Aw, it’s not by much, but heartwarming weekend family drama Father Is Strange is getting an extra couple of episodes—not a surprise, given that it’s killing the ratings right now (breaking 30% ratings on a couple occasions) and getting tons of viewership support. I’m actually surprised that KBS didn’t wring more episodes out of the hit show, since I’ve seen shows regularly get four or eight extra episodes added to the order when it’s as popular as this one is.
In any case, I’ll take it—two episodes isn’t enough to worry that the show will get dragged down too much, and in any case the drama has been doing very well in maintaining a bright, feel-good tone even when it does introduce angst. (I mean, I could stand for a little less emotional torturing of poor Joong-hee, but as it is giving Lee Joon plenty of room to dig deep and deliver on the acting front, we can’t begrudge it too much, can we?)
This drama deserves all the praise it’s been getting, and I find that it warms my cold, cold heart with its matter-of-fact displays of familial love—there are a few aggravating characters, but by and large these are people who live in the real world, who encounter problems on an everyday level rather than big dramatic ones or with makjang emotions. The parents have a wonderfully supportive marriage, and the siblings are kind and caring to each other in a way that feels honest without being unrealistically sweet, either. Basically, this show has been my rock these past some months.
According to a rep from KBS’s drama department, the two-episode extension (which brings its total count up to 52) means the show will wrap on Sunday, August 27, rather than the week before. (This past weekend just aired Episodes 37 and 38, to give you an idea of where we are.) That puts the follow-up show, My Golden Life starring Park Shi-hoo and Shin Hye-sun, at a September premiere.