Our take
When it was announced that actors Lee Min-Ho and Gong Hyo-Jin were going to star together in a spaceship romance drama with a hefty budget, fans hoped that When the Stars Gossip was going to be good. It’s a pretty unique premise– how many K-dramas have you seen in space?– and to its credit, the show maximizes on the production design and cinematography. It’s also refreshing to see a more lighthearted project for Lee in particular. But the show juggles way too many plotlines with uneven humor, with an exciting space mission strained with the weight of Kong Ryong’s overelaborate backstory. And with a rumored 50 billion won budget, we’re not sure this spaceflight was worth the cost.
The story
From two different worlds and with separate missions, an astronaut and a space tourist entangle in space — only to start falling for each other.
On an adventure of a lifetime, Kong Ryong, ob-gyn doctor and future son-in-law for a Korean conglomerate, visits the International Space Station ostensibly to conduct research on fertility in space. Joining him on his journey is perfectionist mission commander Eve Kim, his rich girlfriend’s ex Kang Kang-su, and Kim’s astronaut ex Park Dong-ah on ground control.
SPAAAACE.
If we’re going to have a drama in space, I want to see more of the space than the story back on earth.
My Demon
Choi A-il & Kim Jang-han
Mrs. Davis
Damon Lindelof & Tara Hernandez
Upload
Greg Daniels
Like Flowers in Sand
Kim Jin-woo
For All Mankind
Ben Nedivi & Matt Wolpert
The Expanse
Hawk Ostby & Mark Fergus
See You In My 19th Life
Choi Young-lim & Lee Na-jeong
Good Omens
Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
