Happy Sunday all!
I feel like I have been neglecting the Drama and Pop in my DramaBeautyPop. Looking back at my posts, I have plenty on Beauties. With that said, today's post will be about Korean Variety Shows. I'm hoping to connect with my fellow K-Popps and K-Fanatics a little more. Hi there!
First off, I want to make clear that even though I am Asian, I am not Korean, although I absolutely love, love, love their food and culture so much! When I watch the dramas and shows, I need Eng Subs. With sites like DramaFever and Viki, this is all possible. I watch and like a lot of variety shows, reality shows and diaries. You name it, I probably watched it. Today though, I will be talking about my favorite show of all time!
Which is Running Man! As of today, Running Man will have 185 episodes aired, of which I have watched and in some cases rewatched. What got me into Running Man was 2PM. Nichkhun and Taecyeon appeared together on episode 40 of Running Man, and at that time, I just wanted to watch everything that 2PM appeared on. After watching that episode, I really liked the show and wanted to see more. I then searched for episodes with people I know or like. Eventually that wasn't enough so I ended up watching from episode 1 to the most recent. Before Running Man was uploaded on DramaFever, it was super hard to find it anywhere, but being a diligent super fan that I was, I tracked it down. Much to my relief, DramaFever eventually picked the show up; it has been smooth sailing ever since.
About the show...it USED to be all about the name tag ripping, but it's not all about that anymore. They bring it back every now and then. Basically, the whole show is usually broken up into different small missions to gain clues or qualify for the final mission. Gold is the usual prize given to the winners. They almost always have guests on the show, but there's always those exception episodes.
Running Man consists of seven members, six are men, Ji Suk Jin, Yoo Jae Suk, Kim Jong Kook, Kang Gary (Leessang), HaHa and Lee Kwang Soo and Song Ji Hyo as the sole woman. Below, you will find that each members will have not one, not two, not three but a whole lot of nicknames. That is the beauty of Korean variety, you get nicknames for everything. I will list as many as I can remember.
- Lee Kwang Soo, Ji Suk Jin, HaHa, Yoo Jae Suk, Kim Jong Kook, Song Ji Hyo, Kang Gary
Ji Suk Jin is the eldest of the bunch and is considered the weakest and easiest member to eliminate; he is known as the Race Starter for that reason. Along with Kwang Soo, they are called Easy Brothers, for reasons that does not to be explained. Due to his big nose, his most common nickname is Big Nose Hyung (Older Brother). He also is nicknamed the Impala because of his weak, fragile nature and always one of the first to be eliminated, together with Jong Kook and Kwang Soo, they are known as Serengeti, starting from episode 86 onward. Suk Jin is known to be a betrayer, along with HaHa and Kwang Soo; the three of them form the Betrayal Trio or Traitors Club. There was a whole episode dedicated to them. You may also see Suk-Brothers float around when watching too, Suk-Brothers refer to Suk Jin and Jae Suk both having SUK in their name and their 20-something years of friendship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27n1RM95U4s
Second oldest is Yoo Jae Suk synonymous with Nation's MC. There is a reason why he is known as the Nation's MC when there are countless MCs in Korea; he is known in the Korean entertainment industry as God-Yoo/Yoo-God. When you say Yoo Jae Suk, one word...er...animal comes to mind. Grasshopper. This goes way back to his X-Man days. His love for the color green surely does not help either. Jae Suk has many, many different nicknames depending on the situation. Yoo-ruce Willis when he is on the run, escaping. Yoo-mes Bonds when he is on the hunt or on a secret mission. And Yoo-Hyuk when he starts dancing, and yes, he LOVES to dance. He was initially one of the weak players but is now considered one of the two powerful players, the other being Jong Kook. If you were a K-Fanatic, you would already know, but the man in the bright yellow suit dancing in Psy's Gangnam Style is our Grasshopper dancing his infamous Grasshopper Dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlE20dcJxik
Kim Jong Kook aka Sparta Kook and Commander, third down the line, is the strongest member; most, if not all guests fear him. They either want to be on his team, not get in his way or for the brave ones, go after him and call him out as the sole competitor. He is a health nut and jokes that he lives at the gym; during missions that require strength or physical activities, he will be the one coaching the members, hence where Coach Kook comes to be about. From his intimidating physique, loud roar, stealth-like hunting mode, he is dubbed the Tiger, along with Suk Jin and Kwang Soo, they are the Serengeti. He has a Tom and Jerry relation with Kwang Soo who is infamously known as the Giraffe. He is not all fierce however, he has a sweet, tender side for which we call him Kookie for. Aside from being a variety veteran, he debuted as a singer and was in a duo called Turbo. With a body full of muscles, his singing voice claims otherwise, he is known to have a "mosquito voice", very high pitched.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngyjoe86hPg
Ah, Kang Gary aka the Monday Boyfriend of Monday Couple. He is the most gullible and honest member of the cast is usually called Peaceful Gary. Although he was a variety rookie when he joined Running Man, he has now been called the "dark horse" and "the man full of surprise" regarding to him suddenly becoming capable at missions and races, the Sudden-Commander. Gary is a rapper from the hip-hop duo Leessang, many fans have claimed that doing variety shows have stripped his fierce rapper image and replaced with a peaceful, calm image; although he claims this is not the case. If you watch all the episodes, you'll often see that the other members will make fun of him saying he has an ugly face, he himself goes along with it, all for the sake of comedy I guess. Although I have to disagree, I do not think he's ugly at all, for being 35, he looks dang good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgfuaDS-S2c
HaHa aka Ha Dong Hoon, Haroro, Roro, Kid and before he got married, Playboy. The jokester and loud mouth of the group. He is the shortest of the group, hence Kid. Due to his short stature, small eyes and round glasses, he resembles one of Korea's most beloved children's cartoon character Pororo, and Haroro was born. Before he got married on November 2012, he would joke about wanting to marry any and every female guests that appeared on the show. Since he got married, he has is "one and only, Byul" and now does not go easy on the female guests anymore. He was one of the weakest link when the show started but now has grew to be one of the capable players, often being chosen first. After Kwang Soo became icon of betrayal, HaHa also picked up this habit and when Suk Jin did also, they became the Betrayal Trio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCAU71IugT4
Song Ji Hyo aka Ace is Kang Gary's Monday Girlfriend. Known as Miss Mong, Miss Blank, Blank Ji because she always wears a blank expression on her face and/or always confused. But do not let her blank expressions fool you, besides being Blank Ji, she is also known as the Ace of Running Man. She is fearless, fierce, bold, one of the most capable players of Running Man; she has both running/catching capabilities and intelligence comparable to Jae Suk and Jong Kook. Whenever she teams up with Jong Kook, they are known as Sparta-Ace, one of the most feared allied on the show. She was a recurring guest from episode 2 to 5 until she became a main cast member on episode 6. Her loveline with Gary started very early on in the show and it is only growing stronger as the episodes go by. Fans ship (derived from relationship; hoping they'll be in a relationship) them, but I think this ship sails on its own. She is also known as Bad-Ji Hyo because she is known to swear at at Kwang Soo and her clubbing at night. Because she wins majority of the time, she's also called Gold-Ji Hyo and the cast pokes fun at her about being able to open a Gold Shop with all the gold she has won.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuKE2mZ2644
Last but not least, Lee Kwang Soo, the maknae (youngest) of the bunch, more widely known as the Giraffe due to his tall stature, standing at 6'4". As mentioned before, he has a Tom and Jerry relationship with Tiger Jong Kook and long with Suk Jin Impala, they are the Serengeti. Kwang Soo is the icon of betrayal and along with HaHa and Suk Jin, they are the Betrayal Trio/Traitors Club. Along with being an icon of betrayal, our Giraffe is also known to be a Framer. Running Man went abroad a couple of times and to everyone's amazed, Kwang Soo's immense popularity that they dub him the new Prince of Asia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxrwrwudnjg
One notable guest that appeared on Running Man is Jackie Chan. Yes, THE Jackie Chan was on this show and it was awesome!
- Jackie Chan and Running Man, Episode 135
I enjoy watching Running Man a whole lot. Even though like most variety shows in Korea, it is scripted, but you can still see their sincerity peak through. The members' chemistry is just so unreal, what one lacks, another makes up for it. There are love lines, bromance, comedy, everything rolled into one show. I've been a Runner since the start and I will continue to show support.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE6M4rDKdGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6am38rQuDk
Hopefully Running Man's popularity will soar higher and wider than it is now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXBiXZ38J8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0W5HH1xqEw
RUNNING MAN FIGHTING!
- Running Man acceptance speech at SBS Entertainment Award 2014
- HaHa, Yoo Jae Suk, Ji Suk Jin, Song Ji Hyo, Kang Gary, Kim Jong Kook, Lee Kwang Soo
Thank you for reading guys and have a wonderful week. :)
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