Amid controversies over cultural heritage damage, ‘The Male Lead's First Night’ has made a successful start, raising interest in whether it can be the savior of KBS dramas, which have been struggling recently.
The KBS2 Wednesday-Thursday drama ‘The Male Lead's First Night’ (directed by Lee Woong-hee and Kang Soo-yeon, written by Jeon Seon-young) premiered on the 11th. It is a ‘no-brake’ romance fantasy drama where the soul of an ordinary female college student inhabits a minor character in a romance novel and spends a night with the novel's most obsessive male lead.
Based on the web novel of the same name, ‘The Male Lead's First Night’ has heightened expectations with the collaboration of 2PM's Ok Taec-yeon and Girls' Generation's Seo-hyun. However, it found itself at the center of controversy over cultural heritage damage before its premiere.
Earlier, the filming team damaged the architectural structure by hammering nails into the pillars for prop installation while shooting at Andong Byeongsan Seowon, which is designated as Historic Site No. 260 in South Korea and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In response, KBS issued two apologies and discarded all footage from the shoot.
Director Lee Woong-hee expressed his apologies at the production presentation, saying, “I want to sincerely apologize to everyone who was concerned. We were definitely in the wrong. After the apology, we discarded the related footage.” Seo-hyun also stated, “As a lead actor, I want to express my apologies. There is no excuse,” and Ok Taec-yeon bowed his head, saying, “The actors also felt a great sense of responsibility, and we must do our best to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”
In such circumstances, ‘The Male Lead's First Night’ made a successful start with a viewership rating of 3.3% (based on Nielsen Korea nationwide) for its first episode. This is a significantly higher figure compared to the last episode of the previous show, ‘24-Hour Health Club,’ which recorded 1.0%. Given that KBS's previously ambitious sitcoms like ‘Kikikikik’ and ‘Villain's Country’ have been struggling with ratings in the 0-1% range, this is not a bad start.
In its premiere, ‘The Male Lead's First Night’ depicted the process of a real-life female college student, K, being possessed by a minor character in her favorite novel ‘The Tyrant's Obsession’ and getting entangled with the male lead, played by Ok Taec-yeon, in a lively and fast-paced manner, enhancing immersion. Additionally, the warm visual chemistry between Seo-hyun and Ok Taec-yeon, along with beautiful hanbok and props, caught the audience's attention. Animation effects were also used to keep the story engaging without boredom.
KBS has shown strong capabilities in historical dramas with titles like ‘The Moon Rising River,’ ‘Yunmo,’ ‘When the Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon,’ ‘Taejong Lee Bang-won,’ and ‘The Wedding Battle.’ It remains to be seen whether ‘The Male Lead's First Night’ can continue this momentum and become the savior of KBS dramas.
‘The Male Lead's First Night’ airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 9:50 PM.
[Yang So-young, Star Today Reporter]
