I believe the times are ripe to re-open this thread.
So, please explain to me again why these two are so popular? Wait, apart from Jeanie - you truly tried, my friend, I admire you for that - nobody actually gave me an explanation. I get it that you liked some of their dramas, but in terms of quality, what the heck do their scripts have? Apart from the INEVITABLE eye-candy chosen as the lead man, what else is there?
At the cost of repeating myself, the Hong sisters must be: 1. women who hates their gender; 2. men with wigs and female pen-names.
Why do their female leads always have to be stupid or ignorant (at times both); irritanting and indecisive; naive and oblivious; goodnatured and clumsy (at times all these in a cocktail)? Are they trying to set the perfect example for us women to follow? Are Gong Yoo, Jang Geun Suk, Lee Seung Ki, Kang Ji Hwan the prize we get in the end for being noble idiots?
Ah, wait, we can be the second female: she's always such an adorable character! Clingy, envious, petty, scheming. Yes, but beware, the first prize is then out of your league. At best you'll get a trip abroad as consolation.
I used to be a little sorry for not appreciating their work. Not anymore. I watched 15 minutes of Big and dropped it even before Gong Yoo came on screen. The recipe with all its usual ingredients was already evident. And I'm particularly miffed now because I love Gong Yoo and I so wanted to see him acting in a drama again.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
P.S. Why isn't Kim Do Woo such a popular scriptwriter? The one who wrote Kim Sam Soon, Me too, flower, What's up fox.
Or Kim Eun Sook: Secret Garden, Lovers in Paris, The City Hall, On Air, A Gentleman's dignity.
Mysteries of popularity.