The Best TV Shows on KBS1

Every KBS1 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

A broadcaster of distinction, KBS1 has aired more than 20 shows between 1990 and 2024. Highlighting KBS1’s quality programming, 서울뚝배기 and Emperor Wang Gun stand out, premiering in 1990 and 2000. Stay up-to-date with over 20 of KBS1’s elite series, with our list refreshed for October 2026.

  • Larva
    Larva (2011)7.0

    Two curious worms spend their days investigating the otherworldly objects that fall through the grate into their subterranean world.

  • Unpredictable Family
    Unpredictable Family (2023)6.7

    A romantic family drama about a divorced couple who broke up 30 years ago out of hate, reuniting as in-laws through their children and overcoming long overdue conflicts and enmity.

  • My Merry Marriage
    My Merry Marriage (2024)6.4

    A delightful family drama that asks the true meaning of 'happiness' by showing various aspects of marriage such as divorce, remarriage, and single life, and brings about empathy and laughter from all generations. Maeng Gong Hee is a contract designer at Jayce Fashion. Having inherited her strong mother's spirit and her former detective father's athletic ability, she is a rare wild woman these days who has the guts to survive even if she were to be stranded on a deserted island. Gu Dan Soo is the grandson of Jayce Fashion Chairman Hwang Ik Seon and born to a wealthy father and a poor mother. Dan Soo, who was living as a free spirit in a foreign country, comes to Korea according to his grandmother's plan to make a successor to the chairman out of him and he reunites with childhood friend Maeng Gong Hee once again.

  • My Dear Cat
    My Dear Cat (2014)5.8

    While looking for her lost cat, magazine journalist Go Yang-soon meets law school student and part-time photographer Yeom Chi-woong. Soon, they begin to get to know each other and each other's families.

  • Su Ji and U Ri
    Su Ji and U Ri (2024)5.8

    A healing romance begins between fallen star doctor Jin Su Ji and stubborn newbie doctor Choi U Ri.

  • The King Dae Joyoung
    The King Dae Joyoung (2006)5.7

    This 100-episode epic drama vividly depicts the life of King Dae Jo-yeong and other heroes of the Balhae Kingdom, which dates back 1300 years ago.

  • Bread Barbershop
    Bread Barbershop (2019)5.6

    Meet Bread! He's a brilliant cake decorator who gives amazing makeovers to customers in a town inhabited by quirky little food characters.

  • You are My Destiny
    You are My Destiny (2008)5.5

    Jang Sae-byuk is a cheerful and grateful orphan who always tries her best. She dreams of one day becoming an interior designer, despite her lack of education and money. Because of an accident that happened before the story starts (about three years ago), she loses her sight and undergoes corneal transplant surgery. Different events unravel when she encounters the Kim family, who has lost a daughter in a horrible car crash, unbeknownst to everyone besides the father and older brother. The stories then intertwine when Sae-byuk meets the Kim's extended family and the son of a big interior design company, Lohas, in Korea.

  • Smile Again
    Smile Again (2010)5.5

    Raised in America by his mentally handicapped mother Anna, Dong Hae dreams of traveling to Korea to propose to the woman he loves.. After qualifying for a speed skating competition, he smuggles his mother to Korea with him, but his undying devotion to her soon begins causing him problems. Finally reconnecting with his lost love Saewa, Dong Hae finds his affections divided when things don’t work out as he planned in this award-winning daily drama.

  • King Sejong the Great
    King Sejong the Great (2008)4.8

    "The Great King, Sejong" is a full-scale political drama describing how King Sejong and his loyal retainers cooperate and contrive to make his dynasty a better place. While King Sejong was on the throne, the Joseon Dynasty enjoyed increasing prosperity. The drama shows the dramatic processes of how so many new cultural heritages have been devised.

  • Age of Warriors
    Age of Warriors (2003)4.7

    This is a KBS 1TV drama that aired from February 8, 2003 to August 15, 2004.

  • Likeable or Not
    Likeable or Not (2007)4.6

    Likeable or Not is a South Korean television series starring Han Ji-hye, Kim Ji-seok, Jo Dong-hyuk, Yoo In-young, and Lee Young-eun. The daily drama aired on KBS1 from September 3, 2007 to May 2, 2008 on Mondays to Fridays at 20:25 for 172 episodes. It was one of the most highly rated Korean dramas since 2000, reaching a peak viewership rating of 43.9%.

  • Apple of My Eye
    Apple of My Eye (2023)4.5

    A work about the delightful and heartbreaking story of a family growing up while raising a child, centering on a single dad Geum Kang San and adopted child Ok Mi Rae who is the apple of his eye.

  • You Are The Only One
    You Are The Only One (2014)4.0

    The birth of multi-family living under the same roof! In this generation, there is a staggering number of singles across all ages who are opting to live in a shared home in an attempt to save money. In one of these shared homes, there lives a woman who was once a producer but is now a fruit vendor. There's a middle-aged woman who was abandoned by her husband and family. There's even a single father and a foreigner as well. As different as their backgrounds are, the house somehow brings them together. A daughter who was abandoned by her mother shares her pain with a mother who was abandoned by her family. Through some tragic and sometimes hilarious moments, this unlikely family comes together and causes viewers to reexamine the meaning of family in this new age.

  • Emperor Wang Gun
    Emperor Wang Gun (2000)3.2

    Taejo Wang Geon was a 200-episode Korean drama starring Choi Soo Jong in the title role. It became very successful, reaching very high ratings, around 60%.

  • 서울뚝배기
    서울뚝배기 (1990)N/A

  • 사랑은 이런거야
    사랑은 이런거야 (2001)N/A

    It is a drama that gets the sympathy of an unspecified number of people and satisfies their needs.

  • Hometown Over the Hill
    Hometown Over the Hill (2007)N/A

    By depicting the dreams of people living in farming villages, this drama also reveals problems that today’s residents of rural areas face, such as a growing number of biracial children from international marriages and the cutthroat competition to survive.

  • Heaven and Earth
    Heaven and Earth (2007)N/A

    Raised in a loving family but afraid of being hurt, an adopted son keeps his distance from those around him. His longtime friend, who deeply values family, stays by his side as their friendship gradually turns into love. As they grow closer, conflicts involving adoption, remarriage, marriage, and generational differences test their relationships. Through pain, reconciliation, and healing, they discover that family is built through love and understanding, not just blood.

  • Cheer Up, Mr. Kim!
    Cheer Up, Mr. Kim! (2012)N/A

    A family drama involving a 32-year-old unmarried man who is raising four children! Kim Tae Pyung is a domestic helper and a legal guardian for four children who are not related by blood. Mr. Kim and his children go through a range of difficulties on their way to becoming a family. Let’s find out how they learn to accept each other as family members and become a true family!