The tittle says it all. I Live in Cheongdam-dong is a total happy pill. Life’s been a bit on the moody side lately and I felt I needed something to cheer me up. ILiCDD is just about the perfect thing to do the trick. I remembered how good it always made me feel, so I ventured on to watch an odd episode here, another there. Once again I laughed like a hyena, teared up, went ‘aaaawwww…’ and felt much, much better because of the uplifting spirit of this gem of a drama. On that note I decided to resurrect the posts I wrote while watching ILiCDD back in 2012 (with a few minor edits). I can’t beileve it’s been 4 years already!
What IS this drama about then? There is a nice introduction @ Scattered Joonni, so I’ll just link over there.^^ For the longest of while ILiCDD went unsubbed, but Viki has it now. Only, it’s been condenced into 19 one hour episodes (originally 170 epis, each ca. 30min) and quite a bit of the good stuff has been cut out. Guess that’s better than nothing…
31st Jul, 2012
Arrrghh!! It’s past 12pm and I should have been in bed hours ago but noooo…. Instead I’ve been glued to my TV and watching yet another epi of I Live in Cheongdam-dong.
Darned if it isn’t just as good and highly addicting as everyone has been saying. And it’s FUNNY! The great panty mystery, ‘ebil’ manga-crack dealer, starving idol-wannabees in the basement and a supposedly ‘starving’ artist in the garret, the Three Ahjussis, and, and, and…. And we just had the Hyun Woo/Sang Yeob drinking face-off, LOL! Good thing I live alone as I’ve been cackling aloud here. I love the characters and Hye Ja is just…. AWESOME!
Is the dog’s name really Dog Poo?! (Edit. Yup, it is XD )
3rd Aug, 2012
ILiCDD continues to be awesomesauce. I’m fair bursting with all the feels for the characters. I think I love them all equally but a special mention goes to Hye Ja. She truly is the soul of the drama. Kim Hye Ja has such a deadpan delivery and she’s funny without looking like she’s deliberately trying for that. The same can actually be said for Kim Woo Hyun. The veteran actors are all great as it is. I’m left with this big grin on my face every time I finnish a session and find myself in giggiles when I happen to remember a fun detail or two. I haven’t actually felt quite this grinny since I watched Beach Boys last year. Hyun Woo should seriously think about resurrecting his singing carreer, boy’s got a great voice. OMG!… Sang Yeob peevishly muttering into his beer when everyone else was in awe of HW’s performance. I’ve been in camp Hyun Woo from get go but I can’t help but to love SY as well. I swear there are times when he is about 5yrs old. I fair want to pinch his cheeks and go ‘aaaaawwww’… then he turns around and acts like an ass again. Cute ass though. ;P I love the ‘rivalry’ between the boys, they are so silly and childishly petty with it. I LOLed and LOLed during that Street Fighter game sequence. Boys! *shakes head* The idol-wannabees finally got to debut. YAY! I felt almost as teary as the manager hyung-nim.^^ Sigh. I could go on for days picking out scenes that made me go mushy or laugh like a loony.
31st Aug, 2012
Ah, ILiCDD – how much do I love you!? Thiiiiiiiis much!!! This drama is guaranteed to put you in a good mood. I’ve been laughing away since several hours ago and now feeling totally like I could squish the whole world. π
The episodes from 120 onwards… so, so cute, funny, insightful, thought provoking and kinda heartwrenching – again. The Three Ahjussis and the homicidal teddybear. Manager Jo shipping Hyun Woo and Sang Yeob (hilarious!). Bo Hee’s attempt at visualisation gaining totally opposite results. Hye Ja prescribing manhwas for customers (how come she can be such a scatterbrain at one moment and extreamly insightful the next?). The loverbirds always getting interrupted when they are about to get mushy (dunno but that was hilarious too). Chef-nim and her Woo Hyun phobia. Sang Yeob breaking my heart… again (Yes, I love you too). And gzillion other precious moments.
5th Nov, 2012
I resumed my ILiCDD watch – finally. Oh my! If there is one drama that can make me feel like I’m ready to embrace the whole world it’s that one. I’d almost forgotten how heartwarming and fun it is and how good it makes me feel, even when there’s something on the sad side or serious going on. It’s just so TOTALLY, CAPSLOCKY WONDERFUL!!!! And I love every single character to pieces. ILiCDD may well end up as my most favourite drama to date. Sorry Mawang, I think you have been toppled.
18th Dec, 2012
Still basking in the afterglow of watching yet another few episodes of ILiCDD. With Mookie’s posts about the first 6 epis and me using the drama as an antidote towards RL woes, I’ve had quite a good dosing of ILiCDD recently. After I finished today’s dose I just sat there a good 5 minutes with the silliest of silly grins on my face.
There’s nothing I’m watching now that is even remotely as good as this little gem. It may be 170 episodes long but there is nothing in excess in it. No convoluted plots, manufatured angst, forced cuteness, emo just for emo’s sake. Everything flows quite effortlessly buoyed by wonderful acting. Guess the PD-nim knows his job too. The sets may look like they are worth all of 5$ but what the ensamble cast and crew bring to the table is worth way, WAY more.
I love how every single chracter has a place in the story. Yes, even Doggy Poo. π I love them all, though I do have those I love juuuust a tiny bit more. The forever wonderful Hye Ja was my fave since the beginning, she’s just so… randomly laugh out loud funny without even batting an eyelid. She always means well but for some reason her best efforst have a tendecy to go off tangent, spectacularly. But as the story progressed it was Sang Yeob that sorta captured my heart in equal measure. Oh, Sang Yeob, Sang Yeob… can I just squish you? You big lunk of a petty manchild without a nasty bone in your body and a heart in the right place. You are an ass at times but you still manage to make me sniffle and go aaawwww… too. Anyone who’s only seen Lee Sang Yeob in Nice Guy has no idea what hides inside that stiff Attorney Park. LOL! LSY has impeccable comic timing. He’s freaking hilarious. (Edit. This is by far the best performance by Lee Sang Yeob I’ve seen so far. Same can be said about both Hyun Woo and Oh Ji Eun. These characters were just perfect for all three.)
I love the built up family, the friendships and LOVE the bromances. The Three Stooges who by now are sort of joined at the hip. Then there’s the Sang Yeob/Hyun Woo duo – the bromance to end all bromances. *g* I finished off with 145 today and laughed like hyena for how they ended up being each other’s muses with Ji Eun totally left out of the equation and clueless. It doesn’t sound so funny when written down, you have to see it to get the full effect. Those two, aish! Can I squish you too?
How is it that an OTP that could be so saccarine it’d give you cavities is just endlessly cute here? And they act like normal people who meet, get to know each other and fall in love. It’s not always smooth but neither is it in real life. Yet, there is no stupid made up drama nor are misunderstandings dragged out endlessly. The ending of 144 made me squee! – Ji Eun, you go girl! I would have totally done that too. He’s adorable. And tall.
I could write chapter and verse about the others too but then we’d be here till Christmas (or thereabouts). The cast is just perfect in all the roles.
To cap this journey through the memory lane I’ll give you a tribute to Sang Yeob/Hyun Woo bromance. XD It’s hilariously cute! Looking at all the scenes in this SY/HW “Alterna OTP” MV, it’s NO wonder Jo Manager thought they were an item, LOL!
And here endeth a very gushy ILiCDD post. You are welcome.^^
A Touch of Drama 
Hello Timescout! 170 episodes! I can’t even fathom what it’s like to watch something that long π But if they are all make you laugh like a hyena, then it must be doing something right! And 4 years of blogging. That’s an incredible feat! Kudos!
I’ve only watched a fiew longer dramas as those mostly tend to drive me nuts at some point. ILiCDD is an anomaly in more ways than one. Besides, the episodes are just ca. 30 min long each so it’s relatively easy to watch them… say, in 10 epi batches. π
I’ve actually blogged somewhat longer than 4 years. I believe I started @ LiveJournal around 2005, though it was an icon journal to begin with and it took a while before I wrote anything worth a mention. My first proper drama post was in 2008.^^
Aww. Sorry to hear life’s been on the moody side lately, Timescout.. Hugs. But yay that you’ve found an effective happy pill in ILICDD! I watched this up to around E139, I think, before I got distracted and shelved it thinking I’d go back to it sometime. Now the app I was using to stream it is not available in my region (or possibly gone defunct, I can’t tell). I did love all that I managed to see of this lovely little show though. And I suppose I should be grateful that I managed to see so much of it, considering how so many drama fans wanted to see this so badly but were hampered by the lack of subs (again, Mandarin lessons to the rescue! Well, those lessons AND the Chinese subs I was watching with! XD )
Another upside to your happy pill? At 170 eps, you won’t run out of little doses of happiness anytime soon! π
Well, life has this habbit of giving you a kick in the posterior every now and then. I’m still standing though. π Yes, ILiCDD is guaranteed to make you feel better, most of the times and as you said, there is plenty of material to last a looooong time.^^
That’s the problem with most older series, especially those that weren’t all that well known, they tend to disappear into the Bit Space after a while. I’m glad I managed to aquire the whole thing when there was still chance for that. Anyways, you can always refresh your memory @ Viki. It may not be the whole drama but better than nothing, eh?
Boo. I just checked, and that show is not available in my region on Viki. Oh wells. I guess my fond memories of the show will have to be enough – for now anyway! π
Goshhhhh this is, hands down, my fav Kdrama of all time. I still rewatch this constantly an ep here or there, so obsessed i had narrowed down a few by ep # i could gush out everything about it fr memory.
ILiCDD is also my favourite kdrama to date. π How could I have forgotten what a treasue trove of positive energy and feelgood magick it is! A true antodote to all sorts of blues. It may not solve your problems but at least you feel 100% better after watching an epi or two.
This sounds really funny. I’ve actually seen pics of it floating around here and there, but couldn’t figure out what the drama was called. It’s good that it’s on Viki, but it sounds like they cut out about 2/3 of the drama, which is a whole lot! I wonder if the full show is subbed anywhere else, because I’d like to check it out sometime.
It is funny! Outrageously so at times. π
Unfortunately I’ve never seen subs for the full show and I’ve checked from time to time. I watched it raw myself, though 4 yrs ago my Korean was pretty rudimentary still. I understand much more now, so in a sense it was fun to realise I’ve actually learned something over these years, ha. So, to watch this with subs, Viki is the only option atm. I do hope they kept at least some of the really good parts. I may check the whole Viki thing at some point to see for myself. Give it a go, I’m sure it’s still worth watching, even in a reduced form.