Rising Actress’s Four-Way Romance K-Drama Becomes The Biggest Flop of MBC History

Brutal.

If there’s one thing K-Drama producers know, it’s that viewers will not waste time watching shows that don’t interest them. And that brutal nature shows in viewership ratings; It’s no wonder TV channels get so competitive about who gets higher numbers.

That said, MBC is having the most difficult time with its prime time weekend K-Drama.

Crushology 101, starring rising female lead Roh Jeong Eui and male leads Lee Chae Min, Cho Jun Young, Kim Hyun Jin, and Hong Min Gi, premiered on April 11, 2025 (KST) to air every Friday and Saturday at 9:50 PM.

While the webtoon-based K-Drama started off intriguing the viewers with its “four-way campus romance,” the viewership rating has plummeted to an all-time low since the third episode.

Episode 1 started off with 1.3% viewership rating, and while Episode 3 peaked at 1.5%, Episode 8 (aired on May 3, 2025 KST) has dipped to 0.7%—a number that MBC has never seen before. This marks the first time an MBC Friday–Saturday K-Drama has fallen into the 0% range in viewership.

Viewers online mentioned the original webtoon having been an uninteresting one to begin with, as well as subpar scriptwriting, and cringe directing to be all part of the reasons viewers might have turned their backs on this show.

• “This is airing on a public broadcast channel…? Everything about it feels like a web drama.”
• “The original webtoon was trash to begin with. Why would they even adapt that into a drama? LOL. Seriously, were there really no better options for scheduling?”
• “I liked the webtoon, but the poster alone made me skip the adaptation…”
• “What’s the original like..? What’s the story even about?”
• “Funny how Bunny is the best-looking one.”
• “The story going off the rails in the original webtoon could’ve been fixed by the writer and director, but the setup requires the two male leads to be insanely handsome… And sorry, but they’re not quite there.”
• “What’s really baffling is the fact that it’s airing at all. How does something that looks this boring even make it to broadcast?”

Crushology 101 is not the only K-Drama struggling with charming the viewers. Read more about tvN‘s lowest-rating K-Drama in five years:

Highly-Anticipated tvN K-Drama Sees Shockingly Low Viewer Ratings Despite Star Studded Cast