The Producers (TV series)

The Producers is a 2015 South Korean comedy-drama television series written by Park Ji-eun, and directed by Seo Soo-min and Pyo Min-soo. It stars Cha Tae-hyun, Gong Hyo-jin, Kim Soo-hyun, and Lee Ji-eun. It aired on KBS2 from May 15 to June 20, 2015 every Friday and Saturday at 21:15 (KST) for 12 episodes.

Synopsis
In the center of Yeouido is the KBS building. On its sixth floor are partitioned offices where employees work in the network's variety department, keeping hectic schedules of filming, editing and all-night meetings.

Main

 * Cha Tae-hyun as Ra Joon-mo
 * Gil Jeong-woo as young Joon-mo
 * Chae Sang-woo as teenage Joon-mo
 * A seasoned PD who has worked in the industry for ten years. Despite working on a lot of variety programs, he has no single masterpiece to call his own. A two-faced senior.


 * Gong Hyo-jin as Tak Ye-jin
 * Lee Ji-won as young Ye-jin
 * Ha Seung-ri as teenage Ye-jin
 * An experienced PD who works on a long-time music program. She is smart, haughty and never holds back in letting people know what she thinks. She uses her high position to abuse newbies.


 * Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Seung-chan
 * Park Sang-hoon as young Seung-chan
 * An aspiring prosecutor who decides to join KBS because of his secret crush on a KBS employee. He becomes a rookie PD (producer-director) with the variety/entertainment division.


 * Lee Ji-eun as Cindy
 * Park Seon as young Cindy
 * A famous singer and celebrity who debuted as a trainee when she was 13 years old. She is called the "ice princess" for her poker face and complete control over her emotions. As the drama progresses we see hints of a fragile Cindy, she has been keeping for all these years.

Supporting

 * KBS
 * Park Hyuk-kwon as Kim Tae-ho, chief producer of the variety department.
 * Kim Jong-kook as Kim Hong-soon, PD of Open Concert
 * Seo Ki-chul as Jang In-pyo, director of the variety department.
 * Ye Ji-won as Go Yang-mi, office manager of the variety department.
 * Gi Ju-bong as Park Choon-bong, the president of KBS.
 * Lee Joo-seung as Kim Joon-bae, floor director of 2 Days & 1 Night. Turns out to be a legendary ghost of KBS.
 * Lee Chae-eun as Son Ji-yeon, writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
 * Go Bo-gyeol as Wang Min-jung, youngest writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
 * Bae Yoo-ram as Ryu Il-yong, assistant director of 2 Days & 1 Night.
 * Shin Joo-hwan as Hyung-geun, assistant director of 2 Days & 1 Night.
 * Susanna Noh as casting writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
 * Kim Sun-ah as Kim Da-jung, youngest writer of Music Bank.
 * Jang Seong-beom as assistant PD of Music Bank.


 * Byun Entertainment agency
 * Na Young-hee as Byun Mi-sook, CEO of the agency
 * Choi Kwon as Cindy's road manager
 * Jo Han-chul as Secretary Kim
 * Janey as Jini, a trainee of the agency
 * Na Hae-ryung as Yuna, ex-singer of the agency
 * Cho Seung-hee as Yu-ju, member of Pinky4
 * Kim Soo-yeon as Christine, member of Pinky4
 * Jung Mi-mi as Ha-neul, member of Pinky4
 * Park Seo-yeon, young trainee
 * Lee Ji-ho as young trainee
 * Kim Ye-won as young trainee
 * Lee Seo-yeong as young trainee


 * Baek's Family
 * Kim Jong-soo as Baek Bo-sun, Seung-chan's father
 * Kim Hye-ok as Lee Hoo-nam, Seung-chan's mother
 * Park Hee-von as Baek Jae-hee, Seung-chan's older sister
 * Park Jong-hwan as Baek Young-chan, Seung-chan's older brother
 * Choi Sun-young as Baek Yoo-bin, Seung-chan's younger sister
 * Kang Shin-chul as Myung Ji-hoon, Jae-hee's husband


 * Extended
 * Im Ye-jin as Park Bong-soon, Joon-mo's mother
 * Kim Hee-chan as Tak Ye-joon, Ye-jin's younger brother
 * Jung Han-hee as Kim Tae-ho's daughter
 * Yoon Yoo-sun as Kim Tae-ho's wife
 * Kim Sa-kwon
 * Lee Du-seok
 * Jo Chang-geun
 * Jin Yong-wook
 * Jeon Heon-tae
 * Hwang Min-ho
 * Ahn Se-ha as manager
 * Lee Jeong-ho as Reporter Kang
 * Ryu Jun-yeol as Joo Jong-hyun

Special appearances

 * Episode 1
 * Girls' Generation-TTS

Episodes 1–2 (cast members of 2 Days & 1 Night - Season 4)
 * Youn Yuh-jung
 * Hwang Shin-hye
 * Geum Bo-ra
 * Hyun Young


 * Episodes 1–4
 * Jo Yoon-hee as Shin Hae-joo, assistant director on Entertainment Weekly and Seung-chan's crush.


 * Episode 3
 * Shin Dong-yup
 * Lee Young-ja
 * Cultwo
 * You Hee-yeol
 * Yoon Jong-shin
 * Jo Jung-chi
 * Jun Hyun-moo
 * Ahn Hee-yeon
 * Nichkhun
 * Jackson Wang
 * Jo Kwon
 * Sunmi
 * Hong Kyung-min
 * Jang Hyuk as Jang Hyun-sung, Ye-jin's ex-boyfriend
 * Lee Chun-hee as Lee Min-chul, Ye-jin's ex-boyfriend


 * Episodes 3–4
 * Park Jin-young

Episodes 4–5, 12 (cast members of 2 Days & 1 Night – Season 5)
 * Sandara Park
 * Minwoo
 * Kim Ji-soo

Episodes 4–5, 10, 12 (cast members of 2 Days & 1 Night – Season 5)
 * Kang Seung-yoon
 * Kim Min-jae


 * Episode 5
 * Yoo Ho-jin as PD of 2 Days & 1 Night – Season 3


 * Episode 6
 * Lee Seung-gi
 * Norazo


 * Episode 8
 * Go Ara


 * Episode 9
 * K.Will
 * Park Bo-gum
 * Monsta X
 * Kim Ryeo-wook


 * Episode 10
 * Jung Joon-young as Cindy's anti-fan
 * Roy Kim as Cindy's anti-fan
 * Seol In-ah as Cindy's anti-fan
 * Seo Kyung-seok as Cindy's lawyer fan


 * Episode 12
 * Song Hae
 * Kim Saeng-min

Production
The Producers was dubbed as "the most anticipated show" of 2015 because it served reunion between the actor Kim Soo-hyun and the screenwriter Park Ji-eun after the pan-Asia successful television series My Love from the Star (2013–14). The series was produced by KBS's entertainment department instead of the drama department and was helmed by director Seo Soo-min, whose past experience has been on variety shows. It was also the first terrestrial network drama to air in the Friday–Saturday time slot.

First script reading was held on 23 March 2015 in Gangnam District, Seoul, with no media presence. The first day shooting was held on April 1, 2015 on the 6th floor of the KBS building in Yeouido. Official posters for the drama were unveiled on 29 April 2015.

Original soundtrack
Notes
 * $undefined$ Included in the special edition physical album only.

Commercial performance
Yonhap News Agency reported The Producers would earn according to the broadcaster and industry sources. It reportedly earned alone from product placement and other sponsored advertisements which was above the average amount for a 16-episode series of about  at that time. Also, it was sold to 12 Asian countries at high prices. However, KBS officials said that it would log lower-than-expected profits due to rise in initial production cost stating various reasons including the change of producer in the middle of the series.

Critical response
The Producers received mixed critical response. Kwon Ji-youn writing for The Korea Times called the premier of drama "great boast and small roast" reasoning that despite having "an all-star cast, impressive cameos and an original setting and plot" the drama was "nothing out of the ordinary." She praised Kim Soo-hyun's acting calling the transformation from his former character on My Love from the Star "striking" and he and Gong Hyo-jin were only able to pull off humour scenes. It also received criticism from entertainment industry insiders regarding its verisimilitude, particularly in the drama's depiction of producers as the weaker party in dealing with celebrities, which they claimed is "highly unrealistic" unless top stars are involved.

Viewership
The Producers drew an average viewership rating of 12.5% and topped the Content Power Index (CPI) rankings.

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.