Lee Seung-gi’s ‘A Korean Odyssey’ faces nightmare before Christmas

“A Korean Odyssey,” a new fantasy adventure drama by tvN, experienced a series of mishaps with its second episode.

The episode that aired on Christmas Eve at 9 p.m. turned out to be a nightmare for the broadcaster.

In Sunday’s episode, Jin Seon-mi, played by Oh Yeon-seo, went for an audition while fighting against demons. However, the wires attached to stunt performers who played the demons could be seen by viewers, as they had not been edited out. 

After the scene aired, the show went to a commercial break. After one minute, however, the show did not resume. The broadcaster instead aired trailers for other upcoming shows, such as “Youn’s Kitchen 2” and “Mother.”

After airing commercials for about 10 minutes, tvN finally resumed the show. “The broadcasting condition was spotty for a moment. We ask for viewers’ kind understanding,” a subtitle read.

However, the show soon went to another commercial break, which this time lasted for about 15 minutes. The broadcaster apologized again. The next show, “Problematic Men,” was only set to air at 10:30 p.m.

Another mistake was soon revealed on screen as “A Korean Odyssey” continued airing.

A scene featuring a photo of a couple was supposed to show an evil spirit, however, it showed the green screen often used when composing screens with computer graphics.

Finally, the broadcaster said, “Due to an internal situation, the broadcast of ‘A Korean Odyssey’ will end. As we’ll resume airing our regular shows, we ask for the viewers’ kind understanding.”

“The second episode of ‘A Korean Odyssey’ aired on Sunday night was not aired properly as postproduction was delayed. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and we will pay full attention to the production so such problems will not reoccur,” tvN said Sunday.

“The production team of ‘A Korean Odyssey’ is trying their best not only in filming but also in detailed editing to show you a high quality drama as they have prepared a lot to depict the special feeling of monsters. (The production team) tried to make a high quality show within a short amount of time but their passion and ambition unintentionally ended up with broadcasting accidents.”

It said it will air the final edit of the troubled episode at 6:10 p.m. on Monday.

The drama features Lee Seung-gi as its lead character Son Oh-gong. It drew attention as it is the first drama the singer-actor has appeared in since he was discharged from the military on Oct. 31.

Based on the 16th-century Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” the series centers on how Son, a self-indulgent yet charismatic demon, and Woo Ma-wang, an elegant and gentle demon played by actor Cha Seung-won, venture together into the turbulent human world and fight their nemesis to bring peace to mankind.

By Kim So-yeon (syk19372@heraldcorp.com)