[HanCinema's News] Oh Sang-ho Out as Screenwriter for "Taxi Driver"

On May 17h "Taxi Driver" confirmed that screenwriter Oh Sang-ho had been removed from the production of "Taxi Driver" which is currently airing on SBS. Purportedly, there were creative differences between him and director Park Joon-woo over how to proceed with the drama's final acts. Apparently the firing had occurred quite some time ago. Episode 11 of "Taxi Driver" was the first to have Lee Ji-hyeon-II as the credited screenwriter. It aired on May 14th with no comment by fans as to a noticeably different tone.

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The twelfth episode of "Taxi Driver" had ratings of 15.3%. While not the record for the drama, which would be the sixth episode with 16% ratings, the difference is not significant enough to expect an immediate downturn. However, any discontent with the creative direction of "Taxi Driver" would take time to percolate. There are a total of sixteen episodes for the drama.

This is not the first time "Taxi Driver" has found itself embroiled in controversy. Charges of school days bullying against actress Lee Naeun forced her character to be recast ahead of the drama's airdate in early March, despite sixty percent of filming already being completed. She was replaced by Pyo Ye-jin, forcing a reshoot of all of her scenes. This was troublesome for cast and crew, though they did still have a month before the drama began airing in April. "Taxi Driver" airs on Friday and Saturday night.

Written by William Schwartz