The top female hallyu star Choi Ji-woo is back on TV in the series "Celebrity Lover," playing the celebrity, of course.

Choi's popularity comes from the hot Korean drama "Winter Sonata" (also known as "Winter Ballad"), in which she starred alongside superstar Bae Yong-joon. The television couple have achieved such fame in Japan that fans there refer to the actor and actress as "Yong sama" (prince) and "Choi Ji-woo hime" (princess).

"Celebrity Lover," a high-budget romance between a struggling writer and an A-list actress, is the first of several TV series planned this year with top hallyu stars trying to make a return to Korean TV from film. In it Choi plays the character Lee Mari and opposite renowned international movie star Yoo Ji-tae ("Attack the Gas Station," "Old Boy"), who plays Kim Chul-su.

Kim grows up as an orphan after both of his parents leave him. He turns to writing to help him deal with the sense of loss and longing in his life, and goes against the wishes of his surrogate family to study literature, struggling to make ends meet as he attempts to finish his Ph.D. However, because of poverty and a sister suffering from multiple sclerosis, he is torn between pursuing a financially risky career as a novelist and a more pragmatic career. So against his own strict ethical standards, he decides to accept a ghostwriting job.

Lee is raised by her stern and distant grandmother after her loving parents die in an accident. She grows up as an ugly duckling but eventually transforms into a beautiful swan and one of the top actresses in all of Asia. Yet even with fame, wealth and the adulation of an adoring public, she is insecure about her lack of formal education and yearns for family and genuine human connection.

When the sensitive and intellectual Kim shows up as her prospective ghostwriter, Lee is immediately drawn to him. Even though Lee is wary of the possible consequences, she caves into her domineering agent's urging and puts out a book ghostwritten by Kim. But when this book becomes a huge best-seller, their lives and their budding romance become complicated.

Shot on location in Japan and South Korea, and featuring top stars and stunning cinematography, "Celebrity Lover" is a touching drama that reminds us how those with wealth and fame long for the simplest things in life — love and family.

THIS WEEK'S K-DRAMA SYNOPSES

'THE FAMILY OF HONOR'

Episode 18

Tonight at 7:45: Gang-suk lies to both his mother and Dan-ah so he can go on a date with Dan-ah. Young-in's first dinner preparation fails miserably. Mal-soon gets into a hit-and-run, and Tae-young takes care of her at the hospital. Gang-suk asks Dan-ah to use him to forget her old love.

Tomorrow at 6:50 p.m.: "The Family of Honor" will be pre-empted Saturday night so we can bring you the 2008 SBS Drama Awards.

'GLASS CASTLE'

Episode 17

Sunday at 7:50 p.m.: Min-joo and Joon-song's family meet. Min-joo's mother is filled with guilt and trepidation. Joon-song's mom wants to have to wedding in the States. She meets with Min-joo's mom and tells her the wedding will be in the States and her family cannot come. Only one episode of "Glass Castle will be shown this Sunday so we can bring you "2008 SBS Festival S," a year-end music show that starts at 5 p.m.

'TERROIR'

Episodes 3 and 4

Monday at 7:45 p.m.: Tae-min quits his job and then finds out that he has inherited the tavern run by Woo-ju and her grandfather. Woo-ju vows to put up a fight to keep the tavern, but the law is on Tae-min's side. He wastes no time converting the tavern into a wine bistro named Terroir.

Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.: Woo-ju's grandfather asks Tae-min to keep Woo-ju and the employees of Namcho as employees of the new wine bistro. Tae-min reluctantly agrees, but much trouble ensues between him and Woo-ju.

'CELEBRITY LOVER'

Episodes 1 and 2

Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.: Choi Ji-woo, the heroine of "Winter Ballad" and "Stairway to Heaven" makes a long-awaited comeback in "Celebrity Lover," and plays superstar actress Lee Mari. Lee Mari falls in love with Kim Chul-su (Yoo Ji-tae from "Old Boy"), a professor/writer, who ghostwrites her book.

Thursday at 7:45 p.m.: Mari and Chul-su end up going around in Japan, and they cause a scandal when a fan takes their picture and it gets posted all over the Internet.