From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Princess Hours | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | romance, comedy |
| Starring | Yoon Eun Hye Joo Ji Hoon Kim Jeong Hoon Sung Ji Hyo Lee Yoon Ji Jeon Ji Ae Lee Eun Dan Ji Kang Nam Gil Im Ye Jin Kim Suk Kim Sang-joong Kim Hye-ja Song Seung-hwan Shim Hye-jin Yoon Yoo-seon Choi Bool-am Nah Eun-kyeong Kwon Yeon-woo |
| Opening theme | Traditional Theme |
| Ending theme | Perhaps Love |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Language(s) | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Running time | Wednesday & Thursday |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |  MBC |
| Original run | January 11, 2006 – March 30, 2006 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Princess Hours (Korean: 궁, Hanja: 宫, romanized as Goong and also known as The Imperial Household, Love in Palace, Palace Love or Palace, its literal translation and alternate official title) is a popular soonjong manhwa (Korean girls’ comic) by Park So-Hee. It was adapted into an even more well-known live-action comedy/drama series, which had its first season run from January 11 to March 30, 2006. It was distributed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, which ran episodes on Wednesdays and Thursdays every week until the show’s completion. The original manhwa (which, as of July 2007, has run for 15 volumes) is being published in English as Goong, while the drama has been released on DVD in North America as Palace by YA Entertainment.
Princess Hours became one of MBC’s most popular dramas of 2006, second only to Jumong[1]. Overall, the show was the tenth most popular drama of 2006, according to TNS Media. Due to the success of the first season, a second season was to be produced, a rare occasion in the Korean television industry. However, there was controversy over who had the rights to make the sequel, and as a result, two separate parties planned different seasons. However, the sequel, Goong 2 will no longer be produced due to the withdrawal of two main actors. The spin-off Goong S started its run on January 10, 2007.
Season 1
Synopsis
Set in an alternate 21st-century reality where Korea possesses a royal family, this show revolves around the lives of the Crown Prince (Wangsaeja) Lee Shin, and his new bride, Chae-kyeong. The depicted royal family in the show is modelled after the last royal family of Korea, which in reality reigned until the start of the Japanese Occupation in 1911 and was not reinstated after Japanese surrender in WW2.
The series starts off with the news that the King, Shin’s father, is very ill. With the grim outlook on the King’s health, the royal family scrambles to find a wife for Shin, so as to allow him to take over the royal throne if the situation requires. Despite being in love with another girl, the ambitious and talented ballerina Hyo-rin whom Shin initially proposed to (she rejects him to pursue her ballet dreams), Shin eventually marries a commoner to whom he was betrothed by his late grandfather in an old agreement with the girl’s grandfather. Shin marries the headstrong yet lovable Chae-kyeong after Hyo-rin’s rejection. Despite initially feeling nothing for Chae-kyeong, love eventually blossoms between the couple.
In the meantime, however, matters are further complicated with the return of Lee Yul and his mother Lady Hwa-Young, who was once the Crown Princess (Bingoong) before the death of her husband, the late Crown Prince, older brother of the current King. Yul and his mother were chased out of the palace some time after the death of his father, and it is later revealed that this was due to the King’s discovery of an affair between Yul’s mother and the current King who was his father’s younger brother. Yul’s mother had returned with a sinister motive in mind; to restore her son back to the throne, which would have been his eventually, if his father had not died. A series of events befall the palace with the schemes Yul’s mother carries out, and is further intensified by the various scandals involving the royal family, which are inclusive of the Shin’s continuing relationship with his old flame Hyo-rin, and the budding love Yul develops for Chae-kyeong, his cousin’s new-found bride.
In the end of the series, Shin’s sister takes the throne and Shin and Chae-kyeong get married once more in a Catholic church in Macau (since they haven’t married for love yet). It is strongly implied that Chae-kyeong is pregnant at the end of the series since she supposedly threw up.
Main Characters
Shin Chae-Kyeong (신채경)
Portrayed by Yoon Eun Hye, Shin Chae-kyeong is a very effervescent, normal high school girl. She attends the same school as Lee Shin, the Crown Prince of Korea. Her grandfather was best friends with the previous King. To honor his friend, the previous King dictated that Chae-kyeong is to become the Crown Princess, which means that she is to marry whoever is the Crown Prince at the time of the marriage. Although she often seems immature and irritating, she is a kindhearted, innocent, honest person. Often called “Pig” by her younger brother, Chae-kyeong marries the prince to save her family from bankruptcy. Her initial reaction to Lee Shin is one of irritation but she falls in love with him in the earlier part of the series, not knowing that he, in return, feels the same way, until the last few episodes. Although she regards Lee Yul only as a friend and cousin-in-law, he falls in love with her. In the Philippine airing, her name is “Janelle”.
Lee Shin (이신)
The crown prince of Korea, Lee Shin, as portrayed by model and actor Joo Ji Hoon, is seen as a smug, indifferent, insensitive young man. After getting rejected by his girlfriend when he proposes to her, he decides to go along with his elders’ arranged marriage with Shin Chae-kyeong. At first, he was irritated by her naivete and enthusiasm, but as he recognizes how genuinely sweet she is, he begins to open his heart to her, and falls in love. Throughout the series, it becomes obvious that inside, he is just a lonely, sensitive, warm and kind young man. He also owns a teddy bear, Alfred, the only thing that he can let his guard down for, which is used as a focal point throughout the series. As his cousin re-enters the picture after being forced out of the country many years earlier, the prince quickly butts head with him, as Lee Yul is a contender not only for the throne, but for the crown princess Chae-kyeong’s love. Chae-kyeong does not realize this until later on in the story. In the Philippine airing, he is “Gian”.
Lee Yool (이율)
Kim Jeong Hoon plays Lee Yool, Shin’s cousin. He returns from a long stay in England with his mother, the widow of the former crown prince. The opposite of Shin, he is warm, kindhearted, sweet, and romantic–an instant hit with the girls. Interested in Chae-kyeong, their friendship grows to love on his side, while she remains innocently unaware of it until much later. Although the position of the Crown Prince originally belonged to him, it was given to his cousin when Yool’s father died in a car accident and his mother was found to have had an affair with his uncle, who she was originally in love with, but she decides to marry his brother, the crown prince, wanting her son to inherit the title of crown prince. Originally uninterested in the throne, Yool decides to follow his mother’s wishes and compete with Shin for the throne after falling in love with Chae-kyeong. In the end, after realizing that Chae-kyeong and Shin truly love each other, and after discovering his mother’s affair with the King, he passes up both the chance of being King and having Chae-kyeong as a wife. He is “Troy” in the Philippine airing.
Min Hyo-rin (민효린)
Portrayed by Sung Ji Hyo, Hyo-rin is a skilled ballerina. She is beautiful, intelligent, accomplished–basically, perfect in every way possible. In the beginning, she is Shin’s girlfriend, and he proposes to her. However, she rejects him, not only because she thinks he is joking, but also because she does not wish to give up her dreams of becoming a star ballerina. When she sees Chae-kyeong and Shin’s wedding and how Chae-kyeong is loved by the people (similar to Diana, Princess of Wales), she regrets her hasty decision, and does everything she can to oust Chae-kyeong from her position. Hyo-rin finds ways to draw Shin back to her, including a “chance” meeting in Thailand, but simply ends up hurting herself, resulting in attempting suicide. Later, however, she decides that Shin does truly love Chae-kyeong, and she ultimately gives him up and decides to just concentrate on her ballet. She is “Monique” in the Philippine airing.
Family History
The fictional family history was released by MBC, as follows:
- 광화 원년 1945: After World War II, South Korea’s common people wanted the royal family (이) to remain in the country, even as they act as symbols of Korea’s past.
- 광화 사십년 1984: Crown Prince Lee Soo (황태자 이수) is married to dancer Seo Hwa Yeong, who becomes the Crown Princess (consort) (황태자비 서화영).
- 광화 사십일년 1985: Grand Prince Lee Hyeon (대군 이현) is married.
- 광화 사십삼년 1987: Grand Prince Lee Hyeon (대군 이현) sires a daughter, named Hye Myeong (혜명 옹주).
- 광화 사십사년 1988: Crown Prince Lee Soo (황태자 이수) sires a son, named Yool (이율). Grand Prince Lee Hyeon (대군 이현) sires a son, named Shin (이신).
- 광화 사십칠년 1991: Shin Chae Kyeong’s grandfather dies.
- 광화 사십팔년 1992: Crown Prince Lee Soo (황태자 이수) dies in a car accident. His brother the Grand Prince Lee Hyeon (대군 이현) becomes the Crown Prince (황태자) upon his brother’s death. Meanwhile, Lee Soo’s family, the Crown Princess (consort) Seo Hwa Yeong (황태자비 서화영) and his son Yool (이율) are chased out of the palace, emigrating to Great Britain.
- 광화 사십구년 1993: Emperor Moo (무황제), Lee Soo and Lee Hyeon’s father, dies. Crown Prince Lee Hyeon (황태자 이현) becomes the next Emperor of Korea, thereby changing the former era name of Gwanghwa (광화) to Inhwa (인화 仁化).
- 인화 삼년 1995: Lee Shin (이신) becomes the next Crown Prince (황태자 이신).
- 인화 십이년 2004: Lee Shin (이신) enrolls into a well-known arts and cultures school in Korea. Lee Yool (이율), while in Britain, enrolled in an art-school.
- 인화 십사년 2006: Crown Prince Lee Shin (황태자 이신) is married to Shin Chae Kyeong after an old agreement between his grandfather and Chae Kyeong’s grandfather.
Cast
(Alternate names in parenthesis – names used in the Philippine drama)
- Yoon Eun Hye (윤은혜) as Shin Chae-kyeong (Janelle Shin)
- Princess Consort to the Crown Prince of the Empire Shin Chae-kyeong (황태자비 신채경)
- Joo Ji Hoon (주지훈) as Lee Shin (Gian Lee)
- Grand Prince Lee Shin (대군 이신) (by birth)
- Crown Prince of the Empire Lee Shin (황태자 이신) (after his uncle’s (Yool’s father) death)
- Kim Jeong Hoon (김정훈) as Lee Yool (Troy Lee)
- Crown Prince of the Empire Lee Yool (황태자 이율) (by birth)
- Grand Prince Lee Yool (대군 이율) (after father’s death)
- Prince Uiseong (의성군)
- Sung Ji Hyo (송지효) as Min Hyo-rin (Monique Min)
- Lee Yoon Ji (이윤지) as Hyae-Myeong (Shin’s older sister)
- Princess of the Empire Hyae Myeong (혜명 옹주)
- Jeon Ji Ae as Lee Kang-hyun (Chae-kyeong’s friend with glasses)
- Lee Eun as Kim Soon-young (Chae-kyeong’s friend)
- Dan Ji as Yoon Hee-soong (Chae-kyeong’s friend)
- Kang Nam Gil (강남길) as Chae-kyeong’s father
- Im Ye Jin (임예진) as Chae-kyeong’s mother
- Kim Suk as Shin Chae-joon (Chae-kyeong’s younger brother)
- Kim Sang-joong (김상중), as Lee Soo (Yool’s deceased father) (Marco Lee)
- Crown Prince of the Empire Lee Soo (황태자 이수) (by birth, the eldest offspring of Emperor Moo)
- Kim Hye-ja (김혜자), as Yool and Shin’s grandmother
- Dowager Empress Park (황태후 박씨) (current Emperor’s alive mother)
- Song Seung-hwan (송승환)
- Shim Hye-jin (심혜진), as Lady Hwa-Yong (Yool’s mother) (Josephine Seo)
- Princess Consort to the Crown Prince of the Empire Seo Hwa-Yong (황태자비 서화영) (wife of Crown Prince Lee Soo)
- Yoon Yoo-seon (윤유선), as the Queen (Lee Shin’s mother) (Emma Min)
- Princess Consort to the Grand Prince Min ( 민씨)
- Empress/Queen Min (황후 민씨) (after Lee Hyeon’s accession to the throne)
- Choi Bool-am (최불암), as Shin and Yool’s deceased grandfather
- Nah Eun-kyeong (나은경)
- Kwon Yeon-woo (권연우)
- more
Awards and nominations
The drama managed to win two awards but was in the nominations part a lot. Such as in Popularity Award for Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon and Best Couple Award for them, it were all in 2nd place, next to Fantasy Couple.
Won
- 2006 MBC Acting Awards: Best New Actor (Joo Ji Hoon)
- 2006 MBC Acting Awards: Best New Actress (Yoon Eun Hye)
Nominated
- 2006 MBC Acting Awards: Popularity Award (Yoon Eun Hye)…2nd place
- 2006 MBC Acting Awards: Popularity Award (Joo Ji Hoon)…2nd place
- 2006 MBC Acting Awards: Best Couple Award (Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon)…2nd place
- 2006 MBC Acting Awards: This Year’s MBC Drama…3rd place
IN PHILIPPINES
Princess Hours also got award from the 4th USTv Student’s Choice Awards which was held last February 20, 2008 in UST(a popular university in the Philippines)Medicine Auditorium.
The Show won the award for Student’s Choice of Foreign Soap Opera.
Episode Ratings
| Date | Episode | Nationwide | Seoul Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-01-11 | ep. 1 | 16.2% (5th) | 16.6% (5th) |
| 2006-01-12 | ep. 2 | 16.0% (6th) | 16.5% (7th) |
| 2006-01-18 | ep. 3 | 14.3% (9th) | 14.3% (8th) |
| 2006-01-19 | ep. 4 | 15.1% (9th) | 15.3% (8th) |
| 2006-01-25 | ep. 5 | 19.7% (5th) | 20.5% (4th) |
| 2006-01-26 | ep. 6 | 16.5% (8th) | 16.5% (7th) |
| 2006-02-01 | ep. 7 | 13.7% (11th) | 14.0% (10th) |
| 2006-02-02 | ep. 8 | 18.6% (6th) | 19.1% (6th) |
| 2006-02-08 | ep. 9 | 24.0% (2nd) | 25.2% (2nd) |
| 2006-02-09 | ep. 10 | 25.2% (2nd) | 26.3% (2nd) |
| 2006-02-15 | ep. 11 | 24.5% (2nd) | 25.7% (2nd) |
| 2006-02-16 | ep. 12 | 25.6% (2nd) | 27.2% (2nd) |
| 2006-02-22 | ep. 13 | 25.0% (2nd) | 25.8% (2nd) |
| 2006-02-23 | ep. 14 | 26.7% (2nd) | 28.4% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-02 | ep. 15 | 27.9% (2nd) | 28.8% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-02 | ep. 16 | 24.3% (3rd) | 25.0% (3rd) |
| 2006-03-08 | ep. 17 | 25.8% (2nd) | 26.1% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-09 | ep. 18 | 26.6% (2nd) | 27.1% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-15 | ep. 19 | 27.0% (2nd) | 27.3% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-16 | ep. 20 | 27.1% (2nd) | 26.9% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-22 | ep. 21 | 24.6% (2nd) | 25.2% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-23 | ep. 22 | 24.4% (2nd) | 25.5% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-29 | ep. 23 | 25.4% (2nd) | 26.9% (2nd) |
| 2006-03-30 | ep. 24 | 28.3% (2nd) | 28.8% (2nd) |
| Average | 26.9% | 26.54% | |
Source: TNS Media Korea
Airings in other countries
Singapore
Princess Hours (宫－野蛮王妃) premiered on Singapore MediaCorp TV’s Channel U on October 9, 2006, with each episode airing every weekday from 7PM to 8PM. The series was stretched out into 32 episodes.[2]
Thailand
Princess Hours (เจ้าหญิงวุ่นวายกับเจ้าชายเย็นชา) was on air in Thailand’s Channel 7 from 7 October to 3 December 2006 on 9:15–11:00 AM, Saturday and Sunday. There are Thai-language versions of the “Perhaps Love” and “You & I Are Fools” songs. In the name, “Perhaps Love” (Artist: Ice Saranyu & Rose Sarintip) and “ชีวิตที่ขาดเธอ” )Artist: Pup Potato).
Philippines
On December 18, 2006, Princess Hours premiered on ABS-CBN in the Philippines.
The character names were changed for them to appeal more to Filipino audiences: Chae-kyeong was changed to Janelle, Lee Shin to Gian, Lee Yool to Troy and Min Hyo-rin to Monique. As with other Koreanovelas, the show was dubbed in Filipino.
The theme song included on the official soundtrack, “Perhaps Love” (Hangul: 사랑인가요, originally sung by J and HowL), was also translated into Tagalog as “Pag-ibig Nga Kaya” and performed by Christian Bautista and Rachelle Ann Go with permission from MBC.
The show’s finale was aired on April 10, 2007, with ABS-CBN airing the Princess Hours: The Royal Special for two days, April 11 and 12, with both Bautista and Go as hosts.
At present, the ABS-CBN was airing it again“Princess hours: One more time!” every Sunday at 10:00am to 11:00am..
Malaysia
“Princess Hours” premiered in Malaysia in the month of February 2007, aired on 8tv at the 8.30–9.30 PM slot on weekdays and is dubbed in Mandarin with subtitles in Malay.
Canada
“Princess Hours” showed in Canada every Saturday from December 9th, 2007, on Talent television. The show is voiced over in Mandarin.
Production Credits
- Original Work: Manhwa 궁(Goong, Hanja: «宮») by Park So-Hee (박소희)
- Production Company: Eight Peaks (애이트픽스)
- Director: Hwang In-Roi (황인뢰)
- Writer: In Eun-A (인은아)
Related Series
Season 2
The plot of the sequel would have closely followed the plot of the remaining volumes of the manhwa. The production company, Eight Peaks was aiming to re-sign the entire original cast for the sequel Goong 2.
Last year, Eight Peaks stated that they would aim to film Goong 2 in late 2007 or early 2008.[3][4] However, Yoon Eun Hye and Kim Jeong Hoon have stated their wishes to withdraw from Eight Peaks due to conflicting problems with the company. Yoon Eun Hye has already ended her contract with Eight Peaks and has moved onto Kraze Entertainment.[5] Without the complete main characters of the first season, it is most likely there will be no sequel of Goong.
Season S
The plot of Season S revolves around a young worker at a Chinese restaurant who suddenly discovers that he is a member of the royal family and subsequently enters the palace. Hwang mentioned that he would be looking for Yoon Eun Hye’s male counterpart, of sorts. This spinoff has no relation to the first season since there is a new cast and plot.
In October of 2006, Korean pop star Se7en was chosen to play the leading role in the spinoff. He will play the character of “Lee Hoo”, while others in the drama’s second season include Huh Lee-Jae (who plays Yang Soon-Ae), Kang Doo (who plays Lee Joon), and Park Shin-hye (who plays Shin Sae-Ryung). Many of the supporting cast, including those who played the royal family, are expected to join Goong S. Filming started in November 2006.
The name for the spinoff changed from Goong 2 to Goong S – Prince Hours (궁 S) due to copyright infringement problems. Filming continued despite Group 8 facing lawsuits due to the unlawful use of Goong in the title. [6] However, MBC has looked into this issue with Eight Peaks and have stated that the channel station and original production company both own the rights of the name.[7] Goong S will still be used for this season, with the subtitle of “Prince Who“. Goong S was broadcasted from January 10 to March 15, 2007, with no cast members returning for this spinoff.
