Taxi Driver | |
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Also known as | Taxi Driver 2 |
Hangul | 모범택시 |
Hanja | 模範택시 |
Literal meaning | Model Taxi |
Revised Romanization | Mobeomtaeksi |
McCune–Reischauer | Mobŏmt'aekshi |
Genre | |
Based on | The Deluxe Taxi (Red Cage) by Carlos and Lee Jae-jin |
Developed by | Studio S |
Written by | |
Directed by |
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Starring | |
Music by |
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Opening theme | "Taxi Driver" by Kim Sung-youl |
Ending theme | Various |
Country of origin | South Korea |
Original language | Korean |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 32 + 2 special |
Production | |
Executive producer | Cho Sung-hoon (C.P) |
Producers |
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Editors |
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Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 70 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | SBS TV |
Release | April 9, 2021 Present | –
Taxi Driver (Korean: 모범택시) is a South Korean television series starring Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram with Esom in first season and Shin Jae-ha in second season. Based on the webtoon The Deluxe Taxi (Red Cage) by Carlos and Lee Jae-jin. The first season aired on SBS TV from April 9, to May 29, 2021, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST).[2][3] The second season aired on SBS TV from February 17, to April 15, 2023, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST).[4][5] On April 15th 2023 hours after the Season 2 finale, a third season has been confirmed.[6] It is also available for streaming on Wavve in South Korea, on Kocowa in the Americas, and on Netflix,[b] Viki and Viu in selected regions.[7]
The series is inspired by actual real life heinous crimes committed in Korea.[8] The series received praise from viewers for its performances and storylines.[9][10]
The first season finale achieved the fourth highest rating of any Friday-Saturday drama in SBS history.[11] The second season finale earned a higher rating than the season one finale. It also set a new record for the highest ratings achieved by any miniseries thus far in 2023.[12]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Time slot | Avg. viewership (millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||||
1 | 16 | April 9, 2021 | May 29, 2021 | Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST) | 2.765 | |
2 | 18 | Special 1 | February 16, 2023 | Thursday at 22:00 (KST) | 0.721 | |
16 | February 17, 2023 | April 15, 2023 | Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST) | 2.869 | ||
Special 2 | March 4, 2023 | Friday at 22:00 (KST) | 1.030 |
Kim Do-gi is a KMA graduate who works as a taxi driver for a company which offers a "revenge-call" service to its clients who have been wronged and helps them to exact vengeance.
On December 4, 2019, it was reported that SBS was considering adapting the webtoon The Deluxe Taxi by Carlos and Lee Jae-jin into a television series.[52] Korean streaming platform Wavve was also invested in the series, has also reported that it has previously invested in several other series such as Zombie Detective (2020), Bossam: Steal the Fate (2021), and Alice (2020).[53]
On November 20, 2020, Lee Je-hoon, Esom, Kim Eui-sung and Lee Na-eun were confirmed to star in the series.[13] On March 8, 2021, Lee Na-eun officially left the cast following bullying accusations made against her.[54][55] Two days later, it was announced that Pyo Ye-jin would replace Lee Na-eun.[16]
As of March 8, 2021, about 60% of filming was complete, though scenes featuring Lee Na-eun were scheduled to be re-shot following her removal from the cast.[54][55]
On July 6, 2021, SBS announced the production of second season.[56] On March 8, 2022, it was reported that Esom will be withdrawing from Season 2 due to scheduling inconsistencies.[57]
On June 8, 2022, it was confirmed that Lee Je-hoon and Pyo Ye-jin will reprise their respective roles in Season 2, and a script reading will take place on June 12, 2022. Season 2 is expected to air in 2023.[58] A day later, Kim Eui-sung, Jang Hyuk-jin and Bae Yoo-ram also confirmed to reprise their roles.[59]
Season 2 marks the reunion of Shin Jae-ha and Pyo Ye-jin after working together in the drama VIP.
On July 15, 2022, it was confirmed by SBS that some of the staff had tested positive for COVID-19, causing filming in Vietnam to temporarily halt.[60]
On April 16, 2023, SBS confirmed that a third season was in the works and was in talks with the cast to return.[61]
The first teaser video and teaser poster were released on December 31, 2020.[62]
To promote the second season of the K-drama, Viu, which they brought Season 2 under the Viu Original banner, has invite Lee Je-hoon on his first ever fan-meeting in the Philippines on March 3, 2023,[63] in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 19, 2023[64] and in Singapore on March 25, 2023.[65] Lee also participated in FilMart in Hong Kong, where Viu unveiled Season 2 of the series became the most watched following the premiere.[66]
Taxi Driver OST | |
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Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released |
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Genre | Soundtrack |
Language | |
Label |
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No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Silence" | Yoon Do-hyun | Yoon Do-hyun | YB | 3:25 |
2. | "Silence" (inst.) | Yoon Do-hyun | 3:25 | ||
Total length: | 6:50 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "A Gloomy Letter" (우울한 편지) | Yoo Jae-ha | Yoo Jae-ha | Kwak Jin-eon | 3:40 |
2. | "A Gloomy Letter" ((Classical Ver.)) | Yoo Jae-ha | Yoo Jae-ha | Kwak Jin-eon | 3:40 |
3. | "A Gloomy Letter" (inst.) | Yoo Jae-ha | 3:40 | ||
Total length: | 11:00 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "A Walk" (산책) | Sorri | Lee Han-chul | Pyo Ye-jin | 3:48 |
2. | "A Walk" (inst.) | Lee Han-chul | 3:48 | ||
Total length: | 7:36 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "All Day" | Jeon Chang-yeob |
| Cha Ji-yeon | 3:38 |
2. | "All Day" (inst.) |
| 3:38 | ||
Total length: | 7:16 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Run Away" | Simon Dominic |
| Simon Dominic | 3:16 |
2. | "Run Away" (inst.) |
| 3:16 | ||
Total length: | 6:32 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Moon Light" (달빛) | Choi Han-sol |
| Sanha | 3:30 |
2. | "Moon Light" (inst.) |
| 3:30 | ||
Total length: | 7:00 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Way Home" (귀로) | Lee Joo-yeob | Son Sung-jae | Yoon Do-hyun | 4:25 |
2. | "Way Home" (inst.) | Son Sung-jae | 4:25 | ||
Total length: | 8:50 |
Taxi Driver 2 OST | |
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Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released |
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Genre | Soundtrack |
Language | |
Label |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Fighter" | Hana |
| Ha Hyun-woo (Guckkasten) | 3:15 |
2. | "Fighter" (inst.) |
| 3:15 | ||
Total length: | 6:30 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Haven" (휴게소) |
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| Car, the Garden | 3:24 |
2. | "Haven" (inst.) |
| 3:24 | ||
Total length: | 6:48 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Born This Way" |
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| Zeenan | 3:40 |
2. | "Born This Way" (inst.) |
| 3:40 | ||
Total length: | 7:20 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Wonderful Night" (아름다운 밤) | Park Sung-yong |
| N.Flying | 3:34 |
2. | "Wonderful Night" (inst.) |
| 3:34 | ||
Total length: | 7:08 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "All My Heart" (진심) |
|
| Kang A-sol | 3:33 |
2. | "All My Heart" (inst.) |
| 3:30 | ||
Total length: | 7:03 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Face to Face" |
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| Kang Seung-yoon (Winner) | 3:02 |
2. | "Face to Face" (inst.) |
| 3:02 | ||
Total length: | 6:04 |
Season | Episode number | Average | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||
1 | 1.926 | 2.607 | 2.452 | 3.117 | 2.636 | 3.065 | 2.847 | 2.824 | 2.635 | 3.072 | 2.742 | 3.017 | 2.762 | 2.923 | 2.746 | 2.871 | 2.765 | |
2 | 2.370 | 2.155 | 2.448 | 2.364 | 2.840 | 2.912 | 2.355 | 3.072 | 2.537 | 3.337 | 2.664 | 3.387 | 3.098 | 3.496 | 2.870 | 4.005 | 2.869 |
Average TV viewership ratings (season 1) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ep. | Part | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | ||
Nielsen Korea[80] | TNmS[82] | ||||
Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | |||
1 | 1 | April 9, 2021 | 8.7% (7th) | 9.4% (5th) | 7.3% (10th) |
2 | 10.7% (3rd) | 11.2% (3rd) | 8.7% (7th) | ||
2 | 1 | April 10, 2021 | 7.3% (9th) | 8.5% (5th) | 5.7% (20th) |
2 | 13.5% (3rd) | 15.0% (3rd) | 11.4% (3rd) | ||
3 | 1 | April 16, 2021 | 9.8% (5th) | 10.3% (4th) | 10.0% (5th) |
2 | 13.6% (3rd) | 14.5% (2nd) | 12.7% (1st) | ||
4 | 1 | April 17, 2021 | 11.5% (4th) | 11.8% (4th) | 11.4% (3rd) |
2 | 15.6% (1st) | 16.3% (1st) | 14.6% (1st) | ||
5 | 1 | April 23, 2021 | 12.3% (4th) | 13.3% (4th) | 11.2% (4th) |
2 | 14.2% (3rd) | 15.6% (1st) | 12.8% (3rd) | ||
6 | 1 | April 24, 2021 | 8.7% (5th) | 9.2% (5th) | 9.0% (5th) |
2 | 16.0% (3rd) | 16.8% (3rd) | 15.2% (3rd) | ||
7 | 1 | April 30, 2021 | 12.9% (4th) | 14.3% (2nd) | 11.3% (4th) |
2 | 15.1% (2nd) | 16.3% (1st) | 13.4% (3rd) | ||
8 | 1 | May 1, 2021 | 8.3% (5th) | 9.0% (5th) | 8.6% (5th) |
2 | 15.2% (3rd) | 15.9% (3rd) | 14.4% (3rd) | ||
9 | 1 | May 7, 2021 | 12.0% (4th) | 12.9% (4th) | 12.1% (4th) |
2 | 14.7% (3rd) | 16.0% (1st) | 14.5% (2nd) | ||
10 | 1 | May 8, 2021 | 10.1% (4th) | 11.2% (5th) | 10 4% (4th) |
2 | 15.4% (3rd) | 17.0% (3rd) | 14.9% (3rd) | ||
11 | 1 | May 14, 2021 | 12.4% (4th) | 13.9% (4th) | 11.0% (5th) |
2 | 14.6% (3rd) | 16.3% (1st) | 12.1% (3rd) | ||
12 | 1 | May 15, 2021 | 10.7% (5th) | 11.6% (5th) | N/A |
2 | 15.3% (3rd) | 16.1% (3rd) | |||
13 | 1 | May 21, 2021 | 12.2% (4th) | 12.9% (4th) | 12.4% (4th) |
2 | 14.4% (3rd) | 15.6% (1st) | 13.9% (3rd) | ||
14 | 1 | May 22, 2021 | 10.2% (4th) | 10.7% (5th) | 10.3% (5th) |
2 | 15.5% (3rd) | 16.1% (3rd) | 14.6% (3rd) | ||
15 | 1 | May 28, 2021 | 13.2% (4th) | 13.8% (3rd) | 12.6% (4th) |
2 | 14.4% (3rd) | 15.2% (1st) | 14.1% (3rd) | ||
16 | 1 | May 29, 2021 | 10.9% (5th) | 11.9% (4th) | 11.0% (4th) |
2 | 15.3% (3rd) | 16.6% (3rd) | 14.6% (3rd) | ||
Average | 12.6% | 13.6% | 11.9%[d] | ||
|
Average TV viewership ratings (season 2) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||
Nielsen Korea[81] | TNmS[83] | ||||
Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | |||
1 | February 17, 2023 | 12.1% (3rd) | 12.8% (2nd) | 10.4% (3rd) | |
2 | February 18, 2023 | 10.3% (2nd) | 10.9% (2nd) | N/A | |
3 | February 24, 2023 | 13.2% (3rd) | 14.2% (1st) | 10.5% (3rd) | |
4 | February 25, 2023 | 11.3% (2nd) | 11.7% (2nd) | 10.7% (2nd) | |
5 | March 3, 2023 | 14.7% (1st) | 16.3% (1st) | N/A | |
6 | March 11, 2023 | 14.4% (2nd) | 15.5% (2nd) | 12.4% (2nd) | |
7 | March 17, 2023 | 13.0% (2nd) | 13.7% (2nd) | 11.8% (2nd) | |
8 | March 18, 2023 | 16.0% (2nd) | 17.0% (2nd) | N/A | |
9 | March 24, 2023 | 13.4% (2nd) | 14.1% (2nd) | 11.6% (2nd) | |
10 | March 25, 2023 | 17.7% (1st) | 18.1% (1st) | 11.8% (2nd) | |
11 | March 31, 2023 | 14.5% (1st) | 15.5% (1st) | 11.4% (2nd) | |
12 | April 1, 2023 | 18.3% (1st) | 19.4% (1st) | 13.8% (1st) | |
13 | April 7, 2023 | 16.1% (1st) | 17.4% (1st) | 13.0% (1st) | |
14 | April 8, 2023 | 18.3% (1st) | 19.4% (1st) | 16.7% (1st) | |
15 | April 14, 2023 | 15.7% (1st) | 16.0% (1st) | 11.9% (2nd) | |
16 | April 15, 2023 | 21.0% (1st) | 21.8% (1st) | N/A | |
Average | 15.0% | 15.9% | 12.2%[e] | ||
Special | |||||
1 | February 16, 2023 | 3.6% (16th) | 4.4% (12th) | 3.2% (18th) | |
2 | April 21, 2023 | 5.2% (8th) | 5.8% (6th) | 5.2% (11th) | |
Highlight | |||||
1 | March 4, 2023 | 3.6% (15th) | 3.6% (15th) | 4.8% (10th) | |
|
Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee / Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
APAN Star Awards | 2022 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Je-hoon | Nominated | [84] |
Best Supporting Actress | Cha Ji-yeon | Nominated | |||
Korea PD Awards | 2022 | Best TV Drama | Taxi Driver | Nominated | [85] |
SBS Drama Awards | 2021 | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Lee Je-hoon | Nominated | [86] |
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Won | [87] | |||
Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Esom | Won | [88] | ||
Pyo Ye-jin | Nominated | ||||
Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Kim Eui-sung | Won | [89] | ||
Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Cha Ji-yeon | Won | |||
Scene Stealer Award | Shim So-young | Won | [90] | ||
Best New Actor | Choi Hyun-wook | Won | [91] | ||
Best Supporting Team | Taxi Driver | Nominated | |||
2023 | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Lee Je-hoon | Won | [92] | |
Excellence Award, Actor in a Seasonal Drama | Shin Jae-ha | Won | |||
Excellence Award, Actress in a Seasonal Drama | Pyo Ye-jin | Won | |||
Best Supporting Actor in a Seasonal Drama | Jang Hyuk-jin | Won | |||
Bae Yoo-ram | Won | ||||
Netizen's Best SBS Drama of 2023 | Taxi Driver 2 | Won | |||
Best Young Actress | Ahn Chae-heum | Won | [93] | ||
Scene Stealer Award | Go Sang-ho | Won | [94] | ||
Byun Jung-hee | Won | ||||
Seoul International Drama Awards | 2021 | Outstanding Hallyu Drama Award | Taxi Driver | Won | [95] |
Outstanding Korean Actor | Lee Je-hoon | Nominated |