Good Manager

Good Manager
OST Album
Good Manager; OST Album
Soundtrack album
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean, English
Label	LOEN Entertainment, The Groove Company
Producer	Hwang Dong-sub, Lee Sung-kyun (The Groove)

*Good Manager*
Good Manager
	Promotional poster
Also known as	Manager Kim
Hangul	김과장
Genre	Workplace; Drama; Comedy;
Created by	KBS Drama Production
Written by	Park Jae-beom
Directed by	Lee Jae-hoon; Choi Yoon-suk;
Creative directors	Lee Seung-hoon; Choi Dong-sook;
Starring	Namkoong Min; Nam Sang-mi; Lee Jun-ho; Jung Hye-sung;
Composers	Hwang Dong-sub; Lee Sung-kyun;
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Kim Sung-geun KBS; Lee Jang-soo; Choi Tae-young;
Producers	Lee Eun-jin; Choi Jun-ho;
Production locations	Seoul & Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Cinematography	Wi Chang-suk; Kim Pil-seung;
Editors	Kim Mi-kyung; Lee Min-kyung;
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Logos Film
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	January 25 –; March 30, 2017

Good Manager (Korean: 김과장; Hanja: 金科長; RR: Kimgwajang; lit. Chief Kim) is a South Korean television drama starring Namkoong Min, Nam Sang-mi, Lee Jun-ho, and Jung Hye-sung. It aired on KBS2 from January 25 to March 30, 2017 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) for 20 episodes.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Synopsis

Kim Sung-ryong, a Certified Public Accountant who becomes a middle manager at TQ Group company to embezzle a large sum of money ends up fighting for his employees' fundamental rights.^[5]

Cast

Main

Namkoong Min as Kim Sung-ryong^[6]^[7] (Jiro Kim)

Kim Sung-ryong used to be a small-time accountant from Gunsan, a small city in North Jeolla Province, working for a mobster. He was investigated every year for accounting fraud and tax evasion but is proven innocent every time. Then, he got accepted to TQ as the chief of Accounting Department.

Nam Sang-mi as Yoon Ha-Kyung^[8] (Hannah Yoon)

A strong and ethical woman. She is the assistant manager of TQ's Accounting Department.

Lee Jun-ho as Seo Yul

Seo Yul used to be an ace prosecutor until the chairman of the TQ group appointed him to be the Director for Finance.

Jung Hye-sung as Hong Ga-eun^[9] (Gail Hong)

Police officer in undercover as intern of the Finance department who was hired as a spy by a prosecutor.

Supporting

TQ Group Business Operation Department

Kim Won-hae as Choo Nam-ho
Kim Kang-hyun as Lee Jae-joon
Jo Hyun-sik as Won Ki-ok
Ryu Hye-rin as Bing Hee-jin
Seo Ye-hwa as Je-ri
Kim Seon-ho as Sun Sang-tae

People at TQ Group

Park Yeong-gyu as Park Hyun-do (Dino Park)
Lee Il-hwa as Jang Yoo-sun^[10]
Seo Jeong-yeon as Jo Min-young
Jung Suk-yong as Ko Man-geun
Kim Min-sang as Lee Kang-shik
Hwang Young-hee as Uhm Keum-shim
Kim Jae-hwa as Na Hee-yong
Dong Ha as Park Myung-suk (Mario Park)

People at Seoul Central District Prosecutors

Jung Moon-sung as Han Dong-hoon
Nam Sung-joon as Lee Suk-soo

People at Gunsan

Lim Hwa-young as Oh Kwang-suk

Extended

Lee Sung-wook
Park Kwang-jae
Jeon Ye-seo
Nam Sang-baek
Choi Kyu-shik
Choi Jae-sub
Eom Ji-man
Jo Jae-won
Heo Sun-haeng
Lee Yoon-sang

Special appearances

Kim Eung-soo as Bae Deok-po
Lee Sang-hoon
Song Yeong-gil
Jung Kyung-ho as man blackmailing Kim Sung-ryong
Lee Si-eon as Prosecutor Park Yong-tae (Ep. 20)

Production

First script reading took place on December 15, 2016 at KBS Annex Broadcasting Station in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea.^[11]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Must Be The Money"	Kim Sung-tae Lim Chul	Kim Sung-tae Choi Hye-sun	DinDin	03:14
2.	"Must Be The Money" (Inst.)		Kim Sung-tae Choi Hye-sun		03:14
Total length:					06:28

Part 2

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"How It Happens"	Drew Ryan Scott	Drew Ryan Scott Ping	After Romeo	03:37
2.	"How It Happens" (Inst.)		Drew Ryan Scott Ping		03:37
Total length:					07:14

Part 3

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Starlight Falling Night" (별빛이 쏟아지는 밤)	Hwang Yong-ju	Hwang Yong-ju	Song Yuvin MYTEEN	03:29
2.	"Starlight Falling Night" (Inst.)		Hwang Yong-ju		03:29
Total length:					06:58

Part 4

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Will You Love Me"	Lee Shin-sung ZigZag Note	ZigZag Note Kim Young-sung	GB9, Kim So-hee	04:14
2.	"Will You Love Me" (Inst.)		ZigZag Note Kim Young-sung		04:16
Total length:					08:30

Part 5

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Roller Coaster" (롤러코스터)	Kim Sung-tae	Kim Sung-tae Lee Gun-woo	Seenroot	03:14
2.	"Roller Coaster" (Inst.)		Kim Sung-tae Lee Gun-woo		03:14
Total length:					06:28

Part 6

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Dream" (꿈을 꾼다)	B.O.K E-QLO Seo Yeong-eun	B.O.K E-QLO	Seo Yeong-eun	04:44
2.	"Dream" (Inst.)		B.O.K E-QLO		04:44
Total length:					09:28

Part 7

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Unbelievable"	Lee Seung-woo	Lee Seung-woo In Young-hun Edison	Soulstar	03:41
2.	"Unbelievable" (Inst.)		Lee Seung-woo In Young-hun Edison		03:41
Total length:					07:22

Part 8

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"That's Right" (그래)	Kim Sung-tae	Lee Gun-woo Kim Sung-tae	Dalda	03:35
2.	"That's Right" (Inst.)		Lee Gun-woo Kim Sung-tae		03:35
Total length:					07:10

Reception

Despite competing against big-budget drama Saimdang, Light's Diary in the same time slot and having no big-name stars, the drama managed to top ratings during its run and enjoyed explosive popularity.^[12] It received positive reviews for its punchy and satirical lines on the corrupt corporate owners and the society, which resonated with the viewers; and the multifaceted performance of lead actor Namkoong Min, whose perfect amalgamation of character creation and acting saves “Good Manager” from what could have been an average office crime comedy.^[13] Korea Times said that the drama "has the ability to tell uncomfortable stories (story of embezzlement cases, mass layoffs and other societal issues regarding fierce competition) in a witty way".^[14]

Ratings

In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		TNmS^[15]		AGB Nielsen^[16]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide	Seoul
1	January 25, 2017	6.6% (19th)	7.1% (19th)	7.8% (17th)	7.7% (15th)
2	January 26, 2017	6.3% (20th)	6.5% (18th)	7.2% (18th)	7.2% (15th)
3	February 1, 2017	11.7% (7th)	13.3% (4th)	12.8% (5th)	12.8% (5th)
4	February 2, 2017	11.5% (7th)	13.3% (4th)	13.8% (4th)	14.1% (4th)
5	February 8, 2017	13.2% (4th)	15.5% (4th)	15.5% (4th)	15.8% (4th)
6	February 9, 2017	12.1% (6th)	12.9% (4th)	16.7% (4th)	17.6% (3rd)
7	February 15, 2017	13.1% (4th)	15.0% (4th)	16.1% (4th)	16.3% (4th)
8	February 16, 2017	13.7% (4th)	15.6% (4th)	17.6% (4th)	17.3% (4th)
9	February 22, 2017	15.5% (4th)	16.2% (4th)	17.8% (3rd)	18.0% (3rd)
10	February 23, 2017	15.2% (4th)	15.6% (4th)	17.2% (4th)	17.3% (3rd)
11	March 1, 2017	15.6% (4th)	17.0% (3rd)	18.4% (3rd)	19.2% (3rd)
12	March 2, 2017	16.3% (4th)	17.8% (3rd)	18.4% (3rd)	18.5% (3rd)
13	March 8, 2017	15.3% (4th)	16.2% (4th)	16.8% (4th)	16.8% (4th)
14	March 9, 2017	14.3% (4th)	14.9% (4th)	17.1% (4th)	16.9% (3rd)
15	March 15, 2017	14.6% (4th)	16.1% (3rd)	18.4% (4th)	19.1% (3rd)
16	March 16, 2017	16.2% (4th)	18.1% (3rd)	17.1% (4th)	17.6% (3rd)
17	March 22, 2017	17.4% (4th)	19.7% (4th)	17.4% (4th)	17.5% (4th)
18	March 23, 2017	16.0% (4th)	17.3% (3rd)	17.0% (4th)	17.5% (3rd)
19	March 29, 2017	17.0% (4th)	18.6% (3rd)	16.9% (4th)	16.8% (4th)
20	March 30, 2017	18.0% (4th)	18.7% (3rd)	17.2% (4th)	17.8% (3rd)
Average		14.0%	15.3%	15.9%	16.1%

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2017	53rd Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor	Namkoong Min	Nominated
	44th Korean Broadcasting Awards	Actor Award	Namkoong Min	Won
	10th Korea Drama Awards	Best Drama	Good Manager	Nominated
		Best Production Director	Lee Jang-soo	Won
		Best Screenplay	Lee Eun-jin	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor	Namkoong Min	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actress	Lee Il-hwa	Won
		Best Original Soundtrack	DinDin (Must Be The Money)	Won
	1st The Seoul Awards	Best Actor	Namkoong Min	Nominated
	31st KBS Drama Awards^[17]	Top Excellence Award, Actor	Namkoong Min	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama	Lee Jun-ho	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama	Namkoong Min	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama	Nam Sang-mi	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Dong Ha	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Kim Won-hae	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Lee Il-hwa	Won
			Jung Hye-sung	Won
			Seo Jeong-yeon	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Kim Seon-ho	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Lee Jun-ho	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Lim Hwa-young	Nominated
		Netizen Award – Male	Namkoong Min	Nominated
		Netizen Award – Male	Lee Jun-ho	Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Namkoong Min & Nam Sang-mi	Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Namkoong Min & Lee Jun-ho	Won
2018	30th Korea Producer Awards	Best Drama	Good Manager	Won

Adaptation

It was announced on March 24, 2017 that KBS Media will publish a book titled "Chief Kim's Work Book" set to be released in April related to the drama that will contain great tips for work life. The book will feature the drama's best scenes, best lines, and all of the illustrated episode endings. The illustrations will be drawn by webtoon artist Yang Kyung-soo, who partnered with the drama to create the ending scenes for each episode. This project is the first collaboration between a drama and a webtoon.^[18]

References

External links

[2]

[3]

[4]

[1]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

Good Manager
Promotional poster
Also known as	Manager Kim^[1]

Hangul	김과장

Genre	Workplace Drama Comedy
Created by	KBS Drama Production
Written by	Park Jae-beom
Directed by	Lee Jae-hoon Choi Yoon-suk
Creative directors	Lee Seung-hoon Choi Dong-sook
Starring	Namkoong Min Nam Sang-mi Lee Jun-ho Jung Hye-sung
Composers	Hwang Dong-sub Lee Sung-kyun
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Kim Sung-geun KBS Lee Jang-soo Choi Tae-young
Producers	Lee Eun-jin Choi Jun-ho
Production locations	Seoul & Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Cinematography	Wi Chang-suk Kim Pil-seung
Editors	Kim Mi-kyung Lee Min-kyung
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Logos Film
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	January 25 (2017-01-25) – March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30)