Will Don't Call Me Ma'am Season 2 happen? Possibilities explored

Don't Call Me Ma'am is a South Korean comedy-drama series that premiered on TV Chosun, airing from November 10 to December 16, 2025. It was also accessible to international viewers on streaming services like Netflix and KOCOWA.

The series contains 12 episodes, with Kim Jeong-min as director and Shin Yi-won as screenwriter. The show features Kim Hee-sun, Han Hye-jin, and Jin Seo-yeon. It was shown every week on Mondays and Tuesdays and became a part of the late-year drama lineups in the K-drama landscape.

The show is about three besties, all 41, trying to keep it together while life throws curveballs such as work drama, dreams that didn’t pan out, and midlife crises. In its 12-episode run, Don’t Call Me Ma’am depicted what it actually feels like in women’s real lives.

Now that the season has wrapped, fans are wondering whether there will be more. Renewals are always a toss-up, depending on whether enough people watched and whether the creators want to drag these stories out further. As of now, there’s no official renewal for Don't Call Me Ma'am Season 2.

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Don't Call Me Ma'am Season 2 renewal status: What we know

By mid-December 2025, TV Chosun had not yet issued any formal communication concerning the continuation of Don't Call Me Ma'am for a second season. This lack of certainty is common in the Korean drama industry, where a set of factors is taken into account for renewal after the series has completed its initial broadcast.

But just because they are quiet doesn’t mean the show has been cancelled. TV Chosun looks at a bunch of stuff before saying yes to more episodes. The biggest thing among them is ratings. And Don’t Call Me Ma’am didn’t flop in that department.

According to Nielsen Korea’s numbers, the show kicked off with a 1.940% nationwide rating, but by the finale on December 16, 2025, it jumped to 3.501%. That’s almost double.

The way a drama does on Netflix is a huge deal when it comes to deciding if it gets another season or not. Netflix keeps streaming numbers locked up, but since the show is available on Netflix everywhere, plus Kocowa, Viki, it's not just stuck in Korea anymore. People are watching all over the place, and global buzz can make or break a show these days.

Now, about how people are reacting. Viewers on MyDramaList are loving how real the women’s stories feel, not sugarcoating the messiness of being in your forties. The actresses have done a good job, and the friendship hits way too close to home for a lot of us.

Of course, it’s not just about fans for more. The director, Kim Jeong-min, and writer Shin A-won have to be down to come back too. These two are already big shots in K-dramaland, so their schedules are probably busy. Getting them to sign on again could be tricky.

Meanwhile, the production companies, TME Group, First Man Studio, and Megaphone, look for profit. If the numbers seem good and the first season made it rain, they could think about investing again. Still, there’s always some back-and-forth between them, the TV network, and the streaming platforms.

Looking at how these things usually play out, if TV Chosun wants to keep Don't Call Me Ma'am going, fans would probably hear something official within three to six months after the finale. Sometimes they jump on it fast, sometimes they wait around to see if the international hype keeps building.

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What Season 1 of Don't Call Me Ma'am explored

Don't Call Me Ma'am begins with three besties, all staring down the barrel of 41. They are at a somewhat disastrous birthday bash and are forced to look at the mess of their lives and admit some harsh realities. This turning point could not have been better depicted in the Korean title of the show, "다음생은 없으니까" (Because There Is No Next Life), which not only stressed the theme of the show but also the need for the characters to take action now instead of waiting for a non-existent future redo.

Now, Jo Na-jeong (played by Kim Hee-sun) used to be a superstar TV shopping host. But then, she ditches all that glitz to play the role of Supermom and housewife for her two boys. Fast forward, and Don't Call Me Ma'am Season 1 has her itching to jump back into her old career. Except that the industry has moved ahead, and she is left playing catch-up.

Her story brought to light the very stirrings of ambition that were being fought against duty, the problem of getting back one's former professional identity after being away for so long, and the issues women face in the workplace when they return to work after being mothers. You get all the drama with cutthroat coworkers, new rules she barely understands, and that feeling of trying to find your place again when everything has changed.

Koo Ju-young, played by Han Hye-jin, looked like she had it all together. She is a planning manager at an art center, has a seemingly rock-solid marriage, but that was all just window dressing. Behind closed doors, she was falling apart. Infertility was eating her up inside, and her husband might as well have been a ghost for all the warmth he brought home.

Don't Call Me Ma'am shows how much pressure gets dumped on women to juggle the boss lady and perfect mom act. Ju-young was suffocating under it, forced to keep up appearances while feeling lonelier than ever. The way her marriage started cracking, you can only pretend for so long before the mask slips.

Now, Lee Il-ri. Jin Seo-yeon played her with this sharp edge. She had clawed her way up to deputy editor-in-chief at a fashion mag. She was killing it at work but still flying solo. And she still believed in the fairytale marriage, even though it hadn't shown up for her yet. Her story was like a magnifying glass on the tightrope act single women walk when everyone is asking about marriage.

Il-ri's adventures (and disasters) in love were sometimes hilarious, sometimes downright painful. She had to figure out if chasing career wins really filled the gaps, or if she was just distracting herself from wanting something deeper. Watching her trip, fall, and get back up again was comforting.

Don't Call Me Ma'am Season 1 was all about that ride-or-die friendship between these three women. It was refreshing to see a show that doesn’t just put women into some tired catfight. So when Na-jeong freaked out about wanting to go back to work, her friends weren’t judging, and nobody reminded her about her family. They just backed her up. And when it came to Ju-young’s messy marriage, her friends were there with a safe space to ugly cry and vent. Meanwhile, Il-ri’s love life was a trainwreck, but her friends kept it real, but not afraid to call her out if needed.

Ageism in Korea is always lurking in the background. But these characters are still figuring things out, still growing, and still complicated. The “having it all” myth gets shredded, too. You see pretty quickly that everyone is making trade-offs. And nobody balances work, family, and personal dreams perfectly.

Don't Call Me Ma'am doesn’t box these women in. They are not just “the mom,” “the wife,” or “the career woman.” They are ever-changing, and sometimes don’t know who they are, just like, well, people.

By the end of Don't Call Me Ma'am it’s not all tied up. Na-jeong is back at work, but she is still working on boundaries. Ju-young has finally stopped pretending her marriage is fine and started making choices for herself, not just to keep up appearances. Il-ri is starting to figure out what she actually wants from love, instead of just chasing whatever looks good on paper.

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Also Read: Don’t Call Me Ma’am Episode 12 recap and ending explained: Doing the right thing brings relief without reward