| From left, posters for the series "Queenmaker,' 'Bo-ra! Deborah,' and "Dr. Cha" / Courtesy of Netflix, ENA and JTBC |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Female-centric and comedy are the two keywords of the upcoming series lineups at pay TV and streaming platforms in April.
Netflix and JTBC will be rolling out the female-oriented series, "Queenmaker" and "Dr. Cha" this month.
The streaming platform's new original series, "Queenmaker," will follow a fixer, Hwang Do-hee (Kim Hee-ae), who is a master of making strategies and handling publicity. Hwang finds herself in the cutthroat world of politics when she puts her skills to transform a civil rights lawyer, Oh Kyung-sook (Moon So-ri), into the next mayor.
Having the same enemy, the two join hands to fight against fellow mayoral candidates, including Baek Jae-min (Ryu Soo-young), the son-in-law of a business tycoon.
The series, which will release on April 14, is led by Oh Jin-seok, who directed Netflix's romance series, "My First First Love" (2019), and is scripted by Moon Ji-young, who wrote tvN's thriller crime series, "Who Are You" (2013).
| A scene from the tvN's new crime comedy series "Stealer: The Treasure Keeper' / Courtesy of tvN |
Uhm Jung-hwa has taken on the comedy series, "Dr. Cha," featuring a strong female lead, which will premiere on April 15.
The comedy will center on a woman, Cha Jung-sook (Uhm), who has been a housewife for 20 years. When Cha married her husband, Seo In-ho (Kim Byung-chul), who is the chief surgeon at a major hospital, she gave up her career as a medical resident to support him.
After an incident, she decides to turn her life around and take another chance to pick up her career as a doctor. After two decades, she returns as a first-year resident and goes on a journey to find herself.
The series is helmed by director Kim Dae-jin, who previously led the Tving thriller series, "The King of Pigs" (2022), and is written by Jung Yeo-rang.
ENA is showcasing the romantic comedy, "Bo-ra! Deborah," starring actors Yoo In-na and Yoon Hyun-min, on April 12.
The new series follows a romance story between a woman who believes dating is all about strategy and a man who thinks the exact opposite.
Yeon Bo-ra (Yoo) is a best-selling author under her pen name Deborah, who gained popularity as a dating coach with her witty, honest dating advice. When she unexpectedly crosses paths with the publisher Lee Soo-hyeok (Yoon), the two face changes in their perspectives of romance.
The series is directed by Lee Tae-gon, whose previous work includes the romance series, "Hello, My Twenties!" (2016), and is penned by A Kyung, who scripted the comedy series, "Mad for Each Other" (2021).
Joo Won returns to the small screen with the tvN's new crime comedy series, "Stealer: The Treasure Keeper," about three years after the action series "Alice" (2020).
The caper series, set to begin airing on April 12, will revolve around Dae-myung (Joo), who is an official at the Cultural Heritage Administration. When he is accused of having a connection with a mysterious thief, dubbed Skunk, he gets involved with an unofficial team, named "Karma", formed by a group of government officials to retrieve missing cultural assets.
The team joins hands to go on an unofficial mission to reclaim cultural assets and punish those who evaded the law.
The series is directed by Choi Joon-bae, whose previous work includes the mystery, suspense series "Mouse," and is scripted by newcomer Shin Kyung-il.