Familiar Wife

Familiar Wife
Promotional poster
Also known as	Wife That I Know Wife I Know
Hangul	아는 와이프
Literal meaning	Knowing Wife
Revised Romanization	Aneun Waipeu
Genre	Romance Fantasy Drama Comedy
Created by	Studio Dragon [1]
Written by	Yang Hee-sung
Directed by	Lee Sang-yeob
Starring	Ji Sung Han Ji-min Jang Seung-jo Kang Han-na
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Cho Hyung-jin Kim Sang-heon
Camera setup	Single-camera
Production company	Chorokbaem Media [1]
Release
Original network	tvN
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital
Original release	August 1 (2018-08-01) – September 20, 2018 (2018-09-20)

Familiar Wife (Korean : 아는 와이프; RR : Aneun Waipeu) is a romantic fantasy South Korean television series starring Ji Sung, Han Ji-min, Jang Seung-jo, and Kang Han-na. It aired on tvN from August 1 to September 20, 2018. ^{[2] [3]}

Synopsis

A married couple suddenly finds themselves living entirely different lives after their fates magically change through an unexpected incident.

Cha Joo-hyuk works at a bank and has been married to Seo Woo-jin for five years. When a strange incident happens one day, Joo-hyuk makes a decision that impacts his life and those around him in unexpected ways. Suddenly, the life he had with Woo-jin and his best friend, Yoon Joong-hoo are gone and he is leading a very different life.

How will his first love, Lee Hye-won, factor into his new life? And will it be possible to get his old life back?

Cast

Main

• Ji Sung as Cha Joo-hyuk ^[1]

An ordinary bank employee that becomes unhappy with his life because of his family's financial struggle and constantly being pressured by both wife at home and his direct superior at office.

• Han Ji-min as Seo Woo-jin ^{[4] [5]}

A married woman who tries her best to balance between career and family life. She has been married to Joo-hyuk for five years. During those years, she developed anger issues and easily gets agitated with her husband's simple mistakes.

• Jang Seung-jo as Yoon Joong-hoo ^[6]

Joo-hyuk's best friend who is also an ordinary bank employee with handsome face. His life is changed completely along with Joo-hyuk due to an unexpected incident.

• Kang Han-na as Lee Hye-won ^[7]

Cha Joo-hyuk's first love but due to an incident with Woo-jin, both of them became separated. She is a daughter of an influential businessman and also a cello player.

Supporting

People around Cha Joo-hyuk

• Park Hee-von as Cha Joo-eun, Joo-hyuk's sister who tries to pass a bar examination
• Oh Eui-shik as Oh Sang-sik, ^[8] Joo-hyuk's friend who owns a noodle shop and works there alone

People around Seo Woo-jin

• Lee Jung-eun as Woo-jin's mother ^[9] with severe alzhemizer's disease. Woo-jin decided to put her in a nursing home because of her worsening situation.

Bank employees

• Son Jong-hak as Cha Bong-hee, ^[10] Branch manager of the bank where Joo-hyuk works at. He is kind toward the employees of the branch, especially to Joo-hyuk because of the same surname.
• Park Won-sang as Byeon Sung-woo. Joo-hyuk's direct superior in the branch's loan department. Unlike Bong-hee, he consistently pressurizes his subordinates, especially Joo-hyuk.
• Cha Hak-yeon as Kim Hwan, ^[11] New recruit at the branch and being assigned as Joo-hyuk's subordinate. He is seen slacking around and making mistakes, becomes a further burden to Joo-hyuk's office life.
• Kim Soo-jin as Jang Man-ok The supervisor of transfer department of the branch.
• Kim So-ra as Joo Hyang-sook. ^[12] Bank teller on the deposit team.
• Gong Min-jeung as Choi Hye-jung. Bank teller on the deposit team.
• Kang Hui as Jung Min-soo, a security guard who is mostly seen handling rude customers

Special appearances

• Lee You-jin as Jung Hyun-soo ^[13]
• Kang Ki-young as Park Yoo-sik. Bank customer (ep. 13) ^[14]
• Jo Jung-suk as chef Kang Sun-woo (ep. 15) ^[15]

Production

The first script reading was held on May 9, 2018 at the conference room of Studio Dragon's main office at the 17th floor of DDMC Building in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea. ^[16]

Original soundtrack

Familiar Wife OST
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	2018
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean
Label	Stone Music Entertainment

Part 1

Released on August 9, 2018 (2018-08-09)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Love Me Again"	Ji Pyeong-kwon, Taibian	Ji Pyeong-kwon, Taibian	SF9	03:16
2.	"Love Me Again (Inst.)"		Ji Pyeong-kwon, Taibian		03:16
Total length:					06:32

Part 2

Released on August 16, 2018 (2018-08-16)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Let Me Stay"	Lee Jong-won, Ji Pyeong-kwon	Yeom Seung-jae, Ji Pyeong-kwon	John Park	02:51
2.	"Let Me Stay (Inst.)"		Yeom Seung-jae, Ji Pyeong-kwon		02:51
Total length:					05:42

Part 3

Released on August 23, 2018 (2018-08-23)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"No Longer Mine" (왜 몰랐을까)	Dingo	Dingo	Roy Kim	03:36
2.	"No Longer Mine (Inst.)"		Dingo		03:36
Total length:					07:12

Part 4

Released on September 6, 2018 (2018-09-06)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Let Me Show You"	Cho Michelle	Damon Sharpe, Rob Persaud, Adam Argyle, Cho Michelle	N.Flying	03:06
2.	"Let Me Show You (Inst.)"		Damon Sharpe, Rob Persaud, Adam Argyle, Cho Michelle		03:06
Total length:					06:12

Part 5

Released on September 13, 2018 (2018-09-13)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"You In My Dream" (꿈 속의 너)	Lee Jong-won, Namoo	Ji Pyeong-kwon	Damsonegongbang	03:01
2.	"You In My Dream (Inst.)"		Ji Pyeong-kwon		03:01
Total length:					06:02

Part 6

Released on September 20, 2018 (2018-09-20)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Hello"	Park Woo-sang	Park Woo-sang	U Sung-eun	03:20
2.	"Hello (Inst.)"		Park Woo-sang		03:20
Total length:					06:40

Disc 2:

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Between us"	Various Artists	2:40
2.	"Eternally"	Various Artists	2:24
3.	"IF"	Various Artists	2:22
4.	"Memories"	Various Artists	2:14
5.	"Morning Walk"	Various Artists	2:54
6.	"One fine day"	Various Artists	2:57
7.	"The Beginning"	Various Artists	2:10
8.	"Time to remember"	Various Artists	2:23

Viewership

Familiar Wife : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Season		Episode number																Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	1.254	1.501	1.206	1.556	1.690	1.788	1.776	1.685	1.760	2.039	1.592	1.929	1.776	1.944	1.585	1.781	1.679

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research. ^[17]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (AGB Nielsen) [17]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	August 1, 2018	4.680%(1st)	4.910%(1st)
2	August 2, 2018	5.535% (1st)	6.548% (1st)
3	August 8, 2018	5.104% (1st)	6.160% (1st)
4	August 9, 2018	6.209% (1st)	7.523% (1st)
5	August 15, 2018	6.621% (1st)	7.774% (1st)
6	August 16, 2018	7.259% (1st)	8.594% (1st)
7	August 22, 2018	6.506% (1st)	7.445% (1st)
8	August 23, 2018	6.950% (1st)	7.847% (1st)
9	August 29, 2018	6.879% (1st)	7.892% (1st)
10	August 30, 2018	8.210%(1st)	9.741%(1st)
11	September 5, 2018	7.096% (1st)	8.422% (1st)
12	September 6, 2018	8.106% (1st)	9.636% (1st)
13	September 12, 2018	7.449% (1st)	9.121% (1st)
14	September 13, 2018	7.875% (1st)	9.369% (1st)
15	September 19, 2018	6.709% (1st)	7.831% (1st)
16	September 20, 2018	7.870% (1st)	8.937% (1st)
Average		6.816%	7.984%
The blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This drama aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2018	11th Korea Drama Awards	Best Original Soundtrack	"No Longer Mine" (Roy Kim)	Nominated	[18]

References

1. "지성, tvN '아는 와이프' 출연..로맨스 판타지로 컴백(공식)". Star News (in Korean). Money Today. February 23, 2018.
2. "Ji Sung to Pair with Han Ji-min in Upcoming TV Series". The Chosun Ilbo. June 26, 2018.
3. "Fantasy romance 'Familiar Wife' reminds us of value of familiarity in relationships". Yonhap News Agency. July 25, 2018.
4. "Actress Han Ji-min to return after three-year hiatus". Kpop Herald. July 6, 2018.
5. "'Angelic' Han Ji-min takes role of angry, 'Familiar Wife'". Kpop Herald. July 25, 2018.
6. "Jang Seung-jo to Star in "Knowing Wife"". Hancinema. Sports Donga. April 25, 2018.
7. 강한나, ‘아는 와이프’ 출연확정…지성·한지민과 호흡 [공식입장]. Naver (in Korean). Sports Donga. May 14, 2018.
8. "[공식] 오의식, tvN '아는 와이프' 출연 확정···지성·한지민과 호흡". Seoul Economic Daily (in Korean). July 4, 2018.
9. [공식] 이정은, '아는 와이프' 출연···지성-한지민 잇는 키 활약. Seoul Economic Daily (in Korean). July 23, 2018.
10. "손종학, tvN 새 수목드라마 '아는 와이프' 출연 확정…지성과 호흡". Star Hankook (in Korean). May 16, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
11. "VIXX's N to Join Ji Sung & Han Ji Min's New Drama". SBS News. April 30, 2018.
12. "Kim So-ra to star in "Knowing Wife" as Joo Hyang-sook". Hancinema. Sports Khan. May 1, 2018.
13. "Lee You-jin Recruited for "Knowing Wife"". Hancinema. Nate. May 6, 2018.
14. "강기영, tvN '아는 와이프' 특별 출연..어떤 역할일까?". MK (in Korean). September 12, 2018.
15. '아는 와이프', 특별출연도 특급...조정석, '의리의리'한 카메오 현장 포착 '무슨 역할?'. iMBC (in Korean). 2018-09-18. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
16. "'아는 와이프' 지성X한지민, 설렘 지수 높인 '현실 부부 케미'". Sports Chosun (in Korean). May 29, 2018.
17. "Nielsen Korea". Nielsen Korea (in Korean). Retrieved August 25, 2020.
18. 2018코리아드라마어워즈 후보 공개. KDFO.org (in Korean). September 22, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Familiar Wife at IMDb
• Familiar Wife at Studio Dragon
• Familiar Wife at Chorokbaem Media
• Familiar Wife at HanCinema