From Ahn Hyo-seop's Chef Drama to Jun Ji-hyun's Fox Fantasy: JTBC Just Dropped Its Full 2025–2026 Lineup

JTBC released its drama and variety lineup for the remainder of 2025 and all of 2026 on July 31, and two names dominate the near-term schedule: Ahn Hyo-seop and Ahn Bo-hyun, who will anchor consecutive Saturday-Sunday drama slots heading into the year's end.

Ahn Hyo-seop leads Final Table, a culinary competition drama set to premiere in October as the direct follow-up to the currently airing Apartment, which stars Ji Sung. The show centers on an international gathering of chefs competing to be named the best Korean cook in the world, a premise that gives the production plenty of room for visual spectacle and high-stakes tension.

Slotted directly after Final Table is Shin-ui Gusseul (tentatively The Orb of the Gods), a Goryeo-era fantasy period drama starring Ahn Bo-hyun alongside Lee Sung-min. It's an unusual back-to-back pairing, two different actors sharing a single prestige timeslot across consecutive shows, and it reflects how confidently JTBC is leaning on its male leads for the second half of the year.

Looking further ahead, 2026 brings two of the more anticipated names on the roster. Kim Hee-ae returns in Gold Digger, a mystery romance about a successful middle-aged woman and a younger man who are drawn together while quietly doubting each other's intentions. And Jun Ji-hyun pairs with Ji Chang-wook for Human X Gumiho, a fantasy romantic comedy in which a nine-tailed fox who bewitches humans crosses paths with a person who, in turn, attracts supernatural creatures. Jun Ji-hyun's last television work was Jirisan in 2021, so her return to the small screen after several years is the most closely watched announcement in the entire lineup.

On the variety side, JTBC confirmed a time-slot shift for its weekday programming. Starting August 31, weekday variety shows will move from their existing 8:50 p.m. slot to 9:50 p.m. The weekly lineup across those new slots runs as follows: Love War on Mondays, Han Moon-chul's Blackbox Review on Tuesdays, Reporter 25 on Wednesdays, Divorce Retreat Camp on Thursdays, and The Con Artists on Fridays. Weekend staples Knowing Bros (Saturday at 9 p.m.) and Please Take Care of My Refrigerator (Sunday at 8:50 p.m.) keep their existing times.

The variety scheduling confirmation carries some weight given recent context. JTBC entered corporate rehabilitation proceedings earlier this year, and during that period shows including Han Moon-chul's Blackbox Review and The Con Artists experienced repeated pre-emptions, while web variety programs Hal-myung-su and Bab-eun-young announced hiatuses. Speculation about broader production disruptions had been building. The new lineup announcement is, in part, a signal that regular output is continuing.

"We plan to fill the schedule from Monday through Sunday with our regular variety programming," JTBC said in a statement accompanying the release, adding that the broadcaster intends to "continue building on our track record" with a large volume of well-produced dramas going into next year.

The concrete test comes in October, when Final Table premieres and JTBC gets its first read on whether the rebuilt lineup is landing with audiences.