If you’re a K-drama fan, then you know the pain of falling in love with a show just for it to be over after a season. In South Korea, it’s super common for TV shows to end after one season — keep reading to see why that is!
Why Do Most K-Dramas Have Only 1 Season?
K-dramas usually only have one season because they follow a specific storyline, which is meant to be resolved within a certain number of episodes. This can usually be told within 14 to 18 episodes, which has become the standard for Korean shows.
Additionally, K-dramas are often based on specific source materials, such as webtoons or novels, which usually restricts a story to go past one season. In a way, one season of a K-drama can pretty much act as one (very longwinded) movie.
Which K-Dramas Have More Than 1 Season?
While many K-dramas are limited to a season, multiple shows have been awarded more than one! As the genre of television has gotten more popular, leading to things like Netflix and Disney+ K-dramas, many shows have presented subsequent seasons including Alchemy of Souls, Kingdom, Love Alarm, Voice, The Penthouse, Let’s Eat and Yumi’s Cell.
Another great example is, of course, Squid Game, which also happens to be Netflix’s most streamed series of all time. In case you were one of the few people who haven’t seen the show, Squid Game follows desperate citizens playing a life-or-death competition in order to win millions of dollars. The show first premiered in September 2021.
“I wanted to create something that would resonate not just for Korean people but globally. This was my dream,” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told the Guardian in October 2021. “We are living in a Squid Game world.”
Season 2 of Squid Game is currently in production. “I know that a lot of the different fans and audiences have enjoyed the series very much but really we’re focusing on how to make it even more joyful to the global audience,” executive producer Kim Ji-yeon told Tudum in June 2022.
“We are working on the script right now and making the form of the story,” he added. “But there’s definitely a lot of pressure on how to make [season 2] even better.”
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