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Yearender: 'When the Stars Gossip,' 'Tempest' named worst Korean series of 2025
Yearender: 'When the Stars Gossip,' 'Tempest' named worst Korean series of 2025
“When the Stars Gossip,” starring Lee Min-ho and Gong Hyo-jin, and “Tempest,” led by Jun Ji-hyun and Gang Dong-won, have been named as the worst Korean series of 2025.
Korean media outlet Cine21, which has documented the trends of film and popular culture since its launch in 1995, published it yearender, naming the best and worst Korean series of 2025.
“If there are dramas that are disappointing because they did not do as well as expected, there are also works that fail to live up to expectations and cause disappointment,” Cine21 wrote.
It said, “'When the Stars Gossip,' which boasted the chemistry between writer Seo Sook-hyang of "Pasta" and stars Lee Min-ho, Gong Hyo-jin, and Oh Jung-se, generated significant public anticipation with its ambitious, 50 billion won (approximately $45 million) production budget, a large-scale space sci-fi drama.”
“However, the results were lukewarm,” it added.
Cine21 reported that the series “suffered from viewership disparity, recording the lowest viewership ratings among tvN's Saturday-Sunday dramas since the 2020s (it also became the first tvN Saturday-Sunday drama to reach a 1% viewership rating).”
“Given that romantic comedies primarily target women in their 20s and 30s, the task of artificial insemination, even using distorted sperm in zero gravity, seemed too outdated to capture the hearts of female viewers in 2025. Various analyses have been put forward, including the weakening of genre fandom and the fragmentation of a dedicated audience due to OTT platforms. However, all are ultimately inadequate,” it said. "When the Stars Gossip" is also available on Netflix.
The article added that while “smaller-budgeted dramas like ‘My Perfect Secretary’ and ‘Motel California’ were chosen by viewers for their modern, progressive values, ‘When the Stars Gossip’ must painfully acknowledge its failure to anticipate what viewers truly want to see, not from the outside, but from within. In other words, it must painfully acknowledge its failure to anticipate what stories viewers truly want to see today.”
“Tempest” also struggled, Cine21 wrote.
“While the mere fact that it featured Kim Hee-won and Jung Seo-kyung, and Jun Ji-hyun and Kang Dong-won, drew attention, the drama felt like it flowed without any unique or fresh storyline,” it said.
“Mun-ju [Jun Ji-hyun], under the protection of San-ho (Gang Dong-won), seemed stagnant rather than expansive, passive rather than proactive. Above all, the drama’s focus on the romance between Munju and San-ho left the female characters' desires largely unexplored, leaving a sense of regret,” it said.
