A Gentleman's Dignity

A Gentleman's Dignity

Promotional poster for A Gentleman's Dignity
(L to R: Colin, Park Min-sook, Lee Jung-rok, Seo Yi-soo, Kim Do-jin, Hong Se-ra, Im Tae-san, Choi Yoon and Im Meari)
Genre Romance
Comedy
Drama
Written by Kim Eun-sook
Directed by Shin Woo-chul
Kwon Hyeok-chan
Starring Jang Dong-gun
Kim Ha-neul
Kim Min-jong
Kim Su-ro
Lee Jong-hyuk
Country of origin South Korea
Original language(s) Korean
No. of episodes 20
Production
Location(s) Korea
Running time 60 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:55 (KST)
Production company(s) Hwa & Dam Pictures
Broadcast
Original channel Seoul Broadcasting System
Original run 26 May 2012 – 12 August 2012
Chronology
Preceded by Dummy Mommy
Followed by Five Fingers
External links
Website
Korean name
Hangul 신사의 품격
Hanja 紳士의 品格
Revised Romanization Sinsa-ui Pumgyeok
McCune–Reischauer Sinsa-ŭi P'umgyŏk

A Gentleman's Dignity (Hangul: 신사의 품격; hanja: 紳士의 品格; RR: Shinsa-ui Pumgyeok) is a 2012 South Korean romantic comedy television series starring Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ha-neul, Kim Min-jong, Kim Su-ro, and Lee Jong-hyuk.[1] It aired on SBS from May 26 to August 12, 2012 on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.

The series marked Jang Dong-gun's return to television after twelve years.[2][3][4] It was directed by Shin Woo-chul and written by Kim Eun-sook, the same team behind hit dramas Secret Garden, On Air, Lovers in Prague, and Lovers in Paris.[5]

Plot

A Gentleman's Dignity is about the careers and love lives of urban professionals. It tells the story of four men in their forties who have been friends since they were eighteen, as they go through love, breakup, success and failure.

Kim Do-jin is a confident playboy who meets Seo Yi-soo and falls for her. To his surprise, she doesn't give him the time of day and he discovers that she has a crush on his best friend Im Tae-san. He begins a one-sided love for the first time in his life and tries to win her heart.

Im Tae-san is dating Yi-soo's roommate, Hong Se-ra, but troubles arise when Yi-soo's crush is revealed and when Se-ra tells him she doesn't want to get married.

Choi Yoon is a lawyer who is still recovering from his wife's death four years ago but begins to have feelings for Tae-san's much younger sister, Im Meari. Meari has always had a crush on Yoon however he refuses to give into his feelings and jeopardize his friendship with Tae-san.

Lee Jung-rok is married to a rich woman, Park Min-sook, but constantly flirts with other women which causes problems and trust issues in their marriage.

Meanwhile a teenager named Colin comes to Korea looking for the four men and claims one of them is his biological father.

Cast

Main characters

A confident ladies' man who heads his own architectural firm with Im Tae-san. Do-jin has a memory loss problem in times of stress and records everything in his daily life with a voice recorder pen. He loves his car and named it "Betty".
A high school ethics teacher and also umpires amateur baseball games in her free time. Yi-soo has had a secret crush on Tae-san for three years.
A lawyer who is still recovering from his wife's death four years ago and a member of the Blue Cats baseball team.
A partner at Do-jin's firm, heading the construction division. Tae-san is dating Hong Se-ra and is a member of the Blue Cats baseball team.
Owns a Mango Six cafe and is married to a rich woman, Park Min-sook, but constantly flirts with other women.
A pro golfer, she is Tae-san's girlfriend and Yi-soo's roommate.
Min-sook is Jung-rok's extremely wealthy wife.
Tae-san's younger sister and Yi-soo's past student. Meari came back to Korea after studying in America and has an interest in bag design. She has had a crush on Yoon for a long time.
Colin comes to Korea to meet the four male protagonists. He claims that one of them is his biological father.

Supporting characters

  • Kim Woo-bin as Kim Dong-hyub
  • Park Joo-mi as Kim Eun-hee, Colin's mother [23]
  • Nam Hyun-joo as Teacher Park
  • Park Ah-in as Attorney Kang
  • Yoon Joo-man as Team leader Choi
  • Min Jae-sik as Mango Six Cafe's manager
  • Kim Chang-seong as Sang-hyun
  • Kim Geun as Kim Geun (Hwa Dam's employee)
  • Lee Joon-hee as Kwon (Hwa Dam's employee)
  • Jo Hyeon-gyu as Hyeon-gyu (Hwa Dam's employee)
  • Han Eun Sun as Young-ran (Hwa Dam's employee)
  • Ahn Jae-min as Yoo Seong-jae
  • Kim Yun-seo as Kim Eun-ji (Do-jin's ex-girlfriend)
  • Lee Yong-ih as Lee Mi-kyung (Yoon's late wife's mother)
  • Kim Sun-hwa as Director Song

Cameos

  • Sa-hee as Do-jin's seducer in the pub in (ep 1)
  • Ahn Hye-kyeong as Yoon's client (ep 2 and 10)
  • Hyejeong (AOA) as Na Jong-seok's daughter (ep 3) [24]
  • Choi Sung-jo as Min-sook's fitness trainer (ep 3)
  • Kim Kwang-kyu as High school teacher (ep 4)
  • Sooyoung (Girls' Generation) as herself (ep. 5) [25][26]
  • Hwang Eun-soo as Hong Se-ra's golfing junior (ep 9 and 12)
  • Kim Dong-gyun as Na Jong-seok (ep 11)
  • Jung Yong-hwa (CN Blue) as himself and a past student of Yi-soo (ep 13) [27][28]
  • Juniel as street performer at Hongdae playground (ep 13)
  • Kim Sung-oh as army instructor (ep 15)
  • Jang Joon-yoo as Tae-san's blind date (ep 16)
  • Cha Hwa-yeon as Yi-soo's mother (ep 16 and 19)
  • Bae Ji-hyun as reporter (ep 20)

Prologues

A unique feature of this drama is at the beginning of every episode, a prologue (or cold open) is shown. The prologues involve anecdotes about Do-jin, Tae-san, Yoon and Jung-rok's friendship through the years, and all of the prologues are humorous with the exception of episode 16's. The prologues are not related narratively to the previous episode's ending or the present storyline, however they underline each episode's theme.

Below is a list of all the prologues, with a brief description.

Ratings

Episode Date TNmS[36] AGB Nielsen[37]
Nationwide Seoul Nationwide Seoul
1 2012-05-26[38] 13.7% 15.9% 14.1%[39] 16%
2 2012-05-27 12.1% 15.2% 12.8% 14.6%
3 2012-06-02 14% 15.6% 14.9% 16.7%
4 2012-06-03 14.8% 19% 14.8% 16.5%
5 2012-06-09 17.4% 20.5% 15.9% 17%
6 2012-06-10 16.5% 20.3% 16.8% 19.4%
7 2012-06-16 18.7% 22.6% 17.1% 18.6%
8 2012-06-17 18.4% 22.3% 16.6% 18.6%
9 2012-06-23 19.7% 22.9% 18.6% 20.2%
10 2012-06-24 19.8% 22% 20.3% 21.9%
11 2012-06-30 23.1% 26% 22% 23%
12 2012-07-01 23.1% 26.3% 20.3% 21.7%
13 2012-07-07 21.9% 26% 22% 23.4%
14 2012-07-08 22.8% 26.7% 21.6% 22.3%
15 2012-07-14 26% 30.1% 23.5% 24.8%
16 2012-07-15 26% 29.6% 23.7% 25.3%
17 2012-07-21 26.7% 30.5% 24.4% 26.1%
18 2012-07-22 21.8% 25.3% 24.4% 26%
19 2012-08-11 18.2% 20.4% 18.1% 19.3%
20 2012-08-12 24.9% 28.8% 23.5% 25.3%
Average 20% 23.3% 19.3% 20.8%

Original soundtrack

The drama has released seven parts of the soundtrack in two OST albums, the first part is "High High" by Kim Tae-woo and the second part features various artists including Jeon Geun-hwa with single "Beautiful Words", Kyung-woo with single "When I Look At You" and Park Eun-woo with single "Everyday". Actors Jang Dong-gun, Lee Jong-hyun and Kim Min-jong also contributed songs to the soundtrack included in A Gentleman’s Dignity OST 2.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nomination Result Ref
2012
5th Korea Drama Awards
Best Drama A Gentleman's Dignity Nominated [40]
Best New Actress Yoon Jin-yi Won [41]
Best OST "My Love" – Lee Jong-hyun Nominated [42]
14th Mnet Asian Music Awards
Best OST "My Love" – Lee Jong-hyun Nominated [43]
20th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Nam Hyun-joo Won [44]
1st K-Drama Star Awards
Excellence Award, Actress Kim Ha-neul Nominated
Acting Award, Actress[45] Kim Jung-nan Won [46]
Rising Star Award Yoon Jin-yi Won [47]
4th Melon Music Awards
Music Style - Best OST "My Love" – Lee Jong-hyun Nominated [48]
T-Store Best Song Award Nominated [49]
"My Heartache" - Lee Hyun Nominated
25th Grimae Awards
Best New Cinematographer Hwang Min-shik Won [50]
SBS Drama Awards
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend/Serial Drama Jang Dong-gun Won [51]
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Weekend/Serial Drama Kim Ha-neul Won
Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend/Serial Drama Kim Su-ro Won
Excellence Award, Actress in a Weekend/Serial Drama Yoon Se-ah Nominated
Special Acting Award, Actor in a Weekend/Serial Drama Kim Min-jong Won
Lee Jong-hyuk Won
Special Acting Award, Actress in a Weekend/Serial Drama Kim Jung-nan Won
New Star Award Yoon Jin-yi Won
Lee Jong-hyun Won
Top 10 Stars Jang Dong-gun Won
Kim Ha-neul Won
Popularity Award Kim Ha-neul Won
Best Couple Award Kim Min-jong and Yoon Jin-yi Won
Lifetime Achievement Award Kim Eun-sook Won
2013
22nd High1 Seoul Music Awards
Best OST "My Love" – Lee Jong-hyun Won [52]
49th Baeksang Arts Awards
Best New Actress (TV) Yoon Jin-yi Nominated
Most Popular Actor (TV) Jang Dong-gun Nominated [53]
Most Popular Actress (TV) Kim Ha-neul Nominated
Yoon Jin-yi Nominated

International broadcast

Novel

A two-part novelization was published in August 2012.[59]

References

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External links