Will Jang Hyuk, Jang Na-ra survive the same old rom-com formula?

Actor Jang Hyuk and singer-turned-actress Jang Na-ra will reunite after 12 years by costarring in the MBC rom-com series “Fated to Love You.”

“When I read the original work of ‘Fated to Love You,’ the two actors came to my mind right away,” said Lee Dong-yoon, the chief producer of the drama. This is the first time for Lee to work on a romantic comedy.

However, differentiating “Fated to Love You” from other cliched rom-com dramas seems difficult, considering the limitations of the genre and its stock characters. Back in 2002, the two K-drama actors appeared in another SBS rom-com, “Successful Story of a Bright Girl,” with Jang Na-ra playing a penniless heroine who falls in love with Jang Hyuk, just like in the new drama.

The premise of “Fated to Love You” also suggests a lack of creativity. It follows the traditional formula of a Korean rom-com drama, portraying the relationship of a highly unlikely couple -- the only heir of a conglomerate owner family and an ordinary girl who came out of nowhere.

Jang Hyuk plays Lee Gun, a stuck-up aristocrat who has been indulged by his business tycoon family all his life. One day, the heir happens to impregnate a virtual nobody, Kim Mi-young, played by Jang Na-ra, plunging into a labyrinth of romantic plight.

The first episode of the Wednesday-Thursday rom-com airs on July 2 at 10 p.m. 

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)