| My Golden Life | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster
| |
| Hangul | 황금빛 내 인생 |
| Hanja | 黃金빛 내 人生 |
| Revised Romanization | Hwanggeumbit Nae Insaeng |
| Genre |
|
| Created by | KBS Drama Production |
| Written by | So Hyun-kyung |
| Directed by | Kim Hyung-seok |
| Creative director | Choi Yoon-seok |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 65 minutes |
| Production company | Studio Dragon |
| Original release | |
| Network | KBS2 |
| Release | September 2, 2017 (2017-09-02) – March 11, 2018 (2018-03-11) |
My Golden Life[1] (Korean: 황금빛 내 인생) is a 2017–18 South Korean television series starring Park Si-hoo, Shin Hye-sun, Lee Tae-hwan, and Seo Eun-soo. The series was originally broadcast on KBS2 every Saturday and Sunday from September 2017 to March 2018 between 19:55 to 21:15 (KST).[2]
Revolves around a woman who has a chance to rise in status but falls into a bottomless pit, and eventually finds a chance to seek happiness. It also involves a man who tries to find happiness in her.
He is the only heir to Haeseong Group and the head of Strategic Planning Team. He is a third generation chaebol who has returned from the US after finishing his MBA. He is a gentleman with admirable physique and elegance. He takes pride in the fact that he practices Noblesse Oblige unlike other chaebols who like to power trip. When the "perpetrator" of an accident involving his car, Seo Ji-An, is later revealed to be his younger sister, 'Choi Eun-seok', his life takes a new turn.
She is on a probationary two-year contract with the marketing team of Haeseong Group. Before her father went bankrupt 10 years ago, she used to be the original 'girl crush'. Everyone admires her competitive spirit and cheerful personality. Now she only dreams of being a full-time employee of the Haeseong Group. When that dream is shattered by a friend with wealth and connections, she hits rock bottom. Then, like a miracle, she gets a chance to reverse her life as the daughter of Haeseong Group, Choi Eun-seok. She chooses to take the silver spoon, mainly because she is at her wits' end. But unexpected challenges are waiting for her.
He is Seo Ji-an's high school friend. With a major in interior design, he runs a DIY furniture shopping mall. He has a cheerful and feisty personality, but he also has a cranky side and his likes and dislikes are very clear. Ever since he fell in love with Ji-an at first sight in high school, he has had a crush on her. He does not realize that Ji-soo, who has a crush on him, is Ji-an's twin sister.
Ji-an's twin sister. After graduating from vocational college, she has been making a living as a part-timer for years. She is without a worry in the world. Since she loves bread so much, she gets a job at a local bakery. Without knowing the relationship between Ji-an and Hyuk, she has a secret crush on Hyuk. When her twin sister enters the chaebol family, she learns the secret behind her birth and becomes confused as she is the real Choi Eun-seok.
Tae-soo has been the breadwinner for his family for his entire life. He previously had a successful life as a self-made businessman, but after going bankrupt some years earlier, he has been working as a day laborer but struggles with discrimination due to his older age and his wife being vocal of her shame at his plight.
She lived as a housewife with love and dedication to her family. She constantly gives her husband Tae-soo a hard time due to his having gone bankrupt - she is upset and disappointed, and she is terribly worried about her children and how they struggle to survive. Reality makes her a pessimist. She prays that her daughter Ji-an, who enters a chaebol family, does not end up like her.
Ji-tae is the eldest of Tae-soo's four children. Having graduated from university abroad, he is the envy of his younger siblings as he has a full-time job and a steady girlfriend. Burdened with having to help pay off his father's debt, he hides his own struggles from his family and will do anything for them, including sacrificing his own happiness.
Ji-ho is the youngest of Tae-soo's four children. At the beginning of the series, he was a high school student preparing for the college entrance exam and worked part-time to save up for his college tuition. Cheerful and happy-go-lucky by nature, he is doted on by his family and is fiercely protective of his siblings.
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beautiful Girl" | Sosimboys (소심한 오빠들) | 3:20 |
| 2. | "나 그거하나봐 연애" (I Think I'm in Love) | ROO (루) | 3:56 |
| 3. | "어쩌면 내일은" (Maybe Tomorrow) | Dream Girl (동경소녀) | 3:29 |
| 4. | "바람이 불어와" (The Wind Blows) | Park Sun-ye (박선예) | 3:54 |
| 5. | "머물러" (Please Stay) | Lee Ki-chan | 3:55 |
| 6. | "너에게 닿기를" (I Hope It Reaches You) | Siwoo (시우) | 3:31 |
| 7. | "Love You" | Chae Min (채민) | 3:27 |
| 8. | "Golden My Life Title" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 1:49 |
| 9. | "Stay with You" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 2:36 |
| 10. | "Candy" | Park Young-ik 박영익 | 2:06 |
| 11. | "Lonely Load" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 2:54 |
| 12. | "A Faint Heart" | Park Min-ji (박민지) | 2:35 |
| 13. | "Lovely Whisper" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 2:09 |
| 14. | "Doubtful" | Heo Sang-eun (허상은) | 1:52 |
| 15. | "Show Time" | Park Young-ik 박영익 | 1:50 |
| 16. | "Going Back" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 2:06 |
| 17. | "My Heart is Beating" | Park Ji-min (박민지) | 2:37 |
| 18. | "Something to You" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 2:20 |
| 19. | "Who Are You" | Kim Ji-soo (김지수) | 2:25 |
| 20. | "Golden World" |
| 2:38 |
| Total length: | 55:29 | ||
The drama became one of the fastest-growing in ratings among KBS2 TV series in the same timeslot, starting with 19.7% for the first episode and surpassing 30% mark (30.9%) in 8 episodes.[10] It went on to become the fastest to reach the National Drama level of 40% rating (41.2% in 30 episodes) among KBS2 TV series in the same timeslot.[11][12]
The drama was praised as an atypical family drama, avoiding cliches such as family conflicts and typical "Cinderella stories" with "happily-ever-after" endings, instead focusing on pursuing personal happiness based on one's own decision.[13] There was more thorough characterization and focus on characters' emotions and personal journeys, which were praised by viewers as making the characters much more relatable.[14][15] The series has been noted for highlighting current social issues in South Korean society, such as the breaking down of the traditional family unit in more recent times, discrimination against older and lower to middle-income workers and the struggles faced by the "N-po" generation.[16]
Because of its popularity, it was also the first KBS2 drama in the same timeslot to have a special episode. The 2½-hour program consisted of behind-the-scenes footage, cast and staff interviews, director's cuts of the first 10 episodes. It aired on October 4, 2017, from 3:25 to 6 pm (KST) during the Chuseok national holiday period.[17]
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
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| Episodes | Episode number | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||
| 1–13 | 3.837 | 4.251 | 3.853 | 4.902 | 4.358 | 5.046 | 4.214 | 5.205 | 4.106 | 5.115 | 4.552 | 5.326 | 4.751 | |
| 14–26 | 5.704 | 5.057 | 6.157 | 4.939 | 6.131 | 5.465 | 6.420 | 5.799 | 6.884 | 5.969 | 6.736 | 6.091 | 7.148 | |
| 27–39 | 6.206 | N/A | 6.369 | 7.450 | 6.285 | 7.343 | 6.172 | 6.905 | 6.872 | 7.891 | 6.991 | 7.886 | 6.606 | |
| 40–52 | 7.850 | 7.053 | 8.245 | 7.100 | 8.366 | 7.734 | 6.468 | 7.410 | 5.349 | 6.658 | 8.037 | 6.700 | 8.156 | |
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.[18]
| Episode | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNmS[19] | Nielsen Korea[20] | ||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | ||
| 1 | September 2, 2017 | 20.7% (1st) | 17.5% (4th) | 19.7% (1st) | 19.5% (3rd) |
| 2 | September 3, 2017 | 22.5% (1st) | 20.0% (1st) | 23.7% (1st) | 23.5% (1st) |
| 3 | September 9, 2017 | 23.2% (1st) | 19.4% (2nd) | 22.4% (1st) | 22.2% (2nd) |
| 4 | September 10, 2017 | 29.6% (1st) | 26.0% (1st) | 28.4% (1st) | 28.2% (1st) |
| 5 | September 16, 2017 | 25.2% (1st) | 20.9% (1st) | 25.3% (1st) | 24.5% (1st) |
| 6 | September 17, 2017 | 28.8% (1st) | 24.5% (1st) | 29.7% (1st) | 29.7% (1st) |
| 7 | September 23, 2017 | 25.8% (1st) | 22.0% (2nd) | 26.2% (1st) | 25.6% (1st) |
| 8 | September 24, 2017 | 31.2% (1st) | 28.4% (1st) | 30.9% (1st) | 30.5% (1st) |
| 9 | September 30, 2017 | 24.4% (1st) | 21.0% (3rd) | 25.4% (1st) | 24.3% (1st) |
| 10 | October 1, 2017 | 28.1% (1st) | 23.9% (1st) | 29.6% (1st) | 29.8% (1st) |
| 11 | October 7, 2017 | 24.8% (1st) | 20.3% (3rd) | 27.2% (1st) | 26.7% (1st) |
| 12 | October 8, 2017 | 30.3% (1st) | 27.4% (1st) | 30.9% (1st) | 30.1% (1st) |
| 13 | October 14, 2017 | 27.9% (1st) | 23.3% (3rd) | 27.4% (1st) | 26.5% (1st) |
| 14 | October 15, 2017 | 31.2% (1st) | 27.5% (1st) | 32.4% (1st) | 31.7% (1st) |
| 15 | October 21, 2017 | 30.2% (1st) | 27.8% (1st) | 29.7% (1st) | 29.5% (1st) |
| 16 | October 22, 2017 | 34.2% (1st) | 31.4% (1st) | 35.0% (1st) | 34.8% (1st) |
| 17 | October 28, 2017 | 30.3% (1st) | 26.8% (1st) | 30.2% (1st) | 30.2% (1st) |
| 18 | October 29, 2017 | 34.2% (1st) | 30.3% (1st) | 34.5% (1st) | 34.2% (1st) |
| 19 | November 4, 2017 | 31.1% (1st) | 27.1% (1st) | 31.2% (1st) | 30.8% (1st) |
| 20 | November 5, 2017 | 35.5% (1st) | 31.3% (1st) | 36.0% (1st) | 36.0% (1st) |
| 21 | November 11, 2017 | 32.2% (1st) | 30.1% (1st) | 32.3% (1st) | 32.1% (1st) |
| 22 | November 12, 2017 | 37.1% (1st) | 34.0% (1st) | 37.9% (1st) | 36.6% (1st) |
| 23 | November 18, 2017 | 31.4% (1st) | 27.9% (1st) | 35.0% (1st) | 34.6% (1st) |
| 24 | November 19, 2017 | 36.3% (1st) | 33.6% (1st) | 37.7% (1st) | 37.5% (1st) |
| 25 | November 25, 2017 | 30.7% (1st) | 27.0% (1st) | 34.7% (1st) | 34.3% (1st) |
| 26 | November 26, 2017 | 35.9% (1st) | 32.1% (1st) | 39.0% (1st) | 38.6% (1st) |
| 27 | December 2, 2017 | 32.7% (1st) | 29.9% (1st) | 35.7% (1st) | 35.4% (1st) |
| 28 | December 3, 2017 | 38.7% (1st) | 35.7% (1st) | 38.8% (1st) | 38.9% (1st) |
| 29 | December 9, 2017 | 32.2% (1st) | 29.0% (1st) | 35.6% (1st) | 35.5% (1st) |
| 30 | December 10, 2017 | 40.2% (1st) | 36.3% (1st) | 41.2% (1st) | 40.8% (1st) |
| 31 | December 16, 2017 | 34.2% (1st) | 30.7% (1st) | 35.7% (1st) | 34.7% (1st) |
| 32 | December 17, 2017 | 39.6% (1st) | 35.5% (1st) | 40.7% (1st) | 40.1% (1st) |
| 33 | December 23, 2017 | 32.8% (1st) | 29.1% (1st) | 34.7% (1st) | 33.1% (1st) |
| 34 | December 24, 2017 | 35.9% (1st) | 31.6% (1st) | 37.8% (1st) | 36.9% (1st) |
| 35 | January 6, 2018 | 37.3% (1st) | 34.4% (1st) | 37.6% (1st) | 37.2% (1st) |
| 36 | January 7, 2018 | 42.3% (1st) | 38.2% (1st) | 42.8% (1st) | 42.5% (1st) |
| 37 | January 13, 2018 | 36.4% (1st) | 32.5% (1st) | 37.8% (1st) | 37.9% (1st) |
| 38 | January 14, 2018 | 39.6% (1st) | 35.7% (1st) | 43.2% (1st) | 42.9% (1st) |
| 39 | January 20, 2018 | 35.3% (1st) | 31.9% (1st) | 36.8% (1st) | 35.4% (1st) |
| 40 | January 21, 2018 | 41.7% (1st) | 37.0% (1st) | 41.9% (1st) | 41.2% (1st) |
| 41 | January 27, 2018 | 37.5% (1st) | 34.1% (1st) | 38.8% (1st) | 39.3% (1st) |
| 42 | January 28, 2018 | 42.5% (1st) | 38.9% (1st) | 44.2% (1st) | 44.6% (1st) |
| 43 | February 3, 2018 | 39.6% (1st) | 35.8% (1st) | 40.3% (1st) | 40.5% (1st) |
| 44 | February 4, 2018 | 43.9% (1st) | 40.4% (1st) | 44.6% (1st) | 44.1% (1st) |
| 45 | February 11, 2018 | 39.9% (1st) | 36.4% (1st) | 41.9% (1st) | 41.5% (1st) |
| 46 | February 17, 2018 | 30.0% (1st) | 26.1% (1st) | 34.7% (1st) | 34.8% (1st) |
| 47 | February 18, 2018 | 35.1% (1st) | 31.3% (1st) | 38.7% (1st) | 38.9% (1st) |
| 48 | February 25, 2018 | 30.7% (1st) | 27.2% (1st) | 29.3% (1st) | 28.8% (1st) |
| 49 | March 3, 2018 | 41.2% (1st) | 36.7% (1st) | 38.1% (1st) | 37.6% (1st) |
| 50 | March 4, 2018 | 45.8% (1st) | 41.9% (1st) | 43.9% (1st) | 43.0% (1st) |
| 51 | March 10, 2018 | 39.4% (1st) | 35.0% (1st) | 38.1% (1st) | 36.7% (1st) |
| 52 | March 11, 2018 | 47.5% (1st) | 43.7% (1st) | 45.1% (1st) | 44.3% (1st) |
| Average | 34.0% | 30.2% | 34.8% | 34.4% | |
| Chuseok Special I |
October 4, 2017 | 1.9% (NR) | — | 2.2% (NR) | — |
| Chuseok Special II |
3.4% (NR) | 3.4% (NR) | |||
| Behind the Scenes Special I |
December 30, 2017 | 23.4% (1st) | 20.2% (1st) | 22.1% (1st) | 21.5% (1st) |
| Behind the Scenes Special II |
December 31, 2017 | 19.9% (1st) | 17.1% (1st) | 17.5% (1st) | 17.3% (1st) |
| |||||
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 31st KBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Chun Ho-jin | Won | [22] |
| Top Excellence Award, Actor | Nominated | ||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress | Shin Hye-sun | Nominated | |||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama | Won | ||||
| Kim Hye-ok | Nominated | ||||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | Park Si-hoo | Won | |||
| Chun Ho-jin | Nominated | ||||
| Best New Actor | Lee Tae-hwan | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actress | Seo Eun-soo | Nominated | |||
| Netizen Award | Shin Hye-sun | Nominated | |||
| Best Writer | So Hyun-kyung | Won | |||
| Best Couple Award | Park Si-hoo and Shin Hye-sun | Won | |||
| 2018 | 54th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | My Golden Life | Nominated | [23] |
| Best Actor | Chun Ho-jin | Nominated | |||
| Best Actress | Shin Hye-sun | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Na Young-hee | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actress | Seo Eun-soo | Nominated | |||
| 11th Korea Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Chun Ho-jin | Nominated | [24][25] | |
| Best Drama | My Golden Life | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | So Hyun-kyung | Nominated | |||
| Top Excellence Award, Actor | Park Si-hoo | Nominated | |||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress | Shin Hye-sun | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actress | Seo Eun-soo | Won | |||
| 6th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | Park Si-hoo | Nominated | [26][27] | |
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama | Shin Hye-sun | Won | |||
| 2nd The Seoul Awards | Best Drama | My Golden Life | Nominated | [28] | |
| Best Actress | Shin Hye-sun | Nominated |
