I have yet to see a satisfying teaser for this drama that actually shows me a scene or a line of dialogue from the drama itself, but I guess we just have to put our faith in PD Shin Won-ho of the Answer Me franchise and assume that he’s so busy making the drama that he’s got no time to spare on teasers. His new black comedy Smart Prison Living is about the daily lives of inmates and guards at a penitentiary, told through the eyes of new fish Park Hae-soo (Legend of the Blue Sea).
Park Hae-soo stars as a superstar baseball player, famous for being a dependable pitcher. But when he’s at the peak of his career and about to be drafted to the Major League, he ends up in an accident that lands him in prison. The drama is about his growing pains as he learns to adjust to the strange new society and customs within prison walls, from becoming a number instead of a name to living with so many people in such small quarters. I imagine it’ll be very different for him, as a beloved athlete who’s sure to have fans in prison.
The large ensemble cast includes baseball fanboy prison guard Jung Kyung-ho (Missing 9), student of Eastern medicine Krystal (Bride of the Water God 2017), veteran guard Sung Dong-il (Hwarang), scary guard Jung Woong-in (My Sassy Girl), and fellow inmates Kang Seung-yoon (We Broke Up), Lee Kyu-hyung (Forest of Secrets), and Choi Moo-sung (Lookout), among others.
The latest teaser shows Park Hae-soo looking stunned when fellow inmates cheer as he walks past their cells, and again when he’s asked to autograph a baseball. I’m sure there’s going to be no shortage of fanboying, which is a funny dynamic to add when he’s afraid of being amongst thieves and gangsters and killers. We get quick flashes of the other characters, in mundane moments to threatening situations, and are led through the prison gates as if welcoming us into their world. The other teaser is just a “moving poster” of our main characters posing for their mugshots in a suspect lineup.
This is really a drama that’s riding on the director’s credibility, but I find the premise refreshing and unusual enough to pique my curiosity regardless, especially because it’s described as a black comedy. I’m really hoping that they stick to their word on that, because I’d love to see dark humor done right in dramaland.
Smart Prison Living follows Buamd-dong Revenge Club and premieres next Wednesday, November 22 on tvN.
