# My Father Is Strange (아버지가 이상해)
**My Father Is Strange** (아버지가 이상해) is a South Korean family drama series that aired on KBS2's weekend slot from March 4, 2017, following a diligent father who hides a life-changing secret and the four adult children whose lives are upended when a young movie star moves into their home[1](https://kbs-america.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/KA_CM_201704.pdf). Written by Lee Jung-seon and directed by Lee Jae-sang, with production by iHQ, it ran for 52 episodes of about 70 minutes each[2](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110619635) • [3](https://global.kbsmedia.co.kr/Guide/Data/guide_drama2019.pdf). KBS's international catalog describes it as "a heartwarming family drama with a hint of comedy"[3](https://global.kbsmedia.co.kr/Guide/Data/guide_drama2019.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Broadcast | KBS2 weekend drama, first aired March 4, 2017, Saturdays and Sundays at 7:55 p.m. KST[1](https://kbs-america.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/KA_CM_201704.pdf) |
| Length | 52 episodes, about 70 minutes each[3](https://global.kbsmedia.co.kr/Guide/Data/guide_drama2019.pdf) |
| Production | Writer Lee Jung-seon, director Lee Jae-sang, production company iHQ[2](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110619635) |
| Central premise | Father Byun Han-soo lives under a secret identity; idol-turned-actor Ahn Joong-hee moves in with the family while searching for his birth father[4](https://star.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/OhmyStar/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002325121) |
| Main cast | Kim Young-chul, Kim Hae-sook, Ryu Soo-young, Lee Yu-ri, Lee Joon, Jung So-min, Ryu Hwa-young[5](https://asianwiki.com/Father_is_Strange) |
| Contemporary themes | Civil-service exam retaking, cohabitation before marriage, "graduation divorce" (졸혼), workplace bullying, fan culture[6](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp) |
| Reception | Highest-rated program in its timeslot while airing in mid-2017[6](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp) |
## Premise and the father's secret
Byun Han-soo (Kim Young-chul) runs a snack shop and has spent his life working for his wife Na Young-sil (Kim Hae-sook) and their one son and three daughters. KBS's character notes describe him as a diligent father with "a secret that he can never tell out to the world," a secret his wife knows and has accepted for the sake of the children[7](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1108).
The secret is the drama's central plot. As the critic Woo Dong-kyun explained in OhmyStar, Han-soo is in fact Lee Yoon-seok, who took on his friend Byun Han-soo's identity after that friend's death; Ahn Joong-hee ([Lee Joon](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-joon)), an idol-turned-actor who moves in with the family, is the son of the deceased real Byun Han-soo[4](https://star.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/OhmyStar/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002325121). Joong-hee, who never felt a father's affection, proposes living with the family, and the parents accept him while keeping the truth hidden[4](https://star.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/OhmyStar/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002325121) • [7](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1108).
## The four children and their storylines
The Byun siblings each carry a distinct storyline grounded in contemporary Korean life[8](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp):
- **Byun Joon-young** (Min Jin-woong), the eldest son, has spent five years preparing for the civil service examination and carries an inferiority complex as the seemingly incapable firstborn[8](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp).
- **Byun Hye-young** (Lee Yu-ri), the eldest daughter, is a lawyer at a large firm who hides her cohabitation with her rekindled first love, television producer Cha Jung-hwan ([Ryu Soo-young](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryu-soo-young))[8](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp).
- **Byun Mi-young** ([Jung So-min](https://www.edgepedia.org/jung-so-min)), an entertainment company intern whose boss turns out to be a former classmate who bullied her, later becomes Ahn Joong-hee's manager and his love interest[7](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1108) • [8](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp).
- **Byun Ra-young** ([Ryu Hwa-young](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryu-hwa-young)), the youngest, is a yoga instructor[8](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp).
The supporting cast includes Kang Seok-woo as Cha Gyu-taek, Jung-hwan's father, who considers a "graduation divorce" after retirement, and Song Ok-suk as his wife Oh Bok-nyeo[5](https://asianwiki.com/Father_is_Strange) • [8](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp).
## Themes and style
Critics identified the drama's appeal in how it updated the traditional weekend family format. The columnist Kim Kyo-seok wrote in the Hankyoreh that after 2012's *My Husband Got a Family*, KBS weekend dramas had kept the classic family-drama structure while adding contemporary realism and comedy codes for younger viewers[6](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp). *My Father Is Strange* folded in subjects rarely central to the genre: a son retaking the civil service exam for five years, a meeting between a school bullying perpetrator and victim, pregnancy-related job insecurity, celebrity fan culture, education costs, and new marriage customs such as small weddings and graduation divorce[6](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp).
**Formal experimentation** also drew notice. Where the predecessor *The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop* had leaned on sound effects and computer graphics, this series made active use of what the Hankyoreh called Tarantino-style flashbacks, showing an event's outcome first and then rewinding to reveal the causal chain, an editing technique almost unused in weekend dramas[6](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp).
The drama was not without criticism. A review in OhmyStar argued that while the title points to the father, the more important conflicts belong to the children, and it faulted the siblings' treatment of Joong-hee as organized, near-ostracism, and a double standard in how the family judged Hye-young's cohabitation versus Joon-young's premarital pregnancy[4](https://star.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/OhmyStar/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002325121).
## Reception and broadcast history
While airing, the drama recorded the highest ratings among programs in its timeslot, according to a June 2017 Hankyoreh column[6](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp). KBS's 2017 year-end review placed it alongside *The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop* as a hit that continued the tradition and prestige of the broadcaster's weekend series[9](https://padmin.static.kbs.co.kr/nbroad/2018/7/23/1532326896448_nbroad.pdf).
In June 2017 the Korea Communication Standards Commission reviewed a kiss scene between Lee Joon and Jung So-min that aired June 11, after complaints that the scene, in which a director pressures Mi-young to kiss Joong-hee during a shoot, depicted workplace sexual harassment[10](https://www.soompi.com/article/997025wpp/kiss-scene-lee-joon-jung-min-review-depiction-sexual-harassment-father-strange).
KBS WORLD TV aired the series internationally with English subtitles, and it remains available on streaming services including Rakuten Viki, OnDemandKorea, and Kocowa[7](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1108) • [11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/my-father-is-strange).
## References
1. [KBS America program material, April 2017](https://kbs-america.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/KA_CM_201704.pdf)
2. [OSEN, "'아버지가' 빛내는 이준·남태부vs민진웅·이준혁 케미" (April 7, 2017)](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110619635)
3. [KBS Program Catalogue 2019, Drama](https://global.kbsmedia.co.kr/Guide/Data/guide_drama2019.pdf)
4. [OhmyStar, "<아버지가 이상해>의 황당한 시선... '자식들이 이상해'" (May 13, 2017)](https://star.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/OhmyStar/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002325121)
5. [AsianWiki, My Father is Strange](https://asianwiki.com/Father_is_Strange)
6. ['아버지가 이상해' 이상하게 끌리네, 경향신문](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201706162121005/amp)
7. [KBS WORLD TV program page, My Father is Strange](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1108)
8. [Sports Kyunghyang, "'아버지가 이상해'가 새로 쓸 주말극의 공식" (May 10, 2017)](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/201705100800003/amp)
9. [KBS 2017 drama year-end report](https://padmin.static.kbs.co.kr/nbroad/2018/7/23/1532326896448_nbroad.pdf)
10. [Soompi, "Kiss Scene Between Lee Joon And Jung So Min Under Review For Depiction Of Sexual Harassment" (June 12, 2017)](https://www.soompi.com/article/997025wpp/kiss-scene-lee-joon-jung-min-review-depiction-sexual-harassment-father-strange)
11. [JustWatch, My Father is Strange streaming](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/my-father-is-strange)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Family and domestic drama › Family sagas and household dramas*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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