The cast of a Korean drama is the most essential part of the drama. Korean dramas with famous cast are always the most anticipated of all; as the actor is already famous, the drama attract more viewers. These dramas become famous and become the most hyped even before their release. But, sometimes, even drama with a famous cast fails to deliver the audience’s expectation. Some of these dramas have a meager rating from episode one. There may be various reasons behind it, starting from the storyline to controversies of the cast. Let’s look at the top 10 Korean dramas with famous actors that failed to live up to the expectations.
1. Pandora Beneath The Paradise
Pandora Beneath the Paradise attracted many viewers as it cast Lee Ji-ah, who also starred in The Penthouse. The writer of the drama was Kim Soon-ok, who had also written Penthouse, which was a huge hit globally, so the expectation was high for the drama. It started with a rating of 4.8 but, as the drama progressed, the rating soon dropped. Netizens blamed the storyline, and some even blamed the poor camera work for the low rating. All-in-all, the drama didn’t do well.
2. The Secret Romantic Guesthouse
The Secret Romantic Guesthouse is a historical, mystery rom-com drama. Starting from the cast to the storyline, this had everything to be a hit K-drama. Casting Shin Ye-eun, Kang Hoon, and Ryeon, this was the most anticipated drama. The drama started with a 4.4% rating but then, after merely five episodes, the rating dropped to 3.9%.
3. Love (Ft. Marriage And Divorce)
With a cast of actors like Sung Hoon and Park Joo-min, Love was expected to be a good K-drama. Even the title itself drew a lot of attention to the drama. However, the viewership ratings tell a different story. The series was not well received by the audience, with an average rating of 1.614% in season 1, 1.954% in season 2, and 1.657% in season 3. Netizens complained about the storyline and character development throughout the series, which is reflected in the series.
4. Jinxed At First
The drama is based on a webtoon, Girl’s Generation, Seo Ju-Hyun and Na In-Woo were the main leads of the drama, which attracted both K-pop and K-drama fans’ attention. The story revolves around an unlucky man who meets a girl who has the power to see the future by just touching them, which completely changes his life. But it didn’t do well, with an average viewership rating of 3.3% nationwide. Viewers blamed the storyline, said it made the drama boring and failed to live up to expectations.
5. Kokdu: Season Of Deity
Kokdu: Season of Deity was a comeback for Kim Jung Hyun after his controversy hence gaining a lot of attention. The drama also features Im Soo-yang, who is well known for her acting in dramas like My Id Gangnam Beauty. It started with a viewership rating of 4.2% ;however viewers were disappointed by Kokdu, which is reflected in the nationwide average rating of 2.1% at the end of the season. Netizens said the drama’s storyline was tedious, as the grim reaper was not a very new concept ;they also didn’t find the spark in the lead couple’s chemistry, making this drama tedious.
6. The Heavenly Idol
After the success of Business Proposal, Kim Min-Kyu was expected to give another hit, and people expected this drama to be good as it was his main lead role and his last drama before enlisting into the military. It is a fantasy romantic-comedy drama. However, it failed to meet the audience’s expectations, with an average viewership of 1.832% nationwide. The only thing that made viewers stick to the drama was Min-Kyu’s acting, and many complained the execution of the storyline was not up to the mark.
7. Oh! Young Shim
This drama was recorded as the worst-rated drama of all time. It was released on May 15, 2023, and the storyline is the typical bickering romance of two individuals. With a cast of Super Junior’s Lee Dong-hae and Song Ha Yoon, the drama had high expectations from the viewers as both the actors have a good fan following. Surprisingly, the drama failed to meet the expectations and recorded the lowest average viewership of 0.309%. Netizens said the storyline of the drama was repetitive and boring. People also labeled this drama as “drama with no audience.”
8. Bubblegum
This drama was released in 2015, and is a typical friends-to-lovers story, starring Lee Dong Wook and Jung Ryeo-won ; both actors have shown their phenomenal acting skills and have a huge fan following. The drama bubblegum failed to keep the viewers close to the screen. With an average rating of 1.205%, with the rating dropping as low as 0.710%, the drama was unable to please the viewers.
9. Tomorrow, With You
The drama Tomorrow, With You is a fantasy drama where a CEO of a real estate company foresees his future and how he manages to avoid his death, starring Shin Min-a and Lee Je-Hoon, who are well known for their acting abilities, was expected to bring good ratings. It premiered with a rating of 3.857% nationwide, but soon the ratings declined, going as low as 0.868%. The average rating was 1.728%, making it the list of most anticipated but lowest-rated dramas ever.
10. Welcome
Also titled Meow, the Secret Boy is a fantasy and a romantic comedy-drama. Based on the Naver webtoon with the same name, the story revolves around a graphic designer, Kim Sol-ah, and Hong-Jo, a cat that can take human forms. It has well-known actors like Kim Myung-Soo, Shin Ye-Eun, and Seo Ji-Hoon, and it was expected to be a good drama. On the contrary, this TV series didn’t do well and was not well received by the audience. It also premiered with a rating of 3.6% nationwide, but soon the ratings dropped to 0.8%, and the average rating was 1.7%.
