How important is the writing in a drama?

For me, the writing is most important which is why unless the chemistry is really bad, I can ship any couple the writer wants me to ship as long as the writer gives me a real reason to. Which is why you won't find me complaining about the chemistry between leads as long as the writing indicates that the characters should be together. I guess you can say I often get swept up more by the writing than the actors. Of course, there are instances this might not work if the girl looks 16 but the guy looks 40 and I might end up being too distracted by the mismatch to notice the amazing writing.

And this leads me to Lie To Me. Clearly, the writer was lost at the beginning and everyone was pissed. This cost the production the Korean audience who was willing to give the drama a chance at first. But something else is going on. While the Korean audience no longer seems that interested, the online audience is rabid. Why is this so? It can't be the writing because although the writing has improved, it's still not awesome. Korean dramas often recycle stuff but there's still nothing particularly different or even engaging about this drama. So what is it?

I think it's the YEH factor. Ah Jung, in my opinion, is not the type of girl I wish I was but she's played by YEH whose got a certain appeal that many fans love. Plus the chemistry with Kang Ji Hwan is pretty damn good. So is that enough for us to be interested in the story? Not really the meat of the drama but the gravy? Not the actual cake but the frosting?

So in the end, the actors often play a role in how successful a drama might be. Anyone who watched Secret Garden had to agree that the actors really made that drama shine. Not even their actual acting talents but simply who they were. But that writer did it much better. She made sure the first few episodes were interesting enough to capture the audience before she started writing repetitive scenes to fill up time. By then, all factions of the audience (writing lovers and actor lovers) were emotionally invested in the story and even when the writing didn't do much, the actors could cover the difference.

So what's the point of this post other than stating the obvious? I guess I'm just wondering why this drama has such a huge online presence that many better written dramas do not have. Is it really the power of YEH? Which is not to say that the Korean viewers with Neilsen boxes aren't charmed by YEH but maybe majority of them are writing lovers.