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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:56 pm Post subject: American shows on TV here... |
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http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200705/200705220017.html
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Korea in the Grip of U.S. Soap Fever
Korean viewers are gripped by U.S. soap fever. Cable and terrestrial channels are broadcasting more than 30 American soap operas. One soju commercial is modeled after US drama "C.S.I", and Wentworth Miller (35), the star of the drama "Prison Break", recently stopped off in Korea to meet the fans and act as a commercial model for Bean Pole Jeans. With the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement concluded, U.S. drama fever is expected to soar even higher. Under the agreement, U.S. investors are able to invest in Korean cable TV channels to the extent of owning a 100 percent stake. The new wave of popularity is quite different from the days when "The Six Million Dollar Man" was a hit.
▶ Cable TV leads
The generation now aged between 30 and 40 once went crazy for U.S. series. They loved "Wonder Woman", "Roots", "Little House on the Prairie", "V" and "The Incredible Hulk". At the time, people were able to see them only on terrestrial TV. But cable has revived the heyday of U.S. series. Sitcoms such as "Friends" and "Sex and the City", and dramas like "Desperate Housewives", "CSI" and "Lost" all owe their popularity to cable TV. The craze has broken all the rules of TV broadcasting in Korea, changing the concept that terrestrial TV leads and cable follows. KBS only belatedly caught on to "Desperate Housewives", and MBC aired "CSI: Miami" after cable TV. On Media and CJ Media, two major multiple program providers in the Korean cable industry, are now competing in broadcasting more than 30 U.S. dramas.
▶ Online buzz
Internet culture also helps produce fans of U.S. drama, with its multiplicity of themes from crime investigation and medical science to history and homosexuality. U.S. soap fever, in fact, owes much to online buzz from hardcore fans. Some say American soaps have created the largest number of fans in domestic mass culture. A U.S. soap-sharing internet club, Nate Drama 24 (http://club.nate.com/24), has 120,000 members, and the whopping 60 Internet fan communities for "Prison Break" have 200,000 members combined. Fans share whole downloadable episodes from P2P sites and watch them all night long. Hardcore fans of American drama build strong bonds of friendship by making subtitles in the Internet communities.
▶ A challenge to Korean soaps?
U.S. drama fever is a warning to domestic soap opera producers. In the mid-90s, Korean drama was unbeatable here, and Korean soap operas started leading a Korean pop culture wave in Asia. Now U.S. soaps are changing the traditional themes of Korean drama ? essentially good vs. evil and love triangles. "White Tower", a soap made based on a Japanese show of the same name, has drawn praise for focusing on power struggles without concessions to melodrama.
Prof. Choi Chang-sup, of the Department of Mass Communications at Sogang University, said, "Domestic drama has to improve its content to compete in a more challenging media environment.� Under the Korea-U.S. FTA, it is easier for U.S. drama to be aired in Korea, which will boost a trend to consume global products such among people between 20 and 30. For domestic drama to survive, producers need interesting scripts based on in-depth research. �We desperately need a drama-producing environment that does not depend on specific stars.� he added. |
A lot of Koreans I know are now really getting in to some of these series. This is nothing new, in the 80s Koreans love "V" and "Night Rider", but it's interesting to see how these shows compare to Korean ones.
There was an article a little while back about the differences... but I can't seem to find it now. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Prison break gonna have a third season? |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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I just can't believe Roots was popular here.
Probably laughed at all the Black people getting beat...  
I'm stuck on the idea that the words soap opera and drama are interchangable.
I think soap opera, I think "The Young and the Restless" or "General Hospital" not"Sex and The City."
I suppose teachers who teach adults have more to talk to their students about. I had a student (a 6th grader) who wanted (not sure about now since she went off to middle school) to be a crime scene investigator or prosecutor because of the CSI series.... |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| Prison break gonna have a third season? |
God help us....But yes
http://www.tv.com/tracking/viewer.html?tid=99490&ref_id=31635&ref_type=101&tag=story_list;title;2
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| The third season renewal for "Prison Break" probably isn't much of surprise, given that the drama has had a solid year, helping FOX win its time period in a variety of key demographics including adults 18-34 and men 18-49, while finishing a consistent second overall 18-49. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Well, what would you expect....FOX ROCKS AZZ!  |
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mercury
Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Pusan
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:45 am Post subject: |
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I got some ideas for some new shows that can make an even BIGGER impact on Korean society............
1. DESPERATE HOGWAN TEACHERS
Each week have a camera crew follow around a bunch of teachers as they try and get some action.
2 HOGWAN BREAK!
Follow the adventures of a lonely teacher as he tries to do a runner!
3. PSI
Private teachers are always leaving the crime scene. Watch immigration officials as they sort through plates of cut fruit, looking for DNA samples from illegal teaching. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:08 am Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| Well, what would you expect....FOX ROCKS AZZ! |
I would usually agree but I'm so sick of the show.
I LOVED Season 1
I tolerated Season 2
I can only imagine what season 3 will be like.... |
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Kyrei
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:49 am Post subject: |
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| I was enjoying Prison Break (via torrents) until the second season finale. I turned it off in disgust and have since refused to watch it again. Koreans can have it and hopefully they learn something about acting and production values. Luckily it is in English so they don't need to worry about the writing aspect. Prison Break = major disappointment. 2 seasons would have been fine. |
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animalbirdfish
Joined: 04 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:44 am Post subject: |
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| Kyrei wrote: |
| I was enjoying Prison Break (via torrents) until the second season finale. I turned it off in disgust and have since refused to watch it again. Koreans can have it and hopefully they learn something about acting and production values. Luckily it is in English so they don't need to worry about the writing aspect. Prison Break = major disappointment. 2 seasons would have been fine. |
Prison Break could be nothing more than Wentworth Miller glowering into the camera for 42 minutes and the Korean women would still be all hot and bothered by the show - and that, by the way, is the expected plot line for the third season. |
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