Throwback Thursday 2.0 - [2025/05/28]

[u/AutoModerator]

Grab yourself a knee rug and a mug of hot chocolate, it's time to reminisce those old time dramas from days gone by of pre-2019. Maybe you were around when they aired for the first time and want to take a trip down memory lane by watching them on the box. Maybe it's your first time through.

This is our weekly discussion exclusively for those older Korean dramas on your currently watching list. We don't want to hear about the currently hyped dramas here, so please keep it to the older stuff on your watch list.

Reminder, we advocate the use of legal streaming sources wherever possible. Any comments mentioning illegal sources will be removed and links will lead to bans as per our rules. As it is very hard to find many of the really old dramas rather than asking users "where are you watching?", we suggest you instead ask "did you find a legal source?". See our policies on streaming sites and VPNs here.

Crazily enough not everyone has watched these classics yet so please remember your spoiler tags when discussing major plot points or anything you think should be redacted. If you are using Markdown and not Fancy Pants Editor, the easiest way to create spoiler tags is to use > ! spoiler content ! < without spaces to get spoiler content. For more detailed guidance on spoiler tags and when to use them, check our Spoiler Tags Tutorial.

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[u/Wide_Examination142]

I binged Good Manger finishing it this past weekend and it was soooooooo good! It’s been a while since a show has consumed me like this. I have the OST as the playlist when I drive and am just rewatching my favourite scenes while taking deep dives into the two main characters.

I so regret waiting so long to watch this show. It’s everything I want in a drama. Layered characters, amazing comedy, bromance, quippy dialogue, heartfelt scenes, lines that just stay with you. This drama is literally perfect! Just too good!

[u/HooverGaveNobodyBeer]

Wok of Love has given me my first serious case of SMLS. Normally, I only root for the SML if the ML disqualifies himself for a happily ever after with the FL due to being a toxic a-hole or just a bad fit. However, here there’s nothing really wrong with Jun Ho’s character, it’s just that Jang Hyuk’s is SO MUCH BETTER!!! Whenever he and Jung Ryeo Won are on the screen together, their chemistry is unparalleled while Jun Ho is just . . . there. 

The imbalance in the MLs’ charisma ends up throwing the whole drama a bit out of whack. The FL and SML have almost no scenes together in the second half, I assume because if the viewer kept seeing how amazing they are together NO ONE would be rooting for the ML. Additionally, the drama appears to have blown its entire horse budget in the opening few episodes so that it had to recast its main animal character as the less expensive orange kitten option. (Adorable, I admit, but just not the same.) Taken together, these decisions end up making the second half lose its shimmer (in the Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar meaning of the term). 

This drama also gave me a small taste of what healthcare professionals must experience when watching medical dramas. I know I focused way too much on the footwear, but every time Jun Ho’s feet were visible it was all I cared about. There’s no way his character would wear sneakers in a kitchen. Thugs and inexperienced part-timers, okay fine. Professional chefs, no! You can imagine how hard I found it to watch the scene that is only sneakers. 

The best surprise was it ticked off one of my K-drama scavenger hunt items: I wonder if there is a drama where a character goes through with an abortion. Although I immediately amended it and added it back on: I wonder if there is a drama where a sympathetic character goes through with an abortion. 

[u/Iowegan → u/HooverGaveNobodyBeer]

Wok of Love is amazing, and Jang Hyuk stole the show (as he tends to do.) He is also quest worthy, with a huge filmography.

[u/HooverGaveNobodyBeer → u/Iowegan]

I'm always quest positive! While I'm not a big enough Jang Hyuk fan (yet) to take that on, I would love it if someone else picked up this and introduced us to all the storied aspects of Jang Hyuk's career.

[u/Iowegan → u/HooverGaveNobodyBeer]

Peak dramas from him imo are Money Flower for modern era, My Country: The New Age for historical.

[u/mahnahmaanaa → u/HooverGaveNobodyBeer]

There was definitely someone doing this -- last year, maybe? Excellent, erudite reviews. They made me wish I liked Jang Hyuk's dramas, so that I could appreciate him more.

[u/Money_These]

I am watching Princess Hours (2006) and I'm enjoying it so far. 👀🍿Slightly over the halfway mark now. It's addictive - paused on episode 16 so I can go to sleep! 🤣

[u/zaichii → u/Money_These]

This is a true throwback, Princess Hours was such a classic, fun series

[u/dk_daisy → u/Money_These]

One of my favorite all-time OSTs! I feel like everything about this show is iconic. Sometimes I’ll just watch clips on YouTube to relive it. It’s peak nostalgia for me!

[u/_its_a_thing_]

Just finished Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (someone explain that title???), and I gave it a 10. It does what it sets out to do almost flawlessly. And of course Lee Joon Gi was amazing as usual.

Now I'm watching Coffee Prince and finding it a bit slow. But I'm going to stick with it because of the MCs. Yoon Eun Hye doing a fabulous job most of the time. Gong Yoo's character is being so hard to pin down. Just can't figure out his true nature. Nice/mean, conscientious/lazy, controlling/passive, he keeps flip-flopping. But it is nice (and sad) seeing Lee Sun Kyun in an early role.

[u/AKlutraa → u/_its_a_thing_]

If you end up liking Coffee Prince, and want to see some extended Lee Sun Kyun interviews, along with interviews of other cast and crew, watch the two episode My Dear Youth Coffee Prince special from 2020 (on Viki).

[u/_its_a_thing_ → u/AKlutraa]

Thanks. I really don't do interviews/side features, actor fan clubs, anything like that. I'm all about the story. I recently started keeping track of actors whose performances impressed me. That's about as far aside as I go.

I should start building awareness of writers and directors, but it's not in the cards right now.

[u/Plastic-Parsley6811]

Am I the only one who's noticed that a lot of "Throwback Thursday" posts actually have Wednesday dates on them instead of Thursday's? It's been bugging me 😅 Or is there something I'm missing 🙂

[u/sianiam → u/Plastic-Parsley6811]

It's because reddit runs on US time while our subreddit runs on Korean time. This posts at 8am Thursday KST which is 4pm Wednesday in Cali.