Drama 'Goodbye, Mr. Black' to challenge 'Descendants of the Sun'

By Park Sojung

SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Producers of "Goodbye, Mr. Black" said Monday the upcoming drama will offer an entirely different set of values and story than its rival series "Descendants of the Sun," which is currently dominating the Wednesday-Thursday night time slot.

The MBC series based on a Korean cartoon series of the same title tells a tale of revenge by Cha Ji-won (Lee Jin-wook) who loses his everything -- his wealth, dignity and even his fiancee -- to his best friend Min Seon-jae (Kim Kang-woo).

The first part is set in Thailand, although the original story takes place in Australia, and the Southeast Asian country is where Cha meets an orphan girl, Kim Swan (Moon Chae-won), who secretly admires him and tries to help in his quest for retaliation.

Cognizant of the early rise of "Descendants of the Sun," producer Han Hee cautiously offered that his show will combine the genres of revenge and melodrama in unprecedented ways.

"Viewers are already familiar with the two genres and they are shown almost every day on TV, but I want to make this drama different," he said, adding "Goodbye, Mr. Black" will also reveal the sides of its actors and actresses fans have never seen. "We want to keep our viewers guessing."

Actress Moon Chae-won on the lead role said she hasn't gotten a chance to watch "Descendants of the Sun" properly, but expressed her support for the KBS 2TV series.

"I haven't watched an entire episode yet. I've only watched it on TV at the filming set," she said. "I've worked with (Song) Joong-ki before, so I want to wish him well."

Actor Lee Jin-wook also said he wants the show to be captivating in its own right.

"Rather than competing with 'Descendants of the Sun' -- it's already doing well -- I'll try to emphasize our strengths on 'Goodbye, Mr. Black,'" he said.

"Goodbye, Mr. Black" premieres on Wednesday at 10 p.m.

sojungpark@yna.co.kr
(END)