Good Manager

Good Manager

Promotional poster

Also known as Manager Kim[1]

Hangul 김과장

 Workplace
Genre
 Drama

 Comedy

Created by KBS Drama Production

Written by Park Jae-beom

Directed by  Lee Jae-hoon

 Choi Yoon-suk

Creative directors  Lee Seung-hoon

 Choi Dong-sook

Starring  Namkoong Min

 Nam Sang-mi

 Lee Jun-ho

 Jung Hye-sung

Composers  Hwang Dong-sub

 Lee Sung-kyun

Country of origin South Korea

Original language Korean

No. of episodes 20
 Production

Executive producers  Kim Sung-geun KBS

 Lee Jang-soo

 Choi Tae-young

Producers  Lee Eun-jin

 Choi Jun-ho

Production locations Seoul & Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Cinematography  Wi Chang-suk

 Kim Pil-seung

Editors  Kim Mi-kyung

 Lee Min-kyung

Camera setup Single-camera

Running time 60 minutes

Production company Logos Film

Original release

Network KBS2

Release January 25 –

March 30, 2017

Good Manager (Korean: 김과장; Hanja: 金科長; RR: Kimgwajang; lit. Chief Kim) is
a South Korean television drama starring Namkoong Min, Nam Sang-mi, Lee Jun-ho,
and Jung Hye-sung. It aired on KBS2 from January 25 to March 30, 2017 on
Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) for 20 episodes.[2][3][4]
Synopsis[edit]
Kim Sung-ryong, a Certified Public Accountant who becomes a middle manager at TQ
Group company to embezzle a large sum of money ends up fighting for his employees'
fundamental rights.[5]
Cast[edit]
Main[edit]
 Namkoong Min as Kim Sung-ryong[6][7] (Jiro Kim)
Kim Sung-ryong used to be a small-time accountant from Gunsan, a small city in
North Jeolla Province, working for a mobster. He was investigated every year for
accounting fraud and tax evasion but is proven innocent every time. Then, he got
accepted to TQ as the chief of Accounting Department.

 Nam Sang-mi as Yoon Ha-Kyung[8] (Hannah Yoon)

A strong and ethical woman. She is the assistant manager of TQ's Accounting
Department.

 Lee Jun-ho as Seo Yul

Seo Yul used to be an ace prosecutor until the chairman of the TQ group
appointed him to be the Director for Finance.

 Jung Hye-sung as Hong Ga-eun[9] (Gail Hong)

Police officer in undercover as intern of the Finance department who was hired
as a spy by a prosecutor.
Supporting[edit]
TQ Group Business Operation Department[edit]

 Kim Won-hae as Choo Nam-ho

 Kim Kang-hyun as Lee Jae-joon
 Jo Hyun-sik as Won Ki-ok
 Ryu Hye-rin as Bing Hee-jin
 Seo Ye-hwa as Je-ri
 Kim Seon-ho as Sun Sang-tae
People at TQ Group[edit]

 Park Yeong-gyu as Park Hyun-do (Dino Park)

 Lee Il-hwa as Jang Yoo-sun[10]
 Seo Jeong-yeon as Jo Min-young
 Jung Suk-yong as Ko Man-geun
 Kim Min-sang as Lee Kang-shik
 Hwang Young-hee as Uhm Keum-shim
 Kim Jae-hwa as Na Hee-yong
 Dong Ha as Park Myung-suk (Mario Park)
People at Seoul Central District Prosecutors[edit]

 Jung Moon-sung as Han Dong-hoon

 Nam Sung-joon as Lee Suk-soo
People at Gunsan[edit]

 Lim Hwa-young as Oh Kwang-suk

Extended[edit]
 Lee Sung-uk
  Park Kwang-jae
 Jeon Ye-seo
 Nam Sang-baek
 Choi Kyu-shik
 Choi Jae-sub
 Eom Ji-man
 Jo Jae-won
 Heo Sun-haeng
 Lee Yoon-sang
Special appearances[edit]
 Kim Eung-soo as Bae Deok-po
 Lee Sang-hoon
 Song Yeong-gil
 Jung Kyung-ho as man blackmailing Kim Sung-ryong
 Lee Si-eon as Prosecutor Park Yong-tae (Ep. 20)
Production[edit]
 First script reading took place on December 15, 2016
at KBS Annex Broadcasting Station in Yeouido, Seoul, South
Korea.[11]
Original soundtrack[edit]
Good Manager
OST Album

Soundtrack album

Genre Soundtrack

Language Korean, English

Label LOEN Entertainment, The Groove Company

Producer Hwang Dong-sub, Lee Sung-kyun (The Groove)

Part 1[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "Must Be The  Kim  Kim DinDin 03:14
Money" Sung-tae Sung-tae
  Lim Chul  Choi
Hye-sun
2. "Must Be The  Kim 03:14
Money" (Inst.) Sung-tae
 Choi
Hye-sun
Total length: 06:28
Part 2[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "How It Happens" Drew Ryan  Drew After Romeo 03:37
Scott Ryan
Scott
 Ping
2. "How It Happens" (Inst.)  Drew 03:37
Ryan
Scott
 Ping
Total length: 07:14
Part 3[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "Starlight Falling Hwang Hwang Song 03:29
Night" (별빛이 쏟아지 Yong-ju Yong-ju Yuvin MYTEEN
는 밤)
2. "Starlight Falling Hwang 03:29
Night" (Inst.) Yong-ju
Total length: 06:58
Part 4[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "Will You Love  Lee Shin-  ZigZag GB9, Kim So- 04:14
Me" sung Note hee
 ZigZag  Kim
Note Young-
sung
2. "Will You Love  ZigZag 04:16
Me" (Inst.) Note
 Kim
Young-
sung
Total length: 08:30
Part 5[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "Roller Coaster" (롤러코 Kim Sung-  Kim Seenroot 03:14
스터) tae Sung-tae
 Lee Gun-
woo
2. "Roller Coaster" (Inst.)  Kim 03:14
Sung-tae
  Lee Gun-
woo
Total length: 06:28
Part 6[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "Dream" (꿈을 꾼  B.O.K  B.O.K Seo Yeong- 04:44
다)  E-QLO  E-QLO eun
 Seo
Yeong-
eun
2. "Dream" (Inst.)  B.O.K 04:44
 E-QLO
Total length: 09:28
Part 7[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "Unbelievable" Lee Seung-  Lee Soulstar 03:41
woo Seung-
woo
 In Young-
hun
 Edison
2. "Unbelievable" (Inst.)  Lee 03:41
Seung-
woo
 In Young-
hun
 Edison
Total length: 07:22
Part 8[edit]
No. Title Lyrics Music Artist Length
1. "That's Right" (그래) Kim Sung-tae  Lee Gun- Dalda 03:35
woo
 Kim
Sung-tae
2. "That's Right" (Inst.)  Lee Gun- 03:35
woo
 Kim
Sung-tae
Total length: 07:10

Reception[edit]
Despite competing against big-budget drama Saimdang, Light's Diary in
the same time slot and having no big-name stars, the drama managed to
top ratings during its run and enjoyed explosive popularity.[12] It received
positive reviews for its punchy and satirical lines on the corrupt corporate
owners and the society, which resonated with the viewers; and the
multifaceted performance of lead actor Namkoong Min, whose perfect
amalgamation of character creation and acting saves “Good Manager”
from what could have been an average office crime comedy.[13] Korea
Times said that the drama "has the ability to tell uncomfortable stories
(story of embezzlement cases, mass layoffs and other societal issues
regarding fierce competition) in a witty way".[14]
Ratings[edit]
In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red
numbers represent the highest ratings.

Average audience share

Original broadcast
Ep. TNmS[15] AGB Nielsen[16]
date

Nationwide Seoul Nationwide Seoul

1 January 25, 2017 6.6% (19th) 7.1% (19th) 7.8% (17th) 7.7% (15th)

2 January 26, 2017 6.3% (20th) 6.5% (18th) 7.2% (18th) 7.2% (15th)

3 February 1, 2017 11.7% (7th) 13.3% (4th) 12.8% (5th) 12.8% (5th)

4 February 2, 2017 11.5% (7th) 13.3% (4th) 13.8% (4th) 14.1% (4th)

5 February 8, 2017 13.2% (4th) 15.5% (4th) 15.5% (4th) 15.8% (4th)

6 February 9, 2017 12.1% (6th) 12.9% (4th) 16.7% (4th) 17.6% (3rd)

7 February 15, 2017 13.1% (4th) 15.0% (4th) 16.1% (4th) 16.3% (4th)

8 February 16, 2017 13.7% (4th) 15.6% (4th) 17.6% (4th) 17.3% (4th)

9 February 22, 2017 15.5% (4th) 16.2% (4th) 17.8% (3rd) 18.0% (3rd)
10 February 23, 2017 15.2% (4th) 15.6% (4th) 17.2% (4th) 17.3% (3rd)

11 March 1, 2017 15.6% (4th) 17.0% (3rd) 18.4% (3rd) 19.2% (3rd)

12 March 2, 2017 16.3% (4th) 17.8% (3rd) 18.4% (3rd) 18.5% (3rd)

13 March 8, 2017 15.3% (4th) 16.2% (4th) 16.8% (4th) 16.8% (4th)

14 March 9, 2017 14.3% (4th) 14.9% (4th) 17.1% (4th) 16.9% (3rd)

15 March 15, 2017 14.6% (4th) 16.1% (3rd) 18.4% (4th) 19.1% (3rd)

16 March 16, 2017 16.2% (4th) 18.1% (3rd) 17.1% (4th) 17.6% (3rd)

17 March 22, 2017 17.4% (4th) 19.7% (4th) 17.4% (4th) 17.5% (4th)

18 March 23, 2017 16.0% (4th) 17.3% (3rd) 17.0% (4th) 17.5% (3rd)

19 March 29, 2017 17.0% (4th) 18.6% (3rd) 16.9% (4th) 16.8% (4th)

20 March 30, 2017 18.0% (4th) 18.7% (3rd) 17.2% (4th) 17.8% (3rd)

Average 14.0% 15.3% 15.9% 16.1%

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Recipient Result

2017 53rd Baeksang Arts Best Actor Namkoong Min Nominated

Awards
 44th Korean
Broadcasting Actor Award Won
Awards

Best Drama Good Manager Nominated

Best Production
Lee Jang-soo Won
Director

Best Screenplay Lee Eun-jin Nominated

10th Korea Drama

Awards Top Excellence Award,
Namkoong Min Nominated
Actor

Excellence Award,
Lee Il-hwa Won
Actress

Best Original DinDin (Must Be

Won
Soundtrack The Money)

1st The Seoul

Best Actor Namkoong Min Nominated
Awards

31st KBS Drama Top Excellence Award,

Namkoong Min Won
Awards[17] Actor

Lee Jun-ho Won

Excellence Award,
Actor in a Mid-length
Drama
Namkoong Min Nominated

Excellence Award, Nam Sang-mi Nominated

Actress in a Mid-length
Drama
 Dong Ha Nominated
Best Supporting Actor
Kim Won-hae Nominated

Lee Il-hwa Won

Best Supporting
Jung Hye-sung Won
Actress

Seo Jeong-yeon Nominated

Kim Seon-ho Nominated

Best New Actor
Lee Jun-ho Nominated

Best New Actress Lim Hwa-young Nominated

Namkoong Min Nominated

Netizen Award – Male
Lee Jun-ho Nominated

Namkoong
Min & Nam Sang- Nominated
mi
Best Couple Award

Namkoong
Won
Min & Lee Jun-ho

30th Korea Producer

2018 Best Drama Good Manager Won
Awards

Adaptation[edit]
It was announced on March 24, 2017 that KBS Media will publish a book
titled "Chief Kim's Work Book" set to be released in April related to the
drama that will contain great tips for work life. The book will feature the
drama's best scenes, best lines, and all of the illustrated episode
endings. The illustrations will be drawn by webtoon artist Yang Kyung-
soo, who partnered with the drama to create the ending scenes for each
episode. This project is the first collaboration between a drama and a
webtoon.[18]