아이 엠 샘

I am Sam is a 2007 South Korean television series starring Yang Dong-geun, Park Min-young, Park Joon-gyu, Son Tae-young, and T.O.P in his acting debut. It aired on KBS2 from August 6 to October 2, 2007 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 16 episodes. Based on the Japanese comic series Very Private Lesson, Yang plays a geeky, straight-arrowed, under-qualified high school teacher who becomes a live-in tutor for the troublemaking daughter of a notorious gangster, in exchange for one million won. The drama received average ratings of around 6.5%. The title is a word play since sam in Korean roughly translates to "teacher" in slang, thus the international title, I am Your Teacher.

I didn't expect much from the cast but I've seen a better performance from Yang Dong Geun and Park Min Young from around the same era. Especially Yang Dong Geun, his 2 previous projects prior to this drama "Dr. Gang (2006)" and "Ruler of Your Own World (2002)" brought a better performance from him. They both feel out of place here with a less than average performance and dynamic, let alone the questionable chemistry. I wouldn't label this drama as a romance since it's mostly a mix of drama, slice of life and pseudo-comedy, and the little bit of alleged romance was left to the end. Additionally, the story was barely serviceable with little to no room to move around. The case is even worse with the side characters and plots.