, I would need to look up what I wrote down about it either 4 or 6 and I was - o u t!

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Finally got to the end of The Undatables, most of it with a :grimacing: obligation expression to the comedy that didn’t work (Jeung Eum mistakenly chucking handsome guy into the river and the dad fight raised a giggle I’ll give them that) the show also failed in getting across the emotions of the romances or breakups that were quite central to the show.
It’s one thing to watch a High School drama because you know what age the characters are supposed to be, but it’s quite disconcerting when a lot of the supposed 30-40 somethings are skipping and acting with the mannerisms of a 5 year old child (some deliberate to deliver a gag) dose not equal youthfulness. :grimacing: again.
Then there was the fate connection between the characters, a friends since childhood and a dash of didn’t know x was actually young x from long ago plot maybe, but practically everyone sharing some connected fate? They were more intertwined than the rats nest of cables under my desk!
Shame really, the show had potential had they approached it slightly differently and concentrated on the matchmaking a bunch of misfits concept, as the show improved slightly later on when they gave that aspect more air time.
So all in all, quite dire. Thanks!
Now, Level Up was worse than this? Computer, open the airlocks, I’m going in!

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Haha, Viki just told me I did 30% of the conversation here. So I make a shout out to the rest out there join the game with dramas that made you shudder, gave your hair more spliss, made you bite your desk, ruined your toes because you either hit the wall or whatever, …
Dear Viki, it’s not me giving the others no chance to share their experience, they are not giving this chance to themselves.
So what, did I originally wanted to write? Ah, Level Up, I watched it … And I forgot about it. Do I have a virus? I don’t know since a few weeks my biological hard disk fails more often on me. Sometimes I think maybe I should watch this drama and then I find it on my already watched list. I can’t help it.
Btw, Sung Hoon is in it, that much I recall. I wished you could watch him in New Tales of Giseng, his debut. There was a weird twist in it torwards the end, but even that couldn’t ruin our enjoyment.
Anyway, if my brain doesn’t even give me one scene that I recall, it can’t be too good.
Have “fun” watching!

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:laughing: This probably doesn’t qualify as the worst drama suggestion, but it is one of the drama’s that frustrated me so much because of what the characters are doing. Like someone described in the reviews - it’s like watching a car wreck you can’t look away from.

I actually wanted to check the Dutch subtitles for this show again, but just thinking about having to watch it again (I don’t like editing in the Bulk editor)/ reading the subtitles, makes me rethink that decision :sweat_smile:.

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Yes, I joined you in subbing that show halfway because it still seemed decent then. I was really glad when it was finished and I haven’t felt the need to watch it again :sweat_smile::laughing:

I don’t really have a worst drama suggestion. If I don’t like a drama I just slowly lose interest and often I will drop it before I’ve seen all episodes and forget about it.I’ve actually seen some dramas in recommendation lists that I had dropped and it made me wonder if they were as bad as I thought they were or if I should give them a second chance.

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Hahaa yes, I was so happy with your help :smile:

True. I noticed I take a lot more “breaks” now between and during dramas. Sometimes I’m not in the right mood for a certain drama. If I come back later, I will enjoy it more.

There is one drama that I’ve tried to go back to multiple times, but I just can’t stand to watch more than 10 minutes of. It had never happened to me before, but I just can’t finish watching it. It’s on Ntfx, can’t remember what it’s called… I have mentioned it elsewhere :sweat_smile:

That’s a good rating system for a show. The more frustrating, the lesser of your desk remains!

I’m 2/12 episode in and not really much has happened to make it a bad show, but that’s the problem, it’s so in the middle it’s no wonder you can’t remember much of it. Sung Hoon’s character has just decided to rescue Joybuster so things may change. Hope it’ll get worse to get better!

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Might not work for me, I think my desk has an all wood 3,5 cm thick plate, so … Might need to count dentist appointments :rofl:

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60 X 45 minute episodes. Yikes! that’s a fair amount of work. It is available in my region. How about this as a word of encouragement, when you’re suffering through the show, know that you are not alone, I will watch every episode too. Deal? Come on! FIGHTING!

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Oh yes, it does. And it’s also notable for the things that DON’T happen. Like chemistry, romance, character development and stuff like that.

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Hahaah thanks :smile:
I’ll chop up the project up and do the episodes bit by bit :wink:

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Some other titles:
Eccentric Chef Moon Sadly, it was a very bad career choice for both the star actors. They were both much better in all their other dramas I’ve seen them in. I loved her in Perfume and I loved him in … everything I’ve seen him in. Here they were both mediocre and boring, and I know it’s not their fault!
The story was old-fashioned and stale (if it weren’t for smartphones and such you would easily think that it’s a drama from 2000), chock-full of tired clichés: at every step we knew what was going to happen next. The initial misunderstandings, the amnesia, you name it, every trope in the book is there!
And the characters were so lazily written, they never came alive. We were told that Chef Moon is “eccentric”, but he’s just a regular guy, talented in cooking and warm-hearted, but with no particular personality. All the others are also cardboard “types”, seen a zillion times: the evil businessman, his obedient laquey, the spoiled chaebol lady, the chatty, warm-hearted, gossipy villagers for comic relief, the fat comic friend, the air-headed wannabe model, the “adorable” but smart child…
Sigh. The writer and director should never work in k-dramaland again.
I had missed Eric Mun so much that I endured this while cursing myself for wasting my time like this. I’m also someone who very rarely drops something when I have started it. But I kept it for the end of the day, just before bedtime, as it worked better than belladonna in making my eyes close by themselves.

Manhole (2017) Not nearly as good as “Operation Proposal”. The plot was more infuriating than interesting: It had no heart, no soul. Just mechanical comedy and stupidity. Good-looking male lead Kim Jae-Joong was over-the-top, he played for belly laughs. As for the Uee she looked so sick and undernourished and ugly, not to mention unlikeable as a character, that you couldn’t really root for the two of them. Jang Mi-Kwan was good but he shouldn’t have accepted to play such a role again. Jung Hye-Seong and Baro are good in their portrayal of snake-like friends. I wouldn’t recommend watching the drama because it has too many of the things I dislike.

Cinderella and Four Knights (2016) The less we say about it, the better. Still beating myself up for watching it until the end. The acting was very indifferent (I’ve seen all of them better in other dramas, so it must be the director’s fault) and the story was so predictable that you wanted to cry - seemed written by a teenager. By ep.5, you knew who was going to end up with whom, so the interest was lost - because the tired plot devices like past trauma etc. weren’t in the least capable of holding our attention. Generally, there are no surprises whatsoever.
The two main leads are super-handsome and sweet, but looking at them isn’t enough to engage the viewer. The female lead not only is plainer than plain, and with a masculine hairstyle that makes her no favors, but also has no charm whatsoever, and treats everyone as buddies. In no way was it believable that four good-looking men all fall for her. Yes, she is kind, good-hearted, but if someone has a good heart they can become a good friend, you don’t necessarily fall madly in love for them. In real life they would never think she’s girlfriend material.

Meloholic (2017) The writing was all over the place and especially towards the end, in the last two episodes, I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears.

The Starry Night, The Starry Sea Chinese drama. My bad for choosing to watch it when I know how bad most Chinese actors are, but it was because of the merman theme. The plot made no sense, the dialogues were trite and the acting so bad (either wooden, like the main lead, or super-blubbly cringey, like the female lead). Including a visibly gay actor cast as a Casanova. I don’t care a dime about what each person does in their own bed, but on screen you have to convince me you are your character. To top it all, the lame story ended with a needlessly tragic finale.

The Liar and his lover (2017) Interesting that we get to see the behind the scenes of idol factories. But it was poorly executed, both in writing and in acting. No chemistry between the two leads and not much acting either from either of them. The female lead has a very good voice, though.
The main lead’s attitude and character change for the better and the main couple’s love line is completed quite a few episodes before the end. After that, there is essentially nothing else for them to do and the show drags. Since the two leads have sorted out things and acknowledged that they like each other, becoming a couple, it seems that their relationship has nowhere else to go and nothing happens on that front. They act as good friends, that’s all. No passion, no longing, no flirting, nothing. I think that the so-called “bicycle kiss” is a strong contender for one of the worst kisses in k-drama. It even rivals the finale of Heartstrings in my opinion. Yet… The bland final episode left at least two stories unfinished.
The main problem, however, was the lackluster directing and the casting of all the young people. We’ve seen other non-stellar screenplays on fire when there is a solid cast and directing.

Bride of the Water God (2017) The story dragged on and on, more or less nothing happened, there was no poetry, no real romance, the actors were all very bad (except for the half-villain, a very pitiful character by an outstanding actor) and the plot was confusing, not well explained. The fantasy was minimal, since the god had lost his powers while on earth. The amount of frustration and dissatisfaction was directly proportional to the amount of eager anticipation one had before the drama started because the writer was the one who had written Misaeng!!!

Love With Flaws (2019) (I watched 4 episodes16)
Cardboard, cliché characters and situations (except the interesting note of the gay bartender, put there because it’s the trend now). If you’ve watched enough k-dramas, you know them, you’ve met them over and over. Cliché over cliché. The initial hate, the misunderstandings, the kind and gentle second lead, the best friend who has a good heart and humors the rude first lead, the chaebol grandmother, the chaebol daughter-in-law, the love which starts as a bet but will turn out to be otherwise (more misunderstandings are waiting when all this will be found out).
The only “original” thing is that the illness of the male lead is not a romantic, mysterious and rare thing like amnesia, prosopagnosia (although that one is hardly rare nowadays, at least in k-drama) and so on, but a very embarrassing and disgusting one, uncontrollable diarrhoea which almost makes him sh*t his pants a number of times and at least once succeeds. How are we going to be convinced of the guy being a romantic lead after seeing what we saw of him in the first few episodes?
That takes me to the humour. Gross humour (of the Waikiki kind, or of the three village idiots in Mama Fairy style). Exaggerated, over-the-top acting with rolling eyes, mouths twisted, twitching or open agape, distorted faces, hands clutching one’s behind to keep the excrement from blurting out, disgusting diarrhoea sound effects, this sort of definitely un-subtle thing.
The director and cameraman add to it by taking super-close head shots which make everybody’s faces look blown-up and grotesque. Everyone’s lipstick smeared beyond the natural lips to make them look even more like clowns. (WHY?)
The role of the main lead… okay, somebody must have hated the actor quite a lot to give him such a ridiculous, humiliating part to play (did his ex-wife pay the writer/director?). While also giving him the worst helmet haircut and the shiniest fuchsia lipstick on a flour-white puffy face with small slits for eyes, his whole forehead concealed by the bangs of the outdated coiffure, all carefully studied to make him look as bad as possible, while ironically every other character exclaims on how good-looking he is! Ahn Jae Hyun actually is a quite handsome man, judging from his other dramas like “Cinderella” and “Birth of a Beauty”. So it’s really puzzling. Why would they cut the branch off their feet by sabotaging their star? The only explanation is that they made him look his worst and gave him a ridiculous role on purpose, to humiliate him and ruin his career. I can find no other explanation. I am not getting into his acting because I don’t want to be unkind.

Rich Man Poor Woman:
I think I saw one episode and then I stopped. Conventional, sappy, cliché, old-fashioned, meh overacting. It could be understandable if the date was 2008 but no, it was 2018.

Welcome to Waikiki n.2
Couldn’t even finish a full episode. Gross slapstick of the worst kind. Grimacing, eye-rolling, eating with open mouth and spitting food out on people’s face, that sort of comedy. No thanks. My time is more valuable than that.

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