The last couple of years, some Korean dramas have been cut short, leaving both viewers and cast reeling.
One of which is A Beautiful Mind, which was released back in 2016 and was originally planned for 16 episodes.
The show itself was then cleaved to 14 episodes by the axe after its ratings fell low, with an average of merely 3.7 percent.
While official statements cited scheduling clashes with the Rio Summer Olympics as a reason, well-placed sources said that the real reason was weak ratings.
A Piece of Your Mind (2020) also failed to find an audience, with its highest rating sitting at a pathetic 2.4 percent.
The series was heavily criticized by fans for its pacing and vagueness, and TVN decided midway to cut the original plan of 16 to just 12 episodes.
The network claimed it needed to "speed up the storytelling," but many viewers felt like the show had more fundamental problems.
Surplus Princess had little luck—part fairy tale, part romcom about a mermaid and the human she falls in love with—which got an initial order for 16 episodes but famously saw its run cut to 10 after eight aired.
It couldn't keep viewers' attention, and ratings dipped under 1 percent on occasion, so the show was cut short.
Vampire Idol is another one on the list, starting in 2011 and having aired 79 of a planned 120 episodes before it was pulled from TV due to low ratings.
The lack of success was blamed on a low budget and some inexperience among the cast, critics said.
Sitcom Mom is Acting Up was also prematurely canceled, scheduled to appear in 120 episodes, only 27 of which made it to air.
NBC canceled the series after losing all of its audience as the individual networks moved off sitcoms.
After the eighth episode of Ex-Girlfriend Club was broadcast, TVN announced that it would be reducing the drama from 16 to 12 episodes as a 'quality decision' rather than a ratings one -- EGC's viewership never broke 1 percent.
Finally, Love Frequency 37.2 ended after only six episodes because its unique structure and writing did not connect with viewers to make it an engaging experience.
These low-rated television dramas highlight how viewing habits influence what gets aired, leaving fans and creators to ponder the brief moments between high ratings and cancellation.
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This article was written by:
Rovelyn Barba
