Lee Min Ho And Gong Hyo Jin’s New K-Drama Plummets In Viewership Rating—Why?
Despite the hefty investment of ₩50.0 billion KRW (about $34.1 million USD) into production, tvN‘s When The Stars Gossip is struggling to charm the viewers—being dubbed “a disappointing performance with a viewership rating in the 2% range.”
The premiering episode recorded a 3.3% viewership rating, followed by 3.9% for the second episode. However, episodes 3 and 4 saw ratings drop to the 2% range. In comparison, SBS‘s Love Scout started strong with a 5.2% rating and has since hit 10% by the third episode. JTBC‘s The Tale of Lady Ok has also hit 10%, maintaining stable performance. Based on how well Queen of Tears did in 2024, which started off with 5.9% and ended with a stunning 24.9% viewership rating, things are not looking good for When The Stars Gossip.
— Newsen
In a scathing review, Newsen listed three reasons for the subpar performance of the Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin-led Netflix K-drama: A genre too niche, anticipation too high, and sex scenes too random and even distasteful.
Lee Min Ho’s Drama “When The Stars Gossip” Slammed For Misogynistic Lines
When the production team promoted When The Stars Gossip, it was marketed as Korea’s “first-ever zero-gravity space station K-Drama.” According to Newsen, this ended up becoming a critical weakness for the show. While the creation of a genre that combines sci-fi, rom-com, and workspace drama is original, it did not resonate with the viewers at all.
It’s commendable that the production team tried to break away from the cliché melodramatic plot and came up with something innovative. But what use is that if it fails to capture the audience’s attention?
— Newsen
When The Stars Gossip also gained attention when its production budget of ₩50.0 billion KRW (about $34.1 million USD) was revealed. Given the talk of an extravagant recreation of the outer space and the space station sets, as well as CGI and VFX costing at least ₩10.0 billion KRW (about $6.82 million USD), viewers were led to have some high expectations. And, Newsen noted, “with great expectations come great disappointment.”
Most of all, though, viewers agreed with Newsen that When The Stars Gossip had one too many unnecessary sex (or sex-related) scenes.
The excessive and unnecessary sex scenes disrupt the viewers’ immersion in the narrative. From the very first episode, unexpected sex scenes between Lee Min Ho and Han Ji Eun, as well as Gong Hyo Jin and Kim Soo Heon, unfolded. The space station scene featuring fruit flies mating also came across as bizarre. Between all the random talks of sperm shapes and uteruses, When The Stars Gossip is inundated with sex. With yet another sex scene between Lee El and Kim Joo Heon in the fourth episode, viewers are left questioning: What happened to scriptwriter Seo Sook Hyang’s signature rom-com style—seen in works like Pasta and Don’t Dare To Dream (Jealousy Incarnate)?
— Newsen
That said, Newsen reported that the underperformance of When The Stars Gossip might have led to further plummeting of CJ ENM‘s stock prices. Its “reputation as a leading name in entertainment” threatened, CJ ENM is said to be losing competition against platforms like Netflix and other original content creators.
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