Grab your ID badge and get ready to navigate the minefield of K-Drama corporate life because if you think your office politics are stressful, wait until you see how they handle business here.
If nothing else, there is about to be an exhausting dance of corporate hierarchies that is insane for me to understand.
The Vibe: Surviving
In these stories, the ultimate victory is simply making it through the morning briefing without getting humiliated, downsized, or outright fired.
Corporate Tropes to Spot:
- The Team Dinner: A high-stress gathering at a local barbecue restaurant where employees must fake enthusiasm and drink heavily with their toxic boss. Oh and they have to make their boss happy too.
- The Rookie Mistake: The new guy is about to make a mistake doing something.
- The Rooftop Vent Session: Sneaking away to the office building’s terrace with canned coffee to violently complain about management’s latest impossible demands.
The Watchlist: 4 Must-Watches
The Perfect Drama
- Stove League (Hot Stove League): An absolutely amazing underdog workspace drama that doesn’t require a lick of baseball knowledge to love. The narrative follows a cold, analytical general manager who specializes in turning around failing businesses, who is hired to fix a last-place professional baseball team. That is all you need to know, go forth and watch.
The Corporate Robin Hood
- Good Manager (Chief Kim): A chaotic corporate comedy with an eccentric accountant with the goal of embezzling a fortune who, instead, accidentally stumbles into saving the company, turning him into a corporate hero.
The TV Industry Meta-Comedy
- Be Melodramatic: For the mockumentary lovers, this drama follows three best friends in their thirties navigating the unglamorous realities of the entertainment industry that exposes the exhausting behind-the-scenes ego battles of television production.
The Upbeat Editorial Rom-Com
- She Was Pretty: A classic, bright workplace romantic comedy set inside the fast-paced, high-stress editorial offices of a major fashion magazine. This story follows a once pretty yet now homely-looking girl who is reintroduced as an adult to her once homely and now outstandingly gorgeous childhood best friend, is embarrassed about her looks, and thus has her pretty colleague to pretend to be her.
The Broadcasting Mockumentary
- THE Producers: Another mockumentary that is a star-studded look behind the scenes of a variety show division at a national broadcasting network, detailing rookie and veteran producers as they deal with difficult celebrities and ratings pressure.
Ready to go to work? Head over to KOCOWA+ and start streaming these office dramas today!
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