Traveling televisual texts: transnational adaptations of "Doctor Foster" into Korea's "The World of the Married" and the Philippines' "The Broken Marriage Vow"

Korean dramas, commonly referred to as Koreanovelas or K-Dramas in the Philippines, have significantly influenced and reshaped Philippine television culture since the early 2000s. Their impact persists in contemporary television programming, reflecting the transnational flow of media texts across borders. As media content transcends geographical boundaries, local media companies have adopted the practice of producing adaptations of foreign television series for their audiences. This paper examines the adaptation of the Koreanovela The World of the Married into the Philippine series The Broken Marriage Vow, both of which are adaptations derived from the British show Doctor Foster. Through this comparative analysis, I argue that the process of localizing these television shows to suit the preferences of the target audience serves as a tangible manifestation of transnational adaptation. Particularly in an era of globalization, where entertainment is still a thriving enterprise, thus traversing international borders, this phenomenon demonstrates the evolving nature of television content as it adapts and caters to diverse cultural contexts let alone a profitable means to generate an ailing entertainment industry, especially in the time of the pandemic.