‘My Lovely Samsoon’ returns as eight-episode OTT series after two decades

Actresses Kim Sun-ah (left) and Jung Ryeo-won pose at a press event held at CGV Yongsan I\'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on September 5. Yonhap News

"My Lovely Samsoon,” the TV series that made Korea slip into the “Samsoon syndrome” with over 50 percent of viewership in 2005, is returning with an eight-episode OTT (over-the-top) series. In line with the way people consume content in the “OTT era,” the series has been halved in length and removed outdated elements that do not fit in well with the current trend.
The OTT platform Wavve premiered parts 1 and 2 of “My Lovely Samsoon 2024” at a press event held at CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on September 5, a day before the release of the series. Director Kim Yoon-chul and lead actresses Kim Sun-ah and Jung Ryeo-won attended the press event after the premiere.
The original series, which premiered on MBC in June 2005, is a romantic comedy in which 30-year-old pastry chef Kim Sam-soon (played by Kim Sun-ah), who has a complex due to her rustic name and fleshy appearance, struggles to make success at work and in love. The series garnered great response from female viewers as it featured an unconventional female character with an honest and confident personality and plump appearance. Kim earned the grand prize at the MBC Acting Award that year and Hyun Bin, Jung Ryeo-won, and Daniel Henny rose to stardom.
In the first two episodes, which were released on the day, Kim Sam-soon gets a job at a restaurant run by Hyun Jin-hun (played by Hyun Bin) after her boyfriend cheats on her and starts a contractual relationship with Hyun. What was depicted in episodes 1 through 4 in the original was summarized into two episodes. By shortening the length of the series by about half, the stories of Sam-soon's family and restaurant employees were reduced and the narrative focused on the story of Sam-soon and Jin-hun.
Director Kim Yoon-chul explains that he focused on removing the dialog and narrative that would make viewers in 2024 feel uncomfortable. In particular, he focused on the character of Jin-hun, played by Hyun Bin. As a “handsome second-generation chaebol,” Jin-hun drew attention as a “prince on a white horse” when the series was aired.
“The biggest concern was whether the character of Jin-hun from 19 years ago would be acceptable to viewers in their 20s and 30s now. Even from my point of view, there are some actions and attitudes of Jin-hun that I think are 'This is too much.' To the extent that it does not interfere with the narrative, I tried to remove scenes or lines as much as possible.”

The inevitable parts that were left for the development of the story are also jarring with the sensitivity of viewers in 2024. After arguing with Sam-soon, Jin-hun shows violent behavior, such as breaking a photo frame with his fist and holding Sam-soon's arm roughly. There are also scenes in which Jin-hun asks a rude question to a woman who he has a blind date with, "Which parts do you have plastic surgery?” or his mother Ms. Na (played by Na Moon-hee) describes Sam-soon who is a 30-year-old as "an expired steamed bun."

The two actresses at the event expressed their gratitude for the series’ return after 19 years. “’My Lovely Samsoon’ is like an old best friend,” said Kim Sun-ah, adding, ”It's fun to watch it again.” Jung Ryeo-won said, “The series was like the light that I saw at the end of a long tunnel. I'm looking forward to the series being edited to meet the sensibilities and needs of today's generation.”
“My Lovely Samsoon 2024” is aired as a part of the “New Classics Project” launched by Wavve. It is a project to remake popular TV series of the 2000s, which are talked about as a masterpiece, into a 2024 version. The goal is to reinterpret the 16-episode series into six to eight 60-minute episodes, reflecting the current viewing trend while maintaining the quality of the original. In addition to “My Lovely Samsoon,” the OTT platform will release “I'm Sorry I Love You 2024” in November. Other popular TV series of the 2000s, such as “Princess Hours,” “Full House,” and “Coffee Prince” will be upgraded to 4K.
Han Jung-eun, head of Wavve’s Marketing Department, said at the press event, "While books and films are constantly consumed through revision and remastering, respectively, only TV series are consumed mainly for new works. We selected the series for the project considering whether they caused a sensation with huge popularity at the time of airing and whether their fandom is still active today."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.