You know it’s going to be a good week in dramaland if Jang Hyuk and Lee Jun-ki are making comebacks one right after the other. One’s full of food and laughs and the other is all fists and thrills, so pick your poison.
Greasy Melo
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: SBS
Genre: Romantic comedy
Episode count: 40 (half-hour episodes, 20 hours total)
Reasons to watch: Star writer Seo Sook-hyang of Jealousy Incarnate, Miss Korea, and Pasta is back with another slice-of-life romantic comedy with a cast of quirky characters and oddball situations. This one is all about the unlikely people who end up gathering at a little Chinese restaurant, which makes it feel like Strongest Deliveryman, but with more farce. Junho is a renowned chef who suffers a fall from grace and ends up at the tiny eatery that former gangster Jang Hyuk has set up after a stint in prison, and they both get mixed up with heiress Jung Ryeo-won who has an obsession with jajangmyun. It’s not high-concept, but this writer tends to focus on witty dialogue, colorful characters, and humor in mundane situations, so I’m expecting a heaping dose of hilarity with a side of food porn. Make sure to put that Chinese delivery on speed dial…
Lawless Attorney
Time slot: Saturday & Sunday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Legal action
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: Lee Jun-ki is pairing up again with PD Kim Jin-min of Time of Dog and Wolf (also The Liar and His Lover, Marriage Contract, Pride and Prejudice, and La Dolce Vita) for an action-packed legal drama about mobsters and corruption in the legal system. He stars as a former gangster who becomes a lawyer, and works as a fixer who bends every law there is for his clients. In doing justice his own way for the sake of revenge, he ignites a war against powerful mob boss Choi Min-soo. Seo Ye-ji co-stars as a lawyer on Lee Jun-ki’s side, and the two of them set up their own practice full of gangsters and misfits, which kind of reminds me of Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho. This show definitely looks darker—more fisticuffs, less courtroom pontificating—but I think there’s a touch of humor in the central character that should make it easy to root for him. Well, not that we really needed a reason other than Lee Jun-ki.