Actor Jung Woo, who gained popularity as “Sseureki” in the 2014 drama “Reply 1994”, and Lee Yoo-mi, the first Korean actress to win the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, united.
The two met good works in the past and proved their excellent acting skills, so tvN’s “Mental Coach Jegal” also received a lot of expectations and attention. But recently, its reputation has been shaken.
“Mental Coach Jegal” is a mental care sports action drama about a former national team member who becomes a mental coach to help players in slump, heal retired athletes and fight a real match against the absurd world of winner-take-all. Expectations were high due to the meeting of Jung Woo, who returned 9 years after “Reply 1994”, and Lee Yoo-mi, the first Korean actress to win an Emmy Award.
Jung Woo plays the role of “Jegal Gil”, a mental healthcare coach and a former national Taekwondo athlete who quits sports due to an unprecedented scandal. Lee Yoo-mi, who made a strong impression around the world through dramas “Squid Game” and “All of Us Are Dead“, takes on the role of “Cha Ga-eul”, a gold medalist short-track speed skater who aims to overcome a slump and to make a comeback.
In particular, Lee Yoo-mi is rumored to have received short track-related classes and training 3 months before filming. She not only endured toe pain for perfect character digestion, but also devoted herself to short track practice on Christmas Eve.
Despite Lee Yoo-mi’s blood and sweat, the ratings did not see the light of day. Its average viewership rating of 1.5% (based on Nielsen Korea’s paid households nationwide) in episode 1 on Sep 12th rose to the 2% range then decreased to the 1% range again. It is showing roller coaster-level viewership ratings. In other words, it means that the fan base who constantly watches this work is not solid either.
It is on an ambiguous line between sports drama and melodrama. PD Son Jeong-hyun, who is in charge of directing, explained that “Mental Coach Jegal” is a mix of sports, youth, action, healing and melodrama, but it has become a situation where both the storyline and ratings are neither this nor that.
The content of being injured during a match and being in debt due to the protest against the judges’ corruption from episode 1. This changed the protagonist’s life and he eventually became a mental coach, but the player he was in charge of made an extreme choice. The drama showed both the sports world that is stained with discrimination and corruption and the hot game scene, making its direction ambiguous and cliche.
On the other hand, KBS2’s “The Law Cafe” proves that it is the absolute power of Monday-Tuesday drama by ruling the Monday-Tuesday drama timeslot for three consecutive weeks. “The Law Cafe,” a drama based on the original web novel by Noh Seung-ah, which recorded more than 25 million views, recorded a rating of 7.1% from the first episode according to Nielsen Korea.
Lee Seung-gi and Lee Se-young, Jung-woo and Lee Yoo-mi. The main characters of “Mental Coach Jegal” are no less than “The Law Cafe” team in terms of popularity and public recognition. However, it is the work’s storyline itself that changes the game.
Lee Yu-mi, who won the Emmy Award after the success of “Squid Game” and “All Of Us Are Dead,” could not be happy with the result of her first lead title. The same goes for Jung-woo, who has yet to build a new character after playing the role of Trash in “Reply 1994”. This is proving that a drama’s success can no longer be guaranteed only by the actors’ name value.
Source: daum
