It was June 2001, when there was no OTT service and TV dramas were in the spotlight. The three broadcasting companies were fiercely competing with each other by releasing dramas with splendid lineups at the same time.
In particular, the fiercest period was when Wednesday-Thursday dramas aired. KBS was airing the undisputed No.1 historical drama “Empress Myeongseong”.
To confront it, MBC released “Four Sisters” starring Hwang Soo-jung, who received love for her role Lady Ye-jin in “Hur Jun”, and Chae Rim, Ahn Yeon-hong, Park Ye-jin, the best rising stars at that time.
And SBS released “Guardian Angel” starring Song Hye-kyo and Kim Min-jong. Both were popular stars at that time, but the drama had the lowest expectations before airing, given that it was a work which did not receive much attention in terms of material and cast lineup. The plot is about a sad love that intersects with the fierce competition between four men and women, and it was a typical story setting.
For this reason, everyone guessed that this drama would fail. However, as the drama continued, unexpected changes began to occur. Although it was a very stereotypical story, it started to be interesting because of its familiarity.
The contrast between Kim Min-jong’s unique toughness, Song Hye-kyo’s unique innocence and femininity created a strange chemistry, drawing praise as a combination of characters that fit surprisingly well.
It was not a high-quality drama, but as “Empress Myeongseong” continued its slow development and “Four Sisters” did not bring much attention compared to its cast, “Guardian Angel” with the familiar development that viewers could watch comfortably was bound to be loved. The drama ended in favorable reviews with the final rating of 31.8% (the highest rating of 36.5%).
With this drama, Song Hye-kyo firmly held onto her position as the undefeated queen of ratings. Interestingly, Jung Da-so (played by Song Hye-kyo) was a role that was originally suggested to Kim Hee-sun. However, at that time, Kim Hee-sun refused due to the filming schedule of the movie “Wanee & Junah”, so Song Hye-kyo naturally took over.
Source: daum
