Hospital Playlist

• Jo Jung-suk as Lee Ik-jun, an assistant professor of general surgery.
• Yoo Yeon-seok as Ahn Jeong-won, an assistant professor of pediatric surgery.
• Jung Kyung-ho as Kim Jun-wan, an associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery.
• Kim Dae-myung as Yang Seok-hyeong, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology.
• Jeon Mi-do as Chae Song-hwa, an associate professor of neurosurgery.[9]

Doctors

• Cho Seung-yeon as Joo Jun, director of Yulje Medical Center.
• Jung Moon-sung as Do Jae-hak, chief resident of cardiothoracic surgery.
• Moon Tae-yoo as Yong Seok-min, chief resident of neurosurgery.
• Shin Hyun-bin as Jang Gyeo-wool, third-year resident in general surgery.
• Kim Jun-han as Ahn Chi-hong, third-year resident in neurosurgery.
• Choi Young-joon as Bong Gwang-hyun, assistant professor of emergency medicine.
• Ahn Eun-jin as Choo Min-ha, second-year resident in obstetrics and gynecology.[10]
• Ha Yoon-kyung as Heo Sun-bin, third-year resident in neurosurgery.
• Seo Jin-won as Min Gi-joon, professor of neurosurgery.
• Kim Hye-in as Myung Eun-won, second-year resident in obstetrics and gynecology.[11]
• Choi Young-woo as Cheon Myung-tae, professor of cardiothoracic surgery.
• Shin Do-hyun as Bae Joon-hee, fellow in emergency medicine.
• Jeon Kwang-jin as Jong Se-hyuk, fellow in orthopedic surgery.

Nurses & medical students

Family members of the Main Five

In January 2019, it was reported that Shin Won-ho would direct a medical television series and that the production team was in the early stages of casting actors.[20] It took four years for the script to be completed.[21] Screenwriter Lee Woo-jung and director Shin Won-ho previously worked together on the critically acclaimed Reply anthology series (2012–16) as well as the hit black comedy series Prison Playbook (2017–18).[22] Actors Jung Kyung-ho and Yoo Yeon-seok also previously worked with the duo.[23][24]

In order to comply to the 52-hour week system and to avoid overnight filming with regard to the cast and crew's health, the production team decided to air one episode a week for a total of twelve weeks instead of broadcasting two episodes a week for eight weeks as it is usually the case for South Korean television series.[25]

Principal photography for the first season started in early October 2019.[26] Some scenes taking place in Gangwoon University Hospital and Yulje Medical Center were respectively filmed in Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital (in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi) and Ewha Womans University Medical Center (in Gangseo District, Seoul), though the latter scenes of the season were filmed on set due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Filming for the first season was completed in late April 2020.[28]

Originally scheduled to begin in early December 2020, filming for the second season was postponed to late January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]

The series' original soundtrack, produced by Ma Joo-hee and published by Studio Maeum C, Egg is Coming and Stone Music,[30] consists of covers of popular Korean songs released in the 1990s and 2000s.[31][32] All songs charted on the Gaon Digital Chart and twelve on the K-pop Hot 100, some received several nominations and awards. Doyeon Lee of Billboard noted that the soundtrack "was well received by listeners of all ages for its remakes of popular 90s hits."[33]

The first season of the series was a success in South Korea.[40] It has been compared to the American television series Grey's Anatomy and Friends.[41]

During an interview with The Korea Herald, film critic Yun Suk-jin praised Hospital Playlist for emphasizing the human aspect of the profession rather than the life-and-death situations, noting that the series "did away with the cliched power conflict, and focused on the doctors' sincerity in their work and their relationship with the patients."[42] Pierce Conran of South China Morning Post named Hospital Playlist one of the best South Korean series of 2020, mentioning that "emotional tales of illness and grief play out against the gentle camaraderie of a group that finds solace from the hardships of their job in each other, and their delightfully lousy five-piece garage band."[43] Jessicha Valentina of the The Jakarta Post named Jeon Mi-do's character Chae Song-hwa "one of the series' highlights," praising Hospital Playlist for its portrayal of strong female characters.[44]

Joel Keller of Decider gave a mixed review, saying that the series "is a bit of a strange amalgamation of different genres, but the cast makes it work. Just be ready for a slightly confusing first episode."[45]

Although the series aired on tvN, a cable channel which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to public broadcasters, its first season ended within the top 10 of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history.[46][47]