If you’re looking for entertainment from South Korea, you’ll find it quickly these days; after all, even global streaming services like Netflix now offer countless Korean series with subtitles. But there is so much more out there! Have you ever watched a Korean variety or reality show? If not, it’s high time you did!
Korean variety shows are a very big part of the entertainment programming on South Korean television. They are very diverse and can be funny, exciting or educational; if not all of those at once. Sometimes puzzles have to be solved, sometimes the show participants are put through physical challenges or compete to see who can cook best. In general, every show follows a fixed format and has a fixed cast. This cast consists of Korean celebrities such as actors, comedians, singers, athletes or K-Pop idols.
Some variety shows work mainly with the fixed cast, while others invite well-known guests such as K-Pop idols every episode. Idols are usually seen on variety shows when they are having a comeback, to promote their new album. Some variety shows even exist exclusively for the promotion of K-Pop idols: every week a different K-Pop band is a guest, talking about their new album and performing the title track.
Of course, there are also idols who appear on variety shows outside of comebacks. Just as there are idols who have built an acting career and often star in K-dramas, there are also those who focus on variety shows. One example is former IZ*ONE member Choi Yena. The likeable singer is known for being very funny and therefore fits into these shows like no one else!
So that you get an idea of how wide the range of variety shows is, we’re briefly introducing a few of them to you! Maybe some of them will be what you spend your TV evenings with soon?
- The King of Mask Singer
- Amazing Saturday
- K-Pop variety shows
- Reality variety show: The Return of Superman
- The show that’s a bit different: Busted!
The King of Mask Singer
You probably know this show, since there are remakes of it all over the world! Whether Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal or Spain; countless countries have produced their own version in recent years. The original has been broadcast in South Korea since 2015 and is still running today.
Celebrities put on a colorful mask and wear a matching costume. The costume gives no hint about the gender or age of the person underneath. Completely free of prejudice, they can now prove their singing talent by covering a song of their choice in front of the panel and the audience.
In several rounds, two different anonymous singers compete against each other: the panel and the audience vote for their favorite at the end. Since the face is hidden, only the singing decides and no other factor. In addition, the panel tries to guess which celebrity is behind the mask. The contestants only take off their mask when they are eliminated, and they often cause surprises! Of course, singers and K-Pop idols are often part of it, but actors, comedians, athletes or other TV personalities such as presenters also impress with their previously hidden singing talent!
The winner competes against the King of Mask Singer. If they win, they become the King themselves and have to defend their throne in the following episodes. The record is currently held by “Ha Hyunwoo” - singer-songwriter and part of the indie rock band “Guckkasten” - with nine consecutive wins!
Amazing Saturday / DoReMi Market
This show is probably the youngest on our list, since it has only been broadcast since 2018. But it became so popular so quickly that it feels like it has been around much longer! In every episode, the participants fight for food! Understandable, who can resist when delicious food is laid out and just waiting to be eaten??
Amazing Saturday is alternatively also called “DoReMi Market”. Every episode, three specialties from a market in South Korea are presented. As a team, the participants have to win various games, mainly quizzes, in order to be allowed to taste the food. The participants include the fixed cast as well as guests.
The fixed cast currently consists of the comedians Shin Dongyup, Moon Seyoon and Park Narae, as well as the rappers Hanhae and Nucksal and the two K-Pop idols Key (SHINee) and Taeyeon (Girls Generation). Every episode there is a dress code that all participants have to follow and that often gets laughs right at the start of the episode.
The best-known quiz, played every episode, is “Song Dictation”. Viewers can suggest songs or even specific parts of a song. The participants hear a section of a song and try to write down the lyrics while it plays, in order to get the correct and complete wording together. That sounds easier than it is! In the end, the lyrics are usually laboriously pieced together bit by bit. The longer the participants take, the less of the specialties they are allowed to try at the end.
In addition to Song Dictation, there is always another quiz. Sometimes questions simply have to be answered, and sometimes a sentence in the North Korean dialect has to be translated into the South Korean dialect.
International viewers who don’t speak Korean unfortunately can’t guess along as well, but the show is entertaining anyway, mainly thanks to the chemistry between the cast members!
Of course, when it comes to our variety show recommendations, we can’t forget Running Man either! We have written a separate article about the show, which you can read any time you want to know why we love it so much.
Next, we’ll take a quick look at our favorite variety shows that revolve around K-Pop idols:
After School Club
This show is actually mainly intended for international fans, because both the hosts and the guests speak English. After School Club is above all a talk show that is not only broadcast by the TV channel Arirang TV but also streamed live. (For example on YouTube.) Viewers can interact with the show and its stars through social media such as Twitter and Google Hangouts. In each episode, one or two fans are chosen who get to talk to their stars personally via Google Hangout. Usually they have prepared something like a song cover or a dance and wish for something they would like to see from the stars. On top of that there are performances by the guest stars or other acts.
After School Club has actually been broadcast since 2013!
Knowing Bros/ Men on a Mission
Knowing Bros, also called “Men on a Mission”, takes place in a classroom. The show has a fixed cast who play the students. It is a colorful mix; among others, it includes the former basketball player Seo Janghoon, the K-Pop idol Kim Heechul (of Super Junior) and the well-known comedian Kang Hodong! In each episode, the group of men welcomes one or more “new students” as guests. The new students are K-Pop idols or entire K-Pop bands who want to present their new song. During the episode there are both conversation segments and various games. What we especially love about Knowing Bros is the humor and how the cast teases one another. The guests who answer the students’ often challenging questions just as quick-wittedly are especially entertaining!
Weekly Idol
As the name suggests, every week an idol or an idol band is a guest on the show. Two to three hosts - currently Hwang Kwanghee of ZE:A and Eunhyuk of Super Junior - welcome the guests and guide us through the episode. On the show, the idols can often present their personal talents and interact with fans by answering their questions or granting wishes. In addition, there are also many games such as limbo, in which the guests sometimes measure themselves against the records of previous guests!
The show is one of the longest-running variety shows in South Korea, because the first episode was already broadcast in 2011!
The range of entertainment shows in South Korea is huge, and of course not every one of them fits into a fixed category. There are a few shows that are called “reality variety” in South Korea. These are mostly programs in which celebrities are filmed in their daily lives but follow a fixed show format. One example is:
The Return of Superman
In this show, celebrity fathers get the chance to spend more time with their children. Their wives treat themselves to a break and the men have to take care of their children on their own for the next 48 hours. And then we get to watch the chaos unfold! There are young children of all ages on the show: sometimes they are 10, sometimes 6 or maybe only a few months old. In the case of Sam Hammington, an Australian comedian, we even witnessed the birth of his second son Bentley, including the pregnancy leading up to it. In many cases the families are part of the show for several years. Sam Hammington and his family were even on it for six years! Viewers watched his two sons William and Bentley, like many others, grow up in front of the camera. They witness many small milestones of the babies, such as the first steps, the first word or the first solid food. They also see the fathers grow into their tasks and experience how they learn to understand their children better and better.
You will surely love the cheerful chaos!
Finally, we’ll introduce you to one more variety show that doesn’t quite follow the classic pattern:
Busted!
You could probably best describe the Netflix show as a mix of variety show and K-drama.
From the very start of the first episode, the seven main cast members play a role: they are talented detectives who are hired by the mysterious “K”, who runs an operation called “Project D”, to solve criminal cases. Every episode has a new case. This is where the variety show elements come in: to solve the cases, the detectives have to solve puzzles or face physical challenges. These parts are not scripted and the cast give their all to solve the puzzle or complete the missions successfully. Who finds the crucial clue in the end, or by what detours the detectives solve the puzzle, is therefore completely random!
The seven detectives are played by the actors Lee Kwangsoo, Park Minyoung, Ahn Jaewook, the singer Kim Jongmin, the K-Pop idols Oh Sehun (EXO) and Kim Sejeong, and the presenter and comedian Yoo Jaesuk. The show has ended after three seasons in total. In seasons 2 and 3 the story from the first season is continued, and of course there are always new cases to solve!
These are just a few shows that regularly make us laugh, but we hope they give you a pretty good insight into the world of variety shows! Which show will you watch first?
