“One Dollar Lawyer”, which is doing well, gets restrained due to SBS’s incomprehensible airing cancellation
Viewers are complaining about SBS’s decision regarding “One Dollar Lawyer”.
It seems that the nightmare of the SBS drama cancellation is being recreated. Following “Vagabond” and “The King: Eternal Monarch”, this time, “One Dollar Lawyer” has been caught up in a similar situation.
SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama “One Dollar Lawyer” depicts the story of Cheon Ji Hoon, a genius but unusual lawyer. He becomes the most reliable backbone of clients who can’t afford expensive legal services. He charges his service for a fee of only a dollar (about one thousand won).
The drama is gaining popularity thanks to its cool development, pleasant atmosphere, and the good acting of the cast. The average nationwide viewership rating (based on Nielsen Korea) broke through the double digits in episode 3, and peaked at 15% in episode 8.
In the “October 2022 Korean Favorite TV Program” surveyed by Gallup Korea of 1,000 adults, “One Dollar Lawyer” took first place and continued its upward trend. However, recently, the news of two episodes’ broadcast being canceled was suddenly announced, making viewers upset. Notably, SBS did not give an explanation for this cancellation.
There is another reason why viewers feel dissatisfied with the situation. It’s because “One Dollar Lawyer” is about to end. The drama will air its 10th episode on October 29th, followed by episode 11 and the final episode 12 in the next week. With only three episodes left, viewers are concerned about the interruption of their immersion due to the sudden cancellation of two episodes.
This isn’t the first time SBS has poured cold water into a drama that has been going well with their airing cancellation. Previously, “Vagabond” in 2019 and “The King: Eternal Monarch” in 2020 suffered the same damage.
First, “Vagabond” recorded double-digit viewer ratings from the first episode and continued to rise, but it started to falter as the broadcast of a total of 4 episodes were canceled due to the premiere of the 12th international baseball tournament. This caused viewers’ dissatisfaction because it happened shortly before the end of the drama. With “Vagabond” ending being controversial due to lack of impact, this only added fuel to the fire.
The reaction to “The King: Eternal Monarch” was not better. Because the cancellation was notified without any specific reason. SBS explained that the movie “Contagion” was organized to raise awareness about COVID-19 at the time and said, “There is no problem with normal broadcasting since the last filming and post-production have already been completed, but the production company also expects the spread of COVID-19 again. We actively agree with the current serious crisis situation and the purpose of the special COVID-19 prevention program,” giving an explanation that is difficult for viewers to understand. In fact, the cancellation of “The King” broadcasts even had an effect on the drama’s ratings. While viewers were already shaken by the confusing worldview, the ratings, which were maintaining the 8% level, dropped to 6% due to overlapping broadcasts.
Even though there has been a history in which its own dramas have suffered damage, SBS is once again angering viewers for its unreasonable and unexpected airing cancellation. In particular, in the case of MBC, “Tracer” and “The Red Sleeve” were scheduled to air twice in a row to fill the gaps in the cancellation, so when compared to SBS, it is without doubt a bigger disappointment for fans of this station’s dramas.
Source: nate
