REVIEW: ‘A-List To Playlist’ Can’t Fully Engage With The Audience

With numerous credits to his name, Cho Jung-seok could feel accomplished with his career as an actor. But he has always harbored the desire to become a singer/songwriter. Now, he has his opportunity. The only catch is that he has only 100 days to get his first album ready. A-List to Playlist chronicles the journey from his first step into a recording studio to the first public performance of his new songs.

Creating art is a challenging process. Endless thought, planning, and iteration make up the sequence of events that see a project go from rough concept to finished work. Many of these moments are filled with creative typing or strumming a few notes, only to shake their head in frustration as the creation doesn’t match the concept they have in their head. You can only show so many of these moments across an eight-episode series before it gets boring. So what do you fill the time with? That is a question A-List to Playlist tries to work out, with mixed results.

While writing songs and performing them are the centerpiece of Cho’s journey, far more goes into producing an album than just the songs. How to build public interest, getting collaborations with other performers, and setting up a venue to introduce the public to your music can all come into play. This is far more than any one person could handle, especially in a 100-day window. Luckily for Cho, his years in the entertainment industry have made him numerous connections. From his wife, singer Gummy, to producers and other performers, whenever a challenge arises that Cho isn’t suited for, he knows someone who can help him. And they are all only too happy to extend him a helping hand.

This plethora of support becomes a hindrance for A-List to Playlist in an unexpected way. Nearly every time the team doesn’t know how to tackle something or needs a person to participate in part of their endeavor, a phone call is made, and someone is on the way to help. While it feels bad to knock seeing people so happy to help each other, there is so much support for the team that it rarely feels like any element of the production won’t come together. This lack of tension hinders the audience’s ability to get drawn into the narrative.

Another element working against this program stemming from Cho’s wide support group is the dialogue. A lot of the show’s time is spent seeing Cho catch up with friends he hasn’t seen in a long time. While the casual atmosphere is relaxing and fun, it doesn’t help the show push its main narrative. How relaxed things are also further diffuses any tension around whether or not the project will meet all its goals.

While much of the surrounding pieces of A-List to Playlist deflate the tension, Cho always feels on edge. Despite his career as an actor, Cho’s nervousness about writing and performing in front of a live audience always feels genuine. He comes into the project knowing that he is an amateur in this field and bears the humility of someone trying to keep his head above water. As more and more elements expand the project, the audience can feel the actor racing just to keep up.

Cho’s uncertainty and humble dealings with his friends who come to his aid make him easy to root for as a protagonist. Despite not being able to see much of his work in the day-to-day to prepare for his album’s release, the audience does not doubt that he is putting in every second that he claims to be to get every detail right. His earnestness allows the audience to believe that what transpires between camera shots is as he claims it to be.

Perhaps the best element of A-List to Playlist is how it sequences the journey. Since the series introduces viewers with a bold D-100 counter, they will likely assume that the series would chronologically present the story as the counter ticks down to zero. However, the series paces out each obstacle’s introduction over its run time. This allows new obstacles to pop up later in the series. When an element is introduced, the series jumps back in time to introduce a new moment or expand upon a previous scene, showing the problem’s origins.

This allows a sense of newness throughout the series while keeping the early portion from being bogged down, introducing every single problem that will need to be overcome. The entire show runs more smoothly this way.

A-List to Playlist is an enjoyable series that allows the audience to root for a wonderfully likable protagonist. While many problems are solved too smoothly to engage the audience with its journey fully, the series introduces new elements frequently enough that something is always being presented to its viewers.

A-List to Playlist is streaming now on Netflix.