Page 45 - Blog 2015 - Korea in Canada

KoREa In Canada
KoREa-Canada Blog 2015

My 5Korean Variety Shows

by Taewoo Kwon (Ottawa, ON)

’ve been watching variety programs for as long as I can remember. I’ve spent countless
ihours watching celebrities showing a different side of themselves just to be on air for
even a brief moment. now that I think about it, I probably should have spent those hours
doing something more productive. But damn those were good times! I receded my television
consumption nowadays but I still watch some here and there. However, I feel like most of
them have lost the ‘it’ factor; the drive that separates a television program from good from
great. For example, a lot of them now only seem interested in having idols on their shows
just to drive their ratings. From a business standpoint, this makes sense as idols have the
most impact on the younger generation. But for someone like me who grew up watching
the classics, it’s distasteful. This is exactly the reason why I want to share with you these 5
great variety programs that keeps or kept their integrity. Some of them have been cancelled
but a couple of them are still on-air.

1 inFiniTe CHaLLenGe (무한도전)

• Air date: 2005 - current
• Highest rating achieved: 28.9%
This is a program that’s been on air for over 10 years! and it is a
pretty big milestone considering how fast-paced the TV show
business is. The initial concept of this program was doing tasks that seemed impossible,
e.g.consuming 50 bowls of noodles (which one of their members was actually able to
complete). But nowadays they explore other concepts like performing charity concerts,
dancing, singing etc. now that I think about it, this is probably my favourite show as they
continue to bring laughter and tears whenever I least expect it. a real variety program like
this only comes every generation and I hope they are able to continue on forever.

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