Series Review: The Producers - A Mix of variety and romance

With a star studded cast of Kim Soo Hyun, Cha Tae Hyun, Gong Hyo Jin and UI, The Producers had me interested from the get go. Based on the life of the KBS Variety Show PDs, we get to see the inside story behind popular and unpopular shows and what a PD needs to do to make sure the show goes on. Also included in the storyline a peek at the life of a K-Pop Idol, played by UI.

Ra Joon Moon (Cha Tae Hyun) and Tak Ye Ji (Gong Hyo Jin) are PDs at KBS. They are also childhood friends, secretly in love with each other and also secretly living together. While Joon Moon handles the sinking 1 Night 2 Days Variety show, Ye Ji is PD of the very popular Music Bank which gets all the top Idols. Enter rookie PD, Baek Seung Chan (Kim Soo Hyun) assigned to the show 1 Night 2 Days. He is a nerd, in love with his senior from college and thinks everything works by the book. He researches the history of shows and mathematically predicts ratings. So basically he is just asking to be taught things the hard way.

The first two episodes of the drama was more of a mockumentary. Also these episodes made me feel like I had picked a good series to get addicted to. And then we move on to the third episode. The mockumentary style is no longer there while Seung Chan starts having towards Ye Ji who is clearly blind to his feelings. What could have been wrapped up really fast just got dragged on and on till I was just rolling my eyes at the screen yelling since all the characters did nothing. 

Cindy (UI) is a cold and arrogant K-pop Idol who has become what she is through hard work and training by her agency CEO, Byun Mi Sook (CEO Byun).

As this was a 12 episode series, I assumed the storyline would be tight and well played. But I was so wrong. I felt they focused a lot on Seung Chan and Ye Jin’s relationship when it could have been wrapped by neatly and both of them could have moved on in life. But no, Seung Chan proposes and proposes yet again only to get his heart broken. Joon Moon had a strong character build up at the beginning but towards the middle, he became more of a supporting character. But I totally understand his hesitancy to go forward with his relationship with Ye Jin, though some found it more frustrating. Till the entry of Seung Chan, there was never really any threat to their friendship but with the entry of this wide eyed rookie, PD Joon Moon was forced to accept the fact that he either make his move or his best friend is forever gone. He would rather have his best friend by his side for the rest of his life rather than a girlfriend who may not work out. All in all, it was cute watching him fight his attraction with Ye Ji and shoot daggers at Seung Chan.

My most favorite character was Cindy. Her growth and character development was almost close to perfect. I am sad that i did not get to see her get together with Seung Chan but the ending seemed more realistic. As Seung Chan matures, I can always hope that the relationship between the two is a more mature and a solid one rather than one sided love.

The ending certainly left me satisfied surprisingly. While some bits of the series was an open ending, I am glad that Joon Moon and Ye Ji are together. Theirs was a relationship that could not include anybody else and we got to see this through the eyes of Seung Chan. No matter how much he cared and how much he was there for Ye Ji, it was always Joon Moon who took care of Ye Ji without her knowing. No matter how many men she had in her life, it was always either her birthday or Joon Moon's birthday that would be her Passcode. Somehow that scene seemed to signify how deep their relationship is and I would have loved to see more of that than the circles of uncertainity and rejection they kept throwing at us.