Chief Detective 1958 Ep 1 grabs HUGE ratings – #1 show for all of Friday
Michelle Topham 
Chief Detective 1958 is highest-rated MBC premiere ever
It seemed obvious to me that Chief Detective, Episode 1 would premiere on MBC in South Korea last night to huge ratings. And it did.
Both nationwide and in Seoul.
The four reasons I had for predicting those huge ratings for the first episode of Chief Detective 1958 weeks ago are these:
- The excellent promotion MBC has carried out, both nationally and internationally, for the last 2-3 months — releasing many stills from the set, “the making of” videos, promo posters, exciting and funny social media posts etc.
- Chief Detective 1958 is a prequel to one of South Korea’s most successful TV dramas — Chief Inspector — which ran from Mar 6, 1971 – Oct 12, 1989 for an astounding 880 episodes.
- The inclusion of the star of Chief Inspector — veteran actor Choi Bool Am — reprising his role in Episode 1 as Chief Inspector Park. (So good!)
- And, of course, Chief Detective 1958, Episode 1 is the start of a brilliant drama — superb acting (Lee Je Hoon is marvellous), the four main detectives are interesting characters, beautiful cinematography, well-written, and both action-packed and funny.
The Chief Detective 1958, Episode 1 ratings
The ratings for Chief Detective 1958, Episode 1 on Friday night by the way, were 10.1 percent nationwide, and a higher 10.3 percent in Seoul.
Those ratings not only made Chief Detective, 1958, Episode 1 the highest-rated premiere for an MBC Friday-Saturday night in the network’s history, but also made the Korean drama the #1 most-watched show on South Korean TV for all of Friday.
Chief Detective, 1958 stars the utterly fabulous cast of Lee Je Hoon, Lee Dong Hwi, Choi Woo Sung and Yoon Hyun Soo, alongside an excellent supporting cast.
The 10-episode Korean crime drama will air every Friday and Saturday evening on MBC through May 18th, 2024.
Disney+ is airing it in some regions but, for some bizarre reason, is delaying its release in much of Europe and the U.S. (One big reason why I don’t subscribe to Disney+, by the way).
Now let’s see how the ratings for the Korean drama’s second episode go later on tonight, eh?
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