Birdie Buddy
| Birdie Buddy | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Romance Comedy Sports |
| Written by | Kwon In-chan Yoo Young-ah Bae Jong-byung |
| Directed by | Yoon Sang-ho |
| Starring | Uee Lee Yong-woo Lee Da-hee |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Song Byung-joon |
| Production locations | Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, South Korea |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production companies | Group Eight Hunus Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | tvN |
| Release | August 8 – October 25, 2011 |
Birdie Buddy (Korean: 버디버디; RR: Beodibeodi) is a South Korean television series set in the world of professional golf. Based on the 2007 comic series of the same title by Lee Hyun-sae, it stars Uee,[1] Lee Yong-woo and Lee Da-hee.[2][3]
The drama was pre-produced in 2010 (filmed completely before broadcast),[4] and initially expected to air on MBC in December 2010,[5] but the network decided not to give it a timeslot. After several postponements, it aired on cable channel tvN from August 8 to October 25, 2011 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 23:00 (KST).[6] But instead of the original 20 episodes of 70 minutes each, it was re-edited into 24 episodes spanning 45 minutes each.
Synopsis
[edit]Sung Mi-soo (Uee) is a cheerful, humble country girl from Gangwon Province. She comes from a poor family, and her mother used to work as a caddie. With her bright personality and determined efforts, Mi-soo strives to become a professional golf player.
On the other hand, Min Hae-ryung (Lee Da-hee) is an elite athlete who has been groomed for professional golf since a young age. Placed in the best environment to play golf, Hae-ryung's emotions are always controlled even though she has a deep emotional wound.
These two girls from different backgrounds share the same dream of being the next top golfer, a dream that leads them to former pro golfer John Lee (Lee Yong-woo).
John Lee was the first Korean to win a PGA title. Other than the fact that he was adopted, his background is a mystery . Aside from golf, he also excels in the Afro-Brazilian dance/martial arts style known as capoeira. Even though he found success by winning the PGA title, John Lee stopped playing golf to become a golf course tester. John Lee agrees to lead Mi-soo and Hae-ryung into becoming the next queens of golf like Se Ri Pak, Michelle Wie, Jiyai Shin, and Eun-Hee Ji.
Cast
[edit]Main
[edit]- Uee as Sung Mi-soo
- Jin Ji-hee as young Mi-soo
- Lee Yong-woo as John Lee
- Yoon Chan as young John
- Lee Da-hee as Min Hae-ryung
Supporting
[edit]Mi-soo’s family and friends
[edit]- Lee Byung-joon as Sung Kyung-hwan
- Yoon Yoo-sun as Jo Kyung-sook (Mi-soo's mother)
- Park Han-bi as Sung Tae-gab (Mi-soo's brother)
- Ahn Do-gyu as young Tae-gab
- Yoo In-na as Lee Gong-sook (Mi-soo's friend), in love with Tae-gab
- Gina as young Gong-sook
- Han Seung-hyun as Ahn Joong-ki
Hae-ryung’s family and friends
[edit]- Oh Hyun-kyung as Min Se-hwa (Hae-ryung's mother)
- Park Sung-woong as Choi Dong-kwan, Min Se-hwa's right-hand man and lover
- Kim Jong-jin as Woo Joon-mo, a skilled greens keeper who is Hae-ryung's long lost father
- Yang Hee-kyung as Uhm Jung-ran, a friend of both Kyung-sook and Se-hwa, who becomes the chief of caddies at Se-hwa's golf club
Others
[edit]- Choi Il-hwa as Jay Park, a wealthy and manipulative gambler
- Robert Holley as Yoon Kwang-baek, a former golf pro and now an eccentric recluse who takes on Mi-soo as his student
- Park Young-rin as Park Eun-joo, an energetic young reporter
- Yoon Gi-won as pro-golfer Wang
- Julien Kang as Gary Jung, a golfer hired by Jay Park to play Mi-soo in an unusual golf challenge
- Choo So-young, a scout
- Kim Jung-hak, one of Park's henchmen
- Woo Hyun, a golf equipment maker and friend of John Lee
- Kim Dong-hyeon
- Samuel Kang, a reporter
- Gu Bon-im
References
[edit]- ^ "After School's Uee Talks About Transition to Acting". The Chosun Ilbo. August 20, 2011. Archived from the original on September 8, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
- ^ Lim, Hye-seon (February 10, 2010). "Song hopes to sweep Asia off its feet again with Birdie". 10Asia. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ Han, Sang-hee (February 16, 2010). "Birdie Buddy Aiming to Captivate TV Viewers". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
- ^ Lee, Kyung-nam (October 25, 2011). "Birdie Buddy: A Promising Pre-Produced Drama". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
- ^ Hong, Lucia (November 25, 2010). "Birdie Buddy in talks to air on MBC in late-December". 10Asia. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
- ^ Kim, Jessia (July 6, 2011). "UIE-starrer series Birdie Buddy pre-sold to 9 countries". 10Asia. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2013.