It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for Mr. Sunshine to premiere, which isn’t an exaggeration this time—it’s been over a year since the project was first announced, which is eons in dramaland. Thankfully we’re less than a week away from finally satisfying our curiosity. It’d better be one hell of an epic premiere to make up for the wait! No pressure or anything!
Your House Helper
Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: KBS
Genre: Romance
Episode count: 32 (half-hour episodes, 16 hours in total)
Reasons to watch: This will probably be an underdog drama, but it looks breezy and light, and very easy on the eyes. Ha Suk-jin stars in the healing drama about a pretty flower boy housekeeper who gets hired to clean your house but ends up cleaning up your life in the process. It’s based on a webtoon, but since that’s an omnibus series with a rotating door of clients for the housekeeper, I’m not sure what to expect in terms of an overarching plot. Coming from the PD of the sweet, uplifting Strongest Deliveryman and one of the junior writers of The Producers, I think we’re in for sweet romance and adult coming-of-age. Oh, and lots and lots of house-tidying. Is there a cleaning equivalent of food porn? Because I think that’s what we’re getting. Vicarious cleaning has never been my thing, but maybe it’ll inspire me to clean my house? It doesn’t hurt to try.
Mr. Sunshine
Time slot: Saturday & Sunday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Historical, romance
Episode count: 24
Reasons to watch: Star writer Kim Eun-sook is back with a new drama and is once again teaming up with PD Lee Eung-bok, who directed her last two mega-hits, The Lonely Shining Goblin and Descended From the Sun. So it’s really not an understatement to say that expectations are through the roof for their third collaboration, a period drama that takes place at the turn of the 20th century and at the cusp of the Japanese occupation. Lee Byung-heon headlines as an American officer stationed in Korea, who will fall in love with an aristocrat’s daughter (Kim Tae-ri) and end up fighting for his homeland for which he had no previous allegiance. It’s life-and-death stakes, country and honor, and once-in-a-lifetime love amidst a backdrop of war. I expect to cry through two boxes of tissues by the time the show is over, and will accept nothing less.