K-Drama Fans Are Immensely Disappointed As “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” Receives No Baeksang Nominations

It was the highest-rated K-Drama ever, yet The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards didn’t recognize it.

The nominations are out for The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards (also known as The 2022 Baeksang Arts Awards), and K-Drama fans are unhappy.

The Annual Baeksang Arts Awards honors Korean films, dramas, and entertainment. The nominations for the upcoming ceremony were released on April 11, and many hit K-Dramas and actors were not nominated, much to viewers’ surprise.

Netflix‘s D.P., tvN‘s Twenty Five Twenty One, Netflix’s Squid Game, MBC‘s The Red Sleeve, and wavve‘s Political Fever were deservedly nominated for “Best K-Drama.” Still, many feel that dramas were overlooked, such as JTBC‘s Snowdrop and SBS‘s Our Beloved Summer.

The one K-Drama that was most surprising of all to be unrecognized by The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards is tvN’s Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha was a fan-favorite romantic-comedy K-Drama of many. The remake of the 2004 South Korean film Mr. Handy, Mr. Hong did more than do its source material justice. The K-Drama also became more than just a “healing” drama, it was a great comfort during the pandemic, and viewers were able to relate to the ensemble cast, especially its leads, dentist Yoon Hye Jin and Chief Hong Du Sik, portrayed by Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho, respectively.

A big-city dentist opens up a practice in a close-knit seaside village, home to a charming jack-of-all-trades who is her polar opposite in every way.

— IMDb

Shin Min Ah (left) and Kim Seon Ho (right) in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha poster.

K-Drama fans even questioned if the committee had watched the allegedly snubbed K-Dramas for them to be unrecognized, considering they were so good and beloved by my viewers.

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is especially shocking since it was the highest-rated dramas of its time. It even was an international on Netflix!

The series was a commercial hit and became one of the highest-rated series on cable television history. It ranked first place during its entire run for eight weeks, and the last episode achieved 12.665% nationwide rating, with over 3.2 million views. It also became one of Netflix’s most-watched non-English television shows, and one of its longest-running hits as it spent 16 weeks in global top ten rankings.

— Wikipedia

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha actually ranked alongside Squid Game as one of the streaming service’s top Non-English TV shows.

Neither the K-Drama itself nor its actors received any nominations. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha fans especially feel that the lead actors Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah deserved awards for their acting.

Viewers agree that Kim Seon Ho’s portrayal of Chief Hong Du Sik was perfect. He showed great versatility, from a comedian to romantic male lead to a man suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Unfortunately, he may also be the reason why Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha was snubbed. Although previously, he won “Most Popular Actor” at The 57th Baeksang Arts Awards and was nominated for “Best Supporting Actor” for his role as Han Ji Pyeong in Start-Up.

Following the Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha finale, accusations were made against him by his ex-girlfriend, and Kim Seon Ho apologized. This resulted in a scandal, and he was dropped from his advertisements and broadcast appearances.

Kim Seon Ho in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.

Yet, Dispatch revealed the truth behind Kim Seon Ho and his ex-girlfriend’s relationship that showed the actor in a favorable light again, reassuring fans and clearing the actor’s name. Since then, previously taken down advertisements have started to return, and he has been scheduled to resume his entertainment activities. Seon Ho even recently made a public appearance in Thailand. So, there should be no reason for the lack of nominations for the beloved K-Drama that is Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. 

Nevertheless, fans of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha are choosing to ultimately channel their frustrations and disappointment regarding the lack of The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards nominations in expressing their support and appreciation for the K-Drama’s cast and crew.

Rather than send or comment hate messages targeted at Baeksang, fans are tweeting loving messages for all those who took part in making Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.

Thus, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha became a trending topic on Twitter shortly after the nominations were released.

The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards ceremony will be held on May 6, 2022, at KINTEX, Ilsanseo-gu, Gyeonggi Province, beginning at 7:45 PM. KST. Previously, the nominees were announced on April 11, 2022, via the Baeksang website. Only films, dramas, etc., that were released from April 12, 2021, to March 31, 2022 were eligible to receive nominations.
Source: Wikipedia

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha