Alice (South Korean TV series)

Alice (Korean앨리스; RRAelliseu) is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won.[1][2] It aired on SBS from August 28 to October 24, 2020, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST).[3][4] It is described as "a human sci-fi drama about a magical time travel of a woman who resembles a dead woman and a man who lost his emotions".[5]

Alice
Promotional poster
Hangul
앨리스
Genre
Developed bySBS TV
Written by
  • Kim Kyu-won
  • Kang Cheol-gyu
  • Kim Ga-yeong
Directed byBaek Soo-chan
Starring
Music bySBS Contents Hub Urbane Music
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes16
Production
ProducerHan Jeong-hwan
Running time70 minutes
Production companyStudio S (SBS)
Original release
NetworkSBS TV
ReleaseAugust 28 (2020-08-28) –
October 24, 2020 (2020-10-24)

Synopsis

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In the year 2050, Alice (temporal agency) specializes in sending clients back through time to see dead loved ones find peace and closure; they also police time incursions. Alice agents Yoon Tae-yi (Kim Hee-sun) and Yoo Min-hyuk (Kwak Si-yang) travelled to the year 1992 Seoul to search for The Book of Prophecy (a book that predicts the fates of certain people and the end of time travel) and found it. However, Lee Se-hoon (Park In-soo), an agent of the mysterious Teacher (a rogue group that wants to continue manipulating time), found the young Tae-yi and murdered her father for the book. Before her father died, he gave the final page to little Tae-yi before her adult counterpart arrived. Tae-yi and Min-hyuk acquired the book and had local police arrest Se-hoon. When Tae-yi realized she was pregnant, Min-hyuk (the father) encouraged Tae-yi to abort the child as time traveling (radiation) would cause serious defects. Tae-yi then disappeared with the book to carry her child.

Tae-yi would rename herself Park Sun-young and single-handedly raised her son, Park Jin-gyeom (Joo Won). Born with Alexithymia, he has difficulty recognizing his own emotions and his classmates called him a psychopath. He unknowingly has the ability to manipulate time in life-and-death situations. In 2010, Jin-gyeom found his mother murdered and vowed to find her killer. Orphaned without a family, Detective Go Hyeon-seok (Kim Sang-ho) and classmate Kim Do-yeon (Lee Da-in) looked after him. By 2020, Jin-gyeom becomes a detective under Hyeon-seok and learns about time travelers, Alice, the Teacher, and the truth behind his mother's death.

Cast

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Main

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  • Kim Hee-sun as Yoon Tae-yi / Park Sun-young
    • Kim Ji-yu as young Tae-yi
Park Sun-young is a woman with a mysterious past who lives with her son. She died in a mysterious circumstance and left an eerie instruction to her son. Yoon Tae-yi is a genius physicist who has a striking resemblance to Park Sun-young. She encounters Park Jin-gyeom due to a mysterious case and decides to help him uncover the truth.
  • Joo Won as Park Jin-gyeom
    • Moon Joo-won as child Park Jin-gyeom (Ep. 1)
    • Moon Woo-jin as young Park Jin-gyeom (Ep. 1, 7)
Park Jin-gyeom was born without the ability to feel or express emotions. He was raised by his single mother who was the only person he cared about. He becomes a detective with the help of Go Hyeon-seok. While investigating mysterious cases, he stumbles upon time travelers.

Supporting

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A passionate agent of Alice and time traveler, Yoo Min-hyuk gave up the most important person in his life for Alice. He is very skilled and does his job proficiently. He faces trouble with the police when one of his clients decides to break an important time-traveling rule.
Park Jin-gyeom's only friend, Kim Do-yeon is a reporter for Sekyung Ilbo News and has a crush on Jin-gyeom since high school. She is investigating a mysterious case involving strange drones.
A senior detective and team leader of the investigation team. He was in charge of Park Sun-young's murder case. He and his wife took care of Park Jin-gyeom after his mother died.
Director of Kuiper Institute of Advanced Science.

People at the Police Station

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Alice staff

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People around Yoon Tae-yi

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Others

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Special appearances

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  • Jang Hyun-sung as Professor Jang Dong-shik (Ep. 1)
  • Park In-soo as Lee Se-hoon, a time traveler who murdered Professor Jang (Ep. 1, 6)
  • Oh Yeon-ah as Han Sun-hee, Hong Eun-soo's mother and a time traveler (Ep. 1–4)
  • Seo Yi-soo as Hong Eun-soo (Ep. 1–4)
  • Lee Seung-hyung as Hong Suk-joon, Hong Eun-soo's father (Ep. 1, 3–4)
  • Lee Jung-hyun as Yang Hong-seob, a time traveler who breaks an important rule of Alice (Ep. 2)

Production

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This is the first acting role of actor Joo Won since he was discharged from his mandatory military service on February 5, 2019.[10]

On July 31, 2020, SBS released photos from the first script reading of the series attended by the cast and crew of the show.[11][12]

Original soundtrack

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Part 1

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Released on August 28, 2020 (2020-08-28)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Secret"Park Se-joon, Park Ye-seo, ISHXRKPark Se-joon, Woo Ji-hoonYuju (GFriend) ft. ISHXRK3:52
2."Secret" (Inst.) Park Se-joon, Woo Ji-hoon 3:52
Total length:7:44

Part 2

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Released on September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Whenever Wherever Whatever"Han Kyung-soo (ARTMATIC)Han Kyung-soo (ARTMATIC), Kiss Me Joy, Choi Min-juBen3:56
2."Whenever Wherever Whatever" (Inst.) Han Kyung-soo (ARTMATIC), Kiss Me Joy, Choi Min-ju 3:56
Total length:7:48

Viewership

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Alice : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)
SeasonEpisode numberAverage
12345678910111213141516
11.1231.7731.6152.0371.5851.9731.6201.9291.3401.5791.4331.5801.3341.6971.2731.7741.604
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.[13]
Average TV viewership ratings
Ep. Part Original broadcast date Average audience share
(Nielsen Korea)[14]
Nationwide Seoul
1 1 August 28, 2020 4.1% (NR) N/A
2 6.1% (15th) 6.3% (16th)
2 1 August 29, 2020 6.4% (NR) 7.0% (15th)
2 9.2% (5th) 10.2% (5th)
3 1 September 4, 2020 7.2% (8th) 8.1% (7th)
2 8.4% (6th) 9.8% (3rd)
4 1 September 5, 2020 8.7% (9th) 9.6% (7th)
2 10.6% (4th) 11.4% (4th)
5 1 September 11, 2020 6.8% (12th) 7.4% (9th)
2 8.1% (7th) 8.5% (6th)
6 1 September 12, 2020 8.0% (9th) 9.3% (7th)
2 9.9% (4th) 11.3% (4th)
7 1 September 18, 2020 7.4% (11th) 8.2% (8th)
2 8.6% (6th) 9.4% (5th)
8 1 September 19, 2020 7.4% (8th) 7.7% (7th)
2 9.6% (4th) 10.0% (5th)
9 1 September 25, 2020 6.0% (15th) 6.1% (13th)
2 7.0% (11th) 7.5% (9th)
10 1 September 26, 2020 7.0% (12th) 7.3% (10th)
2 8.7% (6th) 8.9% (6th)
11 1 October 9, 2020 6.0% (17th) 6.2% (15th)
2 7.6% (11th) 8.2% (8th)
12 1 October 10, 2020 7.2% (10th) 7.6% (9th)
2 8.5% (6th) 8.8% (6th)
13 1 October 16, 2020 6.4% (13th) 7.3% (11th)
2 7.4% (10th) 8.5% (8th)
14 1 October 17, 2020 6.1% (15th) 6.7% (13th)
2 8.6% (6th) 9.0% (6th)
15 1 October 23, 2020 5.9% (19th) 6.1% (18th)
2 7.0% (12th) 7.4% (9th)
16 1 October 24, 2020 7.0% (11th) 7.3% (10th)
2 9.1% (6th) 9.8% (5th)
Average 7.6% [a]
  • In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
  • NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date.
  • N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2020 SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) Joo Won Nominated [15]
Kim Hee-sun Nominated
Producer Award Joo Won Won
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama Kim Hee-sun Nominated
Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama Kwak Si-yang Nominated
Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama Lee Da-in Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Kim Sang-ho Nominated
7th APAN Star Awards Top Excellence Award, Best Actress in a Miniseries Kim Hee-sun Won [16]
2021 Seoul International Drama Awards Outstanding Korean Drama Alice Nominated [17][18]

Notes

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  1. ^ Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.

References

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  1. ^ "'SF 휴먼 멜로극' 앨리스, 김희선X주원 출연 확정 [공식]". yhnews (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  2. ^ "Sci-Fi Human Romance "Alice" Confirms Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  3. ^ "앨리스". Seoul Broadcasting System (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  4. ^ "New SBS Drama "Alice" to Premiere on August 28". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  5. ^ ""Alice" Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won's Script Reading". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  6. ^ "Kwak Si-yang in "Alice" With Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  7. ^ "Choi Won-young Joins Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won in "Alice"". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  8. ^ "Supernova's Jihyuk Dives Into Acting with Drama "Alice"". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  9. ^ "Bae Hae-sun Joins Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won in "Alice"". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  10. ^ "Joo Won to Possibly Return With Drama "Alice"". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  11. ^ "[Photos + Video] New Posters, Script Reading Stills and Teaser Added for the Upcoming Korean Drama "Alice"". HanCinema. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  12. ^ "'앨리스' 김희선X주원 대본리딩, 美친 호흡". tvdaily.co.kr. 2020-07-29. Archived from the original on 2020-08-02. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  13. ^ "Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  14. ^ "Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  15. ^ Kim, Jong-eun (January 1, 2021). "'남궁민 대상→'펜트하우스' 9관왕, SBS 빛낸 두 작품 [종합]". TV Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  16. ^ "현빈, '2020 APAN' 대상...강하늘·김희선·이상엽·이민정 최우수연기상 - 싱글리스트". www.slist.kr (in Korean). 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  17. ^ Lee Han-lim (August 20, 2021). "'서울드라마어워즈 2021', 한류드라마상 온라인 투표 진행" [Seoul Drama Awards 2021', online voting for Hallyu Drama Awards] (in Korean). The Fact. Retrieved August 20, 2021 – via Naver.
  18. ^ "(Program) Outstanding Korean Drama Global Vote". Pikkle. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
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