K-Drama School

No monologue or K-drama coverage today. Sorry! Let’s enjoy the long holiday weekend. Happy fourth of July. May your dogs and cats brave the fireworks. May you enjoy a wholesome time with good food, sun, and great company. Grace’s guest is Dr. Karla Jay who is Grace’s former college professor—now professor emeritus. They discuss activism in today’s political climate and how to maintain a sense of h...

Grace recommends that listeners donate to Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP) ( https://wrrap.org/) to help women of low-income get abortion help. [Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Our Blues (2022, tvN). She analyzes writer Noh Hee-kyoung’s pattern of including disabilities in all her shows, the casting of differently-abled actors, and how to work towards progress by maki...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show My Liberation Notes (2022, JTBC) and what a spiritual experience this show has been for her, and Grace thanks her fans who wrote to her in response to her request last week. Grace’s returning guest is NY-based actress, filmmaker, web series creator and clown Hye Yun Park (@hyeyunboss on Instagram). They discuss clowning, the art of accepting compliments, Gr...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Matrimonial Chaos (2018, KBS), and the significance of actors Cha Tae-hyun, Bae Doona, Lee El and Son Seok-gu. Grace also does a deep-dive of the prodigal veteran actress Moon Sook and why her role as the grandmother in Matrimonial Chaos is so meaningful. Grace’s guest is LA-based actress, improv comic, artist and clown Natasha Mercado (@champagnetashi on I...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace apologizes for the delayed episode. She’s in New York for film festival events and a film shoot. Things just got to be too much. Today’s show is Extracurricular (2020, Netflix). Sorry, but no monologue. She’ll make up for it next week. Grace’s guest is Chicago-based comedian Derek Strong (@epiccheatdaypodcast on Instagram). They discuss addiction, food, vice, comedy, Los Ange...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Green Mothers’ Club (2022, JTBC) and its radical feminism by displaying female sexuality in the context of motherhood but critiques the show’s shortcomings in its harsh portrayal of drug addicts and adoptees. Grace’s guest is LA-based actress and comedian Lizz Adams (@lizzparty on Instagram) who’s appeared on Dead to Me and many other shows. They discuss mo...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show When the Camellia Blooms (2019, KBS). She discusses her adoration for Gong Hyo-jin, Kang Ha-neul and Kim Kang-hoon and their performance. She is impressed by Im Sang-choon’s writing and his feminist sensibility as a writer. She also discusses the unfortunate stigma that single Korean mothers face. She also discusses the history of sex work being tied to bar...

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Oh My Ghostess (2015, tvN). Grace’s guest is a SoCal-based comedian Suwon Weaver (@suwonweaver on Instagram). They talk about exercising to bring down the post-stage adrenaline, lying down on the floor, wooden Korean pillows, how dogs reset one another’s mental disturbances, unlearning learned behaviors and traumas, how change takes choice and a willingness...

[Spoiler Alert] No monologue in this episode. Sorry. Grace is busy with rehearsals for an acting gig. Grace’s guest is LA-based comedian Kazu Kusano (@kazu_kus on Instagram). They discuss Kazu’s comedy beginnings in Japan, training in SF, and her one woman show which she recorded in Canada. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit kdramachool.com to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] No monologue is necessary in this episode. Grace’s guest is SoCal comedian/hardcore K-drama fan and discussant Walter Hong (@yellowsheki on Instagram). Grace and Walter have a deep discussion recapping Twenty-Five Twenty-One and ­ Thirty-Nine . They also share some excitement over the latest new dramas by Noh Hee-kyung and Park Hae-young like Our Blues and My Liberation Notes . Fol...

[Spoiler Alert] Sorry—no monologue in this episode. Lovers in Paris (2004, SBS) is a drama written by writer Kim Eun-sook who wrote many influential shows such as Secret Garden, Descendants of the Sun, and Goblin: The Lonely and Great God . Lovers in Paris is arguably the show that became Kim’s career shifter. It stars Kim Jung-eun, Park Shin-yang and Lee Dong-gun. It is set in both Paris and Seou...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Fashion King (2012, SBS) starring Yoo Ah-in, Shin Se-kyung, Lee Je-hoon and Kwon Yuri of Girls’ Generation written by the same creators of What Happened in Bali . Grace compares how Fashion King treats domestic products to how Now, We Are Breaking Up which explores the fashion industry in a very different way. Grace critiq...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022, Netflix) starring Kim Tae-ri, Nam Joo-hyuk, and WJSN’s Bona written by Kwon Do-eun—the creator of Search WWW . Grace analyzes Twenty-Five Twenty-One as a queer feminist text that celebrates lesbian kinship coded as female friendships. Grace declares Kwon Do-eun as a queer feminist showrunner/a...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Thirty-Nine (2022, Netflix) starring Son Ye-jin, Jeon Mi-do and Kim Ji-hyun. Grace’s guest is Los Angeles-based comedian Neeraj Srinivasan (@mynipsdontlieon Instagram). They discuss being on the road, their love for stand-up, trial and error, being self-taught in animation, and overcoming fears when pursuing something new...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show The Silent Sea (2021, Netflix) starring Bae Doona, Gong Yoo, Lee Joon, and Kang Mal-geum. Grace discusses the multiple intertexts that The Silent Sea has of canonical films like Contagion, Armageddon, Train to Busan, Blade Runner, Tarzan and more. Grace believes Netflix’s demands forcing Korean filmmakers to turn their scr...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Now, We Are Breaking Up (2021, SBS) starring Song Hye-kyo and Jang Ki-yong. Grace examines this show’s modernist take on female sexuality which conflicts awkwardly with the reality of romantic/sexual expectations and politics. Grace analyzes how this show does not overly fetishize white countries as much as some of the ear...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Dinner Mate (2020, MBC) starring Song Seung-hun and Seo Ji-hye. Grace wonders if Seo Ji-hye has the qualities of a lead actress and debates what sets apart a lead from a supporting actor using the metaphor of power divas versus pop singers. Grace’s guest is LA-based comedian, actor and filmmaker Tatenda Mbduzi (@tatendambu...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Truth (2000, MBC) starring Choi Ji-woo, Ryu Si-won and Park Sun-young. Grace sees the show from a new perspective with greater empathy for the villain’s character whose qualities are spoken for by her abusive father and fiancée. Grace’s guest is LA-based comedian Kevin Chu (@kevichu on Instagram). They discuss overcompensa...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Producers (2015, KBS), and the K-drama-hits-churning writer Park Ji-eun ( My Love From the Star, Legend of the Blue Sea, and Crash Landing on You ) whose writing career includes sit-coms, variety shows and talk radio before dramas. Grace gets into how Producers is self-reflexive in its critique of the music industry’s trea...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Misaeng (2014, tvN), and how it exhibits a poor man’s vision of capitalism, and how Yoon Tae-ho struggled in his early years as an artist. This was recorded on Grace’s birthday, and she talks about how she feels being in her mid-thirties, reflecting on her past and present, and how she feels about herself today. Grace’s gu...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Winter Sonata (2002, KBS) and how it catapulted Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo into hallyu fame. Grace wonders how it was possible for Bae Yong-joon to retire from acting. Is there such a thing as retiring from art? Is that possible? Where does the love for that art form go when one retires their career? Grace’s guest is LA...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Our Beloved Summer (SBS, 2021-2022). Grace talks about Kim Dami and Choi Woo-shik’s acting careers, their awkward romantic chemistry on the small screen, and how K-dramas today are exhibiting “first” world problems as opposed to more developing-nation problems seen in dramas from 20+ years ago. Grace’s guest is LA-based co...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show The Lady in Dignity (JTBC, 2017), which as of January 2022, is in the top 20 highest viewed cable K-drama series of all time. Grace talks about Kim Hee-sun’s second wave in her post-marriage/child birth acting career, Kim Sun-a as the anti-heroine and how K-dramas need to make more anti-heroine shows without killing them o...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show When a Man Loves (MBC, 2013) and the show writer Kim In-young’s zany, bold and risk-taking choices in her career. Grace also admires Song Seung-hun’s radical choices as an actor to play bizarre, complicated, and camp characters on TV and film. Grace’s guest is LA-based comedian JP Puthenveetil (@jpputhenveetil on Instagram...

[Spoiler Alert] In this episode of K-Drama School, Grace discusses the show Hospital Playlist (tvN, 2020-2021) and the writer Lee Woo-jung’s career as a variety show writer into a K-drama writer, and how hospital dramas tend to write themselves because death and disease always keep the episodes’ stakes high. Grace’s guest is France-based Romanian comedian Magda Mihaila (@magdulicious on Instagram)...