Player (TV series)

Player^[3] (Korean: 플레이어; RR: Peulleieo) is a 2018 South Korean television series starring Song Seung-heon, Krystal Jung, Lee Si-eon, and Tae Won-suk. The first season aired on OCN from September 29 to November 11, 2018, every Saturdays and Sundays at 22:20 (KST).^[4][5][6][7]

Player
Promotional poster
Also known as	The Player^[1]
Hangul	플레이어
Revised Romanization	Peulleieo
McCune–Reischauer	P'ŭlleiŏ
Genre	Action Crime
Written by	Shin Jae-hyung
Directed by	Go Jae-hyun
Starring	Song Seung-heon Krystal Jung Lee Si-eon Tae Won-suk [ko]
Music by	Si Seong-won Jeong Seung-hyun
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	14 (as of November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11))
Production
Executive producer	Kim Gin-hong
Producers	Lee Geun-jang Jang Si-woo
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Studio Dragon^[2] iWill Media^[2]
Release
Original network	OCN
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital
Original release	September 29, 2018 (2018-09-29) – present (present)

The series was renewed for a second season.^[8]

Synopsis

The story about the four talented individuals in their respective fields who create an elite team to solve crimes in partnership with a righteous prosecutor. Together, they confiscate black money and make sure that those who earn money through crimes will be arrested.^[9]

Cast

Main

• Song Seung-heon as Kang Ha-ri / Choi Soo-hyuk, a veteran conman from a family of investigators who was born bold and gifted with words.
• Krystal Jung as Cha Ah-ryung, a skilled driver who grew up in an orphanage after being abandoned by her parents.^[10]
• Lee Si-eon as Lim Byung-min, a talented hacker who had a past with Chairman Chun.^[11]
• Tae Won-suk [ko] as Do Jin-woong, a powerful fighter who had accidentally worked for "that person".^[12]

Supporting

Public Prosecutors' Office

• Kim Won-hae as Prosecutor Jang In-gyu, the prosecutor who teamed up with Ha-ri and his team.
• Ahn Se-ho as Investigator Maeng Ji-hoon^[13]
• Lee Hwang-ui as Yoo Ki-hoon^[14]

Target

• Kim Jong-tae as "that person" (real name: Yeon Je-suk), a consultant and power broker for politicians.
• Kwak Ja-hyung as Chun Dong-seob

People around Ha-ri

• Huh Joon-ho as Choi Hyun-gi, Ha-ri's father and former team leader of Special Corruption Division.
• Yoo Ye-bin as Cho Yeon-hee, a doctor and the only person who knows Ha-ri's past.^[15]

Others

• Min Joon-hyun as Team Leader Shim Dal-soo^[16]
• Kang Min-tae as gangster
• Kim Hyung-mook as Na Won-hak^[17]
• Lee Hwa-ryong^[18]
• Min Joon-hyun
• Kim Sung-cheol as Ji Sung-goo^[19]
• Lee Chung-mi as Yang Hae-joo
• Jin Mo as Wang Seob
• Kim Seo-kyung

Special appearances

• Yoo Seung-ho as a security guard (Ep. 1)^[20]
• Hong Seok-cheon as a driving instructor (Ep. 1)^[21]
• Wang Ji-hye as Ryu Hyun-ja (Ep. 7–8)^[22]
• Kim Ki-doo as a thug

Production

Early working titles of the series were Hustle (허슬; Heoseul) and Round (판; Pan).^[23][24]

On July 12, 2022, it was announced that the series will return with second season in the second half of 2023 under the tentative title Player: War of the Thieves (플레이어: 꾼들의 전쟁; Peulleieo: Kkundeur-ui Jeonjaeng).^[8] On January 27, 2023, it was reported that filming was scheduled to begin in March 2023, and actresses Oh Yeon-seo and Jang Gyu-ri are in talks for the main roles.^[25][26]

Original soundtrack

Player OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Recorded	2018
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Blending Music Buddy

Part 1

Released on October 6, 2018 (2018-10-06)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Player" (플레이어)	Dok2 Jinsil Lee Jung-ha	Lee Jong-soo Yang Sung-woo	Dok2 feat. Jinsil (Mad Soul Child)	03:05
2.	"Player" (Inst.)		Lee Jong-soo Yang Sung-woo		03:05
Total length:					06:10

Part 2

Released on October 14, 2018 (2018-10-14)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Changer"	Kim Ho-kyung	1601	The Vane	03:15
2.	"Changer" (Inst.)		1601		03:15
Total length:					06:30

Part 3

Released on October 21, 2018 (2018-10-21)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Yesterday"	Min Yeon-jae	1601	JK Kim Dong-wook	04:00
2.	"Yesterday" (Inst.)		1601		04:00
Total length:					08:00

Part 4

Released on October 28, 2018 (2018-10-28)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Bluffing"	Min Yeon-jae	1601	Luna (f(x))	03:07
2.	"Bluffing" (Inst.)		1601		03:07
Total length:					06:14

Part 5

Released on November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Born to Be a Player"	Jung Min-wook	Lee Jong-soo Yang Sung-woo	Hey Men	03:01
2.	"Born to Be a Player" (Inst.)		Lee Jong-soo Yang Sung-woo		03:01
Total length:					06:02

Part 6

Released on November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Anyone"	Lee Jong-soo Arie	Lee Jong-soo Yang Sung-woo	Nam Tae-hyun	03:57
2.	"Anyone" (Inst.)		Lee Jong-soo Yang Sung-woo		03:57
Total length:					07:54

Viewership

Player : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Season		Episode number														Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	1	1.217	1.381	1.136	1.165	1.003	1.171	1.122	1.221	1.200	1.169	0.928	0.958	1.117	1.515	1.165

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[27]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share^[28]
		Nielsen Korea^[29]		TNmS^[30]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	September 29, 2018	4.474%	5.226%	4.3%
2	September 30, 2018	4.876%	5.638%	4.9%
3	October 6, 2018	4.092%	4.433%	4.8%
4	October 7, 2018	4.186%	4.180%	5.5%
5	October 13, 2018	3.720%	4.196%	N/A
6	October 14, 2018	4.573%	5.097%
7	October 20, 2018	4.415%	5.393%
8	October 21, 2018	4.904%	5.302%
9	October 27, 2018	4.723%	5.531%
10	October 28, 2018	4.640%	4.928%
11	November 3, 2018	3.993%	4.425%
12	November 4, 2018	3.879%	4.116%
13	November 10, 2018	4.553%	4.780%
14	November 11, 2018	5.803%	6.249%
Average		4.488%	4.964%	—^[a]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest published ratings and the red numbers represent the highest published ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known. 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).

Notes

1. Due to some unpublished ratings, the exact average rating is unknown.

References

1. "The Player (2018)". CJ ENM. CJ ENM. from the original on July 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
2. Park, Jae-hwan. 송승헌-정수정-이시언, 새 드라마 '플레이어'. Naver (in Korean). KBS News. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
3. Player [최초공개] 송승헌X정수정X이시언X태원석, 머니 스틸 액션 '플레이어' 9월 29일 첫방송! 180929 EP.0. YouTube (in Korean). OCN. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
4. "송승헌X정수정X이시언, '플레이어' 합류..막강 라인업- 스타뉴스". 스타뉴스 (in Korean). 2018-06-04. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
5. Yang, Ji-yeon. "[공식] 송승헌X정수정X이시언, '플레이어' 출연···유쾌 통쾌 액션 활극". Naver (in Korean). SE Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
6. Kang, Nae-ri. "[단독]송승헌X정수정 '플레이어', 9월 29일 첫 방송…14회 편성". Naver (in Korean). YTN Star. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
7. "Swindling bad guys of dirty money, 'Player' aims to be a gratifying action series". Yonhap News. September 20, 2018.
8. Lee, Hyun-ah (July 12, 2022). "[단독] 드라마 '플레이어' 시즌2 송승헌과 돌아온다". Naver (in Korean). Ilgan Sports. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
9. Baek, Ji-eun. [단독] 에프엑스 크리스탈, '허슬' 여주인공…연기 활동 박차. Naver (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
10. "Krystal Jung set to return to TV with new drama, 'Player'". TenAsia. September 28, 2018.
11. "대배우의 열일 행보…이시언, OCN '플레이어' 출연 확정 [공식]". Naver (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo. June 4, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
12. "태원석, OCN '플레이어'로 첫 주연 도전...'대세 예약'". Naver (in Korean). Osen. June 5, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
13. "안세호, OCN '플레이어' 출연 확정 "새로운 도전"". Naver (in Korean). Sports Donga. July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
14. 이황의, '플레이어' 출연 확정…대검차장 役으로 '부드러운 카리스마' 발산 예고. Hankooki (in Korean). June 21, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
15. Kim, Na-rae (September 26, 2018). 유예빈, '플레이어' 출연 확정! '뛰어난 미모+무한한 잠재력' 시너지 '기대'. dspdaily (in Korean). Retrieved September 30, 2018.
16. 민준현, '플레이어' 합류…송승헌·정수정과 호흡. OBS News (in Korean). June 18, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
17. "김형묵, OCN '플레이어' 출연…송승헌·크리스탈과 호흡". Naver (in Korean). TenAsia. June 14, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
18. "이화룡, '예쁜누나' 변태 공차장→검사 '변신'...OCN '플레이어' 합류". Naver (in Korean). TenAsia. June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
19. "'플레이어' 김성철, 우정출연만으로도 이 정도 임팩트라니". MSN. October 1, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
20. 유승호, '플레이어' 첫회 특별출연…"활약 방송 통해서" [공식입장]. Sports Donga (in Korean). September 28, 2018.
21. "[★해시태그]"'플레이어' 촬영중"…홍석천, 크리스탈과 함께 인증샷" (in Korean). June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
22. "압도적 분위기"… '플레이어' 또 다른 악역 왕지혜 등장 (in Korean). October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
23. Moon, Ji-yeon. [단독] 송승헌 '허슬' 출연..장르물 한번 더. Naver (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
24. Yoo, Su-ah. ""기대되는 조합"…송승헌X크리스탈X이시언, '판'으로 뭉치나". Naver (in Korean). Maeil Economic Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
25. Kim, Ga-young (January 27, 2023). "[단독] 장규리, 대세 배우로 우뚝…'플레이어2' 주인공 꿰찼다". Naver (in Korean). E Daily. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
26. Moon, Ji-yeon (January 27, 2023). "[단독] 돌아오는 '플레이어2' 주인공=오연서..송승헌·장규리 이끈다". Naver (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
27. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved September 1, 2020.
28. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved August 25, 2020.
29. . AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
30. . TNmS (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2018.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• Player at Studio Dragon (in Korean)
• Player at iWill Media (in Korean)
• Player at HanCinema
• Player at IMDb