''Cats on the Roof'' () is a 2003

South Korean television series Korean drama (), also known as K-drama or Koreanovela, refers to Korean-language television shows made in South Korea. These shows began to be produced around the early 1960s, but were mostly consumed domestically until the rise of the Korean Wa ...

starring

Kim Rae-won Kim Rae-won (; born 19 March 1981) is a South Korean actor. He first rose to fame with his appearances in the 2003 romantic comedy series '' Cats on the Roof''. He is best known for the movies ''My Little Bride'' (2004), ''Sunflower'' (2006), '' ...

, Jeong Da-bin,

Choi Jung-yoon Choi Jung-yoon (; born 9 May 1977) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in television dramas, with leading roles in ''Romance Hunter'' (2007), '' Manny'' (2011), ''Ojakgyo Family'' (2011), '' Angel's Choice'' (2012), and '' ...

and Lee Hyun-woo. It aired on MBC from June 2 to July 22, 2003 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 16 episodes. A comedy with light touches of drama about

friendship Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Althoug ...

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

and

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

, the series is loosely based on a

web novel Web fiction is written works of literature available primarily or solely on the Internet. A common type of web fiction is the web serial. The term comes from old serial stories that were once published regularly in newspapers and magazines. Unlik ...

written by Kim Yu-ri. It was a hit, receiving an average viewership rating of 26.3% and a peak rating of 37.3%.

Overview

Kyung-min, a law student, is in desperate straits, so he decides to take it upon himself to help Hye-ryun's poor friend, Jung-eun. This is the beginning of an extremely volatile friendship that somehow ends with the two of them living together under one roof, or to be more specific, living in a room on top of the roof of an old building. This romantic setting provides the backdrop for this unlikely love story. Kyung-min's bratty ways clash with Jung-eun's simple living, as he steadily takes advantage of her kindness and good nature.

Cast

as Lee Kyung-min * Jeong Da-bin as Nam Jung-eun *

as Na Hye-ryun * Lee Hyun-woo as Yoo Dong-joon *

Jang Yong Jang Yong (; born April 8, 1945) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Television series *'' Hold Me Tight'' (MBC, 2018) *''Our Gap-soon'' (SBS, 2016-2017) *'' Five Enough'' (KBS2, 2016) *'' Flower of Queen'' (MBC, 2015) *'' Miss Korea'' (MBC, 2 ...

as Nam Sang-sik, Jung-eun's father *

Kim Ja-ok Kim Ja-ok (; October 11, 1951 – November 16, 2014) was a South Korean actress. Kim was born in Busan in 1951. Kim dropped out of Hanyang University majoring in Film. Kim started her acting career after admitted to a public recruit by MBC T ...

as Kim Soon-deok, Jung-eun's mother *

Bong Tae-gyu Bong Tae-gyu (; born May 19, 1981) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Television shows Hosting Radio shows Music video appearances Stage Theatre Awards and nominations References External li ...

as Nam Jung-woo, Jung-eun's younger brother *

Kim Mu-saeng Kim Mu-saeng (16 March 1943 – 16 April 2005) was a South Korean actor. Early life and education Kim was born in the town of Daesan in March 1943. He studied at Dongguk University in Seoul, beginning his career as a voice actor for Tongyang Bro ...

as Lee Pil-deuk, Kyung-min's grandfather *

Kang Boo-ja Kang Boo-ja (; born February 8, 1941) is a South Korean actress. Kang was studying Korean Language and Literature at Chungnam National University when she dropped out to pursue acting. She made her acting debut in 1962 and has been active on Ko ...

as Lee Kyung-hee, Kyung-min's grandmother * Kim Chang-sook as Hye-ryun's mother * Cha Joo-ik as Kyung-min's aunt *

Kim Tae-hyun Kim Tae-hyun (; born 7 April 1969) is a South Korean male weightlifter, competing in the +105 kg category and representing South Korea at international competitions. He participated at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the +110 kg event, at the 199 ...

as Joon-ho, Kyung-min's college friend * Seo Hyun

Production

''Cats on the Roof'' was adapted from a web novel on the female-oriented web portal Miclub. Min Hyo-jung and Goo Sun-kyung co-wrote the series; it was the first miniseries both had penned. At the time of its announcement,

had been cast as the male lead, but the female lead had not yet been chosen. It reportedly ran into troubles with casting; an ''

Ilgan Sports ''Ilgan Sports'' (), sometimes abbreviated as 1S, is a South Korean daily sports and entertainment newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is ofte ...

'' article in April stated that

Han Eun-jung Han Eun-jung (; born July 10, 1980), also known by her stage name Han Da-gam (), is a South Korean actress. She is known for '' Successful Story of a Bright Girl'' (2002), ''Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created b ...

would play alongside Kim as the female lead, but by May Jeong Da-bin was said to have taken the role. An additional episode was arranged to air a week after the drama's planned ending, but it was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts with Kim Rae-won. Additionally, the ending was changed last minute—originally, Jung Da-bin's character, Jeong-eun, would visit Kyung-min, Kim's character, after three years spent studying abroad. On the morning before the last episode's airing, the script was modified so that Jeong-eun would not study abroad and instead live with Kyung-min.

Theatre adaptation

It was

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

into a stage play of the same title in 2010, with Lee Sun-ho and

Hwang Bo-ra Hwang Bo-ra (; born October 2, 1983) is a South Korean actress. Hwang made her acting debut in 2003 and became popular after she played a quirky-looking " cup noodle girl" in a ramyeon commercial. In 2007, Hwang played the daughter/narrator in ...

in the leading roles.

References

External links

*
''Cats on the Roof''
at MBC Global Media * * {{IMDb title, 0477528 2003 South Korean television series debuts 2003 South Korean television series endings AZN Television original programming Korean-language television shows MBC TV television dramas South Korean romantic comedy television series Television shows based on South Korean web novels