Lovely Runner replaces Queen of Tears as most popular K-drama this week; JTBC's Frankly Speaking debuts on Top 10 chart

Despite its weekday timeslot, Lovely Runner is witnessing a gradual surge in popularity each week. With the conclusion of tvN's weekend hit series Queen of Tears, there's even more room to celebrate the swoon-worthy beauty of the time-travel drama series that is hitting all the right notes with the global audience right now.

Scoring a sky-high topicality of 65.43% (TV), Lovely Runner has darted forth, increasing the distance between titles trailing behind it on the list of the most buzzworthy dramas of May Week 1. The Good Data Corporation revealed its survey for the first week of the new month on May 8.

The chart also opened up spots for new premieres, including Frankly Speaking and The Atypical Family, while also reserving ranks for March and April releases, such as Chief Detective 1958, Missing Crown Prince, The Escape of the Seven Season 2 and others on the TV index.

OTT debuts like Netflix's Goodbye Earth and Disney Plus' Blood Free also held steady on the TV-OTT index.

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Lovely Runner's journey to the top

For weeks, tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama Lovely Runner, starring Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon, has been trailing closely behind the network's weekend sensational hit Queen of Tears. With Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won's romantic comedy-drama wrapping up its final chapters on April 28, 2024, the top spot swiftly opened up in Lovely Runner's favour.

For the first time since its April 8 premiere, the time-travel romance fantasy series claimed the top spot on the list of the most buzzworthy ongoing dramas on Good Data Corporation's May 8 FUNdex update.

Lovely Runner rose atop the TV and TV-OTT indexes in the Drama category. On top of that, Byeon Woo Seok (No. 1) and Kim Hye Yoon (No. 2) correspondingly rose to the top of the most buzzworthy actors chart, finally replacing Soo Hyun and Ji Won.

Additionally, supporting cast members Song Geon Hee and Lee Seung Hyub, who play Tae Sung and In Hyuk, respectively, secured the 7th and 10th spot on the most popular actors chart for the week.

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New K-drama premieres on the Top 10 buzzworthy chart

JTBC's Wednesday-Thursday comedy series Frankly Speaking and Saturday-Sunday drama The Atypical Family premiered in the first week of May 2024. Both series are also streaming on Netflix. In addition to the JTBC shows making it to the list of the most buzzworthy dramas, their leading pairs also clinched spots on the actor's list.

The former, starring Go Kyung Pyo and Kang Han Na, opened its course of action on May 1 and debuted on the most buzzworthy drama list at the 3rd rank. On the other hand, The Atypical Family, led by Jang Ki Yong, Chun Woo Hee, Go Doo Shim and Claudia Kim, premiered on May 4. The buzz around its opening week helped it gain the 4th spot on the list.

MBC TV's The Brave Yong Soo Jung was yet another recent premiere of the month. Starring Uhm Hyun Kyung in the titular role, this romance-revenge series has aired every Monday to Friday since its first episode dropped on May 6. Closing the Top 10 rankings, it found the last spot on the roster this week.

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Top 10 Kdramas that generated the most buzz in the first week of May

Top 10 drama actors, who generated the most buzz in the first week of May

Source: Good Data Corporation's FUNdex