For viewers of “traditional” American television, what is labelled a “TV drama” is pretty specific: They have about 23 episodes, they often go on for years, there is one episode a week, and without ads each episode is about 40 minutes long. Simple enough.
For someone more knowledgable about the entertainment industry, the picture is a little more detailed: One-hour dramas (on network television) are structured in four acts, traditionally based around ad breaks. A writer room consists of a Showrunner and, on average, 6 to 12 writers. Writers are hired for about 20 weeks, and the whole show gets written every season, then it gets filmed. Writing always happens first, then the production kicks in and it’s off to the races for the Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer TV season of whatever year. Then the whole process repeats, sometimes with the same writers and Showrunner, sometimes not.
Korean television works completely differently.
All dramas, with very rare exceptions, air for one season and one season only, with a range of episodes that averages from 10 to 25. Each episode, without ads, is often more than one hour long. Shows have one writer and one director and they operate in what is called a “live-shoot system”. In addition, the weekly TV schedule works in two-day intervals. This meaning that shows air two episodes a week, back to back, for two days in a row. (Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Thursday, etc)
To take the 2014 drama Healer as an example of a larger phenomenon, the main cast was finalized in July of 2014. The first all-cast reading of the script happened on September 15, 2014, and the first episode aired on December 8, 2014.
There is no way that every episode of a story that involved quite a few action and special effects elements was completely shot and edited within the span of four months. That is where “live-shooting” comes in.
Dramas typically begin filming a month or two in advance of their premieres. This shallow head start allows dramas to have a few episodes available to them before the episodes hit the air, but the demands of production quickly catch up, and soon shows will be filming episodes the week they air. Two episodes per week means that each episode gets a few days for filming and editing, with not much room for extensive reshoots.
“I filmed all through the night until 6 o’clock this morning, and went home only to shower. We’ll have to pull all-night shoots tonight and tomorrow, too, to make the broadcast tomorrow,” said Yeom Jung-ah, who played the heiress heroine in 2011’s Royal Family, an interview.
This stressful state of affairs often causes mistakes and ethical dilemmas. Every time a new series comes along there are often news articles about actors and actresses succumbing to exhaustion and accidents caused by sleep deprivation due to their schedules.
Structure wise, live-shooting is often the cause of many strange turns and dips in the story as it appears to viewers. These are the occasions when viewers scratch their heads in consternation when characters or plots take sudden, often inexplicable, turns. On the upside, the freedom given for writer to tweak with their story while actively witnessing if it is working or not is of great value, since, in theory, it gives you even more chances to perfect your work.
Even so, since there are so many downsides to this system, why does it persist?
The bottom line: ratings. Which, in turn, mean revenue. The fact that nothing is written in stone allows for flexibility in terms of script changes, episodes can be shortened or lengthened based on ratings, and there is less risk. The overall monetary benefit to having the ability to quickly shift with the tides makes the grueling system worth it, at least in the wallets of the executives.
Sources:
Dramabeans.com, Seoulbeats.com, Koreana.or.kr, Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing
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