KBS Releases 13th Episode Of K-Drama ‘Producer’ But Fails Miserably To Entice Fans

Out of all the K-dramas that premiered this year so far, Producer by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) received the most hype, along with the highest ratings in viewership. The K-drama stood out by equally mixing romance drama with variety comedy and documentary, while utilizing direction similar to The Office. It also helps that the stellar cast includes Kim Soo Hyun and IU. As a result, the final episode of Producer finished with an average rating of almost 18 percent.

In the final episode of Producer, one particular detail stands out about the ending that has fans wondering if a second season is the works. The way KBS ended it with Kim Soo Hyun and IU’s characters just screams “continuation.” KBS may have noticed this, and they released a special 13th episode. Unfortunately for them, it miserably fails to entice the fans.

According to KDramaStars, KBS released a bonus 13th episode of Producer on Saturday, June 26, 2015. The episode included extras for fans to dive into, such as commentary from the production team and outtakes. But as mentioned earlier, the 13th episode failed to deliver, yielding only 5.5 percent in nationwide (South Korea) viewership.

What happened? Why did the 13th episode do so poorly when the rest of the series was a smash hit overall? The answer is the episode was nothing more than filler. Ann Bebe of TV Report probably said it best in her review when she called the episode the following.

“One hundred minutes of awkwardness in ‘Producer Special’ saved only by Kim Soo Hyun.”

Multiple episode reviews at DramaFever followed the same sentiment as Anne Bebe, arguing the episode was nothing more than mostly a recap of the entire series. That’s right! KBS jammed 12 episodes into the majority of 100 minutes. Maybe KBS should have remembered a successful recap only lasts a max of five minutes. Anything over that time runs the gamut of becoming repetition or filler. However, there are pros to said 13th episode, too, primarily the commentary in the beginning and the bloopers at the end (especially the ones featuring Kim Soo Hyun).

The only people who will truly enjoy this “special” in its entirety are the most hardcore fans of Producer. Everyone else might as well just watch the beginning before the recap and the end when the bloopers start. The 13th episode is available for viewing for free (with ads) at DramaFever.

[Image via Screen Capture of Producer]