[News] Fusion medical-fantasy drama Faith gets on the SBS schedule.

[News] Fusion medical-fantasy drama Faith gets on the SBS schedule.
Cr. - dramabeans

After multiple delays and casting hiccups, fusion medical sageuk series Faith is finally going to get a broadcast, more than two years after initially casting and announcing the production. Or at least, we can hope it’ll actually make it to air, because we still need a hero. At this point I’m not going to believe this show is actually happening till it happens.

The drama is set in the Goryeo era and is about Oriental medicine, mixing history with fantasy and, curiously enough, also comedy. We’ve had plenty of fantasy sageuks lately, and fusion historicals, and medical sageuks — but a medical fusion historical comedy? That is new. I am intrigued.

According to a representative from SBS, they’re planning to air Faith this summer, likely in August. The broadcasters are in final negotiations with the production company so details are not yet fixed, but this is good news for the drama, which has been on the shelf for the past two years. It hit an early rough patch when its hero, Lee Jun-ki, had to quit because he was drafted for his military service, sending the drama looking for a new lead. It then courted Kang Ji-hwan, but lost him when Kang had his legal dispute with former management.

Frankly they should just get Lee Jun-ki back, since he’s being discharged from his service today. The lead star literally went to army and back in the time it took producers to cast this drama.

I’m surprised that lead actress Kim Hee-sun has stuck with the project the whole way through, since nobody would fault her for leaving after all the delays. But the once-It Girl hasn’t been acting in recent years since marrying and becoming a mother (her last drama was six years ago, 2006′s Smile Again) so perhaps she didn’t feel much pressure over a postponement. Or maybe she figured it was worth the wait to work with the “dream team,” PD Kim Jong-hak and writer Song Ji-nah. Together they’ve written and directed a number of drama hits, like Sandglass, Eyes of Dawn, and Legend; more recently, Song also wrote What’s Up and Story of a Man.

Faith plans to complete its casting by the end of March — although many actors are already in place, such as Choi Min-soo, Kim Seung-soo, Philip Lee, and Park Sang-won — and will begin filming in April. *Knock on wood*