Kim Hye-ja's 'More Beautiful than Heaven' has topped the non-terrestrial channel ratings, surpassing the highly anticipated 'One Day, a Wise Resident's Life'.
The JTBC weekend drama 'More Beautiful than Heaven' (written by Lee Nam-kyu and Kim Soo-jin, directed by Kim Seok-yoon), which premiered on the 19th of last month, started with a rating of 5.8%, then rose to 6.1% for the second episode, 6% for the third, and 6.4% for the fourth, securing the top spot in non-terrestrial drama ratings for four consecutive episodes.
Notably, it has drawn attention by defeating tvN's weekend drama 'One Day, a Wise Resident's Life' (written by Kim Song-hee, directed by Lee Min-soo, hereafter 'Unsljeon'), which started airing on the 12th of last month. This work is a spin-off of the hit series 'Hospital Playlist' and has been a highly ambitious project for tvN, which has consistently faced humiliation with ratings in the 1% range.
However, 'Unsljeon' began with a rating of 3.7% and recorded 4%, 4.5%, 5.1%, 4.8%, and 5.5% in subsequent episodes, but it still could not surpass 'More Beautiful than Heaven'.
In terms of OTT, 'More Beautiful than Heaven' also led the way. According to Netflix's Tudum Top 10 website, 'More Beautiful than Heaven' ranked 5th in the global Top 10 shows (non-English), while 'Unsljeon' followed in 6th place.
However, in terms of buzz, 'Unsljeon' was superior. According to the buzz research agency Good Data Corporation's Fundex, 'Unsljeon' ranked first in drama buzz for the fourth week of April, while 'More Beautiful than Heaven' fell to third place. The second place was taken by the Genie TV original 'New Recruit 3'.
'More Beautiful than Heaven' tells the story of Lee Hae-sook (played by Kim Hye-ja), who arrives in heaven at the age of 80 and reunites with her husband Ko Nak-jun (played by Son Seok-koo), who has been rejuvenated to his 30s, depicting a transcendent romance. This is a perfect collaboration of writer, director, and actors, known as the 'Kim Hye-ja Project', created by director Kim Seok-yoon, who produced drama fans with JTBC's 'Dazzling', and writers Lee Nam-kyu and Kim Soo-jin. Most notably, this is a work in which 'national mom' Kim Hye-ja herself mentioned her 'retirement', receiving warm support from both the industry and viewers.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
