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The Producers
Promotional poster
Hangul	프로듀사
Literal meaning	Producer
Revised Romanization	Peurodyusa
Genre	Comedy-drama
Written by	Park Ji-eun Kim Ji-sun
Directed by	Seo Soo-min Pyo Min-soo
Starring	Cha Tae-hyun Gong Hyo-jin Kim Soo-hyun Lee Ji-eun
Composer	Kim Han-jo
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	12 (+1 special)
Production
Executive producer	Park Jong-min
Cinematography	Ji Jae-woo Park Ki-hyun
Editor	Kim Young-joo
Running time	80 minutes
Production companies	Chorokbaem Media Producers SPC KBS Media
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	May 15 (2015-05-15) – June 20, 2015 (2015-06-20)

The Producers (Korean: 프로듀사) is a 2015 South Korean comedy-drama television series written by Park Ji-eun, and directed by Seo Soo-min and Pyo Min-soo. It stars Cha Tae-hyun, Gong Hyo-jin, Kim Soo-hyun, and Lee Ji-eun. It aired on KBS2 from May 15 to June 20, 2015 every Friday and Saturday at 21:15 (KST) for 12 episodes.

Synopsis

In the center of Yeouido is the KBS building. On its sixth floor are partitioned offices where employees work in the network's variety department, keeping hectic schedules of filming, editing and all-night meetings.

Cast

Main

• Cha Tae-hyun as Ra Joon-mo
  • Gil Jeong-woo as young Joon-mo
  • Chae Sang-woo as teenage Joon-mo

A seasoned PD who has worked in the industry for ten years. Despite working on a lot of variety programs, he has no single masterpiece to call his own. A two-faced senior.

• Gong Hyo-jin as Tak Ye-jin
  • Lee Ji-won as young Ye-jin
  • Ha Seung-ri as teenage Ye-jin

An experienced PD who works on a long-time music program. She is smart, haughty and never holds back in letting people know what she thinks. She uses her high position to abuse newbies.

• Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Seung-chan
  • Park Sang-hoon as young Seung-chan

An aspiring prosecutor who decides to join KBS because of his secret crush on a KBS employee. He becomes a rookie PD (producer-director) with the variety/entertainment division.

• Lee Ji-eun as Cindy
  • Park Seon as young Cindy

A famous singer and celebrity who debuted as a trainee when she was 13 years old. She is called the "ice princess" for her poker face and complete control over her emotions. As the drama progresses we see hints of the fragile Cindy she has kept hidden for all these years.

Supporting

KBS

• Park Hyuk-kwon as Kim Tae-ho, chief producer of the variety department.
• Kim Jong-kook as Kim Hong-soon, PD of Open Concert
• Seo Ki-chul as Jang In-pyo, director of the variety department.
• Ye Ji-won as Go Yang-mi, office manager of the variety department.
• Gi Ju-bong as Park Choon-bong, the president of KBS.
• Lee Joo-seung as Kim Joon-bae, floor director of 2 Days & 1 Night. Turns out to be a legendary ghost of KBS.
• Lee Chae-eun as Son Ji-yeon, writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
• Go Bo-gyeol as Wang Min-jung, youngest writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
• Bae Yoo-ram as Ryu Il-yong, assistant director of 2 Days & 1 Night.
• Shin Joo-hwan as Hyung-geun, assistant director of 2 Days & 1 Night.
• Susanna Noh as casting writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
• Kim Sun-ah as Kim Da-jung, youngest writer of Music Bank.
• Jang Seong-beom as assistant PD of Music Bank.

Byun Entertainment agency

• Na Young-hee as Byun Mi-sook, CEO of the agency
• Choi Kwon as Cindy's road manager
• Jo Han-chul as Secretary Kim
• Janey as Jini, a trainee of the agency
• Na Hae-ryung as Yuna, ex-singer of the agency
• Cho Seung-hee as Yu-ju, member of Pinky4
• Kim Soo-yeon as Christine, member of Pinky4
• Jung Mi-mi as Ha-neul, member of Pinky4
• Park Seo-yeon, young trainee
• Lee Ji-ho as young trainee
• Kim Ye-won as young trainee
• Lee Seo-yeong as young trainee

Baek's Family

• Kim Jong-soo as Baek Bo-sun, Seung-chan's father
• Kim Hye-ok as Lee Hoo-nam, Seung-chan's mother
• Park Hee-von as Baek Jae-hee, Seung-chan's older sister
• Park Jong-hwan as Baek Young-chan, Seung-chan's older brother
• Choi Sun-young as Baek Yoo-bin, Seung-chan's younger sister
• Kang Shin-chul as Myung Ji-hoon, Jae-hee's husband

Extended

• Im Ye-jin as Park Bong-soon, Joon-mo's mother
• Kim Hee-chan as Tak Ye-joon, Ye-jin's younger brother
• Jung Han-hee as Kim Tae-ho's daughter
• Yoon Yoo-sun as Kim Tae-ho's wife
• Kim Sa-kwon
• Lee Du-seok
• Jo Chang-geun
• Jin Yong-wook
• Jeon Heon-tae
• Hwang Min-ho
• Ahn Se-ha as manager
• Lee Jeong-ho as Reporter Kang
• Ryu Jun-yeol as Joo Jong-hyun

Special appearances

Production

The Producers was dubbed as "the most anticipated show" of 2015 because it served reunion between the actor Kim Soo-hyun and the screenwriter Park Ji-eun after the pan-Asia successful television series My Love from the Star (2013–14). The series was produced by KBS's entertainment department instead of the drama department and was helmed by director Seo Soo-min, whose past experience has been on variety shows. It was also the first terrestrial network drama to air in the Friday–Saturday time slot.

First script reading was held on 23 March 2015 in Gangnam District, Seoul, with no media presence. The first day shooting was held on April 1, 2015 on the 6th floor of the KBS building in Yeouido. Official posters for the drama were unveiled on 29 April 2015.

Original soundtrack

Notes

• Included in the special edition physical album only.

Chart performance

Reception

Commercial performance

Yonhap News Agency reported The Producers would earn ₩8.4 billion according to the broadcaster and industry sources. It reportedly earned ₩2 billion alone from product placement and other sponsored advertisements which was above the average amount for a 16-episode series of about ₩1–1.5 billion at that time. Also, it was sold to 12 Asian countries at high prices. However, KBS officials said that it would log lower-than-expected profits due to rise in initial production cost stating various reasons including the change of producer in the middle of the series.

Critical response

The Producers received mixed critical response. Kwon Ji-youn writing for The Korea Times called the premier of drama "great boast and small roast" reasoning that despite having "an all-star cast, impressive cameos and an original setting and plot" the drama was "nothing out of the ordinary." She praised Kim Soo-hyun's acting calling the transformation from his former character on My Love from the Star "striking" and he and Gong Hyo-jin were only able to pull off humour scenes. It also received criticism from entertainment industry insiders regarding its verisimilitude, particularly in the drama's depiction of producers as the weaker party in dealing with celebrities, which they claimed is "highly unrealistic" unless top stars are involved.

Viewership

The Producers drew an average viewership rating of 12.5% and topped the Content Power Index (CPI) rankings.

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

Notes

1. Korean sales are paid digital downloads weekly, monthly and annually provided by the Gaon Music Chart.
2. Sales figures for "Heart" as of February 2019.
3. ^ Sales figure for "Darling (OST Ver.) OST _ Preview 01" and "To Be With You OST _ Preview 02" as of May 23, 2015.
4. Sales figure for "To Be With You" as of July 4, 2015.
5. Sales figure for "And... And OST _ Preview 03" as of June 6, 2015.
6. Sales figure for "And... And" as of July 4, 2015.
7. Sales figure for "Love Begins With a Confession" as of December 2015.
8. Sales figure for "Palpitations" as of July 11, 2015.
9. Sales figure for "The Two of Us" as of June 20, 2015.
10. Sales figure for "You and I" as of June 27, 2015.

References

1. Doo, Rumy (11 May 2015). "The Producers set to be full of fun and laughs". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
2. Hong, Grace Danbi (24 April 2015). "Producer Officially Sets Broadcast Date as 5/15". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
3. Ko, Soo-jin (11 May 2015). "Cha Tae Hyun Says Kim Jong Kook's Participation in The Producers Got Buried by Kim Soo Hyun". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
4. Sung, So-young (10 March 2015). "Kong Hyo-jin to appear in Producers". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
5. Park, Hee-ah (11 May 2015). "Kong Hyo Jin Worries about Getting Hate for Being Mean to Kim Soo Hyun in The Producers". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
6. Sung, So-young (3 March 2015). "IU lands lead in Producers drama" Archived 17 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Korea JoongAng Daily.
7. Park, Ah-reum (9 March 2015). "IU, Cha Tae Hyun and Kong Hyo Jin Confirmed for Producers" Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. enewsWorld.
8. Hong, Grace Danbi (11 May 2015). "IU Studied f(x)'s Krystal, 4minute's Hyuna, and SNSD to Act in The Producers". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
9. Namesake of the executive producer of Infinite Challenge on rival network MBC.
10. "Kim Jong Kook to make drama debut alongside Kim Soo Hyun, IU, and Gong Hyo Jin in the Producers". DramaFever. 20 March 2015.
11. producers-as-1-night-2-days-writer-80001.html "Lee Chae-eun to star in Producers as 1 Night 2 Days Writer". Hancinema. 23 March 2015.
12. "TaeTiSeo to Cameo on Star-Studded Drama Producer" Archived 9 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Soompi. 3 April 2015.
13. Kim, Min-ji (3 April 2015). "TaeTiSeo to Appear as Cameos in First Episode of Producer" Archived 5 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. enewsWorld.
14. "Yoon Yeo-jeong to star in KBS Producer as herself" Archived 7 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Hancinema. 23 March 2015.
15. "Jo Yoon-hee to cameo in Producer as Kim Soo-hyun's first love" Archived 14 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Dramabeans. 23 March 2015.
16. Jones, Julie (13 March 2015). "Jang Hyuk Films A Cameo Appearance On The Producers". KDramaStars. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
17. "Park Jin Young, Sunmi, Jo Kwon and Nichkhun to Cameo on Producer" Archived 24 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Soompi. 21 April 2015.
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19. ^ Doo, Rumy (10 March 2015). "Producer set with stellar cast, creative team". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015 – via K-pop Herald.
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24. Hong, Grace Danbi (29 May 2015). "The Producers Unveils Official Posters with Leading Actors". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
25. Chart positions for:
    • "Heart", "Darling (OST Ver.)" and "To Be With You OST _ Preview 02" – 2015년 22주차 Digital Chart [2015 Week 22 Digital Chart] (in Korean). 17–23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
    • "And... And OST _ Preview 03", "Love Begins With a Confession" and "The Two of Us" – 2015년 23주차 Digital Chart [2015 Week 23 Digital Chart] (in Korean). 24–30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
    • "Palpitations" – 2015년 25주차 Digital Chart [2015 Week 25 Digital Chart] (in Korean). 7–13 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
    • "And... And" – 2015년 26주차 Digital Chart [2015 Week 26 Digital Chart] (in Korean). 14–20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
    • "To Be With You" and "You and I" – 2015년 27주차 Digital Chart [2015 Week 27 Digital Chart] (in Korean). 21–27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
26. C., Daniel (26 February 2019). Gaon's 관찰노트 [Gaon's Observation Notes]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
27. ^ 2015년 22주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 22 Download Chart] (in Korean). 17–23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 34-To Be With You-김연우-프로듀사-OST _ Preview 02-37,421
    60-달링 (OST Ver.)-이승철-프로듀사-OST _ Preview 01-21,893
    67-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사-OST _ Preview 03-19,214
28. ^ 2015년 23주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 23 Download Chart] (in Korean). 24–30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 20-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사-OST _ Preview 03-40,057
    49-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사 OST-23,290
    50-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-22,942
    53-우리 둘-알리 (ALi)-프로듀사 OST-22,163
    58-To Be With You-김연우-프로듀사 OST-21,196
29. ^ 2015년 25주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 25 Download Chart] (in Korean). 7–13 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 15-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-47,405
    59-To Be With You-김연우-프로듀사 OST-21,985
    79-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사 OST-18,975
    85-우리 둘-알리 (ALi)-프로듀사 OST-17,402
30. ^ 2015년 26주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 26 Download Chart] (in Korean). 14–20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 17-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-38,570
    34-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사 OST-26,665
    48-To Be With You-김연우-프로듀사 OST-23,706
    99-우리 둘-알리 (ALi)-프로듀사 OST-12,461
31. ^ 2015년 27주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 27 Download Chart] (in Korean). 21–27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 34-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-32,314
    40-너와 나-타루 (Taru)-프로듀사 OST Special Edition-27,831
    45-To Be With You-김연우-프로듀사 OST-24,326
    52
    And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사 OST-22,929
32. ^ 2015년 28주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 28 Download Chart] (in Korean). 28 June – 4 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 52-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-25,667
    86-To Be With You-김연우-프로듀사 OST-17,877
    97-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사 OST-16,288
33. ^ 2015년 24주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 24 Download Chart] (in Korean). 31 May – 6 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 64-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-22,862
    68-And... 그리고-백지영-프로듀사-OST _ Preview 03-22,386
    84-우리 둘-알리 (ALi)-프로듀사 OST-17,291
34. 2015년 Download Chart [Year 2015 Download Chart] (in Korean). Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 94-사랑의 시작은 고백에서부터-김범수-프로듀사 OST-657,531
35. 2015년 29주차 Download Chart [2015 Week 29 Download Chart] (in Korean). 5–11 July 2015. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 86-두근두근-벤 (Ben)-프로듀사 OST-18,587
36. ^ "How much will KBS TV's The Producers earn?". Yonhap. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015.
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    Kwon, Ji-youn (21 June 2015). "Producers ends with success". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
38. Choi, Hee-suk (1 June 2015). "The Producers draws criticism from industry". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015.
39. Hong, Hye-jin (1 June 2015). "The Producers hits highest rating ever". K-pop Herald. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
40. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2015. This links to the current day. You can select the date you are looking for from the drop-down menu.
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44. Kim, Hye-in (27 November 2015). 'APAN 스타 어워즈' 주요 12개 부문 후보 공개..드라마 주역 총출동 ['APAN Star Awards' 12 major categories nominees revealed... Drama main casts]. Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via Naver.
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External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• The Producers on KBS World
• The Producers at HanCinema
• The Producers at IMDb

• 2010s comedy-drama television series
• 2015 South Korean television series debuts
• 2015 South Korean television series endings
• Korean Broadcasting System television dramas
• Korean-language television shows
• Television series about television
• Television shows set in Seoul
• Television series produced in Seoul
• South Korean comedy-drama television series
• Television series by Chorokbaem Media
• Television shows written by Park Ji-eun