# The Producers (TV series)

The Producers (Korean: 프로듀사) is a 2015 South Korean comedy-drama television series written by Park Ji-eun, and directed by Seo Soo-min and Pyo Min-soo. It stars Cha Tae-hyun, Gong Hyo-jin, Kim Soo-hyun, and Lee Ji-eun. It aired on KBS2 from May 15 to June 20, 2015 every Friday and Saturday at 21:15 (KST) for 12 episodes.

## Synopsis

In the center of Yeouido is the KBS building. On its sixth floor are partitioned offices where employees work in the network's variety department, keeping hectic schedules of filming, editing and all-night meetings.

## Cast
### Main

* Cha Tae-hyun as Ra Joon-mo
** Gil Jeong-woo as young Joon-mo
** Chae Sang-woo as teenage Joon-mo
    A seasoned PD who has worked in the industry for ten years. Despite working on a lot of variety programs, he has no single masterpiece to call his own. A two-faced senior.
* Gong Hyo-jin as Tak Ye-jin
** Lee Ji-won as young Ye-jin
** Ha Seung-ri as teenage Ye-jin
    An experienced PD who works on a long-time music program. She is smart, haughty and never holds back in letting people know what she thinks. She uses her high position to abuse newbies.
* Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Seung-chan
** Park Sang-hoon as young Seung-chan
    An aspiring prosecutor who decides to join KBS because of his secret crush on a KBS employee. He becomes a rookie PD (producer-director) with the variety/entertainment division.
* Lee Ji-eun as Cindy
** Park Seon as young Cindy
    A famous singer and celebrity who debuted as a trainee when she was 13 years old. She is called the "ice princess" for her poker face and complete control over her emotions. As the drama progresses we see hints of the fragile Cindy she has kept hidden for all these years.

### Supporting
#### KBS

* Park Hyuk-kwon as Kim Tae-ho, chief producer of the variety department.
* Kim Jong-kook as Kim Hong-soon, PD of Open Concert
* Seo Ki-chul as Jang In-pyo, director of the variety department.
* Ye Ji-won as Go Yang-mi, office manager of the variety department.
* Gi Ju-bong as Park Choon-bong, the president of KBS.
* Lee Joo-seung as Kim Joon-bae, floor director of 2 Days & 1 Night. Turns out to be a legendary ghost of KBS.
* Lee Chae-eun as Son Ji-yeon, writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
* Go Bo-gyeol as Wang Min-jung, youngest writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
* Bae Yoo-ram as Ryu Il-yong, assistant director of 2 Days & 1 Night.
* Shin Joo-hwan as Hyung-geun, assistant director of 2 Days & 1 Night.
* Susanna Noh as casting writer of 2 Days & 1 Night.
* Kim Sun-ah as Kim Da-jung, youngest writer of Music Bank.
* Jang Seong-beom as assistant PD of Music Bank.

#### Byun Entertainment agency

* Na Young-hee as Byun Mi-sook, CEO of the agency
* Choi Kwon as Cindy's road manager
* Jo Han-chul as Secretary Kim
* Janey as Jini, a trainee of the agency
* Na Hae-ryung as Yuna, ex-singer of the agency
* Cho Seung-hee as Yu-ju, member of Pinky4
* Kim Soo-yeon as Christine, member of Pinky4
* Jung Mi-mi as Ha-neul, member of Pinky4
* Park Seo-yeon, young trainee
* Lee Ji-ho as young trainee
* Kim Ye-won as young trainee
* Lee Seo-yeong as young trainee

#### Baek's Family

* Kim Jong-soo as Baek Bo-sun, Seung-chan's father
* Kim Hye-ok as Lee Hoo-nam, Seung-chan's mother
* Park Hee-von as Baek Jae-hee, Seung-chan's older sister
* Park Jong-hwan as Baek Young-chan, Seung-chan's older brother
* Choi Sun-young as Baek Yoo-bin, Seung-chan's younger sister
* Kang Shin-chul as Myung Ji-hoon, Jae-hee's husband

#### Extended

* Im Ye-jin as Park Bong-soon, Joon-mo's mother
* Kim Hee-chan as Tak Ye-joon, Ye-jin's younger brother
* Jung Han-hee as Kim Tae-ho's daughter
* Yoon Yoo-sun as Kim Tae-ho's wife
* Kim Sa-kwon
* Lee Du-seok
* Jo Chang-geun
* Jin Yong-wook
* Jeon Heon-tae
* Hwang Min-ho
* Ahn Se-ha as manager
* Lee Jeong-ho as Reporter Kang
* Ryu Jun-yeol as Joo Jong-hyun

### Special appearances
## Production

The Producers was dubbed as "the most anticipated show" of 2015 because it served reunion between the actor Kim Soo-hyun and the screenwriter Park Ji-eun after the pan-Asia successful television series My Love from the Star (2013–14). The series was produced by KBS's entertainment department instead of the drama department and was helmed by director Seo Soo-min, whose past experience has been on variety shows. It was also the first terrestrial network drama to air in the Friday–Saturday time slot.
First script reading was held on 23 March 2015 in Gangnam District, Seoul, with no media presence. The first day shooting was held on April 1, 2015 on the 6th floor of the KBS building in Yeouido. Official posters for the drama were unveiled on 29 April 2015.

## Original soundtrack

Notes
* Included in the special edition physical album only.

### Chart performance

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and sales :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Remarks |
| Title | Year | KOR Gaon | Sales | Remarks |
| "Heart" (IU) | 2015 | 1 | KOR: 2,500,000 | OST Special Edition |
| "Darling (OST Version)" (Lee Seung-chul) | 2015 | 80 | KOR: 21,893 | OST _ Preview 01 |
| "To Be With You" (Kim Yeon-woo) | 2015 | 51 | KOR: 37,421 | OST _ Preview 02 |
| "To Be With You" (Kim Yeon-woo) | 2015 | 73 | KOR: 109,090 | — |
| "And... And" (Baek Ji-young) | 2015 | 39 | KOR: 81,675 | OST _ Preview 03 |
| "And... And" (Baek Ji-young) | 2015 | 63 | KOR: 108,147 | — |
| "Love Begins With a Confession" (Kim Bum-soo) | 2015 | 11 | KOR: 657,531 | — |
| "Palpitations" (Ben) | 2015 | 29 | KOR: 208,347 | — |
| "The Two of Us" (Ali) | 2015 | 93 | KOR: 69,317 | — |
| "You and I" (Taru) | 2015 | 66 | KOR: 27,831 | OST Special Edition |

## Reception
### Commercial performance

Yonhap News Agency reported The Producers would earn ₩8.4 billion according to the broadcaster and industry sources. It reportedly earned ₩2 billion alone from product placement and other sponsored advertisements which was above the average amount for a 16-episode series of about ₩1–1.5 billion at that time. Also, it was sold to 12 Asian countries at high prices. However, KBS officials said that it would log lower-than-expected profits due to rise in initial production cost stating various reasons including the change of producer in the middle of the series.

### Critical response

The Producers received mixed critical response. Kwon Ji-youn writing for The Korea Times called the premier of drama "great boast and small roast" reasoning that despite having "an all-star cast, impressive cameos and an original setting and plot" the drama was "nothing out of the ordinary." She praised Kim Soo-hyun's acting calling the transformation from his former character on My Love from the Star "striking" and he and Gong Hyo-jin were only able to pull off humour scenes. It also received criticism from entertainment industry insiders regarding its verisimilitude, particularly in the drama's depiction of producers as the weaker party in dealing with celebrities, which they claimed is "highly unrealistic" unless top stars are involved.

### Viewership

The Producers drew an average viewership rating of 12.5% and topped the Content Power Index (CPI) rankings.
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
Viewership ratings per episode of The Producers in South Korea :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Title | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Title | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Title | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | May 15, 2015 | The Variety Department, Unintentionally | 10.1% (11th) | 10.5% (9th) | 10.5% (10th) | 11.8% (8th) |
| 2 | May 16, 2015 | News of Quitting, Unintentionally | 10.3% (6th) | 10.7% (5th) | 11.2% (4th) | 12.3% (5th) |
| 3 | May 22, 2015 | Pheasant Instead of Chicken, Unintentionally | 10.2% (10th) | 11.4% (6th) | 9.6% (15th) | 10.8% (10th) |
| 4 | May 23, 2015 | Acting That Way, Unintentionally | 11.0% (5th) | 11.3% (5th) | 13.5% (5th) | 13.3% (5th) |
| 5 | May 29, 2015 | Understanding Editing | 11.2% (8th) | 12.0% (6th) | 10.8% (10th) | 12.3% (8th) |
| 6 | May 30, 2015 | Understanding Broadcasting Accidents | 13.5% (3rd) | 14.5% (3rd) | 12.8% (4th) | 14.4% (5th) |
| 7 | June 5, 2015 | Understanding How to Play the Media | 11.7% (7th) | 12.3% (6th) | 11.8% (9th) | 13.4% (5th) |
| 8 | June 6, 2015 | Understanding Love Lines | 13.4% (3rd) | 13.7% (3rd) | 13.8% (3rd) | 16.7% (4th) |
| 9 | June 12, 2015 | Understanding Cancelled Broadcasts | 12.6% (3rd) | 13.5% (3rd) | 11.7% (10th) | 13.3% (3rd) |
| 10 | June 13, 2015 | Understanding Previews | 14.6% (3rd) | 15.4% (3rd) | 13.8% (3rd) | 15.6% (4th) |
| 11 | June 19, 2015 | Understanding Ratings | 13.4% (3rd) | 14.5% (3rd) | 13.3% (4th) | 15.3% (3rd) |
| 12 | June 20, 2015 | Understanding a long-running program | 17.7% (2nd) | 17.9% (3rd) | 18.2% (2nd) | 20.4% (2nd) |
| Average | Average | Average | 12.5% | 13.1% | 12.4% | 14.1% |
| Special | June 26, 2015 | Understanding NGs | 5.5% | 7.5% | 7.9% | 7.9% |

## Awards and nominations

Awards for The Producers :
| Year | Award ceremony | Award | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2015 | 8th Korea Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Kim Soo-hyun | Won |
| 2015 | 8th Korea Drama Awards | Best Drama | The Producers | Nominated |
| 2015 | 8th Korea Drama Awards | Best Production Director | Seo Soo-min, Pyo Min-soo | Won |
| 2015 | 8th Korea Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress | IU | Nominated |
| 2015 | 8th Korea Drama Awards | Hallyu Star Award | Kim Soo-hyun | Won |
| 2015 | 4th APAN Star Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Kim Soo-hyun | Won |
| 2015 | 4th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kim Soo-hyun | Nominated |
| 2015 | 4th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2015 | 4th APAN Star Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | IU | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Kim Soo-hyun | Won |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Kim Soo-hyun | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Cha Tae-hyun | Won |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kim Soo-hyun | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | IU | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actor | Kim Soo-hyun | Won |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Popularity Award, Actor | Kim Soo-hyun | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Popularity Award, Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Popularity Award, Actress | IU | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple | Kim Soo-hyun, Cha Tae-hyun and Gong Hyo-jin | Won |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple | Cha Tae-hyun and Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple | Kim Soo-hyun and Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2015 | 29th KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple | Kim Soo-hyun and IU | Nominated |