Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Family, coming-of age, melo
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: With more dramas delayed and our airing schedule a bit ahoo right now, let’s consider ourselves lucky that Record of Youth is arriving on schedule. Are you ready? I’m ready. tvN’s latest drama has a lot of quiet-but-bubbling buzz behind it — it’s Park Bo-gum’s last drama before army, it’s Park So-dam’s return to the small screen after the mammoth success of Parasite, and it’s director Ahn Gil-ho’s next project after things like *cough* Forest of Secrets and Memories of the Alhambra. Cast and production aside, the story’s been promoted as a warm, relatable, and encouraging tale of youth. Put a drama like this on tvN, and it sounds like an instant winner, right? I’ll have to wait for the premiere episodes to see if the tone of this drama matches up with what I’ve been imagining in my head, but in the meantime, is there any harm in expecting a gem with the perfect balance of struggle, success, and heart?