B-Movie Comedy: From Mess Hall Cook to New World

TVING original drama 'Legendary Cook Sergeant' and SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Wonderful New World' are receiving a great response from viewers with their 'B-grade comedy' genre.

'Legendary Cook Sergeant' started with a viewership rating of 5.8% for its first broadcast and rose to 7.9% by the fourth episode, proving its buzz by achieving the highest subscription contribution based on the first week of release among TVING drama content. This drama, a military cooking drama depicting the process of Private Kang Sung-jae transforming into a 'legendary cook sergeant', is considered a success factor due to its unique direction where cooking recipes are acquired and flavors are expressed as if completing game quests. In particular, scenes where soldiers are depicted as falling into hellish lava after eating soup, or Kang Sung-jae wrapped in seaweed, parodying Michelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam', provided great laughter and garnered attention. A scene where a North Korean defector transforms into a rocker after eating pork cutlet and praises its taste was reproduced as a short-form video and gained popularity online.

'Wonderful New World' is also showing an upward trend, recording its own highest viewership rating of 6% by the fourth episode, up from 4.1% in the first broadcast. This drama depicts the romance between Shin Seo-ri, an unknown actress possessed by the soul of a Joseon villainess, and Cha Se-gye, a chaebol heir, and induces laughter with scenes parodying various dramas and online memes. It is gaining popularity with fresh twists, such as fighting while impersonating Kim Du-han from 'Yain Sidae' or delivering lines reminiscent of 'The Glory'.

Amidst the recent trend of serious and heavy dramas, 'Legendary Cook Sergeant' and 'Wonderful New World' have succeeded in targeting a niche market with their differentiated strategy of 'B-grade comedy'. Both dramas are showing an increase in viewership ratings and generating buzz, and the key will be whether they can continue to captivate viewers by maintaining the unique sense of humor and narrative fun of 'B-grade comedy'.

'Wonderful New World' recorded a peak viewership rating of 7.8% and ranked first for two consecutive weeks on Netflix's 'Top 10 Series in Korea Today'. It is also gaining significant popularity overseas, ranking 2nd in the global Top 10 Non-English TV Shows, proving its global box office power by entering the TOP10 in 44 countries including Brazil and Spain. It also ranked second in TV drama buzz and its lead actors Lim Ji-yeon and Heo Nam-joon also ranked 4th and 5th respectively. It is accelerating its success by ranking first for two consecutive weeks on the OTT content integrated search platform Kino Lights' 'Today's Trend Ranking'. The upcoming 5th episode, airing on the 22nd, has raised expectations with the foreshadowing of changes in the protagonists' relationships.