‘My Mister’ tells a human-filled story centered around Saman E&M; and the people of Hugye-dong. The solid and immersive plot and the story of the living, breathing characters simultaneously elicited sympathy and emotion from viewers. In particular, actors Lee Ji-eun, Lee Sun-gyun, Park Ho-san, Song Sae-byeok, and Oh Na-ra shone with flawless acting.
Even though ‘Mr. Sunshine’ was aired on the cable broadcasting station tvN, it recorded a viewership rating of a whopping 18.1% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide standard), creating a surprise. This is the third collaboration between writer Kim Eun-sook and director Lee Eung-bok after ‘Descendants of the Sun’ and ‘Goblin’, and it attracted a lot of attention from the production stage. ‘Mr. Sunshine’ was initially controversial for distorting history, but the gorgeous visuals and the acting of Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-ri, Yoo Yeon-seok, Kim Min-jung, and Byun Yo-han overcame the controversy and received great love.
‘The Light in Your Eyes’ impressed viewers with Kim Hye-ja and Han Ji-min playing the dual roles of ‘Hye-ja’. The love and not-so-easy life that Hye-ja, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, experienced in the past is portrayed, and the impression of Hye-ja’s dazzling life being completed left a lasting impression.
‘SKY Castle’ is a realistic comical satire that unfolds within SKY Castle, where the top 0.1% of Korea’s elite live, and unfolds the desperate desires of wives from prestigious families with a focus on ‘education’, a topic of interest to the entire nation. ‘SKY Castle’, which started with 1.7% in the first episode, recorded 23.8% nationwide and 24.4% in the metropolitan area in the last episode, breaking the highest viewership rating of all time for non-terrestrial broadcasters.
‘Red Moon, Blue Sun’, the only nominated work on terrestrial television, did not record high viewership ratings like other works that were also nominated, with a highest viewership rating of 6%. However, it has received favorable reviews as a well-made drama that deals in depth with child abuse, which has recently become a social issue, and raises a warning to society.
Writer Park Hae-young, who wrote My Mister, also won the best screenplay award.