New SBS drama looks at working moms

With the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the horizon, television networks are hard pressed to churn out dramas that can draw sports-hungry viewers away from the games.
SBS - who has been scoring high viewer ratings with its dramas "Iljimae" and "Sikgaek" - hopes to draw audiences away from the games with their upcoming Wednesday and Thursday night comedy: "Working Mom - The Taming of the Badness Husband."

Featuring the ever-comical Bong Tae-gyu as a philandering husband, "Working Mom" may not deliver the top-notch ratings of its predecessor "Iljimae" but promises to be entertaining.

Set to start airing tomorrow night, the drama takes a look at the life of Choi Ga-young. Played by veteran actress Yum Jung-ah, Ga-young is a career woman who was on the fast track to the top.

That is, until she ends up pregnant with her much younger co-worker's child. Soon, she ends up unemployed and married with two children.

"Working Mom" - artfully scripted by Kim Hyun-hee, who wrote the SBS drama "Gangnam Mothers" (2007) - chronicles Ga-young's struggles with her cheating husband, her return to the workforce and her two rowdy sons.

Actress Yum, who recently became a mom herself, seems to have no problems getting into character.

"I just had a baby, so I still have a little bit of weight on me," said Yum, 36, at the press conference held last week. "Now that I am a mom, when I'm at home I want to work, and when I'm at work I think about my children. So I can really relate to my character."

The former Miss Korea entrant - Yum was first runner-up in 1991 - hardly looks like the motherly type. The preview, however, dispels all notions.

There, Yum manhandles her character's wicked little sons like a pro. Her co-star Bong Tae-gyu - who recently starred in the sexually comic film "A Tale of Legendary Libido (Garoojigi)" (2008) - however, threatens to steal the show.

Bong, 27, manages to turn his character - a spineless, unfaithful husband - into an adorable and lovable boy-man.

In the preview, after getting actress Yum's character into bed, his character cuddles up to her and asks: "Who do you like better, the soccer player Ahn Jung-hwan or me?"

For those who are not into Korean soccer, forward Ahn is known for his good looks and for scoring the winning golden goal for Korea against Italy in the second round at the 2002 World Cup, sending his team into the quarterfinals.

When Bong's character delivered the question in the preview, the audience started laughing, a good sign for the upcoming drama.

"Working Mom," however, is up against some stiff competition. KBS will start airing a new drama based on the popular horror series "Hometown Legends" on Aug. 6 in the Wednesday and Thursday night time slot.

With summer nights getting hotter, a little horror is always a good way to cool down. Those who have long been fans of "Hometown Legends," which was also made into a movie, titled "The Evil Twin" (2006), may prefer to tune into the bone-chilling series.

"Working Mom" airs on Wednesday night at 9:55 p.m. on SBS.