By: Hafiz Jasri
1) Running Man
Running Man is one of the best Korean variety shows globally. It may not be the top in Korea anymore, but it’s still a fan favorite overseas. This show started off as an urban action variety but is now generally a reality-variety show where they play games all the time. Games are even used to decide who can eat!
Running Man is really fun to watch and they do get plenty of popular guests quite frequently. At one point they even had global star Jackie Chan and football stars (Evra & Ji Sung) on the show.
They also travel overseas more often these days, doing some of the most adventurous stuff as penalty (e.g. Death Cage in Australia, Haunted House in Japan and the Nevis Swing in New Zealand).
Current cast: Yoo Jae Seok, Haha, Kim Jong Kook, Song Ji Hyo, Lee Kwang Soo, Jeon Somin, Yang Se Chan and Ji Seok Jin.
2) Ask Us Anything (Knowing Brothers)
Knowing Brothers is one of the most popular variety shows in Korea and in overseas at the moment. They started off shaky but later changed their concept and made it happen for them.
They have no specific format except that the setting is in a classroom and speak informally. It’s mostly questions and answers, and of course the humor from all of the members. Almost every week they’ll have a guest and some of the biggest stars even visited them.
They usually have a second part where they do a spontaneous skit of a certain situation.
Current cast: Kang Ho Dong, Hee Chul, Seo Jang Hoon, Lee Sang Min, Min Kyung Hoon, Lee Soo Geun and Kim Young Chul.
3) 2 Days 1 Night
This show has been around since 2007 and has changed members since then, except Kim Jong Min. Their concept is to recommend places that viewers can visit in South Korea, especially rural areas.
Their variety show is normally quite tough and is well known for punishments like sleeping outdoors in a tent or going into the water. They usually play the game of distinguishing Americano from another with fish sauce.
Current cast: Kim Jong Min, Cha Tae Hyun, Defconn, Kim Jun Ho, Joon Young and Shi Yoon.
4) Weekly Idol
Weekly Idol is a variety show that started in 2011 and is hosted by Defconn and Hyeong-don as regular MCs. However, new MCs have replaced them, i.e. Se Yoon, Lee Sang Min and Kim Shin Young.
This show is all about idols (boy and girl groups) and they play all kinds of games against each other. One of their famous games is the X2 speed songs where they have to dance really fast in accordance with the sped up songs.
5) King of Masked Singer
This show is a singing competition where celebrity singers have to wear a mask to hide their identity. As viewers don’t know who the singers are, they are supposed to vote without prejudice.
The identity of singers are only revealed once they have been eliminated. The winner challenges the previous competition’s Mask King, and whoever wins becomes the new Mask King.
They even had a huge guest (Ryan Reynolds) a few weeks ago for Deadpool 2 promotion.
This show is presented by Kim Sung Joo.
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