DRAMA RECAPS

The Producers: Episode 1

by javabeans | May 15, 2015 | 55 Comments

The veil finally lifts on KBSs hyped experimental-format variety-drama The

Producers, and Im happy to report that its great. I was afraid it wouldnt live up to

its hype (since there was ever so much of it), but the show delivers, and Im pleased.

One of the shows big selling points was the incorporation of real people and names

into the fictional narrative, making for a hybrid real variety format (which turns out to

just mean mockumentary, because the characters are also being filmed by a docu

team within the show)but really, at the core you have a funny writer and great

characters, acted well by a winning cast.

The tongue-in-cheek meta stuff about variety shows and celebrities is fun icing on

the cake, but really, The Producers is a funny workplace comedy set in showbiz, sort

of likeThe Office come to KBS.

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Seung-chul Darling from the Producers OST [ Download ]

EPISODE 1: The variety department, unintentionally

At the broadcasting headquarters of KBS, a welcome ceremony is held for the

newest class of employees. Just as one car parks and its driver pauses to touch up

her makeup, a second car parks right next to her. The driver is new employee BAEK

SEUNG-CHAN (Kim Soo-hyun), and hes running late for the ceremony.

A producer trains a camera on him and asks a few questions, because the KBS

documentary team is working on a show featuring the inner workings of their own

company. Which explains the faux-reality setup of this entire show.

The producer in the first car, TAK YE-JIN (Gong Hyo-jin), opens her door

and smack!She dings Seung-chans car and is simultaneously annoyed and worried

about the ugly scratch she left on his door. You can see her considering slinking

away, but shes been caught on camera by another member of the documentary

staff. Dammit.

The documentary team interviews the new employees, and Seung-chan hems and

haws at the question of why he chose to pursue variety. He bashfully admits that the

noona he likes works there. I just wanted to be near her, he says.

A flashback to her graduation day shows just that: As the noona (cameo by Jo

Yoon-hee) poses for a picture with a crowd of friends, Seung-chan sidles closer to

just barely make it into frame.

The variety rookies begin their on-the-job training (OJT), led by CP (chief producer)

Kim Tae-ho. That name becomes a running joke, because the real-life PD (producer-

director) Kim Tae-ho is over at MBC heading the national variety program Infinity

Challenge, while this Kim Tae-ho says defensively that he was first: Im the original

Kim Tae-ho! Okay sure, hes talented and all

It becomes clear, hilariously and by degrees, that CP Kim is a bit of a blowhard, of

the most hapless sort. He talks big, but everything around him points to the contrary.

For instance, he proudly presents the newbies with a book titled What is a Variety

PD?its an instruction manual, written by himself. Seung-chan tells us, however,

that most people assume its the Infinity Challenge producers book, and that there

are a lot of returns. But Seung-chan had already written his name on the front and

couldnt return his copy. Wah wahhhh.

As the team is shown around the various departments, we get a slew of in-jokes

about various KBS variety programs. Happy Together, for instance, pulled in a low

7.0% rating for the week, and CP Kim says unconvincingly how 7% is really pretty

good these days, you know, with all those cable stations and all the competition

Seung-chan is adorably awkward, with naive practically stamped on his forehead

over those wide, gullible eyes. Gullible eyes that are growing more disillusioned by

the minute, as his expectations are crushed by the reality of the job.

More jokes: Gag Concert tickets are notoriously difficult to get, so dont ask, says CP

Kim in a tone of bewildered hurt. (Clearly hes tried, many times.) Then he treats

theSuperman Returns PDs illness as a sign of overwork and dedication, while a

sardonic employee tells us that the guy actually drank up a storm last night.

Lunchtime rolls around, and CP Kim leads the rookies to the cafeteria, giving them

menu tips with an air of great importance. Three SNSD idols walk into the cafeteria

(Taeyeon, Tiffany, Seohyun) and CP Kim brags that hes sooooo tight with them,

only to have Taeyeon wonder if hes the Infinity Challenge guy.

Next, they head to the control room for Music Bank, which has a live broadcast today.

This is where door-scratcher Ye-jin works, and she is grudgingly roped into taking

over the OJT for the day. She does it as ungraciously as possible, griping to CP Kim

about it being a rough day, what with her car door accident and all.

Like CP Kim, Ye-jin talks a big talk, but were shown glimpses of the chinks in her

armor. For instance, its clear that shes super worried about what the owner of the

expensive foreign car will say, and how much shell have to pay for the repair, but

outwardly acts like it was his fault for driving such a large car in a small nation,

harrumph.

Her tirade is overheard and quickly texted to all the idol managers waiting at the

coffee shop (their home base). Theyre given a threat level for Ye-jins temper

(moderate, dont mess with her and youll be okay), and advised against introducing

a rookie pop star to her today. One sighs that he wishes she hit his car, so he could

use that as leverage with his idol.

Ye-jin sends a text to the owner of the car, then launches into an introduction to the

variety rookies. Seung-chan receives her text a second later, but when he checks his

phone, she scolds him for not silencing his ringer. He apologizes, and then she

scolds him for apologizing too easily. Ha. Hes so bewildered at her contrariness,

and its written all over his face.

As Ye-jin explains how the broadcast is run, they spot a couple sitting in the

audience on the monitor. Seung-chan alerts to mention of his noonas name and

the rumored boyfriend shes sitting with, whose cheek she kisses. His heart sinks.

Still, when his noona notices him in the lobby, dejected Seung-chan brightens to see

her. But its evident she barely remembers anything of him, introducing him to a

colleague with all the wrong information. She walks off talking about what sounds

like wedding plans, breaking his heart some more.

Seung-chan holes up in a bathroom stall to have a private cry, and the docu

cameraman persistently films on, just outside. Thats when a veteran producer, RA

JOON-MO (Cha Tae-hyun), enters, and Seung-chan recognizes him as his noonas

supposed boyfriend. Hes comically petty as he glares with his red-rimmed eyes,

purposely flicks Joon-mo with water, then loudly uses the air dryer when Joon-mo

takes a phone call. Aw, vengeful puppy.

Joon-mo is the PD of the fourth season of 1 Night, 2 Days (while well all know that

Cha Tae-hyun is a cast member of the third season), and hes been summoned by

the Korea Communication Standards Commission. He explains that a summons for

variety PDs is usually in response to the airing of undignified behavior, though he

shrugs, Its not like we have much dignity to begin with

Todays reason is for vulgar use of language on the air, as a panel of humorless

executives explains stiffly. In particular, the show used the word boogers, in

regards to the eating thereof. Joon-mo briefly tries to defend himself before giving up

and meekly apologizing. The committee appreciates the ready apology, but wonders

at its sincerity.

Outside, he runs into a reporter who marvels at the frequency of his standards

committee summonses. (Fifteen and counting.) He also makes an offhand reference

to the show being canceled, which is news to Joon-mo, whose first reaction is to

dismiss it as impossible, since hes never heard of this. The reporter notes that the

producers are always the last to know, and Joon-mo is left with an unsettling feeling

that niggles at him the rest of the day.

Joon-mo interviews with the documentary crew, explaining how 1N2D was quite the

hit back in its heyday under Na Young-seok (who went on to create Grandpas Over

Flowers) and Lee Myung-han (who produced Answer Me 1994). Season 2 went a bit

astray, but Season 3 was great. By the time Joon-mo took over for Season 4, the

show was feeling stale so he wanted to shake it up a bit.

So he recast with an all-actress cast, giving us a gem of a cutaway to Season 4s

cast of four opinionated actresses (cameos by Yoon Yeo-jung, Geum Bo-ra,

Hwang Shin-hye, Hyun Young), who totally ignore the script and refuse to go on

trips or participate in any of the trademark 1N2D activities. One wont drink fish

sauce (a signature punishment on the show), while another barks that shes too old

to sleep outside (another given in the premise).

Joon-mo concedes that he shook things up too much, and ratings bombed. But he

tries to convince us (and himself) that its not all bad, that danger is an opportunity,

and that hes totally not nervous about cancellation. Gulp.

So when his writing team asks if he was unable to free up Miss As scheduling

conflict with their Music Bank appearance, Joon-mo barks that of course he can get

it worked out.

Unfortunately, his call to the show comes just as Ye-jin is telling the rookies that you

have to be able to say no to all requests for pulled strings, even if the president were

to stroll in. In fact, to make her point clear, she puts Joon-mo on speakerphone while

refusing to make concessions. Her advice: Youre responsible for your own plate

here, and if you run around taking care of other peoples food, youll find yourself

with nothing to eat.

Ye-jins super-cool speech ends with her accidentally falling back into her chair when

her purse gets caught, and she plays it off like she meant to sit back down again. Im

getting the sense that shes competent and accident-prone in equal measure.

Joon-mo gets called in by the station director, who presents him with his miserable

ratings. The director calls his 5% ratings these days are just like 15% in the old days

explanation as a cowardly excuse, and tells him the program is being canceled.

Joon-mo is stung and storms out indignantly.

The director sighs that Na PD did a great job with the first season and wonders,

Cant we bring him back here? HA. Good luck with that, KBS.

(Its common knowledge that Na PD left KBS after 1 Night, 2 Days to go to cable with

a bunch of his PD colleagues, where they enjoy greater creative control and have

been churning out hit program after hit program for tvN. Its extra funny given that the

new season of Na PDs Three Meals a Day premiered on the same day as this

drama, and Na PD has been saying all week long in interviews that hes nervous

about going up againstProducers and cant honestly say I want them to do well.

LOL.)

Feeling like the head of a household whos just lost his job, Joon-mo trudges back to

his writers room but cant face his team. Mustering his resolve, he returns to the

directors office, asking if hell be fired as well (if not, he can save his teams jobs).

The director assures him that hell stay onboard; all he needs to do is replace the

cast and be ready with the revamp in two weeks. Oh, just that then.

The director and CP treat it like this is the easiest problem to solve, and tell him to

combine their upcoming anniversary party with the show wrap party, to save costs.

They arent willing to spend money to shoot a finale episode, but they do chatter on

incessantly about dinner menu options.

The director makes a personal request of CP Kim, because hes heard that Cindys

appearing on Music Bank and his daughters a huge fan. She just so happens to be

here today

So CP Kim heads to the dressing room to ask top pop star CINDY (IU) to take a few

photos with the directors daughter and her friends. One look at Cindys stone face

tells us shes of the diva variety, and Cindys manager-oppa tries to tactfully decline

the request, but CP Kim blunders forward and forces the issue before she can reject

it.

Cindy remains silent and sour-faced through the encounter, then tells her manager

shes not doing rehearsals anymore, where she gets routinely accosted like this. She

doesnt care that the shows head PD is famously difficult, nor does she intend to

heed Ye-jins request to wear something less revealing.

Ye-jin worries at the non-response from her car-scratch victim, and sends more texts

that are increasingly aegyo-filled. Hes not reading the messages, so she tries

callingand seconds later when Seung-chans phone goes off, she barks, Just

because Im on the phone, do you think its okay for you? She orders him to shut it

off, and when she tries calling Mr. Foreign Car again, shes affronted to

find his phone shut off. Haha, I could watch this go around for days.

Ye-jin hears that Cindy wont change out of her sheer outfit and cant back down, not

with the rookies watching her every move. So she calls in Cindys manager and tells

him firmly to make the wardrobe change happen, and when that doesnt work, she

heads over to confront little miss diva in person. (Her staff gasps, Are you going

there to fight? Ye-jin retorts, Im going to teach her a lesson. Everyone hurries to

follow, not about to miss this.)

Ye-jin storms into Cindys dressing room (just as Cindys ordering her manager-oppa

out for breathing too loudly) and adopts a forceful pose. But Cindys just as strong-

willed, and they exchanged politely barbed words for a while until Cindy says that her

clothing isntscandalous, its pretty. She turns to the rookie class to back her up, and

singles out Seung-chan for his opinion.

Asked directly if he agrees that its pretty, Seung-chan stammers in agreement,

which earns him a glower from Ye-jin. Cindy says that men like what shes wearing,

althoughslightly older women such as Ye-jin may not.

Ye-jin takes the this is a family show approach, but Cindy again puts Seung-chan

on the spot, asking if he ever watches the show with his mother. He ekes out a

vague answer, and Ye-jin glares again.

Then Cindy says she understandsand she wont do the show at all, if it would be

such a blow to the program to have her on it.

Ye-jin orders her staff out of the room. Then she does a total turnaround to say that

the clothes are totally pretty, but KBS is the problem here and wont allow it. She

tries all sorts of flattery and pleading, until finally Cindy concedes to wear a jacket.

Ye-jin pours on the gratitude, praising her kindness and showering her with smiles

And walks out of the room with a stone face, of course, and tells her impressed staff

not to spread the gossip about Cindy yielding to her, to save her reputation. Then

she turns on Seung-chan to say how sad he must be to have Cindys pretty clothing

covered up. When he apologizes again, she barks again at him not to say sorry.

Seung-chan interviews to the docu crew that he isnt allowed to apologize, but he

cant remain silent, and he cant talk back, so Its a vicious cycle.

In the control room just minutes before Music Bank goes on air, Ye-jin overhears talk

of 1N2D being in a crisis, with Joon-mo being called to both the standards

commission and the directors office. She must feel bad about that, and turns to the

rookies to backtrack on her earlier words, saying that helping out your broadcast

family is a win-win situation, if you wait a little to make the concession.

Then she calls Joon-mo (on speakerphone) to very generously agree to his previous

request only to have him hang up on her with a curt, Forget it, I dont need it.

Music Bank goes live, and Cindys wearing her jacket onstagefor all of two

seconds, before she peels it off and tosses it aside. Grimly, Ye-jin directs the show

since theres nothing she can do but let the cameras get all those angles of barely

covered skin.

Cindys entourage leaves the premises immediately afterward, and for the rookies

benefit Ye-jin plays it off like they ran scared from her. She requests a meeting with

Cindys CEO tomorrow, who seems to have a reputation for being quite fierce. And

as she does every time shes feeling backed into a corner, Ye-jin turns on Seung-

chan and accuses him of enjoying the show. She even foists off the inevitable

standards commission rebuke on him, since he was sooo in favor of Cindys outfit.

Seung-chan just deflates even more, looking battered from all sides. When the docu

PD asks how his first day was, he asks exhaustedly, What do you think it felt like?

Its been an equally crushing day for Joon-mo, who stops at a convenience store and

runs into Cindys manager oppa, whom hes known for a while. They exchange

pleasantries, and Joon-mo sees the manager buying Cindys dinner from the

packaged aisle, which provokes a strong reaction in him. Joon-mo tells him to put

those down and heads next door, where he buys a takeout dinner and gives him a

message to take back to his CEO: that if youre going to overwork your kids and

make them dance and sing, at least feed them properly.

Cindys not at all pleased with the dinner, which is full of stuff she cant eat. She asks

for the PDs name and hears that Joon-mo is longtime enemies with their CEO,

though the manager doesnt know why. And in a quick montage, we see the

fearsome CEO Byun yelling and berating her staff, and making scenes to get her

way with KBS.

Cindy wonders why their CEOs enemy would buy her food, and the manager has no

idea. Is he crazy? she thinks.

Ye-jin hasnt gotten a return message all day long from her car-scratch victim, and

she tries again that night in the parking lot. Finally he picks up, and she puts on her

most placating voice and calls him Teacher and plays up the were all family here at

KBS! angle.

Shes surprised when he says he works in the variety department, and looks up just

as Seung-chan arrives. All of a sudden, her sweetness fades and she adopts her

tough-as-nails stance, saying sarcastically how nice his car is and asking why he

doesnt respond to his messages.

He says she told him not to look at his phone, and only now reads the messages she

left. She barks at him not totheyre all cutesy and supplicating, full of emoticons

and downplays the scratch as minor even as she instructs him not to go easy on her

because shes his sunbae.

He says haltingly that since its his fathers car, hell have to see what he says. She

agrees, then complains at how closely he parked, making an exaggerated show of

how impossible it is to get in the door without hitting his car. I think we can distill the

majority of their interactions to this: Yell, yell, blink, blink.

Joon-mo takes his team out for expensive barbecue, and their first reaction is to be

suspiciousare they being canceled? He denies it, but has to come clean about the

mandate to bring in a whole new cast. His team knows their jobs are at risk despite

his assurances that they arent, and he reminds them that the last time he brought

every one of his old staff to the new show (which is why the new show had an

absurdly large writing staff of twelve, HA).

But the head writer makes a bitter observation, that PDs still get paid whether theyre

on specific shows, while the rest of the staff doesnt. Plus, theres all this work to do

now, canceling things and editing new things, and the mood quickly deteriorates into

anger and tears.

Its a despondent night for everyone as they go their separate ways, all wearied for

different reasons. Ye-jin sees news of Cindys scandalous outfit hitting the internet,

while Cindy ends up eating her dinner after all.

Joon-mos team drinks and disperses, and he trudges home alone and pours himself

some soju.

Seung-chan stays up reading that What is a Variety PD? book, whose first chapter

begins with the message Beginning is not the half of itthe beginning is just the

beginning.

Ye-jin arrives home and also pours herself some soju and then we see that shes

sitting across the kitchen table from Joon-mo. Aha. So theyre a couple?

Joon-mo tells her not to push him today, and she asks for the same.

EPILOGUE

Seung-chans family gathers that night to celebrate his first day on the job, and his

father leads them all in a prayer of thanks, which informs us of his familys situation

in a hilariously offhand way. His older brother has been studying to pass the bar for

twelve years and has a marriage on the rocks, his sassy sister is married to a doctor,

and his younger sister (also sassy) routinely gets forgotten from the family prayers.

Dad ends on an optimistic note, saying that with a would-be lawyer in the family

(byeon-ho-sa), a doctor (eui-sa), and now a producer, theyll have a full sa

household.

(Job titles that end in the syllable sa mostly indicate respectable white-collar

professions.)

A sister asks how that applies to Seung-chan, and Dad clarifies, Hes a pro-du-sa!

(Groaaaan. Ba-dum-ching! This whole epilogue is basically a long setup for that

punchline, which at least explains why the show is spelled, in Korean, pro-du-

sa instead of the standard spelling of pro-du-seo. Its a minor difference, but allows

for the joke of counting a producer as a sa career, which it really isnt.)

COMMENTS

I didnt want to get my hopes up for this drama, because even with its strong

credentials, you can never expect a new show to relive the successes of the past. I

was also wary of how well the drama would incorporate the much-touted real variety

segments, wondering if these producers would get buried in their love of meta

commentarythat kind of stuff is fun for insiders, but can often lose the rest of us.

So Im glad that I could appreciate the meta references and jokes without feeling

overwhelmed by them; I honestly dont think you need to know much about the

variety world to enjoy The Producers, whose sense of humor is rooted in character

relationships and situational comedy. Universal stuff. You dont need to know oodles

of insider industry news, and besides, thats what were here for, to point that stuff

out!

The first episode was a bit slow in plot, because boy was there a dense thicket of

setup and KBS-related references taking up a lot of time. I didnt mind having a lot of

cameo appearances (for once they enhance the story, since it makes the station feel

real and legitimate, rather than purely fictional) but we could have skipped some of

the other shows (mentions included Immortal Song, Gag Concert, Superman

Returns) to cut to the chase sooner. At least the writing was funny, to keep them

moving along with a steady stream of jokes. Im glad to see writer Park Ji-eun

following up You From Another Starwith another bubbly comedy; she has a good

sense of comedic timing and a rapport with these characters. And I see the wisdom

in attaching an experienced variety hitmaker to handle the variety scenes while

entrusting the scripted drama to veteran PD Pyo Min-soo, to make the best of both.

I love Cha Tae-hyun in this drama, in particular his way of making every line and joke

his ownIm sure theyre mostly scripted (though I wouldnt be surprised if he ad-

libbed up a storm), but he has a knack with comic delivery. Granted, I sometimes

cant separate Cha Tae-hyun the real person from Ra Joon-mo the character, since I

swear it feels like hes playing himself, if hed decided to be a PD instead of an actor.

But maybe that just speaks to his strength in embodying a role. And while hes

fantastic as a comedian, what really makes him stand out, for me, is how he can also

be heartfelt and serious and sometimes pathetic.

Gong Hyo-jin worried me a little with pre-show comments about how mean her

character was, but I was surprised at how much I love Ye-jin. I mean, not surprised

that Gong Hyo-jin was great, because when is she ever not great? But the prickly

character is easy to find endearing because of just how much bluster is involved, and

how Ye-jin is so often wrong, but how unwilling to admit it when she is.

Im particularly impressed with how natural the main three actors are in their roles; IU

isnt bad as the bratty idol, but you can see how shes trying very hard, whereas the

other three inhabit their personas in a way that doesnt betray their effort. Kim Soo-

hyun reminded me again why hes so wonderful, in a way that I dont think we saw

in You From Another Star; that was a fun character, but in the scope of things, kind

of straightforward to play. Hes given much more to work with here, and he cracks

me up with his bewildered, overwhelmed deer-in-headlights expressions. Hes smart

but totally hapless, and just doesnt know what to make of Ye-jin. Hes pretty much

her complete opposite, and its great.

The actual story development was pretty minimal in this episode, but at least

there was a central conflict posed (with Joon-mo needing to save his show and his

team), so Im okay waiting for the next episode to get to the meat of things. Surely

the episodes dont really need to be 80 minutes long, even if thats done to mimic

actual variety programs, but on the upside those minutes do tend to fly by, just as

long as youre not the one doing the recapping. The comedy will keep the pace brisk

for now, while the hints of more emotional developments (Joon-mos fight to stay on

the air, Seung-chans lack of direction about wanting to be a PD) will give it heart. (It

had better.)