[HanCinema's News] "Curtain Call" Set to End after Underwhelming Run
By William Schwartz | Published on
When "Curtain Call" premiered on October 31st, it had all the makings of a big sentimental hit. Starring Kang Ha-neul and Ha Ji-won in leading roles, "Curtain Call" had the perfect high reputation emotional cast for its premise of a performance put on for the sake of an elderly woman who defected from North Korea several decades ago. But after a strong start of 7.2% ratings in the first episode, "Curtain Call" collapsed to 3.1% in the second episode, hovering in the 4-5% range thereafter.
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The blame can't entirely be laid on "Curtain Call" itself being flawed. The November 1st broadcast had to compete with the KBO Korean Series for baseball, although the two didn't exactly share an obvious common target audience. But then, what target audience was "Curtain Call" even aiming for? Not quite romance and not quite farce, "Curtain Call" dealt an awful lot with the politics of higher hospital management.
While there was certainly an audience for "Curtain Call" it was still a fairly limited one. This allowed the drama to get left behind while "Under the Queen's Umbrella" and "Reborn Rich" becamse huge hits over the fourth quarter. KBS will be aiming for a more clear high concept with the drama's successor, as "Brain Works" will be a comic crime mystery with leads at odds over their brain power. "Brain Works" will make its premiere on January 2nd.
Written by William Schwartz
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"Curtain Call" is directed by Yoon Sang-ho, written by Jo Seong-geol, and features Kang Ha-neul, Ha Ji-won, Go Doo-shim, Kwon Sang-woo, Jung Ji-so, Sung Dong-il. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/10/31~Now airing, Mon, Tue 21:50 on KBS.
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Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea from 2011 to 2021. He is currently located in the Southern Illinois. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net, and is open to requests for content in future articles.