Sh**ting Stars (2022)

Has been a wonderful journey. This series has everything I love-: drama(not much), romance, a bit of suspense, a whole lot of comedy, could be considered friends to lovers, hot 2nd lead couple, and there was some kind of family drama too. The celebrity plot is entertaining and fun as it includes fans, hater drama, and stuff. Gong tae-sung and Oh han-byul could be described as cute and wholesome(in my eyes). However to be honest I like Do su-hyuk and Jo ki-pum more, they're more mature as the former pair feels more like some kind of teenage puppy love(not that I hate it). The fujoshi side of me also shipped tae-sung with su-hyeok(they look so good together). Favorite character- Do Su-hyeok. Last but not the least, would I recommend this? Definitely.

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Slice of Life of Entertainment Management and Public Relations with heartwarming romance

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 South Korean Romantic Comedy with 16, 60 minute episodes.

Most synopsis undersell the complexity of this series. I will give a synopsis first and review in the next paragraph. It is a slice of life of an entertainment agency and exhibits the trials and tribulations of doing public relations and managements for top talent in South Korea. Threaded through is a love story between the agency's top star, Gong Tae-sung (Kim Young-dae) and the agency's most diverse and talented public relations lead Oh Han-byul (Lee Sung-kyung) who also oversees most all functions of the agency. She can solve most crises except when Tae-sung deliberately creates situations to "one up" the girl he used to be a campus couple with, still harbors feelings for, yet wants to pay back for not giving him the level of attention he feels he deserves. Lots of comedic situations, a great lens on this portion of the entertainment industry, great chemistry between the leads, and interactions among friends.

The title of this one is amusing because in English asterisks and other special characters are used to block out letters in curse words. So this title reads quite different for me in my auto correct mind and probably does for many others who American English is their primary language. But, as it turns out, I think this was intentional because, at one point, one of the characters says their job is cleaning up the stars sh**t. So maybe the title is intentional.
Honestly most of the summaries of the plot I read for this failed to do justice to how interesting this is in terms of insight into an entertainment agency. I found myself greatly sympathizing with the managers who had to do the craziest things to appease the stars they managed and they way they emoted along with their various acting talents. For instance, if one of the stars was in a tragic drama, the manager often mirrored the emotional highs and lows of the actor they managed. I liked the playful nature of the relationship between the leads and how they were always trying to get one over on each other which made for a lot of comedic moments. I was disappointed that Lee Jung-Shin was not the lead instead he played entertainment company lawyer Do Soo-Hyeok. Since he is an idol I thought this would be the time he would get a lead role and I am still anxious to see him in a high profile lead role as I have enjoyed watching him so much. He was one of my favorite characters in "Cinderella and the Four Nights" and I thought he would make a great male lead as he played that very emotional role very well. Still Kim Young-dae did such an excellent job it would be hard to complain about his performance. I found his transformation from every day to his acting and modeling look to be quite dramatic. A slight change in hair and some makeup and he went from boy next door handsome to sizzling hot super star. I absolutely loved the way Kim Young-dae played the role. He was so cute in his relationship with her. I could not imagine anyone playing that role better than he did. And, it turned out, the Do Soo-Hyeok character had a very heart warming romance with the female leads friend. I just wished that one had a bit more time and they hadn't spent as much time having Soo-hyeok pine after our female lead as part of that love triangle. He was so much better suited for the reporter friend. There was a romance between two young actors who started out hating each other and fell in love but had to hide it because they both were not long from their debut. That was interesting. The one I could not buy nor care much about was the romance between the female lead's other friend, the relatively new manager, and her sunbae. To me it was an awkward relationship where she seemed like, and he treated her like, more of a younger sister. So I never got the chemistry from them and it felt like a waste of time everytime it switched to their story. I liked both of their roles individually but did not feel anything for them as a couple. So, that and just the fact that practically everyone wound up together with someone detracted from this being perfect. Other than that, I loved everything about it. I liked how they showed the complexity of covering all of the scandals, the pressure on both the agency and the actors, and the tough decision to focus either on love or career when you can't fully have both. Most movies about "idols" or actors falling in love, particularly with normal, non-famous people, it winds up either they have to quit pursuing fame or the romance does not work out. I liked that this showed it doesn't always have to be the case. I know with American actors there are some really long standing Hollywood couples and often those really long relationships are between someone who is famous and someone who is not. There are a couple of exceptions where both are famous but, for the most part, it seems to work out better when one is not famous. I have noticed in real life, with South Korean, there seems to be more forgiveness when it is an actor that winds up with someone not famous than if it is an idol. There is some hope that is changing but there still seems to be less scandal and problems if an actor dates outside of the famous circles than if an "idol" does so. I also found it interesting that his kiss scene was a thing where he had to emphasize that was work. I know with American actors I notice that, when the famous person has a serious relationship with someone, particularly someone that is not famous, they quit taking romantic roles. I just think that few relationships can survive one of the partners having that kind of intimacy even if it is just for work. I can even think of an instance, with one Hollywood couple, where an onscreen romance wound up ending a real life marriage. But they did not elaborate that angle as to whether or not he would continue to take lead romantic roles. Overall I loved this one and highly recommend it to anyone that likes romance, slice of life, or follows any of these actors. I would watch it again as I einjoyed it immensely.

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A romcom that guarantees a smile:)

This was a light hearted drama that didn't take itself to seriously. Solid rom-com that was neither too complicated or dramatic, just an overall enjoyable watch.

I appreciated every storyline that has been added into this wonderful piece of work. It shows good insight into the hectic life of the people in an Entertainment Agency managing a variety of stars. In the show, everyone at Star Force agency does their best for the actors and actresses, and the plenty of issues that they need to resolve on a daily basis. It gives insight to the life of a celebrity. The good, bad, uncertainty, hatred, loss of a friend or colleague etc. It also shows that they are human beings, who has feelings and can be hurt and loved. That many forget that "Celebrities are real people, with lives and feelings of their own too”

Loved that everyone was competent at their job and they didn't make anyone make stupid mistakes/decisions for the sake of the plot and especially loved the good banter and actual communication between everyone. I liked the chemistry between the entire cast, especially the three main couples and of course the agency staff.

Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae came through with their perfomances. Taebyul couple has been my happy pill for the past weekends with their sweet relationship. And although I loved the main couple, I have to say the lawyer/journalist couple was by far my favorite. Their relationship felt the most natural to me along with their chemistry.

I’m very happy and satisfied with our couple’s endings! I’ll definitely miss the sweet couples TAEBYUL, Jaehyun/Yuna and also Yoo Sung and Ho Yeong, Soo Hyuk and Jo Kipeum and Dahye/Shi Deok along with the great PR team and amazing Manager Byun Jung Yeol
and amazing Starforce director Jihoon! Happy endings full of happy vibes!

A romcom that guarantees a smile in every episode, including the epilogue:)

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Beyond expectations

Honestly , I wasn't expecting it to be this good !!

There were a lot of characters , so not being Korean , I was really struggling hard to understand the names and who is who for the first 4-5 episodes , but there was something about this series , which kept me drawn into this !!

Although its a legit rom-com , but romance is not the baseline , they did stick to their theme of focusing on people who clean stars' messes ! Despite being a dark theme , the series came out quite fun , without even mocking or rebuking any particular job or set of people ! It is very well written and intrigues the viewers into knowing how the background stuff really happens .

So many characters/couples having their own romances , and they were just all very cute . They probably covered all types of romances , friends turned enemies turned lovers , workplace romance , romance kindling after a kiss , unrequited love and a quick fall into love . There were so many good and happy things going around mostly . The times of crisis were really handled well by the efficient PR team working in the background :) . No un-necessary misunderstandings between the leads and sub leads , like other dramas. This drama got me some extra endorphins :)

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Nothing wrong about it, nothing great

In the end I still enjoyed this drama enough to finish it to the last episode, and although I don’t think I’ll find myself rewatching it in the future I also wouldn’t dissuade someone from giving it a chance. Sh**ting Stars might be for you even if it isn’t quite for me.

I’m a big sucker for romance so I don’t particularly mind if there’s a lack in plot so long as the characters and chemistry make up for it, but unfortunately this drama didn’t reach that standard. I didn’t find the main characters to be complex or likable enough to win me over, and if anything I actually preferred the side characters more. Especially the newbie actress who was a hardcore stan for the ML, she was a great representation for all fangirls across the world lol. I wouldn’t say there was a complete lack of chemistry between the ML and FL but I also didn’t feel any sparks or passion. The two managers who got together (+the triangle with the new actor that was scouted) and the lawyer/reporter pair were more interesting to me. And felt more natural.

It’s also important to note that I didn’t really dislike any characters either, with maybe an exception for the mother and housekeeper bit. I didn’t think they were necessary to the storyline at all. And speaking of the storyline, I barely felt there was one at all. Nothing exciting besides the progression of the main characters which again is OK, so long as there’s other factors that make the drama shine.

The actors did a pretty good job, and the final episode left me as satisfied as I could be with the script we were given. There were some cute moments, some amusing, some funny, and others sweet. I don’t feel like I wasted my time watching this, but I might feel differently if I was to watch a second time. 6.8/10

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Watch with an open mind- It’s SOO GOOD!

Some ppl are criticising the Africa storyline, where the ML went to Africa for one year to help the poor communities get clean water etc.. honestly ppl in general nowadays love to overreact. So many dramas / tv/ movies are criticised over the smallest little issue. How are writers able to tell a story then if they are so limited? It didn’t bother me, yes they depicted the poorer part of Africa (which is a continent, shld they have said Nigeria or Botswana?) so let’s just leave it at that.

I loved the chemistry between Gong Tae Sung and Oh Han Byeol ;) From the very start it was evident that he liked her.. A LOT! But he just couldn’t express himself properly and instead teased and mocked her constantly, which I found childish and immature. And this went on for almost ten years :3 sigh... Thus the first half was a little dry, back and forth, push and pull. There were some very funny moments, jealousy moments, and in epi7-9 some screaming (happy) moments! Lol.. The ML and FL are very very cute together :)

The second half is more interesting with some darker plots and characters being revealed. The romance development between GTS and OHB is a very good one- they communicated very well with each other whenever they had questions or uncertainties. Very cute antics and some passionate skinship :):):) There are a total of 5 couples in this drama ;) which makes the storyline quite unique.

The OST is the best!! Three of its songs are in my current liked songs playlist;) The cute music background effects were well matched with the flow of the storyline which really enhances the mood. Some parts were quite hilarious!

The ending was extremely satisfactory !! A very good open ending with a feeling of hope and positive vibes. (I only wished Business Proposal had a better final episode in comparison) It also had a beautiful montage of the actors and behind the scenes. I literally teared watching it.

Follow me on Instagram (Cykodramaqueen) to see video clips of this drama. Well worth the watch :)

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Last few episodes were full of cringe but I liked what the writer wanted to show us through this.

So, before the release of this drama, when I saw the teasers of it, I was really looking forward to watching it.
I enjoyed watching the first half of the drama.
"The story of all the people who clean up artists' messes, without getting tired/having any breaks/having any complaints, they think of nothing but their artists and try their best to protect them", all of them showed it in the show, well done for that .... Also, that rich lady worker (who represented sasaengs, if i am right) she was really scary...i mean her character scared me too much (i am watching her in. "the eve's scandal" currently) she is playing her character well :D
I had watched almost 8 episodes and then I regretted watching it at the end. It's obv not the fault of the cast ? they did their best but after episode 7/8, almost everything was full of cringe especially Gong Tae Sung's lines, his lame expressions and the things he did to her before he used to date her...that was scary dayum...that was creepy and that was sexual assault:| and i hated it there...it became boring to me after episode 7...Hanbyul didn't stand out most of the times....and that's bcs of lazy script writing... I had really high expectations with her character and this one really disappointed me, I started watching the drama bcs of her, alas.

I predicted that Yu-sung and Hoyoung would end up together, that was okay though ,,(hashtagofficeromance), same with Gong's secratary jungyeol ....but what's with kippeum and the lawyer gosh!! Okay...they fell in love but what happened in the ending episode...what wasssss thaaaat omghawddd XD that almost made me want to puke...Imo, Jaehyun and Yuna were the only non-cringey couple in this show + Actor Yu-sung omg I hope he gets more and more and more + good roles in future, he's such a GREAT ACTOR....and i heard he's an idol too, he's handsome, has a great voice and acts really well.

I couldn't help but watch it (not bcs i was curious) but bcs I was halfway there and I have this habit of not leaving the drama once i have started watching it...I HAVE TO WATCH THEM UNTIL THE END...and despite of all that cringe, I kept watching (at 1.5x) to see if they show anything interesting but that didn't happen (the script of the 2nd half was lazily written) ...I definitely wouldn't recommend it to people who haven't watched it or are planning to watch it. I hope more shows like this are made (excluding all the cringe that i saw in this one)... I've been watching dramas for last 7 years now and I really don't want people to waste their time on this...just my opinion, it's upto y'all in the end. Do whatever you like besties . ?

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Better than expected, but...

Rom-com was a genre that I tried to sway from for the longest time, but after seeing the two main leads and their history, I was quite curious about what the drama had installed for them. Whilst I am impressed with how the drama turned out and I enjoyed the majority of it - minus the cringey slow-mo's in some moments - this drama does remind me why rom-coms are not for me anymore.

The story was beautifully crafted and structured in a way that enables the plot to be developed without the romance overshadowing it. It starts off with a general insight into what entertainment agencies do in their day-to-day job of managing celebrities and how they mitigate problems that arise, such as: how they deal with rumoured dating scandals, affairs - literally anything that we, as KDrama/Kpop fans, see in the media on a daily basis. Sticking to that theme, the drama then delves deep into Gong Tae Young as a top actor, specifically tailing his past and personal background. His story slowly develops and it was interesting to see it unravel. Whilst quite insightful and fascinating as it is, the drama projects these incidences in a more light-hearted way that maintains its ability to be entertaining for the viewers. Thus the authenticity of these events can be questionable.

At first, the brewing romance was its typical frenemies to lovers concept with a cheesy young love going on, but midway through the show, it settled and was eventually replaced by a cute, affectionate, and non-problematic/mature romance. But there were still some cringey, yet cute moments that this show offered. The ending left a really strong impression and felt like I was watching two different dramas. I truly believe that if the writers could write the cringey moments towards the end differently, it would have been perfect
On the other hand, It is not a rom-com drama with a few love triangles thrown into the mix. I found the love triangle in this drama to be quite pointless, though I did find it bearably entertaining to watch out of all love triangles I have seen in the past; it also added an adequate amount of comedic value to the show with their humorous twist with the two guys involved. And lastly, I loved how natural the outcome was for the second-male lead .
Besides the main leads, the romance that was blossoming between the other characters was well developed and timed nicely.

Stars do not shine at the top of the sky but have their own feet on the ground. Maybe I did not accurately quote the drama, but this saying plays a fundamental role in the message that the drama depicts. Celebrities are normal living beings at the end of the day who feel and react the same way as us. The drama is thought-provoking and enables us to think from their experience of that moment or a time when someone wrongly misjudged us.

Gong Tae Sung was your average male protagonist who was audacious towards those around him but settles once he got what he wanted, i.e the girl. Besides that, he is humble and thoughtful to those around him which is surprising to see for a change
His phenomenal chemistry with his managers and CEO were remarkable and endearing.
Also, mentioning his relationship with Oh Han Byeol. It was quite heartwarming to see their long-term friendship, but the flashbacks we see are confusing and provide little to no context. This makes things questionable as to how they were frenemies at uni, to best friends at work, to then playfully despising one another.

With Oh Han Byeol's competency and her quick-witted thinking, the charms of Gong Tae Sung, and the family-like bond with his managers like Kang Yu Sung, Jung Yeol, and his CEO Ji Hoon, this drama encapsulates the modern age of Korean entertainment and the everyday obstacles they face that push them into overdrive. This drama is another typical playful one. Whilst I enjoy how the story was structured and insightful, there are still a few things it lacks. For something to cheer you up, this drama gives you that, but for now, I am going on a rom-com hiatus again.

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Premise resolves quickly ...leaving a bizarre combination of plot elements

This felt like a bunch of rehashed Kdrama plots remixed. And, no, apparently there is no way to get away from the psycho killer/stalker plot lines that randomly pop up in K dramas, Worse once the premise is exhausted, the chemistry in the main romance absolutely fizzles.

If you like a lot of yearning, and are willing to overlook the thin plot featuring a bunch of adults who apparently have no parents, siblings or life outside their work and all have the immaturity of a 12 year old, well then maybe. This would work a lot better as a drama about teen idols than full grown adults.

Sets, costumes, cinematography are very average, The only real positives are everyone is very attractive, and there's a decent amount of scenes with women succeeding at their work.

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Entertaining, unexpected and enjoyable

I must admit, i thought this was going to be somewhat cheesey however not at all.
This was a romantic comedy, i found myself smiling throughout most episode's, cried at one, laughed at others and had the proper ahhhhh moments.
I loved that the romance wasnt rushed on any couple's, it simmered gently and for some was proper cute!

Acting was fabulous, the leads were brilliant with excellent chemistry, it was palpable from E1. I found myself shipping them and was very pleased with the outcomes of the couplings. Aisde from the leads, the reporter and lawyer were excellent cast additions.
Great balance of romance, comedy and drama.

OST is amazing, ive added all songs to my playlists and they were played at the right moment's.

Everything was a 10 for me and i only deducted .5 from the story as i would have liked to understand the housekeeper storyline just a tad more, even just 5 extra minutes of epilogue.

I often find that i have to fast forward certain parts of k dramas and not one part of this was skipped, it held me all the way through. This is my first review and that was because i enjoyed it so much.

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