Grace Park is definitely holding the torch to show why Korean women are simply beautiful.  It looks like she’s already filming the remake of Hawaii Five-O.  She’s been cast along with Daniel Dae Kim of Lost fame and they’re both hard at work… filming we think.  Maybe surfing on the side?  Well, if you thought she looked great on Battlestar Galactica then she certainly looks fit on the Hawaiian set of Hawaii Five-O.

If you watched The Mentalist on Thursday night, you saw the story revolve around Korean-American actor Tim Kang (Kimball Cho).  You know you’ve seen Tim somewhere because he’s been in numerous commercials as “that guy.”  Well, in the Thursday episode, Kimball Cho loses his former best friend David from what he thought was the result of gang banging.  However, that wasn’t the case and the story reveals the reasons for David’s death as Kimball Cho hunts for the real killer.  At the end of the show, Kimball shares his grief and regret to David’s mother and concludes the show speaking Korean….

“I’m sorry Mrs. Seung.  I’m so sorry.  Please forgive me.”

See below for an interview with Tim Kang about Thursday’s episode.

Tonight’s episode is being set up as Cho’s big moment on the show. What more can you tease?
I think it does feel that way. I think what you have to look forward to is a side to him that, with the shooting and all the things that we saw in the preview, is that when the s*** hits the fan — and the s*** definitely does hit the fan — instead of this divorced sort of approach to his work, you know, “Work is work, and I’m going to be very professional about it,” some of those emotions tend to seep into what he’s doing, and the loss of control and the efforts to maintain control is something that we’re gonna see. And I think that’s a fun journey that we go on. Like, oh s***! Is he going to lose his s***? Wait a minute. This is totally unlike how he handles himself day-to-day. So it’s just another facet to who he is. He’s not an automaton; he’s not a robot [laughs]. As much as people like to say, “Geez, do you ever smile? Are you a robot out there?” He’s not. He feels very deepy, and I think that we’re gonna get to see that a lot more from this episode.

And Cho has a girlfriend! Where the hell has he been hiding her?
[laughs] I think it’s fairly new. It’s something that has developed within the past few months, within the time line of the show. So they’ve reached a point of being fairly comfortable and interacting with each other. But it’s not like he’s been hiding her for three years or anything like that. It’s definitely sort of a brand new thing.

I know a love interest is something that you’ve wanted to see develop for a long time — and I think fans have, too.
Yeah. I don’t know if it was specifically a love interest; it was just something in his past that I’ve wanted to explore further, whether that’s a love interest, or a long-lost cousin or what have you. Just something. And in this episode, it turned out to be a couple of things — not just a girlfriend, not just a long-lost friend or any of that. So we get to see a lot of Cho’s past, which is nice.

Are we going to see more of this in future episodes? I was shocked when they showed Cho’s apartment in the preview.
[laughs] Right. True. Well, that’s actually Elise’s apartment, so we still don’t know … We don’t get to take a look at the piggy bank; we don’t get to take a look at any of the other stuff that we sort of referenced earlier. But hopefully. Again, that’s something that’s up to the writers. But it’s definitely a treat to delve into his past.

Right, because Cho’s sort of the odd man out in all of this; everyone else already has a backstory going on.
Yeah. I feel like that’s a good thing. But on the flip side of that, I’m also happy with the way that things are going, because Cho … he’s the ultimate team player. But he is more than capable, and actually prefers operating on his own. He’s sort of a lone-wolf character. I don’t see him as really depending on too many other people. So it kind of fits with the character; however, it also fits that he has a girlfriend and a life outside of the CBI.

Is there anything within Cho’s backstory that you would love the writers to develop?
Something in terms of his military background would be great, because in this upcoming episode, we get to see [that] his formative years were being spent being a gangster; being a punk. And I would love to go into the military part of it to see that transformation from this loose canon gangster kid to the disciplined military guy. It would be nice to see that transition and how he handled authority, let’s say, during his first day of boot camp or whatever. That would be an interesting thing to see. Maybe he got screamed at by his drill Sargeant or whatever, more than others because of his attitude, [with] him trying to buck authority and all that sort of thing. Also, his career in the police department after he got out of the army would be nice to see. And then probably Lisbon coming in and recruiting him from the police department into the CBI. That would also be something very interesting, I think.

I want to talk about my favorite episode of the season: ‘His Red Right Hand,’ which eventually ended with Bosco dead and Minelli retiring. Were you shocked when you initially read the script?
Absolutely. And plus, it was really great to work with those guys. It was a shock, storyline-wise, that we were losing these two great characters all in one go. But again, the powers that be just felt that that was a necessary thing. I personally thought that we could have had a little bit more stuff for them. But it did absolutely make sense, and did work the way that it happened. But certainly, I was in a little bit of, like, “Oh, wow! Okay. I’ll see you later, Terry! I’ll see you later, Greg!” But yeah. Those guys are so great and they took it all in stride.

Do you think there’s room for Gregory Itzin to return?
Absolutely. I mean, in the storyline, it was too much for him at the moment to lose three agents all in one go, and it’s understandable that something like that, especially after your track record of losing not a single agent in your entire tenure, in your term — it’s something that will shake you, and I’m sure that if that’s a storytline we want to explore, it’s certainly possible.

Minelli will be replaced by a new head of CBI, played by Aunjanue Ellis. Have you worked with her yet?
Yeah, I have worked with her briefly. She’s a fantastic actress; she’s really sweet. I haven’t actually had a chance to trade lines with her, but we did a scene …. This upcoming episode that we’re starting to shoot on Monday, I believe, is our first formal introduction to her character, Madeline Hightower.

How is Hightower going to change the dynamic of CBI?
I think, for Hightower, she is very much similar to Cho’s take on the unit, on taking care of business. Cho’s take on it is, “You know what, Jane? You’re gonna do your crazy stuff. As long as it gets the job done, and you’re gonna do it in an expeditious manner, then let’s do it; let’s do whatever crazy shenanigans you want to cook up and let’s get the bad guy. Done deal.” And I think Hightower kind of appreciates that in Jane, the fact that yes, his approach is unorthodox, but he gets the job done, and she doesn’t let Jane’s quirkiness and some of those oddball qualities about him get to her. As long as he’s producing, as long as he’s closing cases, he’s good; he’s golden. So I think in that sense, it’s a little different. But then again, Lisbon obviously had a bit of a disadvantage with Minelli tripping in her hair constantly about, you know, keep him in line; keep him in line; keep him in line. Hightower is actually flipping it and going, “You know what? You can do whatever you want. Just get the job done.” So that’s sort of a different approach, I think, to handling Jane and a unit as a whole.

She sounds like a love interest for Cho waiting to happen.
[laughs] Right. Absolutely! [laughs]

What was your take on Lisbon’s decision to ignore Rigsby and Van Pelt’s relationship? How will it change the unit? Because obviously, they’re not going to stop hooking up.
Well, that actually remains to be seen, because they both obviously passionately care about their carers and each other. I think it’s gonna kind of boil down to choices, the simple choice [of] one or the other; you can’t have both. So they’re basically going to be pushed up against a wall and they’re gonna be forced to make a decision on career, girlfriend or career, boyfriend; how should we handle this? And it’s that sort of struggle that’s gonna make that interaction interesting.

Apart from the big episode, Red John has been mostly MIA this season. When should we expect his return?
I think Red John is definitely gonna make another visit before this season is up — if not a couple more visits. And as far as storylines or plot, I think that he’s gonna continue to tease Jane … I mean, he’s basically making Jane twist in the wind, and he’s enjoying every minute of it. I think right now he is following the unit’s progress and case load and that kind of thing, and [he's] just keeping tabs on Jane, I think. And there will be moments in the future for him to sort of “strike” … And I think it’s going to be interesting to also see how Hightower manages that crisis, that kind of a situation, because of the fact that, as soon as you bring in Red John, Jane becomes a completely rogue agent. He just goes off the reservation and just goes crazy, so I think it’ll be very interesting to see how she handles it as well.

Source: AOL

It looks like Daniel Dae Kim is staying in Hawaii after the final season of LOST is finished because he has been cast in a lead role for the CBS remake of Hawaii Five-O.  Kim will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly, a role played in the original series by Kam Fong.

The new “Hawaii Five-0″ hails from hot feature writers and “Fringe” co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and “CSI: NY” executive producer/co-showrunner Peter Lenkov.

Kim, who played Jin Kwon on “Lost” for its six-season run, is the first actor from the show’s core cast to book a new series project this pilot season as the ABC mystery drama heads to its May finale.

Getting key “LOST” players to do pilots this season is proving tricky as ABC’s drama doesn’t wrap its final season until April. In Kim’s case, it helped that both “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O” are filming in Hawaii.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Comedian and actress Margaret Cho will join the cast of CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer” starting February 5.  She will play Professor Avery Grant.

“Ghost Whisperer” follows Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character of Melinda Gordon- a woman who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. While trying to live as normal a life as possible, Melinda helps them pass over to the other side by working as an owner of an antique store, sometimes dealing with people who push her away, and disbelieve her ability. The show was created by John Gray and is produced by Sander/Moses Productions, in association with ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios.

Margaret Cho has performed nationwide with one-woman shows including “I’m the One That I Want,” “Notorious C.H.O,” “Revolution,” “State of Emergency,” and “Assassin.” On screen, she has played John Travolta’s FBI colleague in the action movie “Face/Off.” On television, she appears as Terri – assistant to lawyer Jane Bingham – on Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva.

“Ghost Whisperer” airs on CBS Friday’s at 8 pm EST.

Source: Broadway World

Anthony Kim made a guest appearance on The Jay Leno show on Monday night to teach Jessica Alba how to putt.  First it’s pretty cool that Jay Leno referred to AK as his friend and he was on national television, and secondly, it was really cool that AK got to cozy on up to Jessica Alba and teach her how to putt.  She almost made the first putt after Anthony’s instruction but she left it a little short though it was on line to go in.  It was then AK’s turn and he quickly set up and stroked a power putt up the ramp into the buddha statue for a hole in one.  Sure he’s a professional, but there had to be some nerves putting in front of a national television audience on a contrived hole. Check it out below!

Entertainment Weekly created a power list to rank the currently known contestants who are heading to Hollywood for the finals of American Idol (Season 9).  Interestingly, the Korean-American college kid from Illinois was ranked #1 this past week. Go John Park! Hopefully he’ll make it into the finals.

1. John Park (New this week; pictured, left): The rich, buttery baritone he displayed on Blood Sweat & Tears’ “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” was perhaps the tastiest treat to come out of the first four audition episodes of season 9. Plus, his lips, teeth, and bottom end have Shania Twain’s stamp of approval. How can you not get behind the guy?

EW.com is letting everyone rank the contestants.  Go to EW.com and submit your vote.

The very popular TV show LOST kicks off its final season on Tuesday at 9pm EST on ABC.  LOST was the first time we saw a Korean couple kiss on an American television program, and what was also remarkable about LOST is that the Korean couple played significant roles in the show as the only married couple on the island.  Daniel Dae Kim plays Jin, the very stoic and subdued husband of Sun, who’s played by Korean actress Yunjin Kim.  It was awesome seeing their relationship evolve over the course of 5 seasons but sadly Jin’s death on the show was a shock which shook the series and further created twists in the already crazy story lines of LOST.  Sadly for the viewers, the show is finally concluding this season but we can look back and say that this show was the first to break ground in revealing Korean relationships.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview with Yunjin Kim regarding the final season of LOST.

What were your expectations when you signed on as a cast member?

When I read the script, I thought it was like a movie script. I had never seen anything like this on television. I thought, “Either this is going to be the best TV show or the worst TV show.” And when I say it had the potential to be bad, I mean so bad that we would be made fun of for years!

What do you think of the journey of personal growth that Sun has taken over the years?

Sun has come such a long way from the pilot. If you remember, she was very subservient, a really quiet, scared woman who did whatever she was told by her husband. Now you cut to Season 6 and she’s a very different woman and very much her own person. That’s something that [producers] J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof promised from the beginning. I was concerned that I was playing into this stereotypical image of that Asian woman. But J.J. said, “You’re going to end up loving this character.”

Sun and her husband Jin (played by Daniel Dae Kim) differ from most of the other characters. Your thoughts about their relationship?

Sun and Jin’s stories have touched a lot of people, I think, because we are the only married couple on the island. We do have Rose and Bernard, but they’re guest stars. They sometimes show up and sometimes don’t, and they’re loved by fans as well. But Sun and Jin represent the only marriage and the most real and most tangible relationship on the island. And people root for us. They can’t wait to see us get back together and into each other’s arms. People really want to see a happy ending for Sun and Jin. It’s really touching.

What will be your most cherished memory of working on the show?

I had a such good feeling about it once I stepped into the set of Lost for the first time and saw that chopped-off half plane sitting on the beach. That was my first impression: “Oh, my God, is that a real plane chopped up in half?” And they said, “Yeah, we brought it in from L.A.” This beautiful Hawaiian beach and the chaos of the crash site to contradict it, it was quite stunning. I think I will always remember that first moment of just going, “Wow!”

For the promotion video of season 6, go to ABC.com and find a few spoilers.

Sources: ABC.com and Star Telegram

KBS’s megahit IRIS will be premiering on DramaFever on Thursday, Jan 28. IRIS will be available in high quality streaming video with English subtitles. All three Korean broadcasters (MBC, SBS, and KBS) have now joined with DramaFever to bring the best Korean dramas online to the U.S. and Canada. IRIS will become part of a growing library that includes recent hits such as Shining Inheritance, Boys Over Flowers, and Queen Seon Duk, as well as classics such as Coffee Prince, My Lovely Samsoon, Land of Wind, Gourmet, Stairway to Heaven, My Girl, Hotelier, Sandglass, Jewel In The Palace and Jumong.

And DramaFever will soon be carrying more than just dramas. The documentary series Shocking Life will be DramaFever’s first non-drama series. Part Real Sex, part Ghost Hunters, and part Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Shocking Life examines the oddities and the unusual from Korea. Shocking Life premieres on DramaFever on Thursday, Feb 4.

ABOUT IRIS
A blockbuster hit and one of the most talked-about dramas of the year, Iris premiered to stunning ratings of 24.5% and had crossed 30% ratings by its 8th episode. With a budget of 20 billion won (almost a million U.S. dollars per episode), this explosive action-spy thriller uniquely utilized many aspects of American television and action film genres to create a high-octane, large-scale production with international flare and exotic shooting locations.

Megastar and Hallyu icon Lee Byung Hun gives the performance of a lifetime as a daredevil secret agent who transforms into a driven, tormented spy on the run from powers he doesn’t understand. He is ably assisted by a star-studded cast including Kim Tae Hee (Hallyu star for Love Story in Harvard and Stairway to Heaven), Jung Joon Ho (2008’s hit Last Scandal), Kim So Yeon (Gourmet), and T.O.P. (mega Kpop hiphop boyband Big Bang). Having tried and succeeded in blending the tension and fast pace of American spy series such as 24 with the romance and character depth of Korean dramas, Iris’s innovative style, heavy-weight leads and big budget have enabled it to become something of a minor phenomenon (the broadcast rights have already been bought by seven other countries). It could very well become a Kdrama classic.

About DramaFever
DramaFever.com is the premier online destination for North American audiences to enjoy popular prime-time television shows from Asia in high quality with English subtitles. DramaFever has built up one of the largest licensed collections of popular Asian TV content for the North American market with programming from Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) Media, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Distribution, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) International, Group Eight, ISplus, and JS Pictures. For more information, please visit http://www.dramafever.com

We have a Korean man on American Idol and he was damn good. If you watched American Idol on Tuesday night, you saw John Park, a college student from Northbrook, Illinois. John was only 13 contestants out of 12,000 that auditioned in Chicago to make it past the 4 judges, who all gave him a “yes.” He got major props from guest judge and country singing sensation Shania Twain. John Park sang “If I ever leave you baby” at the Chicago auditions of American Idol 9, which is the last season that the cantankerous Simon Cowell will be judging.

John even had the Kpop hairdo going. Shania complemented John with his beautiful “bottom end” and “nice lips.” Sadly the judges were so stereotyping that they kept saying they were surprised by him. That translates to, I see an Asian man and I expected Will Hung and not someone who can sing. Hopefully John Park will do all Koreans and Asians proud and make it through to the final twelve of American Idol 9.

Jenna Ushkowitz of Glee fame was up on stage with the rest of her cast mates from Glee accepting the award for “Favorite New TV Comedy” at the People Choice Awards.  It beat out Cougartown, Modern Family and other shows.    Congrats to Jenna.  Keep the Glee train going!