K-Drama School

[Spoiler Alert] Grace has two upcoming shows. One is in Brooklyn at Crystal Lake on December 1st at 7:30PM. The next one is on December 18th at Sugar Maple in Milwaukee. Grace’s Thanksgiving weekend was packed. She went saltwater fishing where she proceeded to throw-up for 4 hours straight and attended her 20th year high school reunion and was pleasantly surprised. Grace discusses the show You and...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace has a couple of show date announcements: On Monday, December 1st at 7:30PM, she’s performing at Crystal Lake in Brooklyn, New York for the Not a Boy Not a Girl Comedy Show. On Thursday, December 18th at 8PM she’s performing at The Sugar Maple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Hotties Only Comedy Show. See you there. Today’s episode covers the show Bon Appetit Your Majesty (2025...

Grace has a few tour dates to announce. She will be giving a book talk on K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television at Hudson Valley Books for Humanity in New York on November 21st at 5PM and another at Big Red Books in New York on November 22nd at 2PM. She’s performing at Not a Girl Not a Boy Comedy Show at Crystal Lake in Brooklyn, NY on December 1st at 7:30PM. Wel...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Virtuous Business (2025, JTBC) written by Choi Bo-rim and directed by Jo Woong, starring Kim So-yeon. She unpacks the brief history of how Western sex toys entered the South Korean market and compares facts with what was stated in the monologue by Ra Mi-ran’s cameo appearance in the pilot episode. Grace gives an update about her recent book talk at George W...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Our Unwritten Seoul (2025, tvN) starring Park Bo-young, Park Jin-young and Ryu Kyung-soo, written by Lee Kang and directed by Park Shin-woo. Grace discusses the tremendous actresses on this show including Park Bo-young, Kim Sun-young and Jang Young-nam, and what they bring to their performances. Grace’s book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Heavenly Ever After (2025, JTBC) starring Kim Hye-Ja and Son Suk-ku, written by Lee Nam-kyu and Kim Su-jin and directed by Kim Sok-yun. Grace’s guest is the very talented Madison-based DJ BP Lar (@djbplar on Instagram). They discuss almost burning B’s house down with a tortilla and feeling like a hero immediately thereafter, performing her first DJ gig only...

[Spoiler Alert] Happy Pride Month! Grace discusses the show When the Stars Gossip (2025, tvN) starring Gong Hyo-jin and Lee Min-ho, written by Seo Sook-hyang and directed by Park Shin-woo. Grace wonders when a K-drama will allow a woman to have sex and get pregnant out of wedlock and not be punished by death in the end. Grace’s guest is the very talented Los Angeles-based clown Oscar Fuentes (@iro...

[Spoiler Alert] Happy Pride Month! Grace discusses the show Tastefully Yours (2025, ENA) written by Jung Soo-yoon starring Kang Ha-neul, Go Min-si, Kim Shin-rok and Yoo Su-bin directed by Park Dan-hee. Grace is impressed by Go Min-si’s transformation after her terrifying appearance in The Frog . She is also fascinated by how the show emulates Seon Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan’s culinary skills and the...

[Spoiler Alert] Happy Pride Month! Grace discusses the show When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025, Netflix) written by Lim Sang-choon starring IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon directed by Kim Won-seok. Grace compares the show to the Reply series and how they utilize nostalgia triggering materials and historic markers to hail Korean audiences with retro items. Grace also offers a thorou...

Grace will be performing stand-up in Milwaukee at Pomona Cider Company on September 13th! No K-drama coverage today. Grace is super tired after her first week of teaching. She went on a night hike for the first time in a very long time and saw some beautiful things. She is also adjusting to Wisconsin’s active scene. She hopes to make the most of it. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture I...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show The Frog (2024, Netflix) starring Kim Yoon-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, Go Min-si and Lee Jung-eun, directed by Mo Wan-il. This is part two of the series coverage. Grace wonders where the demented cruelty of the female antagonist comes from. She also wonders what the bigger overarching message of the show is. Perhaps the show ought to have been just a film or ended...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show The Frog (2024, Netflix) starring Kim Yoon-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, Go Min-si and Lee Jung-eun, directed by Mo Wan-il who also directed The World of the Married . This is part one of the series coverage. Grace will continue the show’s coverage next week in part two. Grace is impressed by Mo’s filmic stylings as a TV director, comparing him to the Safdie brother...

Grace has three shows coming up this weekend. August 23rd at the Den Theater in Chicago, August 24th at Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago and August 25th at the Milwaukee Improv. [Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Born Again (2020, KBS) starring Jang Ki-yong, Jin Se-yeon and Lee Soo-hyuk. Grace appreciates Jang Ki-yong’s role playing a mentally unstable character. It is exactly what she needed....

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Miss Night and Day (2024) starring Lee Jung-eun and Jung Eun-ji, and K-drama productions’ laudable choice to cast middle-aged women as the lead on a show. Grace’s guest today is former Berlin comedian Shirah Roth who is currently based in Israel working as a teacher to children on the autism spectrum. They discuss how to surrender to what it is moment-by-mo...

No K-drama today. Grace talks about going out dancing, learning about contemporary pop artists from a Gen-Zer and finding alignment, peace and calm. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available everywhere now: ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/grace-jung/k-drama-school/9780762485727/⁠⁠ Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace is in clown make-up today as she discusses the show Tell Me That You Love Me (2023, Disney+) based on a Japanese TV show from 1995. Grace admires Jung Woo-sung’s acting chops playing a deaf/mute person but doesn’t understand Shin Hyun-been’s appeal as a performer. There are several quotes that Grace loves from this show which she shares. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Connect (2022, Disney+) based on a webtoon by Shin Dae-jung and directed by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike starring Jung Hae-in, Go Kyung-pyo and Kim Hye-jun. Grace critiques Go Kyung-pyo’s unconvincing performance as a psycho killer but praises Miike’s mise-en-scene choices throughout the show as well as the very original storyline. Grace tears down King...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses an old-school show entitled Maestra (2024, tvN) starring Lee Young-ae. She compares it to Tár, Youth, and Mozart in the Jungle . She discusses the heroine Cha Se-eum’s character and what it means to be an ambitious modern Korean woman with no one to rely on or trust in a competitive society today. Grace problematizes the show’s unsympathetic portrayal of drug addict...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses an old-school show entitled Summer Scent (2003, KBS) starring Song Seung-hun and Son Ye-jin directed by hallyu K-drama director Yoon Seok-ho of Autumn in My Heart (2000) and Winter Sonata (2002). Grace mentions the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man (2009) and compares its essential message to Zen Buddhism. Grace wonders what Indian saints who live with nothing would thin...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show The Midnight Romance in Hagwon (2024, tvN) starring Jung Ryeo-won and Wi Ha-joon directed by Ahn Pan-seok who directed shows like Something in the Rain and One Spring Night . The show focuses on cram school teachers who are paid well for their work while teachers remain underpaid. Grace comments on the chemistry between the two lead actors. But Grace was bl...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Shoot for the Stars (2002, SBS) starring a young Jo In-sung, Jeon Do-yeon, and comedic actor Park Sang-myun. Grace appreciates the chemistry among these talented performers, especially the comedy brilliance between supporting actress Byun Jung-soo and Park Sang-myun. Grace also wonders why New York spends so much money on advertising how great it is when it...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace lists some queer K-dramas to celebrate pride month, and some Korean actors who are queerly iconic in her book. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available everywhere now: ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/grace-jung/k-drama-school/9780762485727/⁠⁠ Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon page to support the...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Sweet Proposal (AKA Delicious Proposal ) starring Jung Joon, Son Ye-jin, So Ji-sub and So Yujin. Grace is at the last stop of her cross-country road trip. Grace celebrates pride month by declaring all K-dramas queer. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available everywhere now: ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ https://www.hache...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Hi, Bye Mama! starring Kim Tae-hee. Grace also gives an update on her road trip cross country back to New York. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available everywhere now: ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/grace-jung/k-drama-school/9780762485727/⁠⁠ Please visit K-Drama School’s Patreon...

No K-drama today. Grace had a very hectic week. Her car got broken into and got her equipment stolen. She also wrote, directed, produced and starred in a short film. Grace is preparing for courses she will be teaching in the fall and spring, and discusses what she’ll be covering. Grace’s new book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television is available everywhere now:...