| Native Name: |
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| Director: | Joo Sung-woo | ||||||||||
| Country: | South Korea | ||||||||||
| Language: | Korean | ||||||||||
| Num Episodes: | 40 | ||||||||||
| Executive Producer: | Kim Kyung-hee | ||||||||||
| Company: | Pan Entertainment | ||||||||||
| Channel: | MBC TV |
4 Legendary Witches[1] is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Han Ji-hye, Ha Seok-jin, Go Doo-shim, Oh Hyun-kyung and Ha Yeon-soo.[2] [3] It aired on MBC from October 25, 2014, to March 8, 2015, on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:45 (KST) for 40 episodes.[4] It reached a peak viewership rating of 31.4% on its 29th episode.[5]
Orphan Moon Soo-in marries Ma Do-hyun, the eldest son of the chaebol family who owns bakery corporation Shinhwa Group. But when Do-hyun dies unexpectedly, the Ma family makes Soo-in take the fall for their illegal business practices and she ends up in jail for stock manipulation that she did not commit. At Cheongju's Penitentiary for Women, her cellmates are kind-hearted and consists of Shim Bok-nyeo who was falsely accused of killing her husband and son; tough-as-nails, foul-mouthed Son Poong-geum who was convicted of fraud, and former model Seo Mi-oh who's been charged with the attempted murder of her boyfriend, Shinhwa Group's youngest son.
The four women bond and become friends, particularly when they join the baking classes being taught by Nam Woo-suk, a hotel chef. Woo-suk is a widower who is raising his daughter alone after the death of his wife six years ago. At his father-in-law's suggestion, he became a volunteer at the local prison's vocational training center, where he meets Soo-in and begins to fall for her.
Upon their discharge, the four women put the baking skills they learned in prison to use, opening up a bakery together. But they face stiff competition from the Shinhwa Group.
| Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNmS | AGB Nielsen[6] | |||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | |||
| 1 | October 25, 2014 | 13.4% | 14.5% | 16.6% | ||
| 2 | October 26, 2014 | 16.1% | 16.2% | |||
| 3 | November 1, 2014 | 13.6% | 16.2% | 14.0% | ||
| 4 | November 2, 2014 | 13.5% | 17.5% | 15.7% | 16.7% | |
| 5 | November 8, 2014 | 14.6% | 17.4% | 16.5% | 17.7% | |
| 6 | November 9, 2014 | 15.8% | 20.3% | 17.5% | 18.3% | |
| 7 | November 15, 2014 | 16.4% | 19.6% | 19.1% | 19.8% | |
| 8 | November 16, 2014 | 16.9% | 21.2% | 20.8% | 22.5% | |
| 9 | November 22, 2014 | 17.7% | 21.5% | 21.3% | 23.2% | |
| 10 | November 23, 2014 | 18.2% | 22.8% | 22.0% | 24.6% | |
| 11 | November 29, 2014 | 19.3% | 23.2% | 20.8% | 21.8% | |
| 12 | November 30, 2014 | 19.9% | 23.5% | 23.0% | 24.7% | |
| 13 | December 6, 2014 | 19.4% | 23.4% | 21.0% | 22.8% | |
| 14 | December 7, 2014 | 19.6% | 24.2% | 23.3% | 25.2% | |
| 15 | December 13, 2014 | 19.3% | 23.9% | 22.4% | 23.8% | |
| 16 | December 14, 2014 | 21.7% | 26.1% | 24.1% | 25.9% | |
| 17 | December 20, 2014 | 24.2% | 28.2% | 25.1% | 26.6% | |
| 18 | December 21, 2014 | 23.3% | 28.3% | 25.6% | 28.0% | |
| 19 | December 27, 2014 | 20.9% | 24.6% | 25.0% | 27.2% | |
| 20 | December 28, 2014 | 22.4% | 26.8% | 26.1% | 28.1% | |
| 21 | January 3, 2015 | 24.6% | 29.7% | 27.2% | 30.0% | |
| 22 | January 4, 2015 | 24.2% | 29.9% | 26.6% | 28.8% | |
| 23 | January 10, 2015 | 25.2% | 30.2% | 25.9% | 27.0% | |
| 24 | January 11, 2015 | 24.6% | 30.7% | 27.0% | 29.5% | |
| 25 | January 17, 2015 | 26.1% | 30.8% | 28.0% | 30.9% | |
| 26 | January 18, 2015 | 25.8% | 32.2% | 27.8% | 31.2% | |
| 27 | January 24, 2015 | 28.0% | 30.3% | 32.2% | ||
| 28 | January 25, 2015 | 28.0% | 34.1% | 30.9% | 34.0% | |
| 29 | January 31, 2015 | 27.5% | 32.2% | |||
| 30 | February 1, 2015 | 28.0% | 34.4% | 33.8% | ||
| 31 | February 7, 2015 | 28.0% | 33.6% | 28.2% | 30.3% | |
| 32 | February 8, 2015 | 27.4% | 32.6% | 30.2% | 32.5% | |
| 33 | February 14, 2015 | 26.7% | 31.3% | 27.9% | 29.6% | |
| 34 | February 15, 2015 | 26.2% | 32.6% | 28.5% | 30.4% | |
| 35 | February 21, 2015 | 25.9% | 29.6% | 28.3% | 29.9% | |
| 36 | February 22, 2015 | 27.5% | 32.4% | 29.5% | 31.5% | |
| 37 | February 28, 2015 | 26.3% | 30.9% | 28.7% | 31.2% | |
| 38 | March 1, 2015 | 26.6% | 31.0% | 28.2% | 30.5% | |
| 39 | March 7, 2015 | 26.8% | 32.3% | 28.8% | 31.1% | |
| 40 | March 8, 2015 | 34.4% | 30.1% | 31.8% | ||
| Average | ||||||
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama | |||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama | ||||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama | ||||
| Golden Acting Award, Actress | ||||
| 2015 | 4th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama | ||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | ||||
| Grand Prize (Daesang) | ||||
| Drama of the Year | ||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama | ||||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Special Project Drama | ||||
| Best New Actress in a Special Project Drama | ||||