A NEW TREND FOR K-DRAMAS COULD BE STARTED BY BIG MOUTH’S MBC BROADCAST SLOT.
The recently released Korean drama Big Mouth’s domestic airing may mark the beginning of a new trend for MBC and weekend TV.
Lee Jong-suk hasn’t had an appearance in a Korean drama series in more than three years; his most recent appearance was in the 2019 film Romance Is a Bonus Book.
The much-loved actor is finally back on television with Big Mouth, a new sitcom from Jang Young-chul and Jung Kyung-soon.
While Big Mouth fans all over the world will be anxiously awaiting the release of episode 2, the transmission and popularity of the new series among domestic viewers may have a profound impact on the larger Korean drama industry.
BIG MOUTH’S MBC
WHY IS K-DRAMA SUCH A BIG MOUTH?
Lee Jong-suk, Im Yoon-ah, and Kim Joo-hun are the leading actors in the upcoming Korean drama series Big Mouth, a noir legal-crime drama.
The drama will follow Park Chang-ho (played by Lee Jong-suk), a mediocre attorney with a meagre 10% success rate who has developed a reputation for being a “Big Mouth.”
Chang-propensity ho’s to react without thinking things through has already gotten him and his coworkers into trouble, but when he gets involved in a murder investigation, everything is about to change.
He is joined in this murder mystery by his nurse wife Go Mi-ho (Im Yoon-ah), who is also fighting to clear her husband’s name.
Chang-ho must delve deeper into a peculiar conspiracy theory in order to disprove the rumours that he is somehow connected to this high-profile murder case. Otherwise, he risked falling victim to a network of lies and deceit that was trickling down from the privileged upper class.
A FLAGSHIP FOR MBC’S NEW SLOT COULD BE BIG MOUTH
According to reports, Big Mouth will only air on the tvN network in South Korea starting in September 2021. However, it was later revealed in April 2022 that the new series will actually show on the MBC network, being broadcast on Fridays and Saturdays at 9:50 PM KST.
It’s interesting to note that the Friday–Saturday time period may be vital to Big Mouth’s popularity and potentially serve as a forerunner for the larger K-drama industry.
This is due to the fact that Big Mouth will mark the MBC channel’s fifth consecutive early-weekend series since this block was formed in late 2021:
Doctor Lawyer: June 3rd – July 23rd Big Mouth: TBA
April 1st until May 21st tomorrow
Date Range: January 7 to March 25
From November 12, 2021, through January 1, 2022, The Red Sleeve (2022)
Korean dramas often seek to be broadcast on the favoured Saturday-Sunday programming block for maximum viewers and engagement. We do not, however, want a certain programming block to take over the weekend schedule in the same way that viewers do not want a particular network to have a monopoly over the best shows.
Doctor Lawyer, which had an average national audience share of 6.11 percent and a viewership of 1,111,000 people, according to AGB Nielsen, demonstrated how profitable the Friday-Saturday time period can be for MBC.
Big Mouth, however, might demonstrate to network officials once more that there are additional possibilities for the TV schedule of domestic productions than merely the Saturday-Sunday slot if it manages to outperform these figures.
It’s interesting to note how Big Mouth’s potential ceiling has been revealed by the early audience figures. Over 1100,000 viewers tuned in to the first episode on July 29th, according to data from AGB Nielsen, and subsequent reports on social media show that the viewership actually increased throughout the programme from 11.54 percent to 12.85 percent.
Live evaluation of Big Mouth Episode 1.
Rating: 11.54 percent as of 22.35 KST
Rating: 11.82 percent as of 22.45 KST
Rating as of 22.54 KST: 12.27%
Rating as of 22.57 KST: 12.85% Big Mouth Episode One: https://t.co/Lyn25AKVQB
Future productions will be able to flourish if the Friday-Saturday programming block is able to compete successfully with the more traditional Saturday-Sunday block.
Our starting premise is that smaller series have more opportunities to engage a broader audience the more financially viable programming blocks there are on South Korean networks.
The production crew is obviously not blind to the prospect that Big Mouth could be an intriguingly significant show for South Korean fans and subsequently the worldwide market.
“We will try our best to produce a work that does not fall short of the expectations of viewers as much as you have been waiting for it for a long time,” the statement continued. Production team for Big Mouth, as seen on Naver News.
We’re crossing our fingers that Big Mouth can live up to fan expectations and begin what may be a pivotal development for MBC’s newly established Friday-Saturday airing schedule.
