"Francesca Next Door": a vampire transfer student brings a 2005 sitcom back to life
A cult comedy has returned after about 20 years. Francesca Next Door (옆자리, 프란체스카), a spin-off of the MBC sitcom Hello, Francesca (안녕, 프란체스카), released its first two episodes exclusively on the streaming service Wavve on Friday, November 6, 2026, at 11 a.m. The series has four episodes, and episodes 3 and 4 follow on November 13, according to WikiTree. It is directed by Park Sang-woo and produced by MBC and CAC Corporation.
Vampires go back to school
The original sitcom aired on MBC from January 2005 to February 2006. It followed a family of vampires who end up in Seoul by mistake and pretend to be an ordinary family of five, with Shim Hye-jin as the 500-year-old vampire Francesca.
The new series keeps the vampires but moves the story to a high school. Han Su-a plays Pi Na-young (피나영), a vampire who transfers to Duil High School from Romania and keeps causing trouble because she doesn't understand human customs. Kim Hyun-jin plays Jang Woo-ju, a model class president who wants to get into medical school. When the homeroom teacher (Jung Seung-je) asks him to help the new student settle in, he ends up tutoring her. Lee Seung-gyu plays Yu-hyeol, another vampire hiding at the school, who warns her to stay away from humans, especially Woo-ju. By the end of episode 2, Na-young has told Woo-ju her secret, and the two now share it.
Familiar faces from 2005
The spin-off links itself to the original with cameos. News Culture reports that Park Hee-jin opens the first episode as Anseong-daek, her well-known character from the sitcom, in her original look, puzzling over a coffin being moved in with the boxes. Shim Hye-jin and Park Seul-gi from the original cast also make special appearances. Alongside the new series, Wavve is also streaming a 4K upscaled version of the original sitcom.
In an interview reported by WikiTree, Han Su-a said she watched every season of the original to prepare, but chose not to copy Shim Hye-jin's famous way of speaking word for word. She wanted to respect the mood of the original while giving Na-young her own personality; the director, she said, pictured the character like a black cat, cool towards people but soft-hearted inside.
Why it matters for learners
School dramas are full of useful words. A student who moves in from another school is a 전학생 (jeonhaksaeng [전학쌩]), and changing schools is 전학 오다 (jeonhak oda), "to transfer in." The class president is the 반장 (banjang), and medical school is 의대 (uidae), short for 의과대학.
For the show itself, a 시트콤 (siteukom) is a sitcom, a 스핀오프 (seupinopeu [스피노프]) is a spin-off, and the source work is the 원작 (wonjak). A guest appearance is 특별 출연 (teukbyeol churyeon [특뼐 추련]). Watching a whole series in one go is 몰아보다 (moraboda [모라보다]), exactly what Han Su-a did with the original.
Korean from this story
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 전학생 | jeonhaksaeng [전학쌩] | transfer student |
| 전학 오다 | jeonhak oda | to transfer in (to a new school) |
| 반장 | banjang | class president |
| 의대 | uidae | medical school |
| 뱀파이어 | baempaieo | vampire |
| 시트콤 | siteukom | sitcom |
| 스핀오프 | seupinopeu [스피노프] | spin-off |
| 원작 | wonjak | original work |
| 특별 출연 | teukbyeol churyeon [특뼐 추련] | special (guest) appearance |
| 몰아보다 | moraboda [모라보다] | to binge-watch |
A pattern for comebacks after a long time: N 만에 돌아왔어요 – "it came back after N." For example, 20년 만에 돌아왔어요 (isimnyeon mane dorawasseoyo [이심년 마네 도라와써요]) – "It came back after 20 years."
Sources: WikiTree – Francesca Next Door streams exclusively on Wavve, Nov. 9 (Korean), WikiTree – Han Su-a on why she did not copy Shim Hye-jin's speech, Nov. 3 (Korean), News Culture – Park Hee-jin appears as Anseong-daek in episode 1, Nov. 5 (Korean), Cineplay – Francesca Next Door to premiere on Wavve November 6, Oct. 27, Soompi – 14 new K-dramas to watch in November 2026, Wikipedia – Hello Franceska