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If you like ‘Modern Family,’ try ‘Bad Family’

August 1, 2014

Our Korean entertainment recommendations continue this week!

Bad Family (SBS)

By Tae Hong

If you like “Modern Family,” try “Bad Family.”

Hilariously dysfunctional families will always make for great television, and nothing currently does a better job of it in America than “Modern Family,” an infinitely crowd-pleasing comedy.

The Koreans, though, had done it shorter and sweeter with the 2006 drama “Bad Family,” in which a fake, character-filled family forms around a young girl. It’s one of the most colorful series to come out of Korea in the past decade.

Things to watch for: the aww-inducing romance between Kim Myung-min and Nam Sang-mi, Heechul of Super Junior at his cutest and the most delightful pair of pretend-grandparents you will ever watch.

Kim Ha-neul in a screenshot from “Ditto.”

If you like “The Lake House,” try “Ditto.”

The American remake of the epitomic Korean romance “Il Mare” may have become an object of ridicule and mockery upon its release in 2006, but we all know what a guilty pleasure it is to watch Sandra and Keanu, the glory couple that brought us “Speed,” running and crying and brooding because of a magical, time-travelling mailbox.

That’s where “Ditto” comes in — replace the magical, time-travelling mailbox with a magical, time-travelling amateur radio and throw in some 20-odd years of separation.

It’s a nostalgic and subdued film despite its premise. Yoo Ji-tae and Kim Ha-neul are young and bittersweet.

If you like Mumford & Sons, try Ha Dong-kyun.

English folk rock to the former Korean R&B singer of 7dayz and Wanted? Why not?

Ha Dong-kyun’s vocals are a force of nature, and his 2012 album, “Mark,” may just have been the best record to come out of that year. He’s no band, but his most recent music — from “From Mark” (above) to “Go Forward” — will surprise listeners.

If you’re really feeling a ballad kick, don’t forget his ultimate hit, “Please Love Her.”

For more recommendations:

-Korean Entertainment: What Do We Recommend?
-Korean Entertainment: What Do We Recommend? Part 2