[News] Ryu Jin dorks out for Standby.

[News] Ryu Jin dorks out for Standby.
Cr. - dramabeans

This cracks me up: Ryu Jin, who’s so great at playing cold and serious, grins like a huge ol’ dork as the wannabe news anchor for MBC’s sitcom Standby.

Ah, he of the big dreams and the questionable fashion sense. (Those pants. They make me laugh.) There’s also the bumbling on-air presence, since he chokes in an early-career TV appearance and thereby consigns himself to a stagnating career while his younger colleagues pass him by.


Ryu’s character is named Ryu Jin-haeng (the other stars retain their real names for their characters) and marks a big departure from his prior images, showing us quirky and funny rather than cool, urbane, or sharp. I can hardly wait. With Lee Ki-woo playing his joking younger brother (and coming off such a random and quirky character in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop), can’t you just see the two brothers off on their own plane of 4-D ridiculousness? Plus there’s Ha Suk-jin, the younger, successful TV announcer who will probably make Jin-haeng stew at his own lack of upward mobility.

I do enjoy watching the “ruining” of a serious image, and I know Ryu Jin’s got great comic chops, so I’m expecting a lot from him. Hopefully the show doesn’t disappoint my ever-rising expectations… Or, I suppose I could just lower those expectations. It’s amazing what a pair of creamsicle-colored trousers can do, though.

Standby premieres in two weeks, following High Kick 3, and will air Monday through Friday on MBC.