Endless Love (2000 TV series)

Endless Love
Directed by	Yoon Seok-ho
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language(s)	Korean
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	76
Production
Producer(s)	Lee Jae-sang
Release
Original network	Korean Broadcasting System
Original release	September 18, 2000 – May 16, 2006

Endless Love was the unofficial title for a set of four Korean drama series directed by Yoon Seok-ho, produced by KBS from 2000 to 2006.

It featured four parts, with each named after the seasons of the year. Each part of the series had its own plotlines, characters, and actors. The series was widely viewed in Asia and continued the Korean Wave that had gripped the region since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Later on, as the series progressed and was marketed outside of Korea, the moniker 'Endless Love' stuck and was used to identify all the series as one.

The series was widely known in South Korea as director Yoon Seok-ho's pet project, dealing with four different seasons of love. In Korea, however, it is not totally put together as a series but is arranged as four separate shows. All the seasons run 20 episodes except for the first which ran only 16 as they were shown on KBS2, in more than 76 episodes. The show's endings not only have evolved with the times (tragedy used to be the trend, but now lighter, happier endings are preferred), but have kept with the theme, getting progressively more positive as 'spring' approaches. A few of the actors who portray the show's supporting characters return in different roles as the series progressed, such as Kim Hae-sook, but only Song Seung-heon played two different characters, both as leads for Autumn and Summer.

Here are the four parts of the 'series':

Many elements of the 'formula' of Korean drama are evident in the shows, but are retained even more clearly in all four shows.

The shows mainly begin with a love that began at some point in the early childhood or teen years and continues on until adulthood, usually after a long separation. This is slightly bent in the 3rd series as the main character's first loves are not the main characters, but still goes by 'first love' involving the heart of the main male character's first girlfriend having been transplanted onto the main female lead.

The shows also seem to emphasize the scenery, making it into one of the main characters (the rice fields in Autumn, the lake in Winter, the tea garden in Summer and the island in Spring).

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