LOOK! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Gee, what is it exactly?

Pat here. When I’m trying to sell prospective readers to sign up for this blog, I find myself describing Kdramas as soap operas. Guess what? They ain’t. So what are they? Here is how I see differences.

LENGTH

Soap operas have no ending. They go on forever or until the show gets cancelled. We know it’s the opposite for Kdramas; they generally have 12-16 episodes and one season only.

WRITERS

Soap operas are usually written by more than one person. Not so Kdramas. They usually have one writer. When Judy and I went to a Hallyu conference at Stanford a few years ago, we heard the sole writer for Crash Landing on You, Park Ji-eun. Interestingly, she said many of the scripts are written BEFORE filming begins. When I heard that I thought of SNL (Saturday Night Live, a live show that changes hosts weekly) that is literally being written in the days before the show airs.

AIRING TIME

Kdramas are shown during peak viewing times during the evening. We all know soaps are on in the late morning/early afternoon time slots. (As I’m writing this I’m wondering if anyone out there who reads this watches soap operas? Who has time? Kdramas take up all my tv viewing time!)

SUBJECT MATTER

Soap operas are all about gloom and doom with a bit of fun stuff sprinkled in. Kdramas are just the opposite. Better yet, Kdramas are about love and romance with a bit of nastiness added for flavor. (See how I always try to make it about food?)

ACTORS

Many kdrama actors have musical backgrounds and have had singing careers before they’ve segued into acting. Not so soap opera actors.

No Kdramas on this list... that's because they're a totally different beast!

And Judy says.... Soap Operas just don't have gorgeous Korean men in their lineup.

Actually I have never in my life watched a Soap Opera nor a Telenovela. However, I'm certain they are vastly different than Kdramas. I have complete faith in Koreans to create something that surpasses Soaps in quality; there's no way that Days of our Lives can compare to Mr Sunshine. There, I've settled the argument.

I didn’t realize this was an argument until now. Hmmm, is someone a bit defensive about her obsession with gorgeous Korean men? ~ Pat

No argument. Just stating the obvious. ~ Judy