tvN just held its first tvN Awards as a celebration of its tenth anniversary on October 9, 2016, and by far it’s the best Korean awards in the Korean entertainment universe I have ever seen. It’s fun, cheery, loose, laid-back and unpretentious, in contrast with other Korean entertainment award shows which mostly are stiff, awkward with dead airs here and there, look scripted and unprepared. Not to mention the corny jokes which a lot of times are offensive.
Substance over style
Much like its dramas, tvN Awards doesn’t rely on fame and sensations (I’m looking at you DotS & Song-Song couple 👎), instead it relies on contents, hence the Content Grand Excellence Award (Daesang). Substance over style. The thing is, tvN has a lot, I mean a loooooooooooottttt of great contents (I’m referring specifically to its dramas). 2016 alone sees more tvN’s (not just good but) great dramas then the three largest national TV networks (KBS, MBC, and SBS) have combined (and it’s not even the end of the year yet); such as Signal, Reply 1988, Dear My Friends, Memory and The Good Wife. Though that doesn’t mean that its dramas are not famous and sensational. They are. But you know what I mean.
Having said that, that doesn’t mean that all tvN dramas are impeccable, but the ones that stand out are carefully planned and conceived, resulting in complex yet relatable issues with many characters are thoroughly developed and not just the leads. With a wide spectrum of themes, tvN dramas manage to keep itself away from having too many clichés, especially in the romcom department, where Cinderella-esque stories, second-lead problems, never ending misunderstandings, amnesia and other unfortunate events, etc are the norms.
This is just a rough assumption. As pointed out by my friend, Ninin, probably because tvN is a joint venture developed by Fox International Channels and CJ Media, the media’s contents feel a bit more liberal than the ones in other TV stations (especially those of the big three) and it has more freedom in exploring themes and issues. It doesn’t shy away from sex-related themes and seems to be more progressive in terms of they convey (probably) the least conservative values; such as hierarchy and stereotyped gender roles. In the sea of sickening gender biased K-dramas, most tvN dramas feel like a breath of fresh air.
I don’t believe in any awards as I think almost none is fair and objective. Some are even used for political statement or propaganda (hello Oscar and Argo!). But in tvN Awards’ case, it doesn’t seem to focus on coming out with “The Best”. Instead, it plays it fun and unpretentious, despite having so many great dramas which makes it really hard (at least for me) to debate or argue about winners. You can hardly go wrong with anyone or any show as almost all of them are (almost) equally good.
From Soompi, here is the list of the winners, which I personally am excited for Jo Jin Woong as he is for me stood out the most in this year’s dramas.
Content Grand Excellence Award
“Three Meals a Day – Fishing Village Edition” (Variety)
“Reply 1988” (Drama)
tvN10 Acting Grand Excellence Award
Jo Jin Woong (“Signal”)
tvN10 Variety Grand Excellence Award
Lee Seo Jin (“Grandpas Over Flowers, “Three Meals a Day”)
tvN10 Actor’s Award
Lee Sung Min (“Incomplete Life (Misaeng)”)
tvN10 Actress’s Award
Kim Hye Soo (“Signal”)
Variety Icon
Lee Soon Jae, Shin Goo, Park Geun Hyung, Baek Il Sub (“Grandpas Over Flowers”)
Content Award (Drama)
“Incomplete Life (Misaeng),” “Dear My Friends,” “Rude Miss Young Ae,” “Nine,” “Another Oh Hae Young,” “Signal,” “Oh My Ghostess,” “Reply” series
Content Award (Variety)
“Three Meals a Day,” “__ Over Flowers” series, “New Journey to the West,” “SNL Korea,” “Roller Coaster,” “Martian Virus,” “The Genius,” “Problematic Men,” “House Cook Master Baek”
Made in tvN (Variety)
Son Ho Jun (“Three Meals a Day”)
Kim Seul Gi (“SNL Korea”)
Made in tvN (Drama)
Seo In Guk (“Reply 1997”)
Seo Hyun Jin (“Another Oh Hae Young”)
PD’s Choice
Lee Je Hoon (“Signal”)
Jung Sang Hoon (“SNL Korea”)
Best Kiss
Seo In Guk and Jung Eun Ji (“Reply 1997”)
Best Chemistry
Park Bo Young and Kim Seul Gi (“Oh My Ghostess”)
Best MC
Shin Dong Yup (“SNL Korea”)
tvN Asia Award
Park Bo Gum (“Reply 1988”)
Rom-Com King/Queen
Eric (“Another Oh Hae Young”)
Seo Hyun Jin (“Another Oh Hae Young”)
Special Acting Award
Sung Dong Il (“Reply” series)
Trending Actors
Ryu Jun Yeol (“Reply 1988”)
Hyeri (“Reply 1988”)
Scene Stealer Award
Ra Mi Ran (“Reply 1988”)
Kim Sung Kyoon (“Reply 1988”)
Two Star Award
Jo Jung Suk (“Oh My Ghostess” and “Youth Over Flowers”)
Comedy Award
Ahn Young Mi (“Comedy Big League”)
Yang Se Hyung (“Comedy Big League”)
“Slave” Award (“Hardworking Entertainer” Award)
Kwon Hyuk Soo (“SNL Korea”)
Lee Se Young (“SNL Korea,” “Comedy Big League”)
Perfect Attendance Award
Kim Hyun Sook (“Rude Miss Young Ae”)
Lee Young Ja (“Taxi”)
a lost wanderer 