2026 is nearly over, and we are past the midpoint of the eligibility period for the Baeksang Awards, traditionally held at the COEX Center in Seoul sometime in May. The eligibility period usually runs from April through March of the following year, and therefore the fall viewing lineup is customarily packed with high-budget dramas and some extremely big names. As an example, if you’ve been awaiting the next Park Min-young sighting (and I know I have), then November will not disappoint. The Baeksang Awards were first presented in 1965, and the date of the 63rd ceremony is yet to be announced. Officially, it’s anyone’s guess who the presenters will be—except it isn’t, really. For the last eight years, the awards ceremony has been hosted by a powerhouse trio consisting of actress and pop singer Bae Suzy, actor Park Bo-Gum, and comedian Shin Dong-Yup. The ceremony has partnered with Gucci for the last four years. All of this is by way of saying: yes, the Baeksang Awards are a very big deal, and yes, you betcha the broadcast schedules are humming right now. To the new releases and possible awards contenders!
First on the list is The Remarried Empress, starring Shin Min-Ah (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) and Ju Ji-Hoon, who was brilliant as the lead in the extremely creepy zombie historical drama Kingdom. Empress Navier of the Eastern Kingdom is jilted by her husband, Sovieshu, who wishes to marry a servant. Does she crumble? Fade into the background? Go quietly? No, indeedy. She pivots and immediately seeks approval to divorce her husband and marry Prince Heinrey of the Western Kingdom (Lee Jong-Suk, While You Were Sleeping). Fantasy stories about monarchs of nations loosely modelled on South Korea, or on some version of a united Korean peninsula, have popped up almost yearly for the last several seasons, and tend to play extremely well with audiences; interestingly, such dramas also tend to invite intense scrutiny. This year’s Perfect Crown, for instance, came under fire over historical inaccuracies, including an incorrect crown worn by the monarch in the fictional version of South Korea depicted in the show. One hopes that with even more distance from reality, Remarried Empress may avoid similar criticism. This one is definitely near the top of my viewing list, and premieres on November 4 on Disney+.
Teen dramas are usually well-positioned for the fall season, as with 2019’s Extraordinary You, so it definitely feels like the right time to introduce a new one in November. So how about a teen drama about vampires? Francesca Next Door takes its name from the hit 2005–2006 series Hello Franceska, which featured a storyline about Romanian vampires making a wrong turn at Japan and ending up in Seoul, and which spawned two sequels and an animated series. In this iteration, Han Su-A (The Penthouse) stars as Pi Na-Yeong/Francesca, a vampire transfer student from Romania who enlists the help of high-achieving student Jang U-Ju (Kim Hyun-Jin, Can You Deliver Time?) to help her acclimate to her new environment. The anticipation for the series is high; in a nice bit of nostalgic fan service, the show features special appearances from two of the leads of Hello Franceska, Shim Hye-Jin and Park Hee-Jin. Scheduled for release on November 6, the show will be available for streaming on Kocowa.
Arguably, however, the most highly anticipated upcoming drama this month is Nine to Six, starring the divinely lovely—and funny—Park Min-young (Her Private Life, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, Forecasting Love and Weather, and oh, so many more) as a workaholic and Yook Sung-jae (Goblin, Mystic Pop-Up Bar, Golden Spoon) as her warm-hearted younger love interest. If that pairing isn’t enough to put an alert on your watchlist, then let me sweeten the pot: Kim Mi-kyung reunites with Park Min-young in the role of her mom, their sixth mother-daughter pairing. When the chemistry works, it just works, man. And all that was before I discovered that the wonderful Cha Chung-hwa (Mr. Queen, My Demon) was part of this production. Adding it all up, the only reason Remarried Empress isn’t standing in line behind this one is Nine to Six’s release date, slated for November 25. The series will be available in the United States on Amazon Prime. More about each of these productions will be forthcoming in this space as soon as they drop. Stay tuned!
–Elizabeth Gariepy
