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[HanCinema's News] "One Dollar Lawyer" Continues to Baffle With Its Acclaimed Yet Shortened Run

Despite having star Namkoong Min in the leading role, "One Dollar Lawyer" faced an uphill battle for ratings. Its timeslot predecessor "Today's Webtoon" closed with ratings of only 1.6%. yet "One Dollar Lawyer" quickly established itself as the major hit of South Korean weekends, opening with 8.1% ratings and a high point of 15% ratings in its eighth episode. The most recent episode, the eleventh, had 13.6% ratings on November 5th.

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Yet despite "One Dollar Lawyer" seeming like a huge success for SBS, behavior from the network has been less than excited. "One Dollar Lawyer" has not aired for the past three Fridays, abruptly transitioning into a drama that only airs a single episode a week. From an original episode run of sixteen episodes, "One Dollar Lawyer" was reduced to fourteen, and then more recently to twelve episodes, its final episode now airing this week.

South Korean television dramas have had their production runs shortened before, but generally speaking this only happens to shows that are unpopular. If anything, a person would expect that "One Dollar Lawyer" would receive more episodes, or even talk of a second season. Yet despite the drama's undeniable popularity, fans are instead now expecting to be left with a truncated version of the main story.

Moreover, despite promises of a speedy, satisfying resolution, fans have been frustrated by directoral choices which act like "One Dollar Lawyer" has time to spare. An obvious product placement scene where Namkoong Min prepares mixed coffee, for example, is amusing enough thanks to the actor's charisma. But filler material such as this is quite frustrating for fans expecting a satisfying payoff to the story's many unresolved threads.

It remains entirely unclear what behind-the-scenes event has prompted these baffling production decisions. Insiders close to the production claim that the situation isn't as scandalous as fans are assuming, and implied that the full story may be revealed once the drama has been finished. But whatever the explanation, "One Dollar Lawyer" will likely stand as a testament to wasted potential.

Written by William Schwartz

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"One Dollar Lawyer" is directed by Kim Jae-hyun-IV, Shin Jong-hoon-I, written by Choi Chang-hwan, Choi Soo-jin, and features Namkoong Min, Kim Ji-eun, Choi Dae-hoon, Park Jin-woo-II, Gong Min-jung, Lee Deok-hwa. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/09/23~Now airing, Fri, Sat 22:00 on SBS.

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