Get Married at All Costs?

`My Better Half,` a new MBC TV series starring young-generation actor Park Gwang-hyun and actress So Yu-jin, will first be aired at 9:50 on April 7. It is a hilarious story about a couple desperately seeking their better halves to get married.

In 1992, Eun-young (So Yu-jin) met Gyung-soo (Park Gwang-hyun) while she was campaigning for a candidate in local election. But they were two different kinds and their relationship did not last. 12 years have passed and they are now over 30. Still single but waning to get married, they are now friends and agree to help each other find the right ones.

This series will have some musical elements in it, describing how the characters feel through dancing and singing. Producer of the series Han Hee made a musical drama `Figuring Out Why She Changed Her Mind` last year and won good review from critics. Although the musical elements will be limited throughout the series, it is seen as a refreshing attempt.

The series will be set in major events which took place in real life over the last ten years. Eun-young meets medical student Sung-min at the site where the Sungsoo Bridge was collapsed, and Gyung-soo has difficulties finding a job in the late 1990s at the time of the financial crisis. There are also popular songs and expressions from the 1990s.

˝I want to tell about a love story that is real not the kind only in movies,˝ said producer Han. It remains to be seen, however, how well So and Park, two stars of the drama who are in their early 20s, play thirty something. ˝They are young actors known for characteristic roles, but this time I plan to focus on portraying the way they get older in detail to appeal to viewers.˝

Soo-Kyung Kim skkim@donga.com