Lee Kwang-soo (Entourage) may be lining up his third drama with star writer Noh Hee-kyung, this time as a leading man after being part of the ensemble casts of her last two dramas, Dear My Friends and It’s Okay, It’s Love. There were a lot of things I loved about the realistic human drama Dear My Friends, but no one else made me cry as much as Kim Hye-ja and Lee Kwang-soo’s mother-son pair. I’m excited for him that he’s been offered a leading role, and that it’s in a Noh Hee-kyung drama; hopefully it’ll have the added benefit of erasing Entourage from our collective memories.
The new drama is called Live, and will be another collaboration between writer Noh Hee-kyung and PD Kim Kyu-tae, who are teaming up for their fifth drama following It’s Okay It’s Love, That Winter The Wind Blows, Padam Padam, and The World They Live In. An offer is currently out to Jung Yumi (Discovery of Romance) to star, and she’s considering favorably.
Live is about cops, but it’ll be a human drama rather than a police procedural or crime drama, with a focus on the daily ins and outs of police officers who work as civil servants and peacekeepers. I’m expecting to see the less glorified parts of the job, rather than the usual TV detectives who chase serial killers every day. The drama is said to include a cast of veteran cops and younger cops, and both Jung Yumi and Lee Kwang-soo have been offered roles as part of the younger generation of police officers.
I can already picture him being run ragged by his superiors and tripping over his gangly limbs out in the field, and then crying into his cup ramyun at the end of every day. If anyone is the poster boy for the pathetic underdog, it’s Lee Kwang-soo. He hasn’t even signed on, and I’m already feeling sympathy pangs for his character.
Live is aiming to air in spring 2018, though the broadcaster and time slot have yet to be determined.