Dramaland has always been full of its lawyers and prosecutors, but it really feels like they took over the playing field in 2024. There are more main characters with legal professions than I feel willing to name — from the good (Extraordinary Attorney Woo) to the bad (Big Mouth) to the ugly (Why Her).
While I don’t necessarily flock to a legal drama, there are times when I really enjoy how it sets high stakes for our characters and their journeys. Rather than have them be mere participants in a misadventure, they are on the frontlines of it, and responsible for bringing justice.
That being said, yawn! Sometimes, I don’t want to see the legal side of a drama’s mayhem play out, and wish the stories would stop focusing on law-breaking and law-enforcing and explore other settings, like, I don’t know — the life of a vacuum salesperson, or a chaebol heir who decides to become a barber. In other words, even though there are a lot of ideas out there, legal dramas have become a mainstay of dramaland.
Why are legal dramas so popular? Why do screenwriters love these types of stories so much?
PS: If you like, you can have this track playing in the background while you ponder this pressing issue.
Let the chatting begin!