[Photo & News] Ha Suk-jin cast as rival in sitcom Standby.

[Photo & News] Ha Suk-jin cast as rival in sitcom Standby.
Cr. - dramabeans

Is Standby just lousy with hotties or what? (Not that I’m complaining.) The new MBC sitcom already stars two handsome leading-man types, Ryu Jin and Lee Ki-woo, who play brothers; now Ha Suk-jin (When Tomorrow Comes, Can’t Lose) joins the cast, giving rise to the dilemma: Where to look??

The sitcom is set in a fictional TV station, and Ha Suk-jin plays a successful announcer with sharp on-air skills, making him popular among viewers. That means his confident, forthright character (who’ll be named Suk-jin as well) will be the foil for Ryu Jin, the guy who makes bumbling mistakes on-air and watches everyone pass him by on the career ladder.

Ha’s character seems like your standard rival type — handsome, rich, perfect — and therefore a little less interesting than the quirky brothers (Ryu Jin’s the desperate pitiful guy, Lee Ki-woo’s the mischievous one). But given that this is a long-running sitcom, I hope we’ll get to see more than just that one-note perfection from him, which would be great since I think he can manage comedy. Ha’s one of those actors I’ve always thought would have become a bigger star by now; he hasn’t necessarily shown serious-actor skills, but he does well with his charm and camera presence. And I did enjoy all of his exasperated, dryly funny moments as the brother and voice of reason in Can’t Lose.

The only loveline that has been set thus far is the one between Lee Ki-woo and Jung So-min, who play neighbors who bicker their way to romance, so I’m not sure if Ha Suk-jin will play a spoiler there. But in any case, it sure must be nice to be Jung So-min, surrounded by so much eye candy.

Stand By Me premieres in April and will air daily.