7 Brilliant K-Dramas That Playfully Mock & Satirize... K-Dramas

When a genre starts poking fun at itself, it shows how far it has come and how big it really is. In the world of K-dramas, self-satire is still a rare gem, but when it does happen, it's so sudden and hilarious that you can't help but laugh your socks off.

Here are seven K-dramas that flip the script and give their own genre a playful nudge in the ribs.

Scripting Your Destiny (2021)

IMDb rating: 7.2/10

Where to stream: Viki, iQIYI

Shin Ho-yoon is a powerful spirit who writes people's destinies. When he is tasked with finding a romantic partner for a young woman, he decides to borrow ideas from the script writer of a makjang drama, resulting in ridiculous clichés and a drama-filled story in which Ho-yoon suddenly finds himself involved.

You Are My Spring (2021)

IMDb rating: 7.3/10

Where to stream: Netflix, TVING

The show is primarily a slow-burning romance with a murder mystery, but it has a few comedy bits, mostly revolving around one of the leads, a K-drama actress who is currently making a show about a Joseon Dynasty princess jumping back and forth in time. The uproarious detail is that the time machine is the toilet of the drama's male lead.

The King of Dramas (2012)

IMDb rating: 7.5/10

Where to stream: Prime Video, Kocowa, SBS World

The show is older and probably didn't intend to satirize the genre, but as the desperate CEO of a drama production company, an idealistic rookie screenwriter, and a self-absorbed top star try to make their new K-drama a hit, the amusing self-deprecation is hard to miss.

Extraordinary You (2019)

IMDb rating: 7.8/10

Where to stream: Netflix, Prime Video, Viki, WeTV, iQIYI

Eun Dan-oh discovers that she is not an ordinary student, but a minor character of a webtoon and the one who, according to the genre, must die soon. The girl sets out to change her own arc and fight against the tropes and clichés surrounding her.

Be Melodramatic (2019)

IMDb rating: 8.0/10

Where to stream: Netflix, Viki

Jin-joo, Eun-jung, and Han-joo are three 30-something friends who all work in television. The women end up producing the same K-drama, which becomes a mirror of their own personal stories. Chucklesome in-jokes and nods to the genre are guaranteed.

Because This Is My First Life (2017)

IMDb rating: 8.1/10

Where to stream: Netflix, Viki

The female lead of the show, Yoon Ji-ho, is a struggling assistant screenwriter who rents a room from the male lead. Ji-ho's work life is all about K-dramas, and the woman strives to break the stereotypes, which turns out to be a difficult thing to do.

Business Proposal (2022)

IMDb rating: 8.1/10

Where to stream: Netflix

Kang Tae-moo is the big chaebol heir who is forced by his grandfather to find a wife and decides to enter into a contract marriage with a girl he has just met. The grandfather is an avid K-drama fan, and as Tae-moo's story unfolds, we see him watching a series that mimics the plot of Business Proposal and pokes fun at the fake marriage trope