‘K-Pop Idols,’ Apple TV+’s new docuseries, captures pitfalls and triumphs of a secretive industry

K-pop’s upbeat music and imagery contrasted with rigorous training systems for its artists makes stories about the “dark side” of the industry irresistible. Apple TV+’s new six-part docuseries “K-Pop Idols” does a good job balancing the narrative, touching the darker aspects of strict beauty standards and a fanatical pursuit of perfection as well as its joyous flipside: dreams realized against near-impossible odds. Jessi interacts with fans during a show on “K-Pop Idols.” The series, which premiered Friday, is produced by Boat Rocker Studios’ Matador Content, with several veteran producers on board, including Emmy-winning executive producer Todd Lubin, who captured the precarious pop star life with “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.” Rounding out the large team are co-executive producers Chris Kasick of “Citizen Sleuth,” Bradley Cramp, Elise Chung, Jack Turner, Eric Yujin Kim and Sue Kim. In a follow-up conversation over email, the directors said one of the greatest challenges while shooting over such a long period was “splitting the crew, racing around Seoul to cover multiple shoots at the same time,” noting that the K-pop industry moves much faster than those in the West and keeping up the differing groups’ schedules was challenging.