# Queen of Housewives

Queen of Housewives (Korean: 내조의 여왕; also known as My Wife Is a Superwoman) is a 2009 South Korean romantic comedy television series, starring Kim Nam-joo, Oh Ji-ho, Yoon Sang-hyun, Lee Hye-young, Choi Cheol-ho, and Sunwoo Sun. It depicts the life of "naejo," housewives who devote their entire lives to their husbands' success, but with a more comedic and aggressive twist. It aired on MBC from March 16 to May 19, 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.
The hit drama topped the ratings chart during its run, and created new trends among married women in terms of fashion and makeup. Actress Kim Nam-joo received numerous accolades for her acting comeback after an 8-year hiatus, and the series also served as the breakout vehicle of actor Yoon Sang-hyun.

## Plot

Chun Ji-ae (Kim Nam-joo) had it all... in high school. Pretty and popular, she was the school's queen bee, while awkward Yang Bong-soon (Lee Hye-young) was the exact opposite. The two were initially friends, until Ji-ae stole Bong-soon's crush, Han Joon-hyuk (Choi Cheol-ho). Fast-forward to middle-aged married life, and their roles have become reversed. Ji-ae struggles with household finances because she married Ohn Dal-soo (Oh Ji-ho), a once-promising university graduate turned unemployed pushover, while Joon-hyuk, whom Bong-soon married after Ji-ae dumped him, is now a successful executive.
Dal-soo finally gets a shot at a decent job at top company Queen's Food, where Joon-hyuk happens to be his new boss. Joon-hyuk still carries a torch for Ji-ae, and he makes it a point to make Dal-soo's internship as difficult and demeaning as possible. Meanwhile, determined to help her smart but clueless husband climb the corporate ladder, Ji-ae joins a social wives club to support him. The wives' power plays are directly correlative to their husbands' positions in the company (meaning, the higher-ranking the husband, the higher-ranking the wife), and Ji-ae sets aside her pride to curry favor and jockey for position. She immediately thrives within the wives' inner circle, but she's constantly thwarted by her ex-best friend, Bong-soon.
Then Dal-soo runs into his college friend Eun So-hyun (Sunwoo Sun), wife of Heo Tae-joon (Yoon Sang-hyun), the current president of Queen's Food. Stuck in a loveless marriage, So-hyun wants to have an affair with Dal-soo, while indolent chaebol Tae-joon gradually finds himself attracted to Ji-ae. The three couples interact in a confusing mix of romance, friendship, and workplace politics.

## Cast
### Main characters

* Kim Nam-joo as Chun Ji-ae
* Oh Ji-ho as Oh Dal-soo
* Lee Hye-young as Yang Bong-soon
* Yoon Sang-hyun as Heo Tae-joon
* Choi Cheol-ho as Han Joon-hyuk
* Sunwoo Sun as Eun So-hyun
* Kim Chang-wan as Kim Hong-shik
* Na Young-hee as Jang Young-sook

### Supporting characters
#### Ji-ae and Bong-soon's high school classmates

* Park Joo-hee as Go Mi-young
* Lee Seung-ah as Kim Young-sun
* Jung Soo-young as Ji Hwa-ja
* Kim Do-yeon as Ahn Jung-sook

#### Queen's Food husbands and wives

* Kim Yong-hee as Ha-chang
* Choi Ye-jin as Hwang-sook (Ha-chang's wife)
* Kim Jung-hak as Department chief Yang
* Hwang Hyo-eun as Lee Seul (chief Yang's wife)
* Hwang Jae-hee as Gong Young-min (HR manager's nephew)
* Joo Min-ha as Jung Go-woon (Young-min's wife, art gallery assistant)
* Lee Mae-ri as Jung-ran

#### Extended cast

* Kang Soo-han as Han Hyuk-chan (Bong-soon and Joon-hyuk's son)
* Kim Sung-kyum as President Heo (Tae-joon's father)
* Yu Ji-in as Tae-joon's mother
* Kim Young-ran as Ji-ae's mother
* Baek Seung-hee as Hyang-suk
* Kim Ik-tae as jeweller
* Min Joon-hyun as Ohn Dal-soo's co-worker
* Lee Seung-ho
* Kim Seung-woo as police officer (cameo, ep 3)
* Shindong as couple in sauna (cameo, ep 11)
* Kim Shin-young as couple in sauna (cameo, ep 11)
* Kim Sung-min as Tae-joon's friend (cameo, ep 16)
* Jun Jin as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)
* Yoo Jae-suk as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)
* Park Myung-soo as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)
* Jung Hyung-don as job applicant (cameo, ep 20)

## Ratings

| Date | Episode | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 2009-03-16 | 1 | 8.0% | 8.7% |
| 2009-03-17 | 2 | 10.3% (13th) | 10.7% (13th) |
| 2009-03-23 | 3 | 9.6% (15th) | 10.1% (15th) |
| 2009-03-24 | 4 | 11.2% (12th) | 11.8% (12th) |
| 2009-03-30 | 5 | 11.5% (11th) | 11.8% (12th) |
| 2009-03-31 | 6 | 12.0% (10th) | 11.6% (10th) |
| 2009-04-06 | 7 | 20.0% (2nd) | 20.7% (2nd) |
| 2008-04-07 | 8 | 21.3% (2nd) | 22.0% (2nd) |
| 2009-04-13 | 9 | 21.6% (2nd) | 22.2% (2nd) |
| 2009-04-14 | 10 | 24.1% (2nd) | 25.6% (2nd) |
| 2009-04-20 | 11 | 24.2% (2nd) | 24.9% (2nd) |
| 2009-04-21 | 12 | 24.4% (2nd) | 25.6% (2nd) |
| 2009-04-27 | 13 | 25.2% (2nd) | 26.5% (2nd) |
| 2009-04-28 | 14 | 27.4% (2nd) | 29.3% (2nd) |
| 2009-05-04 | 15 | 26.6% (1st) | 28.4% (1st) |
| 2009-05-05 | 16 | 29.2% (1st) | 31.1% (1st) |
| 2009-05-11 | 17 | 30.4% (1st) | 32.2% (1st) |
| 2009-05-12 | 18 | 30.0% (1st) | 31.8% (1st) |
| 2009-05-18 | 19 | 29.9% (1st) | 31.7% (1st) |
| 2009-05-19 | 20 | 31.7% (1st) | 33.7% (1st) |
| Average | Average | 21.4% | 22.5% |
Source: TNS Media Korea

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2009 | Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism | Actress of the Year | Kim Nam-joo | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Yoon Sang-hyun | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Kim Nam-joo | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor | Choi Cheol-ho | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress | Lee Hye-young | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Golden Acting Award, Actor | Kim Chang-wan | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Golden Acting Award, Actress | Na Young-hee | Won |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Best New Actress | Sunwoo Sun | Nominated |
| 2009 | MBC Drama Awards | Best Writer | Park Ji-eun | Won |
| 2010 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | Queen of Housewives | Nominated |
| 2010 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Go Dong-sun | Won |
| 2010 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Yoon Sang-hyun | Nominated |
| 2010 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actress | Kim Nam-joo | Won |
| 2010 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Screenplay | Park Ji-eun | Nominated |
| 2010 | CETV Awards | Grand Prize | Kim Nam-joo | Won |
| 2010 | CETV Awards | Top 10 Asian Stars | Kim Nam-joo | Won |

## International broadcast

* Philippines: IBC, title "My Wife is a Superwoman"