After weeks of delayed premieres, having four dramas all in one week feels like a much-needed burst of rain during a drought. Dramaland is starting off fall with a wealth of fantastical plots, and I could certainly use a little break from reality right about now.
Zombie Detective
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: KBS
Genre: Action, fantasy, comedy
Episode count: 12
Reasons to watch: I have been waiting for what feels like forever for this show, and it was the main conceit that hooked me–a zombie who must learn to be human. Choi Jin-hyuk features as the titular zombie detective, and will be playing a zombie who cosplays as a human. Once a normal man, he wakes up and finds he has no memory of his past and to make matters worse, he’s a zombie who craves flesh. After a years-long struggle to learn the ways of humans, Choi decides he must find out who he was before he became zombiefied and runs into a bit of luck in the form of Park Joo-hyun. She decides to join him as he opens a private detective agency and they take on cases together as he searches for pieces of his human past.
Eighteen Again
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: JTBC
Genre: Fantasy, rom-com
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: This adapation of the American body-swap film 17 Again, stars Kim Haneul with Yoon Sang-hyun and Lee Do-hyun sharing the role of Kim Haneul’s husband. Though they’d once been deeply in love, they’ve grown apart over the years and Yoon Sang-hyun is at the lowest point in his life when Kim Haneul hits him with divorce papers. Suddenly, (and aren’t body-swaps always so sudden?) he wakes up to find himself back in his eighteen-year-old form (Lee Do-hyun). Though he’s determined to start anew, he finds he can’t stay away from Kim Haneul after all, and the two of them might not be as out of love as they’d thought.
More Than Friends
Time slot: Friday & Saturday
Broadcaster: JTBC
Genre: Rom-com
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: Our “straight” rom-com of the week (so in other words, no body-swapping, zombies, or paranormal phenomena) is all about young love, timing, and missed connections. Shin Ye-eun and Ong Sung-woo play old friends who’ve always had a simmering, unspoken something between them. Shin Ye-eun has been unlucky in love in pretty much every way possible and is resigned to being someone with an unrequited love. Just as she’s more or less given up on her crush on Ong, her luck may be changing as Kim Dong-joon makes his interest clear–much to the displeasure of Ong Sung-woo. Can friends become something more, or will the new man in town manage to sweep Shin Ye-eun off her feet? (Talk about a happy dilemma!)
The School Nurse Files
Time slot: Friday
Broadcaster: Netflix
Genre: Fantasy, comedy, thriller
Episode count: 6
Reasons to watch: In one of the more unusual dramas this year, Jung Yumi stars as a school nurse who possesses the power to fight and exorcise spirits and all sorts of paranormal creatures. The school is a a hotbed of paranormal activity, though the various ghoulies are only visible to her, and Jung Yumi is never without her trusty weapons: a toy sword and BB gun. Her costar Nam Joo-hyuk is a teacher and grandson of the school’s founder. Though he’s not as spiritually gifted as her, he possesses an otherworldly aura that acts as a supercharger for Jung Yumi and he’s a stalwart ally. She’ll need all the help she can get while she protects the students from all manner of nefarious fiends.