The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince

GENERAL INFORMATION

The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince

KOREAN DRAMA

Synopsis

Go Eun Chan has been the man of the house since her father died — short hair, taekwondo, whatever jobs pay — and strangers have long since stopped reading her as a woman. Choi Han Kyul, an heir being pushed into running a failing café to prove he can finish something, hires her on exactly that misreading and staffs Coffee Prince with good-looking men. Eun Chan cannot admit what she is without losing the job, and Han Kyul falls for her anyway, which leaves him quietly certain he has fallen for a man.

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THE CAST

CHARACTERS SUMMARY

SYNOPSIS BY EPISODE

EPISODES 01-08

1 Han Gyul, the devil-may-care scion of a family of grocery magnates, meets plucky tomboy Eun Chan, the hardworking breadwinner of her family.

2 Desperate to end the string of boring blind dates arranged by his family, Han Gyul hires Eun Chan, whom he thinks is a man, to pose as his boyfriend.

3 Eun Chan is having a miserable day when she bumps into Han Gyul, who reveals that his grandmother has bought him a dilapidated coffee shop to run.

4 Eun Chan is determined to fit in at Han Gyul's cafe, the Coffee Prince, for which he has hired male waiters, although her first day holds a surprise.

5 With business temporarily suspended at the cafe, Han Gyul and his staff go on a trip that turns out to be both stranger and more fun than anticipated.

6 Han Gyul's cousin Han Sung invites Eun Chan to an exhibit by his former girlfriend, the artist Yoo Joo, and her unusual feminine dress impresses everyone.

7 Han Gyul spends more time with Eun Chan and is distressed by what he begins to feel.

8 When Chairwoman Hong is hospitalised, her devoted grandson is called to her side.

EPISODES 09-17

9 Eun Chan confides in Yoo Joo that she has feelings for Han Gyul.

10 Han Gyul is so confused by his feelings for Eun Chan that he cannot think straight.

11 Eun Chan is hoping to reveal the truth to Han Gyul, but the moment keeps slipping away.

12 Han Sung tries to help Han Gyul and Eun Chan reconcile after the truth comes out.

13 Han Gyul offers a solution to the problem of his upcoming obligations.

14 When Han Gyul tells his mother and grandmother that Eun Chan is the one, the family reacts.

15 When Han Gyul and Eun Chan accompany Yoo Joo on a day out, old feelings resurface.

16 Eun Chan's resolve to become independent before marrying is put to the test.

17 It is Eun Chan's last day at the cafe before she leaves to train as a barista.

VARIETIES

CORRELATION CHART

Audience

Date Episode National AGB Nielsen (%) Seoul AGB Nielsen (%) National TNmS (%) Seoul TNmS (%)
July 2, 2007 01 14.4% 15.5%
July 3, 2007 02 15.3% 16.2%
July 9, 2007 03 18.1% 18.6%
July 10, 2007 04 19.0% 19.8%
July 16, 2007 05 19.3% 20.1%
July 17, 2007 06 23.2% 23.9%
July 23, 2007 07 25.2% 25.3%
July 24, 2007 08 26.8% 28.1%
July 30, 2007 09 25.2% 26.2%
July 31, 2007 10 25.9% 27.3%
August 6, 2007 11 28.4% 30.8%
August 7, 2007 12 29.9% 31.4%
August 13, 2007 13 29.3% 32.1%
August 14, 2007 14 28.1% 30.5%
August 20, 2007 15 27.1% 29.0%
August 21, 2007 16 28.5% 30.8%
August 27, 2007 17 27.7% 29.5%

MORE DETAILS

Broadcast period: July 2, 2007 - August 27, 2007
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55
Viewership ratings: 14.4% - 29.9% (nationwide)
Drama OST: The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince OST

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Producer: Lee Eun Kyu
Director: Lee Yoon Jung
Screenwriters: Lee Jung Ah, Jang Hyun Joo

RECOGNITIONS

Year Award Recognition
2007 1st Korea Drama Awards Most Popular Actor — Kim Dong Wook
2007 1st Korea Drama Awards Most Popular Actor — Kim Jae Wook
2007 1st Korea Drama Awards Most Popular Actor — Lee Eon
2007 1st Korea Drama Awards Most Popular Actor — Lee Han Wie
2007 MBC Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actress — Yoon Eun Hye
2007 MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actor — Gong Yoo
2007 MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actor — Lee Sun Gyun (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress — Chae Jung Ahn (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards Best New Actor — Lee Eon (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards PD Award — Kim Chang Wan
2007 MBC Drama Awards Viewer's Favorite Drama of the Year (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards Popularity Award, Actor — Gong Yoo (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards Popularity Award, Actress — Yoon Eun Hye (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards Best Couple Award — Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo (nominated)
2007 MBC Drama Awards Best Couple Award — Chae Jung Ahn and Lee Sun Gyun (nominated)
2008 44th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress (TV) — Yoon Eun Hye
2008 44th Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Director (TV) — Lee Yoon Jung
2008 44th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Drama (nominated)
2008 44th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Screenplay (TV) — Lee Jung Ah, Jang Hyun Joo (nominated)
2008 20th Korea PD Awards Best Drama
2008 3rd Seoul International Drama Awards Best Actress — Yoon Eun Hye (nominated)

NOTES & VARIETIES

Based on the novel "Coffee Prince" by Lee Sun Mi.
It was Gong Yoo's last work before he left for his military service.
Lee Eon, who played Min Yeop, died in 2008.
The café's logo turns up in other dramas, among them Personal Taste (episode 8) and The Greatest Love (episode 5).
It was dubbed into Spanish and broadcast across Latin America — Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay and Chile — as "El Príncipe del Café".
The Coffee Prince was an old coffee shop in Hongdae, remodelled for filming and reopened afterwards with Han Yoo Joo's flower painting and other props on display. Other Seoul locations included the rooftop of the Seoul Animation Center at the foot of Namsan, standing in for the terrace of Han Gyul's house; the Gwanghwamun branch of Kyobo Book Centre, where he encourages Eun Chan to train as a barista; and the wall between Duksung and Pungmoon girls' high schools near Insa-dong, for the scene in the rain.
In 2011 the Hongdae area and the cafe appeared in "Seoul's Got Soul", a National Geographic Channel documentary about the Korean Wave.
It travelled widely: Japan on Fuji TV from August 2010 as part of the network's Hallyu Alpha Summer Festival, the Philippines on GMA Network from January 2008, Thailand on Channel 7 from April 2008, Malaysia on Animax in 2010, the Middle East on MBC 4 from December 2013 dubbed as "Makha al amir", India on Puthuyugam TV in Tamil from October 2014, and Chile on ETC from September 2016.
It was remade in Thailand and the Philippines in 2012, in China as "Prince Coffee Lab" — announced in 2016 and directed by Kang Shin Hyo of "The Heirs" — and in Malaysia, directed by Michael Ang, from November 28, 2017 on Astro Ria.
In one episode Han Gyul asks Eun Chan to become his sworn brother, a reference to the Oath of the Peach Garden in the Chinese historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Spanish-language songs turn up in the background of some scenes, among them Julio Iglesias' "Solamente una vez". In episode 6 Eun Sae's ringtone is "Beautiful Girl", sung by Kim Ah Joong for the soundtrack of her film "200 Pounds Beauty", and the cinema scene shows footage from "Shrek the Third".

ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK(S)

GALLERY

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