Were the leading roles too much for Lee Sung-kyung and Kim Young-dae?… The reasons why “Sh**ting Stars” recorded low ratings

tvN’s Friday-Saturday drama “Sh**ting Stars” starring actors Lee Sung-kyung and Kim Young-dae experienced the humiliation of recording a viewership rating of 1% from the first week of its airing.

“Sh**ting Stars“, which premiered on April 22nd, is a romantic comedy that depicts the realistic story of people who stand behind celebrities and shed blood, sweat, and tears to make them shine like stars in the sky. It depicts the fierce livelihood of those at the forefront of the entertainment industry, including managers, public relations departments and reporters.

Above all, tvN’s Friday-Saturday dramas were back 3 months after “Bad And Crazy“. From last year, “Voice 4”, “Yumi’s Cells” and “Happiness“ all had ratings of less than 5%, so it was a great opportunity to get out of the slump.

But the performance was “worst”. From episode 1, it recorded 1.6%, lower than last year’s works. Episode 2 recorded 1.8%, which did not break the 1% range. On the other hand, SBS’ “Again My Life“ and TV Chosun’s “Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) 3” recorded more than 9%. “Sh**ting Stars” was also defeated by the dramas “Our Blues“ and “My Liberation Notes” in the OTT TVING’s popular program rankings.

These results included a lack of publicity and late programming, but the lack of competence of the leading actors Lee Sung-kyung and Kim Young-dae was also significant. Kim Young-dae, who won his first title role through “Sh**ting Stars”, has accumulated filmography through MBC’s “Extraordinary You”, “When the Weather Is Fine”, “Cheat on Me If You Can” and “Penthouse” but has not made any progress in terms of acting skills. His tall physique and appearance resembling Kang Dong-won attracted attention but he did not have many lines. In the “Penthouse” series, which made his face known to the public, he was only able to shine thanks to the passionate performances of actors such as Kim So-yeon and Um Ki-joon.

In this situation, Kim Young-dae played the role of a top star in “Sh**ting Stars” even though he is still a rookie. Kim Young-dae also confessed, “It was difficult to approach the role because I’m not a real top star.” Although his acting improved a lot compared to “Extraordinary You”, his lack of capacity was revealed without filtration due to his increased metabolism and volume.

Above all, Kim Young-dae even made noise in the process of appearing in “Sh**ting Stars” regarding his departure from KBS’ “School 2021”. KBS claimed that it was a unilateral notice of departure, while Kim Young-dae argued that it was because of non-payment. Eventually, “School 2021” filled Kim Young-dae‘s vacancy with Choo Young-woo, and Kim Young-dae chose “Sh**ting Stars” instead of “School 2021”, but both films recorded ratings in the 1% range.

The limitations of Lee Sung-kyung, who escaped from the shadow, were also revealed. Lee Sung-kyung appeared in blockbuster films with ratings exceeding 20% such as “Dr. Romantic 2”, “The Doctors” and “Flower of Queen”, but all were led by seniors with proven acting skills such as Han Suk-kyu, Park Shin-hye, Kim Rae-won and Kim Sung-ryung.

Lee Sung-kyung is in a position to lead her junior Kim Young-dae through this work. That’s why her consistent performance, which was not lacking but was not unique either, could not help but stand out more. The awkwardness of the cast held back the romance comedy chemistry.

As the current weekend drama lineup is spectacular, it is difficult to rebound ratings significantly. People are focusing on whether “Sh**ting Stars” will be able to escape from the humiliating shame and save its face.