The BEST MBC shows of all time
Every MBC show, ranked
We've compiled the average episode rating for every MBC show to compile this list of best shows!
#1 - Infinite Challenge
Largely unscripted, and follows a similar format of challenge-based Reality Television programs, familiar to the audiences in the West, but the challenges are often silly, absurd, or impossible to achieve, so the program takes on the aspect of a satirical comedy variety show, rather than a more standard reality or contest program. In order to achieve its comedic purposes its 6 hosts and staff continuously proclaim, the elements of this show are the 3-Ds, Dirty, Dangerous, and Difficult.
View Episode Rankings
#2 - A Man Called God
Choi Kang-ta is a super agent with a feared reputation who gains powers similar to a god. As a child, he lost his parents and was adopted by an American couple. After becoming an adult, he returns to Korea to exact revenge on the murderer of his father. He learns that there were four people responsible for his father's death. In the midst of carrying out his plans, his partner Vivian betrays him, putting his life in danger. He is nursed back to health by Bo-bae, a reporter he met by chance, and as he falls in love with her, his beliefs are shaken. After recovering from his wounds, he settles down in a slum neighborhood where he befriends the poor residents. For the first time in his life, he is surrounded by warmth and love in his new home, and finds peace within himself. But Hwang Woo-hyun, a high-ranking official at the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and heir to the Hwanglim Group empire, becomes enraged with jealousy that Choi Kang-ta stole Bo-bae away from him and decides to have him eliminated.
View Episode Rankings
#3 - My Blooming Life
This is a melodrama about a woman who received heart transplant and a man who loved his late wife very much. Lee Bom Yi (Choi Soo Young) decided to live her life to the fullest as a token of gratitude for the donor. She then accidentally met Kang Dong Ha (Kam Woo Sung), a single father with two children, unaware that he was the husband of her donor. Kang Dong Ha is baffled that Lee Bom Yi shares many similar traits with his late wife.
View Episode Rankings
#4 - Still, Marry Me
A follow-up of sorts to the hit 2004 drama The Woman Who Wants to Marry, this refreshing, breezy, entirely modern drama depicts the loves and friendships of three women as they each go through turning points in their lives. Comedic, witty, and addicting, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry is a little like a Korean take on Sex and the City or Friends, and is led by a cast of appealing, charismatic actors.
View Episode Rankings
#5 - Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People
Drama series depicts the life of Hong Gil-Dong who is the the first revolutionist and dissident activist in Joseon.
View Episode Rankings
#6 - Jewel in the Palace
'Jewel in the Palace' is set in the middle of the 18th century in Joseon. This was a time when women held little influence in society. It tells the tale of an orphaned kitchen cook who strives to learn the secrets of Korean cooking and medicine and goes on to become the King’s personal physician. It is based on the true story of Jang Geum, the first female royal physician of the Joseon Dynasty.
View Episode Rankings
#7 - Jewel in the Crown
Set during the reign of King Sukjong in the Joseon dynasty, the story focuses on Dong Yi, a water maid who gains the trust of Queen Inhyeon and later the favour of the king when he is moved by her prayers for the health of the Queen during the court disputes caused by Jang Hee Bin. Dong Yi becomes a concubine with the rank of sook-bin and bears a son who will later become the 21st king of Joseon, Yeongjo.
View Episode Rankings
#8 - May Queen
Set in the local setting of Ulsan, this drama is a story of human triumph and success that the heroine Hae-ju achieves. Starting a life in utter poverty will make life depressing and leave a person with a lifetime disadvantage in some cases. Overcoming these obstacles, Hae-ju ultimately finds success. Burdened with the secret past of her parents, Hae-ju navigates treacherous waters to reach her goal.
View Episode Rankings
#9 - The Queen's Classroom
Teacher Ma is very realistic and to her elementary students, she shows how tough it is to live the world. Instead of being a shield for her students, she herself becomes the authority. She often pushes her students to the edge by blackmailing and mischief-making. Whole class of 6-3 (class 3 of the sixth grade) is rebelling against teacher Ma’s educational attitude which is incomprehensible. Sometimes they would betray each other, sometimes they help each other and gradually they realize secret of the reality and make on their own views of the world. This kind of setting of the drama is totally new compared to the previous drama where the teachers were always the protectors of their students.
View Episode Rankings
#10 - Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo
A competitive swimmer crosses paths with his childhood friend, a rising weight lifting star, and realizes that she has a secret crush on his cousin.
View Episode Rankings
#11 - Angry Mom
Mom goes back to school to help children stay away from becoming distorted portraits of adults.
View Episode Rankings
#12 - Ju Mong: Prince of Legend
This is the story of Ju Mong’s life and love in the period between Gojoseon’s fall and Goguryeo’s foundation.
View Episode Rankings
#13 - Coffee Prince
Han-kyul is a smart young man who hates to be tied down to one career in his life. Abhorring the idea of joining the family business, he is ordered by his grandmother to manage a cafe. Unable to disobey his grandmother, he reluctantly takes over the responsibility of running a cafe and begins to immerse himself in the gourmet coffee business. One day, he meets Eun-chan, whom he mistakes as a boy, and learns the meaning of true love...
View Episode Rankings
#14 - We Got Married
Where celebrities take part in a virtual marriage. The couples are given missions to get closer together, and help their marriage grow.
View Episode Rankings
#15 - Miss Korea
This drama takes place in year 1997 and is about a failing cosmetics company that tries to turn a former high school beauty queen into Miss Korea. Oh Ji Young is the former high school beauty queen who has grown up to be nothing more an an elevator girl. Meanwhile, Kim Hyung Joon is an employee of the cosmetics company and will lead the efforts to turn Oh Ji Young into Miss Korea to save his company.
View Episode Rankings
#16 - Kill Me, Heal Me
A love story between the son of a wealthy family who has 7 personalities and a woman who becomes his secret psychiatrist.
View Episode Rankings
#17 - Two Weeks
A man desperately struggles to save his daughter, while on the run after being falsely accused of murder.
View Episode Rankings
#18 - A New Leaf
Kim Seok Joo (Kim Myung Min) is a cold, calculating lawyer who is vying to become successful at all costs. After a fateful accident causes him to lose his memory, Kim Seok Joo must rediscover who he is as a person and choose whether he will fight for justice or fall back into his old ways. Before the accident, he was engaged to the only grandchild of a wealthy family, Yoo Jung Sun (Chae Jung Ahn), but with no memory of her, he begins to fall for Lee Ji Yoon (Park Min Young), an idealistic intern at his law firm. As he regains his memories, will his heart choose new love or old greed?
View Episode Rankings
#19 - Tomorrow (2022)
Made half-human and half-spirit by accident, a young man is employed by a company of grim reapers in the underworld to carry out special missions.
View Episode Rankings
#20 - Couple of Fantasy
This series is based on the 1987 American movie Overboard. Anna Jo (Han Ye Seul) is a rude, feisty, and audacious American-bred heiress who can never be satisfied. She returns to Korea only to continue being a controlling wife to her already cowardly husband, Billy Park (Kim Sung Min). When her yacht gets stuck for repairs, she hires local handyman Jang Chul Soo (Oh Ji Ho) to fix her shower, but when they have a heated spat over her dissatisfaction and non payment, she pushes him overboard and dunks his tools into the ocean right along with him. Later, after a quarrel with Billy that threatens to end their marriage, she herself gets drunkenly pitched overboard and falls victim to a bad case of amnesia.
View Episode Rankings
#21 - The Greatest Love
Ae Jung is a female band member who is already over the hill. When she enters a variety show to pretend marriage with the top star Jin, she gets entangled in a love triangle along with her ex-bandmate Kang Se Ri. Yoon Pil Joo is a doctor of oriental medicine who has no interest in the entertainment industry but meets Ae Jung by chance and falls for her.
View Episode Rankings
#22 - W
Heart surgeon Oh Yeon-joo learns that her father, a famous comic book artist has gone missing. When she goes to her father’s studio, she is kidnapped by a man who splattered with blood all over his clothes. Her instincts as a doctor kick in and she saves the man’s life. But she stumbles upon the realization that the man is not from this world. Crossing into the virtual world of “W” and real world creates all sorts of unexpected situations that lead to conflict and danger.
View Episode Rankings
#23 - The King 2 Hearts
This drama is set in modern day where South Korea is governed by a constitutional monarchy. North and South Korea have agreed to work as a team for The World Officer Championship. Crown Prince Lee Jae-Ha, the self-centered younger brother of the reigning monarch of South Korea, is tricked into joining the team. Meanwhile, North Korean communist agent and trained assassin Kim Hang-Ah agrees to represent her country. Soon, a false story leaks that Jae-Ha and Hang-Ah are engaged. Although the pair are attracted to each other, neither trusts the other. But when tragedy strikes the royal family, Jae-Ha is forced to take on new responsibilities with Hang-Ah at his side.
View Episode Rankings
#24 - My Lovely Sam-Soon
Kim Sam-soon is a baker who has a talent in making pastries and cakes. On Christmas Eve, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun-woo, cheating on her and breaks up. On that same night, she accidentally went into the men's restroom and met Hyun Jin-hun. By sheer coincidence, Jin-hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam-soon is unemployed. Sam-soon is hired as the restaurant's chief baker and the two fight like a cat and dog.
View Episode Rankings
#25 - Fated to Love You (KR)
A chance encounter turns everything upside down for wealthy CEO Lee Gun and office worker Kim Mi Young, and they must deal with the consequences.
View Episode Rankings
#26 - I am Not a Robot
Kim Min Gyu has wealth and success, but lives an isolated life due to his allergy of people. He then meets and falls in love with a girl who is pretending to be a robot for her ex-boyfriend, a genius robots professor.
View Episode Rankings
#27 - Me too, Flower
A tough female police officer who suffers from depression falls in love with a young multimillionaire whom she initially believed was a parking attendant. Instead of counting her lucky stars, she is taken aback by how rich he is. Officer Cha Bong-sun is a peculiar woman who defies the rigid social hierarchy and rails against it. And Seo Jae-hee, the millionaire boyfriend, is a peculiar man who falls in love with this quirky police officer. They fall passionately in love with each other. A crazy sort of love. A story about people, relationships and love.
View Episode Rankings
#28 - Hotel King
A star hotelier holding a grudge against his father unfolds a story filled with plots, betrayal, and desire.
View Episode Rankings
#29 - Pasta
Seo Yoo Kyung started her career as a third ranked chef assistant restaurant, who eventually works her way up to become a chef. She has to deal with Choi Hyun Wook, who is the top chef at La Sfera Italian restaurant. He studied the culinary arts in Italy and started out as a chef assistant at a hotel in Sicily. Hyun Wook eventually worked his way up to become the most widely recognized Italian chef in Korea.
View Episode Rankings
#30 - Splash Splash Love
Dan-Bi is a senior high school student. She has a special ability which allows her to transport to anywhere on rainy days. For her university entrance exam, Dan-Bi can't deal with the pressure and runs off to a playground. Without knowing why, she goes into a puddle and finds herself transported to the Joseon period. There, she meets Lee Do. He is a young King of the Joseon period. Lee Do is in a difficult situation due to droughts and the spread of an epidemic.
View Episode Rankings
#31 - Can You Hear My Heart
The love story of Cha Dong-joo, a man who's been rendered deaf after an accident but pretends he can hear, and Bong Woo-ri, a woman who's intelligent but pretends she's dim-witted to protect the dignity of her mentally handicapped father.
View Episode Rankings
#32 - 9 End 2 Outs
The drama is about love of singles in their 30s. Hong Nan Hee is an ordinary worker at a publishing firm, she's a girl who always falls in and out of love since she was young until she realizes that an old classmate and her best friend, Byun Hyung Tae, has always been there for her. Hyung Tae may seem to be a good catch in the eyes of many women but he's only a cowardly boy to Nan Hee whom he grew up with. '9 End 2 Outs' is using the baseball theme to compare to the fates and lives of the people in love.
View Episode Rankings
#33 - Pride and Prejudice (2014)
A legal drama about team of young and passionate prosecutors who banded together to fight against injustice and oppression that befall weak and poor people. Besides face many hardships from higher authority, they also learn to cooperate and adjust with the clash of different personalities and backgrounds.
View Episode Rankings
#34 - Time Between Dog and Wolf
After his mother is brutally murdered in front of him by the Thai criminal syndicate Cheongbang, Lee Soo Hyun (Lee Jun Ki) is adopted into NIS agent Kang Jung Ho’s family. Together with Kang Min Gi (Jung Kyung Ho), Jung Ho’s son, Soo Hyun becomes an NIS agent. When Soo Hyun met Suh Ji Woo (Nam Sang Mi) they were about twelve years old and has another fateful encounter with her 13 years later. Together they had promises for the future. One day, Soo Hyun leaves for an operation dealing with the Cheongbang, only to return in failure because of the resurfacing terrible childhood memories of when he was in Thailand. The chief of NIS agents, Jeong, proposes to the distraught Soo Hyun to infiltrate the Cheongbang. Through Chief Jeong’s proposition, Soo Hyun becomes an undercover NIS agent after staging his death. Hiding his past, Soo Hyun infiltrates the Cheongbang with revenge in mind, leaving Ji Woo behind. Under the pseudo-name of Kay, he passes through the backstreets of Bangkok. What Soo Hyun didn't know was Ji Woo is the daughter of the same villain, who killed his mother and father.
View Episode Rankings
#35 - When a Man Falls in Love
Han Tae-Sang (Song Seung-Heon) is a former gangster, but now a successful business man. He has a cold-blooded decisiveness and incredible drive. This helped him to attain his current status, as he started with nothing. He then meets a younger woman named Seo Mi-Do (Shin Se-Kyung). Her personality reminds him of himself when he was that age. Han Tae-Sang begins to feel love for the first time in his life. Seo Mi-Do is full of ambition and she is also bright and lovely. Seo Mi-Do isn't afraid of anything, because she went through so many difficult times when growing up. A man named Lee Jae-Hee (Yeon Woo-Jin) then confronts Han Tae-Sang over Seo Mi-Do.
View Episode Rankings
#36 - Empress Ki
Sung Nyang of Goryeo pretends to be a boy to survive in the Yuan Dynasty and becomes its Queen.
View Episode Rankings
#37 - Shopaholic Louis
Kang Ji Sung is the only chaebol heir after his parents died in a tragic accident when he was a child. Raised by his overprotective grandmother, he lived as "Louie" in France, sheltered from life with no real friends. Louie tries to fill his emotional void by traveling all over the world and spending money without any care as to what he is buying. When Louie returns to Korea to the bustling city of Seoul, he gets into an accident and loses his memory. But Louie meets Go Bok Sil, a sweet young woman who came to the city from a rural town to try to make something of herself, and she takes him into her home. Cha Joong Won, a department director for Louie's grandmother, sees the young heir as a threat to his career while also falling for Bok Sil. Can Bok Sil help Louie return to his rightful place in life?
View Episode Rankings
#38 - Extra-ordinary You
What would you do if you found out that you were, in fact, a character in a comic? And an extra character on top of that? Change the course of the story, obviously! Eun Dan Oh is a 17-year-old high-school student from a wealthy family who suffers from a lifelong heart condition that inevitably means she will not live past her teenage years. However, when Dan Oh realizes she is experiencing long gaps in her memory as well, she comes into the unhappy realization of another fact in her life: she is a character in a Korean webtoon and all of her actions are predetermined by the artist who draws her. To make matters worse, she discovers she is only a supporting character in the cast. With her newfound understanding of the world she inhabits, she is determined to find true love in her own plot-line and circumvent the author’s plans for her character by utilizing the flashes of storyboard she alone is able to see.
View Episode Rankings
#39 - The Great Queen Seondeok
The life story of Queen Seondeok, the first queen of the Korean people during the Silla Dynasty.
View Episode Rankings
#40 - Triangle (2014)
When three brothers were very young, they lost their parents. The three brothers were then separated and lived apart for 20 years without knowing of each other. They then meet again unexpectedly and begin their relationship as brothers. Jang Dong-Soo (Lee Beom-Soo) is the oldest brother. He works as a detective. Jang Dong-Woo (Siwan) is the youngest brother. He was adopted by a rich family when he was a baby and became Yoon Yang-Ha. He is cynical and cold.
View Episode Rankings
#41 - The Moon that Embraces the Sun
Years after she's assumed dead by the palace, a young noblewoman, now trained as a shaman, returns to court to reclaim her rightful position as queen.
View Episode Rankings
#42 - The Flower in Prison
Born and raised in prison, Ok Nyo finds her true self by working through hardships with good people.
View Episode Rankings
#43 - She Was Pretty
Ji Sung-joon has a crush on the most beautiful girl in town, Kim Hye-jin - the only problem is, he's unattractive and lacks self-esteem. As fate would have it, years later Sung-joon grows up to be not only successful, but extremely attractive. However, when he runs into his first love Hye-jin, she has become unattractive and poor. Can their love transcend the vanity they both associated with each other?
View Episode Rankings
#44 - Children of Nobody
Cha Woo Kyung is a child counselor who her life seems perfect. However, her perfect life doesn't last long, when an accident changes her life. She then meets Kang Ji Hun, a detective who is strict toward criminals and believes they should be punished to the full extent.
View Episode Rankings
#45 - Shine or Be Mad
Based on the novel of the same name by Hyun Go-Woon, the series tells the romance of a Goryeo prince and a Balhae princess, both of whom were deemed cursed by their families due to their prophesied fates. Although born a prince of Goryeo, Wang So was exiled from the palace at a young age due to a prophecy that foretells he will bring bloodshed to the royal family. By chance, he meets Shin Yool, the last princess of Balhae who was prophesied to become the "light of another nation." Brought together by a whirlwind marriage, they eventually fall in love and help each other confront their own fates.
View Episode Rankings
#46 - Marriage Contract
Kang Hye Soo is a single mom. Her husband dies in an accident and she raises her little daughter alone. Afterwards, She learns that she has brain tumor. She then signs a Marriage Contract with a rich man, Han Ji Hoon in order to find a guardian for her daughter.
View Episode Rankings
#47 - Pucca
"Pucca" is a TV series based on a Flash animation series published by Vooz Character Systems. It follows the trails and exploits of a South Korean girl named Pucca who is insanely in love with a prideful ninja named Garu. Meanwhile, Garu and Pucca help their town of Sooga Village out when evil ninjas attack, as well as diffuse a lot of the absurd situations that frequently plague the town. This show could best be described as a cleaned-up version of South Park meets Looney Tunes meets Naruto. There is some very subtly hidden adult humor; but most of the adult jokes would not go noticed by small children, who are the primary audience.
View Episode Rankings
#48 - One More Happy Ending
What if true happiness comes only after you’ve gone around the block a few times? Han Mi Mo and Baek Da Jung were members of a former girl group known as Angels. They now run a remarriage consulting company that gives divorced people a second chance at love. Mi Mo is divorced while Da Jung is in a troubled marriage to a rich man. Former band mate Go Dong Mi is now an elementary school teacher while Hong Ae Ran works for an Internet shopping mall. When the four friends all become entangled with Song Soo Hyuk, an entertainment reporter and single father, and his friend, Goo Hae Joon, will they get a second chance at love?
View Episode Rankings
#49 - My Secret Terrius
A woman named Go Ae-Rin loses her husband. Along with her neighbour Kim Bon, who is a NIS agent, they discover the truth behind her husband's involvement in a huge conspiracy.
View Episode Rankings
#50 - Big Mouth (2022)
A lawyer, caught up in a murder case, becomes a notorious and genius con artist overnight, in order to fight against a huge conspiracy and survive.
View Episode Rankings