오! 마이 레이디 / Oh! My Lady

2010 SBS comedy/romance drama that starred Choi Si won as Sung Min woo (a Super Junior dude) as a stuck-up, popular actor who can't act, but because he can sing and has a tight bod, the fans adore him even if no one else does.

I kept getting a Daniel Henney vibe for the first, few episodes, which made me laugh (and wonder if he was chuckling about it, too) - but, then things began to get serious and I forgot all about said hunk who can't sing, is making an effort to improve his acting, and has a delicious bod.

Anyway, as all Korean dramas go, this is yet, another Cinderella fairytale thing where rich, snob GUY bumps into poor, forlorn girl who is supposedly unattractive, mousy, but with tons of character NO dude can ignore ... they meet, they quarrel, they meet again, quarrel some more ..............

She is a 30+ divorcee with a child she can't support anymore, so until she gets back on her feet, she dumps the daughter off at no-account ex-husbands place and ventures forth into the world of (get this) Hallyu.

She had a rich friend doctor (married, but we never see her husband - as usual), who does what she can to help out.

She can't, even find work through a temp agency, but SOMEHOW, she winds up at the office of an uppity man obsessed with (of all things) musicals.

He hasn't had any success over the years and is heavily in debt, but that hasn't stopped him from continuing to try, so if she wants to work there, she has to get mega-star Min woo to be the lead in his latest play.

"Sure, no problem!"

See, a chance encounter before this dream job came about WITH aforementioned actor meant that she could easily slip inside his hotel room, hand over the contract, and insist that he sign so she can get her daughter back.

(She was his cleaning lady for an entire, twenty minutes when something came up and she had to run out - leaving an iron on a shirt he intended to wear to an autograph session that afternoon).

She also knows that he has a HUGE, Korean actor secret to hide, so she holds that one over his head, forcing him to give in via blackmail.

In exchange for his services, he demands that she return as his housemaid and take full responsibility for the HUGE Korean actor secret so that he can carry on with his flamboyant lifestyle - no worries.

She agrees, and for a ton of episodes we watch as they slowly start to acquire feelings for one another yet hold them back for such & such reasons until the very end, when all hell breaks loose, the secret is out, and Min woo falls from grace.

Personally, I can't imagine being allowed to act the way Korean fans do.

They're the ones who put these guys up on pedestals NO ONE other than God can justify, and yet when their idol does something 'human', they get all pissy and throw eggs in complete and understandable, mature fashion.

HER attitude, though, prevented me from tuning out with a loud groan, and some of her sentiment rang true of my own ~ which ended up feeling kinda creepy, I must say.

Yes, the actor is partially responsible since he signs contracts that include clauses about 'behavior' and 'norm' being just this side of impossible to pull off, but there you go ~ I mean, is it really such a wonder when 'humans' who pretend to be 'gods' end up falling from grace?

Silly, silly garbage.

What saved this one for me was Choi Si won and his beautiful-ness ^^ to include a great head of hair, sexy eyes, a slammin' bod, and interesting acting ability.

I know I've said this before about other actors, but I can't help myself sometimes, and this was one of them ... when I first saw him on the screen, he gave off a Takeshi Kaneshiro vibe like you wouldn't BELIEVE!

The lead actress (Chae rim as Yoon Gae hwa) did a great job, too, as did her no-account ex, the stuffy man who strove for perfection in the performing arts department, and even Min woo's Kkangpae agent.

The ratings for this over there weren't, too shabby, either, and a majority of the votes at aznv.tv gave it a 5.

I reserved the coveted, fifth star on account of the fact I'm sick & tired of the same-old, same-old from Korea, and I want something new, something different, something exciting and so, totally unexpected that it knocks me off my feet!

And, I want So Ji sub to be the leading man starring alongside Kim Nam jin, too.