Prison Playbook Explained

Native Name:
Hangul:슬기로운 감빵생활
Hanja:슬기로운 監房生活
Rr:Seulgiroun Gamppangsaenghwal
Lk:Wise Prison Life
Genre:Black comedy[1]
Creator:Lee Woo-jung (for Egg Is Coming)
Director:Shin Won-ho
Country:South Korea
Language:Korean
Num Episodes:16
Executive Producer:Park Sung-jae
Producer:Park Soo-woo
Camera:Single-camera
Runtime:90 minutes
Company:tvN
Network:tvN

Prison Playbook[2] is a 2017 South Korean television series directed by Shin Won-ho and starring Park Hae-soo and Jung Kyung-ho. The series marks Park Hae-soo's first-ever lead role. It aired on tvN from November 22, 2017 to January 18, 2018, every Wednesday and Thursday at 21:10 (KST) for 16 episodes.[3] [4]

The series was a commercial hit and became one of the highest-rated series in Korean cable television history.[5]

Synopsis

A captivating series revolving around the lives of convicts behind bars, their families and duty officers working in the correctional facilities. It focuses on the story of a superstar baseball pitcher, Kim Je-hyuk, who is convicted of assault after he saves his sister from a sexual assault.

Cast

Main

A superstar baseball player who turns into a convict overnight after protecting his sister from an assault. Due to ultimately fatal injuries that the perpetrator suffers, he is sentenced to a year of jailtime. Despite excelling in baseball, he is quite clumsy at everything else, which is a running gag throughout the show.

An elite prison guard and Je-hyuk's best friend. He used to play baseball with Je-hyuk in high school but had to quit because of injuries sustained in a car accident. Other prisoners and guards believe that he is just an avid fan of Kim Je-hyuk.

Supporting

People around Je-hyuk

Je-hyuk's girlfriend who is a traditional Korean medicine student.

Je-hyuk's younger sister.

Joon-ho's younger brother who is a reporter and an avid fan of Je-hyuk.

Seobu Detention Center

A veteran chief prison guard who is quick and flexible when it comes to resolving incidents that take place inside the prison, but is known for being corrupt and easily swayed by money or other material goods that inmates can provide him.[6]

Seobu Penitentiary

A gang member and convicted murderer who was at first, sentenced to life imprisonment before his sentence was shortened to 25 years on appeal a decade after his trial. A model prisoner and father figure to younger inmates, especially to Lee Joo-hyung.

An engineer who was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment because of a gambling scam. He has a severe lisp, which other inmates (especially Han-yang) make fun of.

A repeat offender for drug usage. He constantly bickers with Kaist and Captain Yoo.

A commanding officer who allegedly assaulted his teammate, which led to the latter's death. He initially found it hard to live in prison but eventually began to fit in.

A manager of a large company who was imprisoned due to his company embezzling ten billion won and him taking the fall for it.

A repeat offender who is unable to refrain from stealing.

A man who frequently goes in and out of prison and the first person in the prison Je-hyuk befriends. He considers Je-hyuk his brother because Je-hyuk secretly paid for his mother's life-saving surgery.

A prisoner who stabs Je-hyuk in the shoulder, causing his left arm to be injured and unusable for baseball. Eventually, Je-hyuk is able to convince him to be on his side and be his catcher while he trains for baseball in prison.

A fierce prison guard who likes swearing at prisoners but is actually very supportive and concerned about their well-being and reform.

Others

A friendly and bright prisoner who works in the prison's wood workshop with Je-hyuk and Park-sa. He was sentenced to prison after a fatal car accident.

A prisoner who works in the prison's wood workshop with Je-hyuk, Park-sa, and Min-sung. He becomes the chief of operations in the workshop, replacing Yeom.

The wood workshop's operations chief. He always takes the other workers' overtime pay for himself. He is sexually attracted to Je-hyuk.

The prison’s warden who is obsessed with the prison having a good reputation to the public, especially during Je-hyuk's imprisonment.

The strict prison guard who sticks to the rules

Prisoner who is assigned as helper in section 2 of the prison. He loves the bright and lively atmosphere of Je-hyuk's cell.

A prison guard who is very talkative. He is drawn to Captain Yoo because he was once saved by him.

Boyfriend of Yoo Han-yang who wants Han-yang to stop using drugs

The real murderer in Captain Yoo's case

Special appearance

Production

Original soundtrack

Prison Playbook
Original Soundtrack
Type:Soundtrack
Artist:Various Artists
Genre:Soundtrack
Language:Korean, English
Producer:Kim Han-jo

Commercial performance

TitleYearPeakSalesRemarks
Gaon
[11]
"The Door" 2017— Part 2
"Would Be Better" 22 Part 5
"Nostalgia" 93 Part 6
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Viewership

+ Average TV viewership ratings
Original broadcast dateAverage audience share
Nielsen Korea[15] TNmS
Nationwide Nationwide
1November 22, 20175.1%
2November 23, 20175.381%5.900%5.1%
3November 29, 20174.698%5.336%
4November 30, 20175.468%6.644%5.3%
5December 6, 20175.612%6.518%5.7%
6December 7, 20175.847%6.260%6.2%
7December 13, 20176.388%6.942%7.1%
8December 14, 20176.774%7.409%7.0%
9December 20, 20177.313%8.376%7.4%
10December 21, 20177.910%8.809%7.7%
11January 3, 20189.095%10.139%8.7%
12January 4, 20189.393%10.511%9.6%
13January 10, 201810.142%11.077%10.2%
14January 11, 201810.615%11.531%
15January 17, 201810.477%11.620%10.9%
16January 18, 201810.9%
Average
SpecialDecember 27, 20175.110%5.658%5.3%
  • In the table above, the represent the lowest ratings and the represent the highest ratings.
  • This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient ResultRef.
201822nd Asian Television AwardsBest Drama SeriesPrison Playbook
12th Korean Cable TV AwardsBest Drama[16]
Best Director[17] [18]
Best Supporting Actor
Best New ActorPark Hae-soo
Best ScreenplayJung Bo-hoon
Most Popular Actor
6th APAN Star AwardsExcellence Award, Actor in a MiniseriesPark Hae-soo[19]
Best Supporting ActorPark Ho-san
2nd The Seoul Awards[20]
Best New ActorPark Hae-soo

Notes and References

  1. News: Kim. Yoon-ji. 신원호PD "'감옥', 이우정 작가 참여+블랙코미디 될것" (인터뷰). Naver. E Daily. August 28, 2017. ko. August 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170828145324/http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=018&aid=0003753881. live.
  2. Prison Playbook '응답하라' 슬기로운 감빵생활! 171122 EP.0. YouTube. tvN Drama. November 4, 2017. ko. February 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220228173803/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36OwLF2dXPk. live.
  3. News: Kim. Jin-seok. [단독]정경호·박해수, tvN '슬기로운 감빵생활' 주인공]. Naver. Ilgan Sports. August 28, 2017. ko. December 15, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211215181957/https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=241&aid=0002689745. live.
  4. News: Baek. Sol-mi. tvN '슬기로운 감빵생활', 슬기롭지 않은 대본 보안. Naver. Sports Dong-a. August 28, 2017. ko. July 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220706155012/https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=382&aid=0000580614. live.
  5. News: [M+TV시청률] 종영 '슬기로운 감빵생활', 11% 최고 시청률…유종의 미]. Naver. MBN. May 6, 2021. ko. May 6, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506205809/https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=057&aid=0001216806. live.
  6. News: Choi. Hye Won. http://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/219672. ko:<슬기로운 감빵생활> 압도적인 24人 캐릭터포스터 공개!. iMBC. November 8, 2017. ko. November 9, 2017. May 11, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210511201019/http://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/219672. live.
  7. News: Moon. Wan-sik. 신원호PD "'감옥' 드라마 가을 첫선..'응답' 내년 이후"(일문일답). Naver. Star News. August 28, 2017. ko. August 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170828145455/http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=108&aid=0002591704. live.
  8. News: Jo. Hyeon-joo. 신원호 PD "감옥 소재 신작, 페이소스 있는 블랙코미디" (인터뷰). Tenasia. Korea Entertainment Media. August 28, 2017. ko. February 1, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200201035040/http://tenasia.hankyung.com/archives/1140889. live.
  9. News: Kim. Ji-ho. http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=433&amp;aid=0000033139. ko:크리스탈, '감빵생활' 합류…17일 대본리딩 완료. Naver. Dispatch. August 28, 2017. ko. August 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170828143524/http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=433&aid=0000033139. live.
  10. News: Kim. Yoon-ji. http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=018&amp;aid=0004012597. ko:"어떻게 헤어져"…'슬기로운 감빵생활', 촬영 종료. Naver. E Daily. January 16, 2018. ko. January 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180117011816/http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=018&aid=0004012597. live.
  11. Gaon Digital Chart:
    • Web site: Would Be Better + Nostalgia. December 23, 2017. December 29, 2017. December 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229112605/http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?nationGbn=T&serviceGbn=ALL&targetTime=51&hitYear=2017&termGbn=week. live.
  12. Cumulative sales for "The Door":
    • Web site: 2017년 48주차 Download Chart. Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. December 7, 2017. ko. December 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171207084325/http://gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?nationGbn=T&serviceGbn=S1020&targetTime=48&hitYear=2017&termGbn=week. live.
  13. Cumulative sales for "Would Be Better":
    • Web site: 2017년 50주차 Download Chart. Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. December 21, 2017. ko. December 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051531/http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?nationGbn=T&serviceGbn=S1020&targetTime=50&hitYear=2017&termGbn=week. live.
    • Web site: 2017년 51주차 Download Chart. Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. December 29, 2017. ko. December 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229112745/http://gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?serviceGbn=S1020&termGbn=week&hitYear=2017&targetTime=51&nationGbn=T. live.
    • Web site: 2017년 52주차 Download Chart. Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. January 4, 2018. ko. January 4, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073130/http://gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?serviceGbn=S1020&termGbn=week&hitYear=2017&targetTime=52&nationGbn=T. live.
  14. Cumulative sales for "Nostalgia":
    • Web site: 2017년 51주차 Download Chart. Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. December 29, 2017. ko. December 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229112745/http://gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/online.gaon?serviceGbn=S1020&termGbn=week&hitYear=2017&targetTime=51&nationGbn=T. live.
  15. Web site: Nielsen Korea. AGB Nielsen Media Research. November 22, 2017. June 1, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160601140426/http://www.nielsenkorea.co.kr/tv_terrestrial_day.asp?menu=Tit_1&sub_menu=3_1&area=00. live.
  16. Web site: Winners Of The 2018 Korea Cable TV Awards. 16 April 2018. Soompi. 17 April 2018. 18 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180418033240/https://www.soompi.com/2018/04/16/winners-2018-korea-cable-tv-awards/. live.
  17. Web site: [2018 백상예술대상 종합] tvN '비밀의 숲'·영화 '1987' 대상 영예+3·4관왕]. May 4, 2018. Osen. ko. May 3, 2018. May 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220528012521/http://osen.mt.co.kr/article/G1110894362. live.
  18. Web site: 제54회 백상예술대상, TV·영화 각 부문별 수상 후보자 공개. April 6, 2018. JTBC. ko. April 6, 2018. April 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180409071253/http://news.jtbc.joins.com/html/136/NB11615136.html. live.
  19. Web site: 이병헌·손예진·아이유 APAN스타어워즈 노미네이트. September 27, 2018. Star News. ko. September 27, 2018. April 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195917/https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=108&aid=0002730227. live.
  20. Web site: https://entertain.naver.com/now/read?oid=408&amp;aid=0000058599. ko:‘제2회 더 서울어워즈’ 10월27일 개최, 드라마-영화 각 부문별 후보공개. September 28, 2018. iMBC. ko. September 28, 2018. April 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190404133503/https://entertain.naver.com/now/read?oid=408&aid=0000058599. live.

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