From the creators of Drinking Solo (which was a spinoff of the two-season foodie drama Let’s Eat) comes a fresh new tvN drama called You Who Forgot Poetry. Initially, the team was set to work on a second season of Drinking Solo, but those plans came to a halt after the work-stress-related suicide of a rookie PD and the ensuing public criticism of the team’s handling of it. Instead, we’re getting a completely different drama set in a hospital, focused not on the more commonly portrayed doctor characters but the staff members that support them and take care of all the other aspects of patient care.
You Who Forgot Poetry will center around a variety of medical occupations from physical therapists, rehab specialists, radiology technicians, trainees, to nurses. It will show how these characters take comfort in a good poem at the end of a busy, exhausting day of work at the hospital. I definitely find the concept to be interesting, a refreshing change from all the surgeons in dramaland we’ve seen in recent years.
If they keep the same slice-of-life tone as Let’s Eat while incorporating the moments of both joy and heartbreak that can be a part of a patient’s journey to recovery, I think You Who Forgot Poetry has the potential to become a meaningful, powerful drama. And I’m intrigued by the poetry bit; I’ve seen a lot of author-type protagonists in Korean dramas, but rarely do we actually see poetry. I’m hoping they’ll make it a centerpiece for each episode because the the sentiments and phrases conveyed through the genre can be uniquely beautiful.
PD Han Sang-jae, who directed Rude Miss Young-ae for seasons 8 through 15, is helming this project alongside his Rude Miss Young-ae writer Myung Soo-hyun. You Who Forgot Poetry is scheduled for broadcast on tvN in the first half of next year.