The Crowned Clown (2019)

Many reasons revolve around the protagonist:
- protagonist of low(er) status takes on the role of the emperor
- falls in love with empress
- initially happy-go-lucky
- idealistic, wants uphold justice/equality for the people
- naive in his actions to achieve ideals, suffers because of it
- struggles with harsh reality of palace politics and human nature
- struggles with reality that he can't create a happy ending for everyone

The rest is pretty standard for almost any historical drama:
- fight for throne
- power struggle between different groups of nobles
- revenge
- assassination
- deception
- etc

Real recomendation: Also has identity swap. In "Crowned" there are 2 men basically identical to each other: one is the king of Joseon (Korea) and the other is a clown (literally). The clown ends up having to act as a substitute of the king, fooling the whole court, the country and even the queen.

Both The Crowned Clown and My Country: the New Age are sageuks with incredible acting, beautiful cinematography and great soundtrack. While the stories aren’t very alike and they’re set a few centuries appart, some of the characters reminded me of each other. Both Hwi and Ha Seon, the male leads in the shows, are lower class and don’t seem to have much ambition to gain a lot of power at the begining of the show, but they’re still smart and it shows. They just want to make sure their families have food on the table and are safe. Both MLs are outgoings and kind and have protecting the people they care about as their number one priority, whatever it takes, even if it cost them their lives. They especially love and care for their little sisters. Officer Jang also reminded me of Sung-rok, both are skilled fighters that look stoic and cold, but are way too loyal for their own good. Also, both shows feature a lot of struggle for power and the throne, and there’s much scheming involved.

The King, a non-rightful heir, suffers insomnia and manic paranoia as he fears the actions he has committed. He concocts a plan to replace himself with an identical jester in order to rid the threat of assassination.

If you enjoyed the brilliant acting of YeoJinGoo in Link and how he was able to switch emotions in a snap.. Then you'll be blown away how he managed to play two entirely opposite characters in one frame! Just stunningly amazing..

Both develop in Jeoson Era. Being a really long Era, you can see the progression in terms of society and living of the different social classes because they part from different initial points of the Era.

Even though The Crowned Clown isn't based on a real story and the inspiration came from other stories, the cultural elements of life during those times are evident. On the other hand, Mr. Sunshine is indeed inspired by some historical facts as a whole and the fictional story was created around that.

Also, the contrast between both shows is really interesting. While The Crowned Clown focuses more in life inside the court, Mr. Sunshine focuses more in life during times of interventions and occupations of others countries and how different cultures clashed.

Suspense , agony , phycological pressure , palace politics and battling to survive inside the palace and save your soulmate from death....
Those 2 dramas are identical. Action , suspense and romance all combined.
In both dramas the Emperor is a kindhearted young man who tries his best to be a good ruler but the corrupted officials try to bring him down /kill him.
In both dramas the emperor does everything in his power to save female lead whom he loves deeply.
Great cinematography in both dramas.
Every episode ends with a cliffhanger and leaves you wanting more.

At first sight,those 2 don't have much in common.But,the doppelganger/robot clone is evident in both.When watching Crowned Clown,I get a similar feeling I got from Are You Human Too.Both shows have a "bad" and a good character played by the same person,complicated family history,people helping the good character adjust and genuinely caring for the "bad" character too.The attempt to survive in different settings due to identity switching in order to protect someone is also part of both dramas.

"Masquerade" with actor Lee Byung Hun in it, was the movie that inspired the Kdrama "The Crowned Clown".

The smart power play between Dr. Na Yi Je and Dr. Sun Min Shik and others here is similar to the constant power play between Ha Seon and the antagonists in The Crowned Clown. The Crowned Clown has some really intense political twists as well, and every episode is enthralling. Highly recommended!

basically the same plot only in The Crowned Clown the King requests a look-a-like and an Eunuch stumbles upon Clown Ha Seon.

both male MCs are very similar in this aspect only because none of them have any idea how to rule. in Flower Crew the king was born of royal blood while in TCC he is only a replacement.

FC he was raised as a commoner while in TCC he is of a much lower class.

Both are set in historical times, with an entertainer ML of low birth who ends up in a forbidden romance with the royal FL who is marrying/married to someone else.