Potato Star 2013QR3 tells the story of the Noh family and their neighbors. Strange things start happening around them when an asteroid threatens the planet and eventually sets up in Earth’s orbit.
Potato Star is a 120 episode comedy sitcom. Yes, you heard me right…120 episodes! Truthfully, the episodes are only about 35 minutes long, but Potato Star is still officially the longest drama I have ever completed. It’s a drama I have been leisurely watching off and on for about a year and half.
The premise sounds quite quirky, but it is not actually a huge part of the drama. The asteroid only majorly influences events in about the first 20 episodes or so. It then fades into the background and is mostly casually referenced for the rest of the drama. Sometimes certain events are attributed to the asteroid, but mostly it just adds a unique background shot at night as it sits next to the moon.
But the characters in Potato Star get into some absurdly crazy situations. With a sprawling cast ranging from children to the elderly, it takes a bit of time to get to know everybody. But eventually they become like an extended goofy family.
Potato Star leans most heavily to the comedy side, but there are plenty of serious episodes too. We get to explore all sorts of family issues, romance, and company shenanigans. Some episodes aren’t anything spectacular, but overall, I found more episodes to be funny and interesting.
I was interested in all of the different romantic pairings, but my hands down favorite is our main couple played by Yeo Jin Goo and Ha Yeon Soo. They become friends early on in the drama and go through a very slow process of developing romantic feelings for each other. But these two are just about the cutest things ever! Seriously, I was glued to the screen every time they were on. They do lots of funny things throughout the drama, but they just get cuter and funnier as it goes on.
I also really enjoyed the family dynamics. We had so many different relationships to explore. Many times it was just nice to turn on Potato Star not knowing what kind of trouble my goofy “extended” family would get into.
Oh, and I just wanted to mention, if anyone has ever wanted to see a foreigner in a kdrama that wasn’t awkward and stiff, Potato Star is your answer. Julien Kang is not part of the Noh family, but he has a pretty significant presence and has several episodes dedicated to him. Julien was born in Canada and is actually half-French/half-Korean, but with his tall height, muscular build, and larger features, he definitely looks more foreign. You can also check him out in the High Kick sitcom series. I’ve always really enjoyed him.
Overall, I found Potato Star to be a very pleasant watch that I always looked forward to. It’s more laid back and not of the same caliber as the normal kdrama miniseries, but it is a wonderful example of a well done sitcom. After spending so much time with the characters, you feel like a part of their family, and I find that I already miss them.
My Rating: 7/10
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