16 Episode, 2 Days a Week Formula Broken Down, New Normal by "Hospital Playlist"

"I hope 'once a week' dramas will be successful and become the 'new normal'.

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Director Sin Won-ho's words in "Hospital Playlist" have become a reality. After the success of "Hospital Playlist" a series of dramas have been scheduled to broadcast only once a week, presenting new viewing patterns.

The general strategy of organizing 16-episode and 20-episode series is also gradually changing. Recently, not only four-part dramas but also ten to twelve-part dramas have been born, and programming has generally changed and has become 'the new normal'.

The dramas currently airing once a week include tvN's "Hospital Playlist Season 2", SBS' "The Penthouse 3", JTBC's "Nevertheless" and KBS 2TV's "Imitation", and overall, they received good reviews, giving strength to unfamiliar changes.

The satisfaction level of the production team is also high. Improvement of working environment and high level of completion are also considered advantages of compilation once a week. "The advantage of organizing once a week is to improve the working environment", a production company official said. "As the fatigue of the site decreases, it is only natural that the composure acts as efficiency in the production environment again. The reason why we were able to show high perfection is also because of the ease that we feel thanks to the once-a-week compilation".

The latest dramas have not even decided on the number of episodes. "Nevertheless" has 10 episodes, "The Penthouse 3" and "Hospital Playlist Season 2" have 12, and "Voice 4" has 14. In particular, MBC has recently made changes such as introducing "Here's My Plan" as a four-part drama and preparing for "Check Out the Event".

These days, it's quality rather than quantity. Another positive change is that materials and expressions are also diversifying and becoming bolder. It is also possible to capture materials that are difficult to express in just four short episodes rather than in 16 episodes.

Shim Soo-yeon, the director of "Here's My Plan" said, "The advantage is that I can tell various stories of various people. If it was a 16-episode and 20-episode mini-series, it could have been difficult to handle, but 4 episodes made it easier to tell a story".

At a time when high-quality dramas are introduced after the advent of OTT, recognition of diversity is welcome. Production officials also said, "The diversification of story is guaranteed in that it can continue broadcasting in various lengths", adding, "We expect that we will be able to escape the 'lack of probability' of existing dramas through broadcasting once a week and short episodes".