Жоcон әйел-детективі Дамо

South Korean television program

Damo (조선 여형사 다모; lit. "Female Detective Damo in the Joseon Dynasty"; also known as The Legendary Police Woman) is a 2003 South Korean fusion historical drama, starring Ha Ji won, Lee Seo jin, and Kim Min jun. Set in the Joseon Dynasty, it tells the story of Chae ok, a damo relegated to the low status job of a female police detective who investigates crimes involving women of the upper class. It aired on MBC from July 28 to September 9, 2003 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 14 episodes.

Chae ok is the daughter of a nobleman, who was framed for conspiracy and thereafter committed suicide. She got separated from her brother at the age of 7 when she was caught by the officer who then took her to be the slave of Hwangbo Yoon's family. Alongside him, she was raised in the mountains and learned martial arts and sword fighting. She has loved Yoon silently for years, knowing they cannot be together because he belongs to a higher social class. Instead when he becomes a police commander, she joins his bureau as a damo to continue being near him and working with him. When Chae ok goes undercover while investigating a counterfeiting ring, she meets the rebel leader Jang Sung baek. She must try to arrest Sung baek, but despite her bravery and resolve, she finds herself falling for him.

Adapted from Bang Hak gi's manhwa Damo Nam soon and with an expensive budget of per episode, Damo took more than a year to complete. It was filmed in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province. To help elevate the quality of the show, 80 percent of the series was pre produced before airing, a rare occurrence among Korean dramas. It was also the first Korean drama completely shot with HD cameras (previously only used in documentaries). Steering away from traditional historical dramas (in Korean, sageuk; or taiga in Japanese dramas), Damo ushered in the new subgenre "fusion historical drama," with its use of flashy wuxia style high wire action, CG, and a soundtrack that combined traditional music with anachronistic modern rock/electronica. Dedicated online fans coined the tongue in cheek moniker pyein (a word play on pain), referring to themselves as "crippled by pain" because they spend hours in front of a computer writing comments and discussions about the drama and chatting online with other viewers, to an extent of not being able to lead a normal life. The cast and crew also interacted with these netizens online, to better "read" viewers' reactions. Even long after the series had ended, the Damo pyeins continued to generate content, such as a newsletter called Damo Ilbo written in Joseon era Korean language, music videos edited by fans themselves, and thousands of drawings related to the show. Online popularity led to revenue, and MBC earned an estimated a day through Internet residual fees. At the end of the drama's last episode, a caption onscreen read "We would like to thank the Damo pyeins." Damo, which had recorded average ratings of more than 20 percent, became mainstream thanks to the huge popularity it enjoyed online, and it turned into a cultural phenomenon, forcing TV networks to thereafter change their approach to ratings, online content, and viewer feedback.