Becoming a Billionaire
| Becoming a Billionaire | |
|---|---|
| Also known as |
Birth of the Rich Birth of a Rich Man |
| Genre |
Comedy Romance |
| Written by | Choi Min-ki |
| Directed by | Lee Jin-seo |
| Starring |
Ji Hyun-woo Lee Bo-young Lee Si-young Namgoong Min |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language(s) | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Lee Han-ho |
| Location(s) | Seoul, Korea |
| Running time |
60 minutes Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 (KST) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Korean Broadcasting System (South Korea) |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | March 1, 2010 – May 4, 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Master of Study |
| Followed by | Secret Agent Miss Oh |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Becoming a Billionaire (Hangul: 부자의 탄생; RR: Bujaeui Tansaeng; lit. "Birth of the Rich") is a 2010 South Korean television series starring Ji Hyun-woo, Lee Bo-young, Lee Si-young and Namgoong Min.[1] It aired on KBS2 from March 1 to May 4, 2010 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.
Plot
Choi Seok-bong believes he is the son of a billionaire, from a one-night stand with his mother. The problem is, his father doesn't know the existence of his son, nor does Seok-bong know who his father is. While working as a bellboy at a luxury hotel, Seok-bong practices at the qualities he thinks a billionaire's heir would have; all these efforts are for the day he meets his birth father. But one day, Seok-bong is diagnosed with breast cancer, which only has a 50 percent survival rate. Seok-bong doesn't have enough money for treatments, and finds it absolutely ridiculous that a billionaire's heir would die because he has no money. Finding his biological father may be Seok-bong's only hope. So he approaches Lee Shin-mi, the heiress of Ohsung Group and a notorious penny-pincher. Although they get off to a rocky start, with Shin-mi's help, Seok-bong struggles towards his goal of attaining wealth.[2][3]
Cast
Main characters
- Ji Hyun-woo as Choi Seok-bong, bell boy at Ohsung Hotel
- Lee Bo-young as Lee Shin-mi, the heiress of Ohsung Group, and a strict and frugal hotel director
- Namgoong Min as Chu Woon-seok, an ambitious man whose goal is to revive their company Frontier Group
- Lee Si-young as Bu Tae-hee, spoiled heiress of Buho Group
Supporting characters
- The CEO's
- Yoon Joo-sang as Lee Jung-hyun, CEO of Ohsung Group, father of Shin-mi
- Kim Eung-soo as Bu Gwi-ho, CEO of Buho Group, father of Tae-hee
- Park Young-ji as Chu Young-dal, CEO of Frontier Group, father of Woon-seok
- Extended cast
- Shin Da-eun as Han So-jung, Shin-mi's secretary
- Kim Dong-gyun as Mr. Yoo, employee of Ohsung, working as spy for Woon-seok
- Jung Joo-eun as Yoon Mal-ja, Tae-hee's secretary
- Kim Ki-bang as Park Kang-woo, Seok-bong's best friend
- Park Min-ji as Park Kang-sook, Kang-woo's sister
- Ok Ji-young as Bang Soo-jin, weekly magazine reporter
- Sung Ji-roo as Woo Byung-doo, a homeless wanderer with an interest in rare metals, Seok-bong's friend
- Jang Yoo-joon as Woo Bung-eo, Byung-doo's son who is musically talented
- Kim Mi-kyung as Kang-woo's mother
- Jung Han-yong as Kang-woo's father
- Min Wook as Ha Joon-tae, the paralyzed owner of a mining place
- Lee Han-wi as Teriah Park
- Park Chul-min as Kim Dal-soo, hotel captain at Ohsung Hotel, later Lee Jung-hyun's butler
- Jang Tae-sung as Ohsung Hotel bellman
- Kim So-hyun as young Lee Shin-mi
- Cameos
- Son Hoyoung as Seok-bong's chaebol father/young Ha Joon-tae
- Lee Won-jong as Seok-bong's middle school math teacher
- Choi Song-hyun as Seok-bong's mother
Ratings
| Date | Episode | Nationwide | Seoul |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-03-01 | 1 | 12.1% (16th) | 11.9% (18th) |
| 2010-07-02 | 2 | 11.8% (13th) | 11.6% (12th) |
| 2010-03-08 | 3 | 11.6% (13th) | 11.0% (13th) |
| 2010-03-09 | 4 | 12.6% (11th) | 12.2% (11th) |
| 2010-07-15 | 5 | 16.2% (5th) | 16.1% (5th) |
| 2010-03-16 | 6 | 17.7% (5th) | 18.0% (4th) |
| 2010-03-22 | 7 | 15.5% (5th) | 15.7% (5th) |
| 2010-03-23 | 8 | 15.2% (6th) | 14.9% (6th) |
| 2010-03-29 | 9 | 15.2% (6th) | 15.6% (6th) |
| 2010-03-30 | 10 | 16.0% (5th) | 16.2% (4th) |
| 2010-03-05 | 11 | 16.2% (5th) | 15.8% (6th) |
| 2010-04-06 | 12 | 17.7% (4th) | 17.8% (2nd) |
| 2010-04-12 | 13 | 16.5% (6th) | 16.2% (6th) |
| 2010-04-13 | 14 | 16.7% (6th) | 16.9% (6th) |
| 2010-04-19 | 15 | 16.6% (5th) | 16.6% (5th) |
| 2010-04-20 | 16 | 14.6% (5th) | 14.6% (5th) |
| 2010-04-26 | 17 | 14.2% (7th) | 14.0% (6th) |
| 2010-04-27 | 18 | 13.1% (7th) | 13.0% (6th) |
| 2010-04-03 | 19 | 14.2% (6th) | 14.3% (6th) |
| 2010-05-04 | 20 | 16.6% (6th) | 17.0% (6th) |
| Average | 15.0% | 15.0% | |
International broadcast
Its Japanese broadcasting rights were sold to NHK (along with another KBS drama The Great Merchant) for US$3 million.[4]
References
- ↑ Oh, Jean (1 March 2010). "Post-Olympian line-up ushers in spring". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
- ↑ Wee, Geun-woo (24 February 2010). "PREVIEW: KBS TV series The Birth of the Rich". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
- ↑ Yoon, Hee-seong (5 March 2010). "REVIEW: KBS TV series The Birth of the Rich". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
- ↑ Cho, Bum-ja (14 April 2010). "Dramas Merchant, Rich sold to Japan for USD 3 mln". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-10-15.