Netizens' reactions play an important role in the rise or fall of a drama in South Korea. In reality, the audience can make or break a drama or the career of Kpop stars and actors. Here are six most awaited, big budget dramas, which were cancelled due to various issues including backlash from netizens and production as well as legal troubles.
Recently, bullying allegations affected the careers of a number of actors including Kim Ji Soo [River Where The Moon Rises]. The channels opt to either replace the actors or cancel the production in order to save their other shows from being boycotted. This is the power of netizen backlash in South Korea. Here are six dramas that were cancelled due to negative reviews by the audience and also because of production issues.
1) Joseon Exorcist
It is a fantasy-supernatural television series starring Jang Dong Yoon, Park Sung Hoon and Kam Woo Sung. The drama aired the first episode on SBS TV on March 22, 2021 and received a backlash for using Chinese products and distortion of Korean history. The backlash grew out of proportion after the second episode was aired and the production house decided to cancel airing of the drama, despite the fact that 70 per cent of the shooting was completed.
2) School 2020
The drama starring Ahn So Hyun and Kim Yo Han was supposed to air in August 2020. But there were allegations that actress Ahn So Hyun's father had made unreasonable demands and she was replaced by Kim Sae Ron. The filming was supposed to begin in March 2020 but KBS 2 decided not to broadcast the drama. Thus, one of the most awaited dramas never saw the light of the day.
3) Prometheus
This was one of the most awaited, high budget dramas of 2019. Starring Ha Ji Won and Jin Goo, the drama was about a North Korean officer landing in South Korea. But reports claim that the schedule got pushed back repeatedly and this led actress Ha Ji Won to drop out of the project. Thus, the 30 million budgeted drama supposed to air in the first half of 2019 was cancelled.
4) Four Sons
The Park Hae Jin and Nana starrer drama had too many production issues. Repeated problems in the sets made Nana drop out of the show. The male lead Park Hae Jin even filed a legal case against the production house and won against the company. Thus the drama which was supposed to air in 2018 was cancelled.
5) Wolf
Eric Mun starrer drama Wolf was supposed to air in 2006. The MBC drama was supposed to air 16 episodes. But it was cancelled after airing only three episodes. The filming was initially delayed after Eric Mun was injured in the set. But even after the filming resumed, the filming could not be carried out according to schedule, resulting in the cancellation of the drama.
Another drama So I Married an Anti-Fan had almost got cancelled. The drama starring Choi Soo Young and Choi Tae Joon was shot in 2018. But it failed to find a channel to air the show for a long time. In 2019, there were rumors that the drama will not be aired, despite not only completing the shooting, but also post-production work. However, after three years of filming it, the drama is currently being aired on Naver TV and simultaneously being streamed on VIKI.
Dramas Forced to Cut Short
Some dramas had to be cut short due to low ratings. Here is a list of dramas that had to be trimmed. 2016 drama Beautiful Mind starring Jang Hyuk and Park So Dam aired 14 episodes instead of 16. But the biggest blow was suffered by 2012 drama Mom Is Acting Up. The drama was supposed to air 120 episodes but was cut short to just 27 episodes.
Latest in this list is 2020 drama A Piece of Your Mind. Despite having Jung Hae In and Chae Soo Bin in leading roles the plot did not attract much audience and the drama was trimmed to 12 episodes.
