VIP (South Korean TV series) explained

Native Name:

Hangul:

브이아이피

Director:

Lee Jung-rim

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Num Episodes:

Producer:

Song Kyung-hwa

Runtime:

60 minutes

Company:

The Story Works

Channel:

SBS TV

VIP is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Jang Na-ra, Lee Sang-yoon, Lee Chung-ah, Kwak Sun-young, Pyo Ye-jin and Shin Jae-ha. It aired on SBS TV from October 28 to December 24, 2019, every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00 (KST) for 16 episodes.^[1]

Synopsis

The story of Sung Un Department Store's team who works for the VIP clients which constitute the top 1% of their customers.

One day after a receiving a text message about her husband's infidelity from an anonymous source, Na Jeong-seon (Jang Na-ra) begins to suspect her husband and her colleagues of having an affair. In her quest to discover the truth, she ends up revealing more than one secret that her colleagues are hiding.

Cast

Main

VIP Team

Jang Na-ra as Na Jeong-seon^[2]

Wife and colleague to Park Seong-joon. She is from an affluent family and got a high-level job at Sung Un Department Store without much difficulty, after graduating from a prestigious university.

Lee Sang-yoon as Park Seong-joon

The team leader of Sung Un Department Store's VIP Management Team and Na Jeong-seon's husband.

Lee Chung-ah as Lee Hyeon-ah

A professional and fashionable section chief of VIP Management Team. She has recently returned from a year off work due to a former scandal with her boss, who was in charge of HR.

Kwak Sun-young as Song Mi-na

A working mother of two young sons who had missed a few promotions due to multiple maternity leaves, despite having worked for six years in the company.

Pyo Ye-jin as On Yoo-ri

She comes from a poor family and fights for survival. She becomes the center of office gossip after landing a job at Sung Un Department Store's VIP Management Team. Her hiring caused the team members’ lives to change.

Shin Jae-ha as Ma Sang-woo^[3]

A new employee at the VIP Management Team. He has been brought up in comfortable surroundings, with a prestigious education.

Supporting

Sung Un Department Store

Jung Joon-won as Cha Jin-ho
Lee Jae-won as Lee Byeong-hoon, Mi-na's husband
Park Sung-geun as Ha Jae-woong
Jang Hyuk-jin as Bae Do-il
Cho Seung-yeon as Ha Young-woong
Lee Jin-hee as Kang Ji-young

Others

Kim Mi-kyung as Key Mi-ok
Choi Hong-il as Na Young-chul
Jung Ae-ri as Han Sook-young
Sora Jung as Han Sook-ja
Bae Hae-sun as Gil-ja
Jang Hyun-sung as Jang Jin-chul
Yoon Ji-on as Kim Min-ki
Oh Se-young as Han So-mi
Jeon Hye-jin as Lee Byung-eun

Special appearances

Oh Ah-rin as Ha Rim
Bae Hae-sun as a nouveau riche VIP customer
Kim Yu-bin as Cha Se-rin
Seo Woo-jin as Seo-jin
Soy Kim as Ria
Lee Ki-chan as Daniel
Shim Hee-sub as Chef Michael

Production

The first script reading took place on April 18, 2019. Filming began on May 9 and ended on October 26, 2019, two days before the premiere of the series.^[4]

Reception

Viewership

	Part	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
+ Average TV viewership ratings
			AGB Nielsen^[5]		TNmS^[6]
			Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	1	October 28, 2019			6.1%
1	2	October 28, 2019	6.8%	7.8%	6.6%
2	1	October 29, 2019	6.5%	6.9%	6.4%
2	2	October 29, 2019	7.6%	8.2%	7.4%
3	1	November 4, 2019	6.0%	7.1%	6.8%
3	2	November 4, 2019	8.0%	9.4%	7.5%
4	1	November 5, 2019	7.4%	8.5%	6.9%
4	2	November 5, 2019	9.1%	10.4%	8.2%
5	1	November 18, 2019
5	2	November 18, 2019	7.8%	9.1%	7.6%
6	1	November 19, 2019	6.1%	7.0%	6.8%
6	2	November 19, 2019	9.0%	10.4%	8.9%
7	1	November 25, 2019	6.4%	7.1%	7.0%
7	2	November 25, 2019	8.1%	9.0%	8.2%
8	1	November 26, 2019	8.5%	9.1%	7.5%
8	2	November 26, 2019	11.4%	12.4%	9.9%
9	1	December 2, 2019	8.3%	8.9%	7.8%
9	2	December 2, 2019	11.3%	12.3%	9.2%
10	1	December 3, 2019	10.6%	11.4%	8.0%
10	2	December 3, 2019	12.7%	13.5%	10.4%
11	1	December 9, 2019	9.6%	10.8%	8.4%
11	2	December 9, 2019	12.2%	13.6%	10.6%
12	1	December 10, 2019	10.0%	11.0%	8.5%
12	2	December 10, 2019	13.2%	14.2%	10.7%
13	1	December 16, 2019	10.6%	12.0%	9.2%
13	2	December 16, 2019	13.1%	15.0%	11.0%
14	1	December 17, 2019	11.2%	12.6%	10.2%
14	2	December 17, 2019	13.9%	15.7%	12.6%
15	1	December 23, 2019	11.9%	13.8%	9.8%
15	2	December 23, 2019	14.9%	16.6%	12.9%
16	1	December 24, 2019	12.0%	13.0%	11.5%
16	2	December 24, 2019
Average

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Ref.
2019	2019 SBS Drama Awards	Best New Actor	Shin Jae-ha	^[7]
		Best New Actress	Kwak Sun-young
		Best Supporting Actress	Lee Chung-ah
		Best Character Award (Actress)	Pyo Ye-jin
		Excellence Award in Miniseries (Actor)	Lee Sang-yoon
		Top Excellence Award in Miniseries (Actress)	Jang Na-ra
		Producer Award	Jang Na-ra

Notes and References

News: Yeon. Hwi-seon. 장나라X이상윤→이청아·곽선영까지, SBS 'VIP' 캐스팅 완료 [공식]]. June 5, 2019. Osen. News Chosun. ko. August 13, 2019. August 13, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190813151214/http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/06/05/2019060500727.html. live.
Web site: Kang. Seo-jung. 'VIP' 장나라, 나정선 차장님 변신 스틸 첫공개..고혹+청초미[Oh!쎈 컷]]. August 7, 2019. Osen. News Chosun. ko. August 13, 2019. August 12, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200812010821/https://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/08/07/2019080700578.html. live.
Web site: Moon. Ji-yeon. [단독] '라이징 스타' 신재하, 'VIP' 합류..장나라·이상윤과 호흡]. March 28, 2019. News Chosun. ko. August 13, 2019. March 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190329140517/http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/03/28/2019032801775.html. live.
Web site: "VIP" Proves to Be a Notable Success of Fifty Two Hour Work Week Plan. November 4, 2019. HanCinema. April 17, 2020. September 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200928152925/https://www.hancinema.net/hancinema-s-news-vip-proves-to-be-a-notable-success-of-fifty-two-hour-work-week-plan-135266.html. live.
Web site: Nielsen Korea. AGB Nielsen Media Research. ko. October 29, 2019. March 17, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170317134758/http://www.nielsenkorea.co.kr/tv_terrestrial_day.asp?menu=Tit_1&sub_menu=1_1&area=00. live.
TNmS ratings:
- Web site: Ep. 1. Break News. October 28, 2019. ko. October 31, 2019. July 22, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210722173849/http://www.breaknews.com/687817. live.
- Web site: Ep. 2. Break News. October 29, 2019. ko. October 31, 2019. April 22, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230422215636/http://www.breaknews.com/688090. live.
- Web site: Ep. 3. Break News. November 5, 2019. ko. November 5, 2019. April 22, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230422184806/http://www.breaknews.com/689491. live.
- Web site: Ep. 4. Break News. November 6, 2019. ko. November 6, 2019. April 21, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230421215131/http://www.breaknews.com/689790. live.
- Web site: Ep. 5. Break News. November 19, 2019. ko. November 19, 2019. April 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230423124056/http://www.breaknews.com/692388. live.
- Web site: Ep. 6. Break News. November 20, 2019. ko. November 20, 2019. April 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230423035247/http://www.breaknews.com/692664. live.
- Web site: Ep. 7. Break News. November 26, 2019. ko. November 27, 2019. April 22, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230422184807/http://www.breaknews.com/694009. live.
- Web site: Ep. 8. Break News. November 27, 2019. ko. November 27, 2019. June 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220627094011/http://www.breaknews.com/694339. live.
- Web site: Ep. 9. Break News. December 3, 2019. ko. December 3, 2019. June 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220627054419/http://www.breaknews.com/695510. live.
- Web site: Ep. 10. Break News. December 4, 2019. ko. December 4, 2019. June 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220627054426/http://www.breaknews.com/695787. live.
- Web site: Ep. 11. Break News. December 10, 2019. ko. December 10, 2019. June 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220628032659/http://www.breaknews.com/696902. live.
- Web site: Ep. 12. Break News. December 11, 2019. ko. December 11, 2019. August 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220820222402/http://www.breaknews.com/697205. live.
- Web site: Ep. 13. Break News. December 17, 2019. ko. December 17, 2019. July 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220724140859/http://www.breaknews.com/698487. live.
- Web site: Ep. 14. Break News. December 18, 2019. ko. December 18, 2019. July 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220706195011/http://www.breaknews.com/698825. live.
- News: Ep. 15. 브레이크뉴스. December 24, 2019. ko. December 24, 2019. June 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220627234332/http://www.breaknews.com/700034. live.
- Web site: Ep. 16. Break News. December 25, 2019. ko. December 25, 2019. June 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220627031644/http://www.breaknews.com/700323. live.
News: Kim. Soo-hyung. '열혈사제' 김남길, 대상으로 '8관왕' 기염‥'VIP' 장나라, 프로듀서상 (종합) [2019 SBS 연기대상]]. Osen. January 1, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20191231201234/https://entertain.naver.com/now/read?oid=109&aid=0004143492. December 31, 2019. January 1, 2020. ko. Naver.