The First Night with the Duke, EP1 kicks off with strong ratings — treble its predecessor Pump Up the Healthy Love’s

For a new K-drama that KBS2 didn’t promote hardly at all, The First Night with the Duke, Episode 1 premiered last night to a strong start.

That strong start was 3.3 percent of the nationwide audience, and 2.7 percent of the viewership in Seoul.

Those ratings were more than treble the audience share its predecessor Pump Up the Healthy Love earned in its final episode in the same time slot last week (1.0 percent nationwide/no reporting from Nielsen Korea for Seoul the rating was that low).

In other words, a nice start for The First Night with the Duke, Episode 1, and one that will be interesting to see how the K-drama’s popularity develops from it when its second episode airs tonight.

International viewers’ reaction to The First Night with the Duke, Episode 1

Now, personally, I don’t trust the rating for the new KBS2 drama on My Drama List so far.

That’s because it is currently rated a high 8.6 out of 10 after its first episode. Something that is rare on that platform. Unless, of course, the drama stars an idol the fan girls are determined to support no matter what he/she creates.

In the case of The First Night with the Duke, those idols are Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun and 2PMs Ok Taec Yeon in the lead roles. Yep, in this case, with two idols — Ie: a double whammy.

That is also why you have some people commenting how “amazing” the first episode was, when it actually wasn’t. (So far, while a bit over-the-top with its comedy, I would assess the K-drama with “entertaining enough”, but nothing to write home about. Yet.).

That rating will smooth itself out, though, as new episodes drop, which will then allow the average viewer who isn’t a fangirl more of an idea if the Korean drama is worth watching.

The same goes over on Viki, where The First Night with the Duke is streaming, and where the Korean drama is earning a crazy high 9.4 out of 10.

Personally, I liked the first episode well enough. The lead performances are decent, the plot is fun, the supporting cast is excellent, and it is based on a manhwa I enjoyed. The set designs and the costumes are well done too.

Let’s see how it goes from here on out then. With both the drama’s development and its ratings. Eh?

The First Night with the Duke stars Seohyun, Ok Taec Yeon, Kwon Han Sol, Seo Bum June, and Ji Hye Won.

Its next episode drops on KBS2 at 21:50 (KST) tonight, with Viki streaming it internationally.