Dear Heaven
{{Short description|South Korean television series}}
{{Infobox television
| native_name = {{Infobox Korean television name|hangul=하늘이시여|rr=Haneurisiyeo|lk=Dear Sky}}
| genre = {{ubl|Melodrama|Romance}}
| alt_name = {{ubl|Love in Heaven|Dear God}}
| starring = {{ubl|Yoon Jung-hee|Lee Tae-gon|Cho Yeon-woo|Lee Soo-kyung|Wang Bit-na}}
| country = South Korea
| language = Korean
| director = {{ubl|Lee Young-hee|Shin Yoon-seob}}
| writer = Im Sung-han
| producer = {{ubl|Jo Dong-suk|Lee Hyun-suk}}
| executive_producer = Yoon Young-muk
| runtime = 60 minutes
| company = Korean Broadcasting Entertainment for Satellite & Terrestrial (K-BEST), Inc.
| network = SBS TV
| first_aired = {{Start date|2005|09|10|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2006|07|02|df=y}}
| num_episodes = 85
}}
Dear Heaven ({{ko-hhrm|하늘이시여}}) is a South Korean television series starring Yoon Jung-hee, Lee Tae-gon,{{cite web|title=Lovebirds|url=http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2006031658478|work=The Dong-a Ilbo|access-date=2013-04-20|date=16 March 2006|archive-date=2007-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013114219/http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2006031658478|url-status=live}} Cho Yeon-woo, Lee Soo-kyung, and Wang Bit-na. It aired on SBS TV from September 10, 2005, to July 2, 2006, on Saturdays and Sundays at 20:45 for 85 episodes.
According to AGB Nielsen Media Research, it was the 5th highest rated TV program in Korea for the year 2006, with an average rating of 28.3%, and a peak rating of 44.5%.{{cite web|title=Dramas Sweep the Top 10 Ratings List|url=http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/entertainment_news_view.html?No=421|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130702223412/http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/entertainment_news_view.html?No=421|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 July 2013|work=KBS Global|accessdate=2013-04-20|date=5 February 2007}}
The popular soap opera invited both criticism and high ratings for its provocative plot. The story revolved around a middle-aged woman who introduces her handsome news anchor stepson to her abandoned daughter, who had led a miserable life because of a cruel stepmother. It triggered controversy when the woman was revealed as the girl's biological mother. Viewers were divided on whether it was "immoral" and "incestuous" or a fresh take on relationship dramas, but director Lee Young-hee insisted that the show's theme was "deep maternal love, with a mother reclaiming her own daughter as a daughter-in-law in order to atone for having abandoned her as a baby."{{cite web|title=New SBS Drama Sparks Morality Controversy Even Before Its First Episode Airs|url=http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=130000&biid=2005090868338|work=The Dong-a Ilbo|accessdate=2013-04-20|date=8 September 2005|archive-date=2014-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113061247/http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=130000&biid=2005090868338|url-status=live}}
Plot
When she was very young, Ji Young-sun (Han Hye-sook) gave away her baby Lee Ja-kyung after giving birth to her. She later remarries and creates a new family, but soon after, her husband dies, leaving her behind with her stepson Gu Wang-mo (Lee Tae-gon), and her daughter Gu Seul-ah (Lee Soo-kyung).
Now grown and a makeup artist, Lee Ja-kyung (Yoon Jung-hee) finds herself adrift with loneliness since her foster parents died when she was a child. She fell in love with her step-uncle but his family shuns her, dashing away any hopes of being with him. Deciding to focus on her career and find a new love, she meets Wang-mo, a TV news anchor.
Young-sun has been searching for the daughter whom she had abandoned in her youth. As if guided by the hand of fate, she discovers that Ja-kyung is already going out with Young-sun's own stepson, Wang-mo. In order to keep her secret daughter by her side, Young-sun does everything in her power to marry Ja-kyung to Wang-mo, and eventually succeeds. The two women form a curious double relationship, as at once mother/daughter and mother-in-law/daughter-in-law.
Cast
- Yoon Jung-hee as Lee Ja-kyung{{cite web|title=Yoon Jung-hee Overcame Her Fears on Way to Blissful|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/03/09/2007030961029.html|work=The Chosun Ilbo|accessdate=2013-04-20|date=9 March 2007|archive-date=2014-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090830/http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/03/09/2007030961029.html|url-status=live}}
- Lee Tae-gon as Gu Wang-mo
;Gu family
- Han Hye-sook as Ji Young-sun
- Lee Soo-kyung as Gu Seul-ah
- Jung Hye-sun as Hwang Maria (paternal grandmother)
;Kang family
- Wang Bit-na as Kang Ye-ri (TV news anchor)
- Kang Ji-sub as Kang Yi-ri (brother)
- Hyun Suk as Kang Dong-choon (father)
- Lee Bo-hee as Kim Mi-hyang (mother)
- Park Hae-mi as Kim Bae-deuk (aunt, Mi-hyang's sister){{cite web|last=Oh|first=Jean|title=Youthful drama targets weekend audience|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20081003000048|work=The Korea Herald|accessdate=2013-04-20|date=2 October 2008|archive-date=2022-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705145705/http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20081003000048|url-status=live}}
;Lee family
- Im Chae-moo as Lee Hong-pa (Young-sun's first love)
- Ban Hyo-jung as Mo Ran-shil (Hong-pa's mother)
- Kim Young-ran as Bong Eun-ji (Hong-pa's wife)
;Extended cast
- Cho Yeon-woo as Kim Cheong-ha (movie star)
- Geum Dan-bi as Mun-ok (Ja-kyung's friend)
- Lee Sook as Bae-deuk's friend
- Lee Dae-ro as Bae-deuk's dancing partner
Awards
2005 SBS Drama Awards
- New Star Award: Cho Yeon-woo
- New Star Award: Lee Tae-gon
- New Star Award: Yoon Jung-hee
2006 SBS Drama Awards
- Grand Prize (Daesang): Han Hye-sook{{cite web|last=Chung|first=Ah-young|title=Broadcasters Award Top-Rated Dramas|url=http://www.hancinema.net/broadcasters-award-top-rated-dramas-8230.html|work=The Korea Times via Hancinema|accessdate=2013-04-20|date=1 January 2007|archive-date=2008-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907001227/http://www.hancinema.net/broadcasters-award-top-rated-dramas-8230.html|url-status=live}}
- Top 10 Stars: Han Hye-sook
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/sky/about/53830}} {{in lang|ko}}
- {{hancinema drama|Love_in_Heaven|Dear Heaven}}
{{Im Sung-han}}
Category:Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas
Category:2005 South Korean television series debuts
Category:2006 South Korean television series endings
Category:Korean-language television shows