Mad for Princess Hours
by Vera HC ChanJan 8, 2007
Love denied. Arranged marriages. Scheming power struggles between women with lots of hair spray. And in the middle of it all, a Cinderella and her Crown Prince who just wants—let's say it together—to direct.
Those who hallyu know of what we speak. Soaps have been the latest tsunami in the South Korean pop culture wave, and searchers have been intimate with past telenovelas like "My Name is Kim Sam Soon," "Princess Lulu," "Winter Sonata" and "Jewel in the Palace."
Now, a year after after its original airing, TV dramedy "Princess Hours," based on the ongoing comic "Goong," has returned to swamp the Buzz, with enraptured fans in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago pushing the show into the top 350 searches. Lasting a mere 24 episodes, the drama reimagines a present in which royal line didn't end with Japanese colonization. Not everyone may be a fan, but most agree that the dramedy reeks of cutesy stars and big-budget glam opulence.
The show was made to appeal to Japanese audiences, according to Yonhap News, but "Princess Hours" has been a global phenom. DVD/VCD sales have blown past the quarter-million mark, even as it airs in wider Asian and American markets. With its availability in an American-compatible DVD format (a first for a Korean telenovela), English-speakers can now understand the Crown Prince's pain when he tells Chae-kyeong, "Watching you sit and ask for forgiveness there, it'd make me want to puke."
Anticipation and searches are already up for the sequel—another first for a Korean soap —called "Prince Hours." Meanwhile, some of us are just waiting for the MadTV spoof.