The Thorn Birds

Title: 가시나무새 / Kashinamoosae / The Thorn Birds
Chinese Title : 荆棘鸟 / 刺鳥
Also known as: The Thorn Bush Bird
Genre: Melodrama, romance
Episodes: 20
Broadcast network: KBS2
Broadcast period: 2011-Mar-02 to 2011-May-05
Air time: Wednesday & Thursday 21:55

Synopsis

This is the story of two women, Seo Jung Eun and Han Yoo Kyung, who walk very different paths to achieve their desires. Seo Jung Eun is a strong and courageous woman who has suffered a difficult life, having grown up in an orphanage, but continues to embrace people around her despite longing for affection herself. Jung Eun harbours the hope that she will meet her mother if she becomes a star, striving to reach her goal and overcome her suffering with her pure and innocent nature. In contrast, Han Yoo Kyung has a birth secret for which she is willing to throw away everything in order to get revenge. The “thorn birds” of the title refers to Jung Eun’s character, who only brings out her best at the cost of great pain. A thorn bird is a mythical bird who searches for a thorn tree from the day it is born. When it finds it, the bird impales itself upon the sharpest thorn, and rises above the agony to sing the most beautiful song ever heard.

Cast

Han Hye Jin as Seo Jung Eun
- Kim So Hyun as young Jung Eun
Joo Sang Wook as Lee Young Jo
- Lee Min Ho as young Young Jo
Kim Min Jung as Han Yoo Kyung
- Yoon Jung Eun as young Yoo Kyung
Seo Do Young as Choi Kang Woo

Extended Cast

Cha Hwa Yun as Yoon Myung Ja / Lee Ae Rin
Kim Ha Eun as Yang Mi Ryun
Song Ok Sook as Kim Kye Soon
Choi Jae Won as Park Han Soo
- Kim Dong Young as young Han Soo
Jung Ui Kap as Lee Young Gook
Park Ji Il as Choi Jong Dal
Ahn Seung Hoon (안승훈) as Yoon Myung Goo
Lee Mi Young as Soon Geum
Jung Eun Byul as Seo Jin
Oh Hyun Kyung as Young Jo’s grandfather
Kim Soo Hyun (김수현) as Han Byul
Lee Won Jae (이원재) as Yoon Hak Goo
Choi Sang Hoon as Seo Jin’s father
Jung Kyung Soon as Yoo Kyung’s adoptive mother
Jang Min Ho (장민호) as Lee Soo Young
Jang Yong (cameo)
Kim Ji Young

Production Credits

Production Company: GnG Production
Chief Producer: Bae Kyung Soo
Producer: Kim Jin Woo (김진우)
Director: Kim Jong Chang
Screenwriter: Lee Sun Hee

Awards

2011 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award, Actress: Han Hye Jin

Dream High (Season 1)

Title: 드림하이 / Dream High (Season 1)
Chinese Title: 星梦高飞 / 追梦高中
Genre: School, musical, comedy, romance
Episodes: 16 + 1 Special
Broadcast network: KBS2
Broadcast period: 2011-Jan-03 to 2011-March-01
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55
Related Series: Dream High Series

Synopsis

Dream High tells the story of six students at Kirin Art High School who work to achieve their dreams of becoming music stars in the Korean music industry. Go Hye Mi is a student who had majored in classical music but has to give up her dream by entering Kirin Art High School to pay off her father’s debt. However, she needs to get two other students to also come to the school in order for her to enroll in the school conditionally. These two students are Song Sam Dong, who lives in the countryside, and Jin Guk, whom she accidentally meets while trying to escape from a loan shark. Yoon Baek Hee, formerly Hyemi’s sidekick, becomes her rival in school because Hye Mi betrays her during an audition to enter the school.

Cast

Bae Suzy as Go Hye Mi
Kim Soo Hyun as Song Sam Dong
Taecyeon as Jin Gook / Hyun Shi Hyuk
Ham Eun Jung as Yoon Baek Hee
Jang Woo Young as Jason
IU as Kim Pil Sook

Extended cast

Ahn Kil Kang as Ma Doo Shik
Ahn Sun Young as Kang Oh Sun (Oh Hyuk’s older sister)
Ahn Seo Hyun as Go Hye Sung (Hye Mi’s little sister)
- Park Eun Bin as 16 year old Hye Sung (ep 16)
Lee Hye Sook as Song Nam Boon (Sam Dong’s mother)
Choi Il Hwa as Hyun Moo Jin (Jin Gook’s father)
Park Hyuk Kwon as Go Byung Jik (Hye Mi’s father)
Park Hwi Soon as Jin Gook’s roommate (ep 1,2,5)

Cameos

Jo Soo Mi (조수미) as herself (ep 1)
Kim Hyun Joong as himself (ep 1)
Nichkhun as Ri Ah’s CF partner (ep 
Hwang Chan Sung as Oh Sun’s imaginary boy (ep 12)
Lee Teuk as himself (ep 13)
Eun Hyuk as himself (ep 13)
Miss A as flash mob dancers (ep 16)
2AM as flash mob dancers (ep 16)
Dal Shabet as Baek Hee’s Kirin students (ep 16)
Goo Joon Yup

Kirin’s Teachers

Uhm Ki Joon as Kang Oh Hyuk
Lee Yoon Ji as Shi Kyung Jin
Park Jin Young as Yang Jin Man (English teacher)
Lee Byung Joon as Shi Bum Soo (Principal)
Lee Yoon Mi as Maeng Seung Hee
Baek Won Kil (백원길) as Gong Min Chul
Bae Yong Joon as Jung Ha Myung (President) (ep 1-4)
Joo Young Hoon (주영훈) as composing teacher (ep 11)

Kirin’s Students

Jun Ah Min as Jo In Sung (Jin Gook’s friend)
Jung Min Joo as Jung Ah Jung
Han Ji Hoo as Park Do Joon (sunbae)
Yoon Young Ah as Lee Ri Ah
Park Jin Sang (박진상) as Jun Tae San (sunbae)
Kim Bo Reum as Ha So Hyun (sunbae)
Bae Noo Ri

Production Credits

Production Companies: KeyEast, JYPE, and CJ Media
Producer: Bae Yong Joon, Park Jin Young
Screenwriter: Park Hye Ryun (박혜련)
Director: Lee Eung Bok

Note

- Cast members that are actual pop stars include TaecYeon & Wooyoung from “2PM”, Bae Suzy from “Miss A”, Eun Jung from “T-ARA” and IU who is a female solo singer.
- A free mini concert was held on February 24th, 2011 at the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center in Goyang, South Korea. The free concert was filmed for the final episode (Episode 16). Performers scheduled to appear at the free concert are Park Jin-Young, Bae Suji, Kim Soo-Hyun, TaecYeon, Eun Jung, IU. Singer Kim Tae-Woo & comedian Park Kyung-Rim will host the free mini concert.

Awards

2011 KBS Drama Awards: Best Couple Awards (Kim Soo Hyun & Bae Suzy)
2011 KBS Drama Awards: Best Supporting Awards (Lee Yoon Ji)
2011 KBS Drama Awards: Newcomer Awards (Kim Soo Hyun)
2011 KBS Drama Awards: Newcomer Awards (Bae Suzy)
2011 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award (Kim Soo Hyun)

Detectives In Trouble / Crime Squad

Title: 강력반 / Kangryukban / Crime Squad
Chinese Title : 强力班 / 重案组
Also known as: Homicide / Detectives in Trouble
Genre: Action, crime, police
Episodes: 16
Broadcast network: KBS2
Broadcast period: 2011-Mar-07 to 2011-Apr-26
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55

Synopsis

This drama focuses on a group of detectives in the Seoul Gangnam Police Homicide Division who solve crimes based on real life cases with their variety of skills and investigative methods. At the forefront of the team is the impulsive and hotheaded detective Park Se Hyuk and the cold, commanding police chief, Jung Il Do. Park Se Hyuk’s passion for his work and rough personality results in a tendency to take action first before thinking later, in contrast with Jung Il Do’s by-the-book style. However, his greatest weapon is an instinctive knowledge of a criminal’s tricks and mental workings that he gained from his father, the legendary thief, and his own childhood in the streets. Together with the other members of a special team formed to catch Lupin, a notorious burglar, he juggles work with his own personal quest to find his father and confront his older brother, a crooked detective.

Cast

Song Il Gook as Park Se Hyuk
Lee Jong Hyuk as Jung Il Do
Song Ji Hyo as Jo Min Joo
Park Sun Young as Heo Eun Young
Jang Hang Sun as Team Leader Kwon Young Sool
Sung Ji Roo as Nam Tae Shik
Sun Woo Sun as Jin Mi Sook
Kim Joon as Shin Dong Jin
Kim Sun Kyung as Im Eun Kyung
Lee Min Woo as Lee Dong Suk
Joo Ho as Choi Tae Soo
Choi Min (최민) as Byun Sang Tae
Jang Nam Yul (장남열) as Ma Jong Pil
Kim Yoo Bin as Park Hae In (Se Hyuk’s daughter)
Park Joon Hyuk as Kang Sung Chul
Kim Yoon Hye (김윤혜) as Lee So Min
Baek Seung Hee as Shin Yoo Mi
Lee El as Yoo Hye Mi
Oh Yong as Reporter Nam
Kim Gyu Chul as Jo Sang Tae
Lee Yeon Joo (이연주) as Seol Hee
Song Shi Yun (송시연) as Park Eun Ah
Oh Ji Yun (오지연) as Oh Eun Joo
Won Jong Rye as Il Do’s mother
Woo Ri as Lee So Min (ep7-8)
Choo So Young as Yoon Sung Hee (cameo)
Hwang Kwang Hee (황광희) as Se Hyuk’s former student (cameo)
??? as Kim Young Tae
Sun Wook Hyun (선욱현)
Seo Kwon Soon

Production Credits

Chief Producer: Jung Hae Ryong
Producer: Yoon Sung Shik (윤성식), Lee Eun Jin (이은진)
Director: Kwon Gye Hong
Screenwriter: Park Sung Jin (박성진), Heo Ji Young (허지영)