Published : Nov. 2, 2021 - 11:14
A promotional image of "Let Me Be Your Knight" by SBS. (Yonhap)
Two TV series about the lives and struggles of K-pop singers will hit small screens in South Korea next week, their broadcasters said Tuesday.
"Let Me Be Your Knight" will premier this Sunday on SBS, depicting a romance between a popular idol singer suffering from sleepwalking and a live-in doctor who has to cure his condition secretly.
Former and active K-pop singers take part in the 12-episode drama, with Lee Jun-young, a former member of boy band U-Kiss, playing Yoon Tae-in who is the leader of the fictional band Luna, and Kim Jong-hyun of NU'EST and Kim Dong-hyun of AB6IX portraying the band's other members.
Cable channel JTBC will air "Idol: The Coup" from Monday, featuring an unpopular idol girl group's last chance before disbandment.
Ahn Hee-yeon, known as Hani of K-pop girl group EXID, takes the lead role in the struggling band, Cotton Candy, along with Ahn Sol-bin from Laboum and Chu So-jung from WJSN.
Both series are apparently targeting K-pop fans at home and abroad as seen from various efforts by their producers to create an early buzz on social media and broaden the reach of the dramas.
On official social media accounts of Luna from "Let Me Be Your Knight," photos and video clips of members' practice sessions and the group's schedule for TV appearances and fan meetups were posted.
Members of Cotton Candy from "Idol: The Coup" have also shared their daily schedule of practices on social media even before the official premier.
To meet the rising overseas demand for K-pop-themed TV series, SBS made "Let Me Be Your Knight" available on foreign streaming platforms, like iQIYI International and Viki in Asia, North America, Europe and Australia.
However, skepticism remains over the future of the two upcoming series as previous TV series featuring the pop music industry and starring former K-pop singers have failed to make their presence felt in the South Korean entertainment scene due to a formulaic storyline and poorer-than-expected performance by singer-turned-actors.
Starring Jung Ji-so, best known for her role in "Parasite" (2019), "Imitation," a drama series which aired in May on KBS, featured a romance between two K-pop group members but posted 0.4 percent in nationwide viewership. (Yonhap)