Dear.M


Dear.M is a 2022 South Korean television series starring Park Hye-su, Jeong Jae-hyun, Roh Jeong-eui, Bae Hyun-sung, Woo Da-vi and Lee Jin-hyuk. It is the spin-off of the webseries Love Playlist. Directed by Park Jin-woo and Seo Joo-wan, and written by Lee Seul, the series follows the university life of six students at Seoyeon University as they search for "M" — the writer of a community article.
The airing of the first episode was postponed from its originally scheduled premiere date of February 26, 2021, on KBS2, in light of emerging school time bullying allegations against the lead actress, Park Hye-su. The series was originally part of a restructured 'Golden Friday' line-up on the KBS2 channel and was planned to air every Friday at 23:10.
It was instead released on OTT platforms U-Next in Japan, and on Viki in selected regions from June 29 to July 6, 2022. The next six episodes were released on July 6, 2022.
Four years after the cancellation of its planned broadcast, cable channel KBS Joy scheduled it to air on Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:50 p.m. KST time slot from April 14, 2025, to May 20, 2025. On June 25, 2025, KBS announced that Dear.M will finally air on KBS2 starting July 9 to August 14, every Wednesday and Thursday at 23:05 to 00:20 KST.
WWW program.kbs.co.kr/2tv/dra...

Synopsis

Things are turned upside down when an anonymous confession is published on Seoyeon University's student forum. Four students – Ma Joo-ah, Cha Min-ho, Seo Ji-min, and Park Ha-neul – from different departments come together in search for "M", the writer of the mysterious confession. They go through university life, changing friendships and realistic budding romances in the course of their search.

Cast

Main

Women's Dormitory Room 103

Men's Dormitory Room 203

Supporting

Seoyeon University

Family members

  • as Cha Min-ju
  • Kim Joo-ah as Kim Mi-young
  • as Moon Taek-geun
  • Song Kyung-hwa as Kim Jeong-im
  • Lee Jae-baek as Seo Ji-hoon

Others

Production

Development

In late June 2020, it was reported that Love Playlist would be rebooted under the working title Dear.M: Love Playlist 2021 with new cast members, except for Bae Hyun-sung and Kim Sae-ron.

Casting

In September 2020, Park Hye-su Kim Sae-ron, Jeong Jae-hyun and Bae Hyun-sung were cast in lead roles, with Kim and Bae reprising their roles from the web series Love Playlist. The series marks Jeong Jae-hyun's acting debut. On October 12, 2020, Kim Sae-ron left the series due to a row over the cast billing order. On October 14, the production company cited a "difference of opinion" as the reason for Kim leaving the cast. Roh Jeong-eui replaced Kim.

Filming

The series is entirely pre-produced with filming scheduled to be completed in early February for the production team to focus on post-production and music editing.

Release

The release of Dear.M was indefinitely postponed due to a controversy involving school violence allegations against Park Hye-su. In response to a petition on the KBS Viewer's Rights Centre requesting the removal of the actress from Dear.M, KBS Chief Producer stated, "As the truth is being challenged on the relevant matter and a police investigation is underway, KBS has implemented postponement of the drama, and we are monitoring the situation until the facts are revealed. Depending on the result, we will implement measures for all matters including the organisation and re-shooting of Dear.M." KBS stated that television series Imitation originally scheduled for May 21, 2021, will be aired on May 7, 2021.
In April 2021, it was announced that, for the time being, the series would be broadcast tentatively in August 2021. On January 11, 2022, it was announced that presently the series has been put on hold till the police investigation results come out.
In March 2022, it was announced that Dear.M would be aired first in Japan in the second half of 2022. KBS further confirmed that they were negotiating with other countries regarding the series' copyright license. In May 2022, the Japanese streaming platform U-NEXT announced in a press release that they would be exclusively distributing Dear.M starting in late June 2022. In June 2022, Viki restored Dear.M in their catalogue and re-released teasers.
On June 29, 2022, the first six episodes of Dear.M were digitally released on Viki and U-Next. Its next six episodes were released on July 6, 2022.

Controversy

On February 24, KBS canceled the broadcast program as actor Park Hye-soo, who plays Majua, was embroiled in controversy over school violence. The schedule for the reorganization is undecided, and the schedule for the reorganization is unclear as it is impossible to change roles due to the nature of the pre-produced drama that has already been filmed. Unless the allegations are clearly resolved, it seems difficult to air on terrestrial television.