MANILA, Philippines – TVN revealed that it mulled using artificial intelligence (AI) to replace a character in the upcoming second season of hit crime drama “Signal” but decided against it.
The Korean cable channel said that it reconsidered using AI because it rendered an unnatural acting performance of the character.
The said character is presumably Lee Jae-han, portrayed by Cho Jin-woong, who had to announce his retirement from showbiz last year after a juvenile record and past misbehavior including assault allegations and drunk driving resurfaced last year.
“Second Signal” will air on December 7, after it got delayed from its original June 2026 airing as part of TVN’s 20th anniversary offering.
“The past misconduct of a particular cast member is certainly not something we, as a broadcasting network, can take lightly. However, ‘The Second Signal’ is not the work of one individual cast member alone. From its initial planning stages through filming and post-production, it has been a collaborative creation shaped by the time and efforts of numerous staff members, production crew, and other people involved. We believe it is important to distinguish between judgments about an individual cast member, the value of the work itself, and the efforts of the creators who contributed to it,” TVN’s statement read.
The eight-episode “Second Signal” will air as a Monday-Tuesday show. TVN will release the first three episodes on its premiere week, with the first two episodes airing consecutively and the third episode for airing the next day.
“Before reaching this decision, we thoroughly explored various ways to minimize concerns while maintaining the drama’s overall quality. We considered making adjustments using video technology and even conducted tests to replace a character using AI. However, we found that these methods had limitations in naturally reproducing acting performances and maintaining the flow of the narrative, making their final implementation difficult.
“We would like to make it clear that releasing the drama does not mean endorsing or justifying the issues surrounding the individual involved. While we recognize that this decision may not fully address all the concerns viewers have raised, we also believe it is important to consider those who have been waiting for the drama for a long time, as well as the many actors, staff members, and production crew who have worked tirelessly in their respective roles to bring it to completion,” TVN added.
The first “Signal” series was a hit cop drama aired in 2016 that revolved around three cops, a series of unsolved murders, and a mysterious connection of two different timelines, 1989 and 2016, via a walkie talkie.
Lee Je-hoon stars as young criminal profiler Park Hae-young who can talk to Jae-han, long presumed dead and missing. Jae-han’s old buddy, Cha Woo-hyun (Kim Hye-soo), is now Korea’s first female leader of the Seoul cold case squad who has been trying to solve Jae-han’s missing person cold case.
RELATED: ‘Signal’ star Cho Jin Woong retires over past juvenile offenses