🔥Na PD's new show just hit 1.3% and I have a theory

우주떡집 is Na Young-seok's tvN show where Lee Young-ji, Mimi, An Yu-jin and Lee Eun-ji run a food shop, and the ratings have been sliding all season. It premiered on July 31 with 2.9%, dropped to 1.8% by episode 9, and episode 10 on October 2 hit 1.3%, its lowest so far.

On top of that there was a fuss about the pop-up store merch. Some visitors said the prices were way too high, with an apron at 40,000 won and a keyring at 25,000 won. That one stings because the whole charm of a Na PD show is that it feels homemade and cozy. It's hard to sell cozy when the apron costs more than dinner. My other read is that eleven episodes of the same shop routine is a lot, and the show seems to know it. This week's episode, the 11th, brings in Do Kyungsoo as an experienced kitchen part-timer who starts doing things his own way, makes his own dough for a pizza that sold out, and ends up in a dough-baking race with Lee Young-ji where the winner gets a wish. Mimi apparently tells Young-ji the tables have turned. There's also their first free group performance, led by Lee Eun-ji, who used to work as a clown. Bringing in Kyungsoo to shake up the kitchen is exactly the right move. I just think it should have happened five episodes ago.