The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2021
SBS pulled Joseon Exorcist off air after two episodes and wrote off most of its budget
The drama put Chinese-style props on Joseon royalty, and backlash over the distortion forced SBS to cancel it after two episodes, 80% already filmed.
SBS · 2021-03-26
What happened
SBS greenlit Joseon Exorcist (Joseon Gumasa), a historical-fantasy drama depicting Joseon-era royal figures including King Taejong and his son fighting supernatural forces, and began broadcasting it in late March 2021 after filming roughly 80% of the planned run.
The first two episodes showed the royal court using visibly Chinese-style furniture, food and costuming, and depicted real historical figures in ways viewers said distorted them. A public petition demanding cancellation passed 200,000 signatures within days, and advertisers began pulling out.
SBS canceled the drama after only two episodes had aired, forfeiting most of the roughly 32 billion won production budget it had already committed and paid out, even though production was nearly finished.
Why it happened
- The network approved a script and production design without a historical-accuracy review before committing most of the budget.
- Nobody flagged the depiction of Chinese-coded material around Joseon royalty as a risk before broadcast.
- By the time backlash hit, 80% of the season was already filmed, so cancellation meant eating the cost rather than fixing the show.
- SBS chose reputational damage control over trying to salvage a nearly-finished, already-funded production.
The lesson
A show that's 80% filmed is not too far along to cancel if it's the wrong show — the sunk cost is smaller than the cost of finishing it.
Aftermath
SBS issued a public apology and canceled all further broadcast. The controversy became a reference point in South Korea for scrutiny of historical dramas over foreign influence in production design.
Sources
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