The Hong Sisters' 7th script, 2011, 16eps at 1hrea. The first of 3 directed by Park Hong Kyun (Warm and Cozy; Hwayugi).

An excellent classic tearjerker kdrama romedy, a real feast, with several dramatic climaxes and my all-time favourite of relaxed last episodes. The ML has heart problems both medical and emotional. Set in the world of celebrity, it still pretty much exhausted every expression to do with the heart, especially pounding the heck out of heartbreak. The HSs also got quite a bit of mileage out of roses, azaleas, camellias and potato flowers.

Cha Seung Won was genius as Dokgo Jin, a truly self-involved movie star, and Gong Hyo jin put in a great performance as his true love, the unlucky Gu Ae Jung. These two do not so much have misunderstandings as verbal brawls every time they meet. Their interactions have a realistic edge at the same time as being larger than life.

Warning to the sensitive: at about the 10th episode the FL's noble self-effacing, self-sacrificing nature drove me insane. I had to quickly view the first episode of the 2018 Encounter (when Bo Gum meets Hye Kyo in Havana) to recharge my romantic mojo.

All the supporting cast were uniformly excellent. This was really popular in its day. I would re-watch it in a group for its throwback value, or to compare and contrast with other celebrity-life dramas. It is a truly indelible classic, but oddly enough, too real for me. I cried a lot, too.

first posted sept 2024 on Viki