Lee Bo-young Takes on New Weekend Drama

Lee Bo-young (Birth of the Rich) has signed on to her next drama, an MBC weekend production titled The Woman Who Doesn’t Lose. But maybe a better way to refer to it would be She Never Loses, since we’re full up on drama titles about men and women who can’t, want, or still want to do things. (Mostly marrying.)

She Never Loses is a success story of a late-20s divorced woman overcoming obstacles, in another example of the Candy narrative (sigh, another one). (I’ve had some confused questions about Candy, so the basic explanation is this: Candy is the heroine of a famous manhwa from the ’70s, whose M.O. was to be knocked down by life but bounce back cheerily. An orphan from a poor background, she was romanced by a couple dreamy heroes, making her a very popular example of a modern Cinderella. The story’s become such a pop-culture fixture that the “Candy type” has become a shorthand in dramas for poor, plucky heroines. You know. Her. In every drama ever.)

Lee Bo-young’s version of Candy is, of course, a bright and upbeat personality who is named, appropriately, Kang Jae-mi. (Jae-mi also happens to be the word for fun or interesting. Coincidence? I think not.)

The creative team behind the production are PD Joo Sung-woo (Goldfish, Chun-ja’s Happy Events) and writer Park Hyun-joo (My Precious You, Golden Bride). Given the tone of those series, I presume this drama will fall into the category of familiar weekend fare lighthearted, family-friendly, with smaller stories as Jae-mi goes about her daily struggles.

She Never Loses will complete its casting by May, and plans to begin shooting in June. It’ll air following Do You Hear My Heart?