Few would guess that 29-year-old Jin-hee, now a lieutenant in the police force, is the daughter of 40-something Eun-mi, a physical therapist.

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Strengthening this effect is the fact that Choi is a couple of years older than her character; a scant 14 years separates her and her co-star in real life.

The show’s simple premise largely follows Eun-mi and Jin-hee’s bickering cohabitation and their everyday lives in the neighbourhood, which are engineered so that they frequently cross paths during both their professional and personal pursuits.

At the beginning of the show, Jin-hee is working at the National Police Agency, where she has a reputation for being somewhat stubborn and inflexible. One day, owing to a political kerfuffle, she becomes a scapegoat and is unfairly demoted.

Her superior promises her that she’ll only need to endure this for a year before being brought back into the fold. He then transfers her to her own neighbourhood, where she begins working as a patrolwoman.

Beyond the shame of falling down the ladder, her new assignment confronts her with three problems.

Finally, there’s the unfortunate proximity to her meddling mother, who will soon cause her even more headaches.

Speaking of shame, Eun-mi and Jin-hee’s relationship takes an intimate turn when Jin-hee walks in on her mother masturbating in front of the television. Eun-mi’s casual reaction to being found out – “Wanna order some fried chicken?” – is too much for her daughter to handle.

The next embarrassing interlude for the pair happens during a tussle over their laundry in front of an open window. During their argument, a pair of Jin-hee’s panties goes floating out into the air and drifts down onto Jae-won’s helmet, as he patrols the neighbourhood on a bike.

The panty action doesn’t stop there. One day, Jin-hee can’t find her normal panties and is forced to wear an uncomfortable thong to work – not ideal for going out on patrol. Later that day, Jin-hee and Jae-won respond to a burglary call – at Jin-hee’s house.

Eun-mi claims someone has come into their home and stolen her panties. Forced to respond professionally, Jin-hee starts canvassing the building and, while interviewing a middle-aged male neighbour, she sees a pair of red women’s panties peeking out from his trousers.

Not Others makes an effort to be frank about women’s sexuality, but whether it’s depicting teenage pregnancy, single motherhood or sexual gratification, the themes are so laden with lowbrow comedy that anything meaningful is diluted beyond recognition. It all feels superficial at best.

Choi brings her enormous natural charisma and well-honed comic timing to the screen as Jin-hee. She’s easily the most compelling asset of the show, but she’s limited by the very thin characterisation she has to work with. After 15 years of steady work on the screen, it’s a little frustrating that she’s seldom called on to portray richer characters.

As Eun-mi, Jeon arguably has the harder job as her character is little more than a wild caricature, one hard to imagine prancing around in reality. Jeon gives Eun-mi her all, but so far the character doesn’t work.

However, it’s still early days and the show has plenty of time to settle into a more character-driven story throughout the rest of the summer.

Not Others is streaming on Viu.