My Name is Kim Sam Soon

AZN Television will become one of the first cable channels to offer viewers free streaming episodes on its website, azntv.com, on August 1.

The website will first feature the highest-rated 2005 drama in Korea, My Lovely Sam-Soon, before airing it on the channel two weeks later. The full series of All About Eve will be available exclusively on the website, September 5.

The online video launch is in conjunction with the channel’s “Asian Wave: Summer of Hallyu” program festival. Hallyu is Korean for the international craze over Korean dramas, which the channel will feature through September.

AZN Television is also planning to further enhance its website to showcase Asian American talent by allowing viewers to upload their own videos for anyone to see.
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Asian-American network AZN has picked up the broadcasting and streaming video rights to two Korean dramas from MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation) America: My Lovely Sam-Soon and All About Eve.

The shows will appear as part of AZN’s “Asian Wave:  Summer of Hallyu” programming campaign. AZN will premiere the first episode of My Lovely Sam-Soon on its website, www.azntv.com. Two weeks later, the 16-part series will launch on the linear channel. The 20-episode All About Eve will be streamed exclusively on azntv.com. The website will also include never-before-seen interviews and behind-the-scenes footage that explore the Korean programming phenomenon.

My Lovely Sam-Soon was the highest rated drama of 2005 in Korea, with 37.7-percent share. Other dramas included in the “Asian Wave:  Summer of Hallyu” festival include Full House and Winter Sonata from KBS America.

 Source: World Screen 17 Jul 06

The new-generation actor Hyeon Bin will likely become the representative top-class hallyu star overseas. In December of last year, Hyeon appeared as a cover model for the Hong Kong edition of the world-renowned men’s magazine “Esquire”, a first for a South Korean actor. This time, Hyeon has recently become a top hallyu star in Japan, overtaking other South Korean celebrities. Hyeon ranked first in the “Third Poll on Hallyu Stars” conducted on readers for the February issue of the “South Korean TV Drama Magazine” published by Kyodo News.

In the poll, Hyeon was followed by Kwon Sang-woo, Bae Yong-joon and Lee Byeong-heon, in that order. Other hallyu stars selected included Ryoo Si-won, Song Seung-heon, Kim Rae-won, Park Yong-ha, So Ji-sub and Park Shin-yang.

Hyeon’s ranking in the poll has stunned all people concerned, as South Korean TV dramas he has acted in have never been aired by terrestrial networks in Hong Kong or Japan.

South Korean TV dramas are normally broadcast by cable TV networks in Japan ahead of terrestrial networks. Through KNTV, a fee-based channel in Japan, the drama “Ireland” aired from January through March of last year, and another drama “My Name is Kim Sam-soon” from August through October of last year, winning great popularity there. After those dramas were broadcast, Hyeon has attracted a growing number of Japanese female fans because of his handsome and gentle appearance.
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Isn’t it ironic that Philippine primetime television is ruled by drama series from Korea? But, that’s what it is these days.

Korea’s no. 1 TV drama for 2005 is now in GMA Network’s most popular primetime fare. It premiered on Feb. 13 and after close to eight weeks, My Name is Kim Sam Soon has won the hearts of female viewers all over the country as it speaks of women empowerment and proves that being plain doesn’t necessarily mean ugly.

Primetime on GMA-7 is capped by back-to-back Koreanovelas, with My Name is Kim Sam Soon airing after Encantadia and followed by the no. 1 Korean drama in 2004, Jewel in the Palace.

My Name is Kim Sam Soon is a charming romantic comedy. The heroine is neither sexy nor sophisticated; she is an old maid in Korean culture. Kim Sam Soon (played by Kim Sun Ah, who purposefully had to gain weight for the role) is actually referred to as the “Bridget Jones” of Korea (with the wild imagination of Ally McBeal).

Kim Sam Soon breaks the stereotype of a romantic hearoine—she is chubby, unglamorous, tactless, vulgar, and can speak her mind. She hates her name and wants to legally change it to Hanna. In spite of all this, her being honest, wonderful, and endearing makes her attractive to Cyrus (Hyun Bin), the guy who owns a French restaurant where Sam Soon works as a pastry chef.

The series spawned the “Sam Soon Syndrome” in Korea where women began to feel more empowered. It served as a reality check. A woman need not be slim and gorgeous to snag the rich, handsome guy next door. In reality, there really are more ordinary-looking women than the romanticized rich and pretty girls.

This unique romantic comedy begins one Christmas Eve when Kim Sam Soon was dumped by her boyfriend. She gets so depressed about it that she absent-mindedly goes into the men’s room. This is where she first encounters the rich and handsome Cyrus.

When Cyrus asks her to pose as his girlfriend. She agrees since she desperately needed the money to change her name. Yet she soon discovers that she can’t help but fall truly in love with him. And just when it seems Cyrus is starting to care about her, Hanna (Jung Ryeo Won) comes back from Los Angeles.

I have been hooked to My Name is Kim Sam Soon since it premiered on GMA-7. While Jewel in the Palace seems like an epic and therefore interesting, what I found charming in Kim Sam Soon is the naturalistic approach to the story. In the original Korean version, Sam Soon narrates her story and how she fell in and out of love with Cyrus.

Sam Milby wants to be complete

It takes a certain kind of celebrity to effectively endorse products or services in mass media. Consider the names of Aga Muhlach, Dolphy, Sharon Cuneta, Vilma Santos—all are popular and successful to lend some credibility to the goods they push, and translate into increased sales.

Despite the staggering amount of talent fees, advertising agencies of big-budget accounts literally form a beeline to get the nod of such endorsers. One of the most sought-after faces today is Sam Milby, whose entry to showbiz is as sweet and as golden as honey.

In an interview, Sam Milby admitted dreaming in his early teens of making it to the Hollywood. “If you’re in Hollywood, you’re everywhere. It would be very inspiring to know if a Filipino would make it big there, that would give hope,” he said. Despite his fast-climbing career in the local scene, Sam disclosed he still needs to work on his tagalog though. “I’m in this business so I need to learn the language for me to understand everyone and get myself involved in the discussion,” added Sam who did a couple of modeling jobs before he auditioned for ABS-CBN’s Pinoy Big Brother which paved the way for his rise to stardom.
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Episode 1
On Christmas Eve, Sam-soon enters into a hotel looking for her cheating boyfriend Hyeon-woo. She’s been suspicious about his behavior and she sees him going up to the room with a beautiful woman. She pictures herself beating up her boyfriend and the woman. However, when she runs into him, she clings to him and begs him to come back - like a complete loser. At the same hotel, Jin-heon is on a blind date arranged by his mother who insists that he get married before his niece Mi-ju goes to school. He sees Sam-soon begging Hyeon-woo and finds it very amusing. Since he isn’t interested in the date, he decides to finish it as quickly as possible.
Offended by his rudeness, the woman throws water in his face. He goes to the restroom to dry his wet clothes and finds Sam-soon crying in the men’s restroom, which she thought the women’s.

After breaking up with Hyeon-woo, Sam-soon got even chubbier. She doesn’t have a job. However, she doesn’t have time to sit around and feel bad about the breakup. She has done all kinds of part-time work to make money to study at ‘Le Cordon Bleu’ in France. She has a job interview in a French restaurant, Bon Appetit, and she goes there with the cake she made herself. However, she didn’t expect to see Jin-heon there. To make things even worse, her hair gets stuck in his tie pin. Without hesitating, Jin-heon cuts off Sam-soon’s hair. Furious, Sam-soon throws the cake in his face.

Episode 2
Sam-soon gets a job at Jin-heon’s restaurant and a welcoming party is thrown. Everyone is having fun at the party. Sam-soon approaches Jin-heon dancing. Embarrassed, Jin-heon doesn’t know what to do. Hee-jin is on airplane coming back to Korea. She’s very happy to come back after 3 years. At the airport, she takes out her old cell phone. There is a picture of Hee-jin and Jin-heon. She can’t wait to meet him again.
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