Finally, news of Group 8′s golf drama Birdie Buddy, which has been given a tentative airdate of March 2011, according to one representative from the production company on November 2.

And it’s about time! It’s not that I’ve been looking forward to this show — I haven’t ( but I have!!!!)— but it did seem to languish for an awfully long time in production limbo, with no apparent progress. In fact, one cast member left the production early on (Lee Mi-sook) because she’d signed on to another drama, Cinderella’s Sister — which has already aired and been done for months now.

Birdie Buddy was initially planning to premiere in June, but obviously that didn’t happen. Perhaps Group 8 was more fixated on putting all its eggs into its Playful Kiss basket, which seemed to get the lion’s share of the promotional budget. All that had been mentioned of Birdie Buddy was that it was continuing to film despite its lack of a timeslot.

It sounds like a bit of spin to frame this additional delay as a seasonal consideration, but I suppose it could be true; apparently it’s a detractor to air a golf series in winter, and therefore they’re pushing it off till spring. According to that same Group 8 rep, the drama will complete filming in late November or early December, making it a 100% pre-produced drama, albeit not by design. (Unfortunately, those pre-produced shows haven’t had a great track record. Some recent examples: Road No. 1, Friend Our Legend, Terroir.)

Not to be a total downer: Birdie Buddy has managed to attract enough interest to sell to seven foreign countries already. That’s a bit surprising, since there are no big “Hallyu”-level names in the cast and the subject matter isn’t very high-concept, but it’s a good thing for the production. Plus, it IS Group 8, who is big on the export angle.

Birdie Buddy attracted some early buzz for starring pop idol UEE; it’s her first leading role after she’d made her drama debut playing a bitchy antagonist in last year’s bubbly hit comedy You’re Beautiful. It also stars Style’s Lee Yong-woo, Legend’s Lee Da-hee, Gloria’s Oh Hyun-kyung, and child actress Jin Ji-hee (High Kick Through the Roof).

Credits: Dramabeans & My Daily (original)