Lee Min Ho’s and Gong Hyo Jin’s “When the Stars Gossip” Pulls Low Ratings

South Korean drama When the Stars Gossip starring Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin premiered on January 4 to low ratings. Despite a US $3.4 million budget, the first episode only pulled 3.3 percent of viewership. It dropped even lower to 2.8 percent in the fourth episode, which aired last week. This is a new career low in ratings for both leads and has caused the production company’s stock to take a dive.
The drama is set in space. Gong Hyo Jin plays an astronaut and commander of the spaceship who specializes in researching about biological reproduction. Lee Min Ho is a space tourist and also obstetrician who is about to marry the daughter of a wealthy family. At the request of his future father-in-law, he secretly smuggles his future sister-in-law’s eggs on board in hopes of performing in vitro fertilization with her late husband’s sperm cells.
In a love square, Lee Min Ho ends up falling in love with Gong Hyo Jin in the drama. Coupled with some thrilling CGI scenes, When the Stars Gossip is a romance drama set in space.
The single-digit ratings are scarily low for this caliber of cast and production budget. Where did it go wrong? It is undeniable the special effects are great and the space setting and zero gravity is convincing. Where the drama goes south is its limited setting of the spaceship. It was hard for the actors and actresses to even walk around. Romance dramas need to resonate with the audience and it needs to be realistic. Unfortunately the job of an astronaut is not widely understood and many of the audience were left confused.
With twelve more episodes left to air, will it be able to change its fate?
Source: [1]
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
When you shine time is over, even big production will not help… time to retire lmh…