The Greatest Love

Plot

Gu Ae-jung (Gong Hyo-jin) was the most popular member of girl group Kukbo Sonyeo, literally meaning "National Treasure Girls," some 10 years ago, but fell from grace after becoming embroiled in scandals. She makes appearances on television programs to eke out a living for her troublemaker father and brother.

On the other hand Dokko Jin (Cha Seung-won) is the most beloved star in the nation, topping all kinds of popularity polls and appearing in many commercials, but has several character flaws. Ae-jung discovers a secret about Jin by chance and reveals it on a talk show, incurring his fury. However, their ill-fated relationship unfolds in an unexpected way as Jin falls for Ae-jung and tries to win her heart.

Kang Se-ri (Yoo In-na), is the ex band-mate of Ae-jung. But whereas Ae-jung was more famous in her heyday and Se-ri was a nobody, now Se-ri is one of the most popular celebrities. She dated Dokko Jin for a short time, but despite their breakup, they continue to pretend that they’re still dating to avoid negative publicity. Se-ri is also the host of popular TV dating show Couple Making Season 3.

Yoon Pil-joo (Yoon Kye-sang) is a well-mannered, thoughtful and a caring doctor of Oriental medicine. He has no interest in celebrities and their outrageous lives. Under pressure from his mother, he agrees to appear on a TV dating show, but after finding out that Ae-jung will also be appearing on the same show, he is eager to participate in the show and meet her. Fictional dating show Couple Making Season 3 is based on MBC’s real variety program We Got Married, where they throw celebrities into fake relationships for the cameras. The concept is a competition-based mat-seon program, essentially setting up people on blind dates for the purposes of finding a marriage partner. The major difference is that in Couple Making, celebrity ladies compete over a non-celebrity eligible bachelor who gives them roses to prevent their elimination (a la The Bachelor), which is how Yoon Pil-joo ends up as a contestant on the show.

The mix of the main characters’ mismatched personalities with the necessity to maintain (or recoup in Ae-jung’s case) public sentiment makes for great hijinks and drama, not to mention an interesting meta social commentary on the entertainment industry and the star-making and -breaking power of image.

Cast

Production

The series was written by Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran, known collectively as the "Hong Sisters", who also wrote other Korean dramas such as Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang (2005), My Girl (2005), Couple or Trouble (2006), Hong Gil-dong (2008), You’re Beautiful (2009) and My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010). According to director Park Hong-kyun (who previously helmed Queen Seondeok), the Hong sisters' adeptness at character comedy is how The Greatest Love hoped to differentiate itself from other trendy dramas airing on Korean television in Spring 2011.

Though the drama draws from gossip people hear about celebrities, Cha Seung-won said during the drama's press conference that he also wanted to show a bright, healthy side of the entertainment scene in Korea. He admitted that entertainers do hide behind their image due to their job. "However, this drama will show they are just genuine people off-camera," Cha said. Yoon Kye-sang added that, "The script is very realistic, giving a fun sneak peek into what is going on behind the scenes." Cha has described his comedic acting as technical while his co-star Gong Hyo-jin's is more naturalistic and reactive. They believe they struck a good balance between their two acting styles, which benefited the drama greatly.

Filming

Several of the locations used in the drama are Cafe Monet in Pyeongchang-dong (ostensibly run by Gu Ae-jung's friend Jenny), Kim Jong Young Museum (which served as Dokko Jin's luxurious house), Lotte World Magic Island (setting of Dokko Jin's love confession), D Square Gallery in Nonhyeon-dong (as Dokko Jin's management agency), and Choonwondang Museum of Korean Medicine in Jongno-gu (as Yoon Pil-joo's clinic).

Product placement (PPL) were integrated into the characters' storylines, and the drama's popularity resulted in increased sales of products such as smartphones LG Optimus Black and Optimus Big, social networking service Me2day, and energy drink VitaminWater. But the production received a warning from the Broadcasting Commission for what it termed the drama's "egregious" use of PPL.

Ratings

The Greatest Love posted an average viewership rating of 16.6 percent on Total National Multimedia Statistics' (TNmS) chart and 19.5 percent on AGB Nielsen Media Research's (AGB) poll, with its final episode reaching 21 percent on AGB's survey to surpass the 20 percent mark for the first time. It topped the Wednesdays and Thursdays primetime TV chart for five consecutive weeks.

Comic adaptation

Comic book publisher Tooni Plus released the first two books of The Greatest Love in April 2012. The firm expects to boost Korean comic books' sales abroad with drama-based comic books.

International broadcast