A K-DramaAddict's Guide to Korean Variety Shows [Part 1]
Hi everyone! I'm
latteholic. I feel so bad having my name listed as one of the
contributors to this site for so long without having anything to contribute. So since school and
class are finally over, here I am paying my "contribution"! *bows to kakashi*
It's difficult to
pinpoint the exact moment I started to watch Korean variety
shows religiously. But I guess, it officially began while I was still back home, in the land where internet connection can only
reach 0.8 Mbps on average *shudders*. I was so in love with Dream High at that time and lucky for me, someone -possibly sent from drama heaven- shared
the subbed episodes on YouTube and so I could feed my addiction
weekly. But as every dramaddict knows too well, soon your regular dose won't
be enough to get you through the week and you will start to crave mowwwre.
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| The clip that started it all |
I then exhausted my research.
I went to different internet forums and long story short I managed to
get my hands on 81 episodes of Family Outing season 1. And even
though they didn't have Taecyeon in it, they were ever so awesome. It
didn't take long before I finally discovered another variety
shows and their "antics". These people... they really love to
dance!
Even when they can't dance, they will still be dancing like no one
will put it on YouTube. And every show was so chock full of games
that were slapstick heaven that watching them was like being transported
to the 5-year-old me who will laugh maniacally at every silly body gag.
So in honor of my new foundaddiction love after k-dramas, I decided to compile a list of my favorite
K-Variety Shows. Here goes...
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| Yeap! This one is for you kakashi! :) |
So in honor of my new found
Family Outing
Family Outing was my
first K-Variety love. And you know what they say about first love:
yes, you never forget it. The show ended on January 2010, but I still
can remember every funny parts. FO follows the “Family" which
consist of nation's MC Yoo Jae-suk, singer Lee Hyo-ri, Big Bang's
Daesung, Kim Soo-ro (A Gentleman's Dignity), Lee Chun-hee
(Conspiracy in The Court, Smile You), Park Ye-jin (My Princess, I
Love Lee Tae Ri), singer/songwriter Yoon Jong-shin, and singer Kim Jong-kook on
their journeys to different villages in South Korea. The Family would
then take care of the house of an elderly family and accomplishes the
tasks left for them by the house's owner while the owner goes on a
vacation. Different guests would come on the overnight trip and help the permanent cast with the tasks while playing some games
(where we normally get our dose of laughter).
Family Outing season 2 aired immediately after season 1. However, the show seemed to loose its... charm. There were no strong bonds between the family members and the laughs seemed to be forced. Despite having Taecyeon (the reason I got into FO), unfortunately I dropped the second season on episode 4 and never looked back.
Running Man
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| And this one is for you lafer.. :) |
Almost
every episode will
feature a guest(s) who will work together with the cast to finish the
missions. Some guests can blend almost immediately with the cast and
games, while others don't fare so well. But what makes the show more
entertaining is its ability to show you another side of these celebs
which you'll rarely see on TV. Like... who would have thought there would be a day when you get to see Ji Jin-hee throwing a pillow at Suzy??Running Man is also different from other variety shows because it doesn't hold back with its concept, it goes all out on its out-wordly mechanisms, and it doesn't shy away from being too cheesy. Imagine time-travel, superpowers, future-seeing, or other fantasy/sci-fi elements blended in every episode. The result is hilarity!
The show also has one of the most palpable
interactions between its members. It's always a great delight to
watch the Easy Brothers, Ace and Commander, Kim Jong-kook and Two Kids. But.. my favorite pairing has to go to the Monday Couple (Gary and Song Ji Hyo). They are the primary loveline of the show, they show interest in each other
on Mondays, which is the day the show was filmed. (Later, the show was
filmed on both Mondays and Tuesdays, leading to jokes about the couple
not being in effect on Tuesdays.). They're so cute, sweet, and funny together and I don't think I've ever shipped a
couple as hard as I ship them*.
To be continued...
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*After the news of Song Ji-hyo's relationship broke out, their relationship was deemed to be taken out from the show. However recently the couple "seems" to be interacting a lot and thus was named the Ex-Monday Couple
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*After the news of Song Ji-hyo's relationship broke out, their relationship was deemed to be taken out from the show. However recently the couple "seems" to be interacting a lot and thus was named the Ex-Monday Couple