Starting tomorrow, SBS fills in its prime-time weeknight timeslots with a double dose of medical drama. SBS` new Wednesday and Thursday night series "Sanbuingwa" will be joining the broadcast network`s Monday and Tuesday night medical series "Jejungwon The Hospital" to bring viewers a full four days worth of doctor-driven theatrics.
Actress Jang Seo-hee stands at the epicenter of the new hospital soap. After garnering an award for her "Kill Bill"-worthy performance as a vengeful wife in the hit SBS series "Cruel Temptation," Jang has tapped into yet another dramatic role in "Sanbuingwa."
Donning a set of scrubs and a pixie cut, the actress drops revenge-crazed heroine for a stint as a second year ob-gyn fellow whose personal problems rival those of her own patients.
Shipped off to a countryside hospital for performing an abortion on a patient who did not want to give birth to a second disabled child, Seo Hye-young (Jang Seo-hee) not only has to cope with her own recent demotion, she also has to grapple with the fact that she is pregnant, a condition she strives to keep secret at her new workplace.
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Hope is not lost on Seo. The troubled heroine finds not one but two potential love interests. Candidate number one is a pediatrician played by "Famous Princesses" actor Ko Joo-won. Candidate number two is an infertility clinic physician played by "Hearts of Nineteen" actor Seo Ji-suk.
The addition of "Triple" hottie Song Joong-ki as Seo`s resident underling could have viewers envying rather than pitying the heroine as she bosses around her young and attractive subordinate while holding court to two doctors.
Actor Song won female fans over as a love struck speed skater in the MBC series "Triple" before bolstering his fan base as the ill-fated brother of the female lead in SBS` "Will it snow for Christmas?" Now he is tackling the role of Ahn Kyung-woo, a second year resident for whom obstetrics and gynecology is just a brief sidetrack to a lucrative career in dermatology and weight loss.
"Because Kyung-woo has a careless and flippant side to him, senior physician Seo Hye-young (Jang Seo-hee) constantly scolds him," Song described his character in a press release from SBS. "But it is because of Hye-young that he is able to slowly mature as a doctor and as a person."
Despite the presence of heartthrob Song and veteran lead Jang Seo-hee, "Sanbuingwa" faces a formidable rival in KBS` "The Slave Hunters." The KBS blockbuster rode to the top of the viewer rating charts when it first started airing and is maintaining its lead.
"Sanbuingwa" first airs tomorrow night on SBS at 9:55 p.m.
(oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)

By Jean Oh