Omona's First Loves

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

Hello! Back again for another First Love post!

First variety show that you loved. What are weekends in Korean entertainment without variety shows?


Could it be probably the most popular Korean variety show ever, “Infinite Challenge”? It was the show that was called “the nation’s variety show”, and helped make Yoo Jae Suk “the nation’s MC”. Or the current longest running variety, “Running Man”. Or was it earlier variety game shows like “Heroes” or “X-Man”?

There were shows that sent celebs away to far-off places like “Law Of The Jungle” or “Battle Trip”, and not so far away locations like “2 Days 1 Night”, “Real Men”, or “Family Outing”.

Was it the cuteness (and awkwardness lol) of “We Got Married”? Maybe a different kind of cute with The “Return of Superman”, or even maybe even its predecessor “Dad, Where Are We Going?”.

There have been many music variety shows too. “I Am A Singer” was a big hit for MBC, and “Immortal Songs” is still going strong. But I guess nothing can compare to the worldwide hit, “King of Masked Singer”.

New variety shows are always popping up, “Busted!” is getting a season 3 on Netflix. And on the local networks, shows that give us a glimpse into the personal lives of celebs are as popular as ever with “I Live Alone”, “Omniscient Interfering View”, and the new “On and Off”.



I think my earliest favorite was “Family Outing”. Dumb and Dumber 4ever!

So Omona, what was your variety show first love? Share stories, photos, and videos below!





source: Amat Jams

Comments

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

i'm not into variety shows really, but sometimes i binge-watch hello counselor. it's such an interesting, weird and often problematic look into how personal/interpersonal problems are viewed in korean culture. i make myself mad watching it lol.
the episode that sticks out most in my mind is the one where this young woman's friends/family had her on the show bc they thought she was too fat... she clearly had a binge eating disorder based on the way she was eating, but the fat-shaming was so bad

[greasetastic-x.livejournal.com]

I used to watch hello counselor weekly and it would make me mad as well. It never felt like they took concerning issues seriously. For example, little children coming on the show talking about how they don't feel loved in their family, these things can have long-lasting issues but they always seemed to brush it off and I didn't understand it.
Other things that made me upset were wives being horribly mistreated by their husbands.

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

having a show called hello counselor (even as a translation only ) and having 0 actual counselors on has really always made me angry. you have a perfect opportunity to talk about social stigmas and social issues and push the country forward on some topics (in a very small way) but they pile the show with comedians and idols instead.

[kcaomei.livejournal.com]

i used to watch hello counselor a lot but i agree, there were so many episodes that crossed the line that it ended up just stressing me out and making me mad to watch lol

[soyunatetera.livejournal.com]

My first loved variety show was Xman. I discovered it around the same time I started watching k dramas (with Yoon Eun hye) and discovered DBSK, so I naturally came across xman. At that time there were little to none subbers, but coolsmurf subbed a looooot of Xman clips and I spend many hours at that time watching them over and over again

[kicking-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Omg this is me exactly. I watched xman mainly to see DBSK and also other kdrama actresses. The dance intros (popping!uknow) and of course game had me hooked and down the coolsmurf-enabling rabbithole I went.

[sweetestbliss1.livejournal.com]

X-Man was my first show, too! That's how I got into Suju lol. I remember watching Heechul on there and I was like who is this crazy dude...lol

Omg coolsmurf!! Those were the days...

[setsuna16.livejournal.com]

I fell in love with Running Man when I watched BoA's two epsiodes.

For awhile it would just be one of those things where if the guests were people that I cared about, I would watch those episodes. Then I started to fall in love with the cast themselves, so I just watched everything and sometimes even got annoyed that they HAD a guest because I was like "the core cast is enough!"

I'd still be watching, but the way that they handled the "end that ultimately wasn't the end" situation disappointed me so much that I just decided to cut my losses.

[hwangak.livejournal.com]

one of my first introductions to korean variety shows was star golden bell. since our tv had kbs, i didn't have trouble catching episodes airing. it also pretty much introduced me to a lot of idols and got to know a little more of their personalities beyond their performances and music.

i kinda miss this show and sometimes i wish the new gen idols could experience it too :((

[kcaomei.livejournal.com]

my first variety show love was running man. it was one of the shows i felt i could get to know my fave idols in a really fun and candid way offstage

[carmine-pink.livejournal.com]

Not sure if it was my first but speaking of old variety shows I remember Strong Heart hosted by Kang Ho Dong and Lee Seung Gi.

[minho-lover.livejournal.com]

first love was def family outing, i adored the entire cast and their chemistry, my sisters and i would binge watch episodes and die laughing every time

[mntsuklaa.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever actively followed anything but I watched a lot of Star King episodes when I was getting into kpop. Kang Ho Dong's not my favorite host (idk sometimes he goes a bit too overboard for my taste) but the idol-guests reactions were cute to watch.
My philosophy is that if a show has idols I like I'll watch their episodes and maybe check out a few extra ones if the idea of the show really strikes my fancy, but my attention span rarely lasts longer than a few months... It's a blessing and a curse... OTL

[kicking-tenshi.livejournal.com]

I started watching in the xman/loveletter era and kept watching from there... There was something really charming about these variety shows that were just about being fun and goofy that I didn't get from American counterparts.

The first and only variety show that I followed for the show itself was running man. For a while, I binged the heck out of it and tuned in whenever the ep (unsubbed and subbed) came out. The early superhero eps and also Gary's peaceful photo challenges were some of my favourite moments.

Also shout out to Invincible Youth, that show was great.

[yakuniku-8.livejournal.com]

I forgot about Invicible Youth! This show was so great. The girls seemed to be close and ready to help for real.

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

My faves...
Family Outing
Star Golden Bell
Invincible Youth season 1 my precious G7 girls!
SS501 Thank You For Waking Me Up

Do you guys remember crazycarrot? 😊

[yakuniku-8.livejournal.com]

I think it's The Return of Superman. It's the 1st show I watched without caring about the guests and I became addict.
In my early years, I enjoyed Star Golden Bell, Star King,... but usually only small clips were subed. Hopefully I was a fan of snsd and soshified would sub the full episode.

[sapphiredeity.livejournal.com]

i have anxiety disorder and running man has helped me so much in easing my symptoms.

sometimes i get anxious so much i cant find anything to ease the feeling or make me feel happy (even activities i usually like), i would watch some of my favorite running man eps and it would make me feel better. idk what will i do if someday it stops airing.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Running man definitely helped me with my depression

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

Star Golden Bell was my first variety show, for sure, then Strong Heart kinda filled its role but was a little more static. It was definitively an experience back then lmao. Struggling through youtube mirrors or dailymotion LQ subbed videos divided in four parts, but part three had mysteriously vanished from the internet... Vlive makes things so much easier to watch but I miss group interactions.

Depending on guests, I watched a lot of different variety shows. Running Man, Happy Together, Hello Conselor episodes (though I was always angry after it), Knowing Brothers (even if some skits can be awkward)... But some of my favourite episodes come from Weekly Idol. Despite the hosts, it was my go-to when I wanted to know more about a new group, and some veterans episodes are absolutely hilarious (like the SNSD double episode with the super messy random play dance hahaha). I always checked who was the next guest.

Invincible Youth was such an amazing show. I would love a reboot ;_;

As for group-focused shows :
- Hello Baby was so good. I only watched the ones with SNSD and SHINee and outch, my heart ;_;
- Infinite's Ranking King still makes me laugh so much. Infinite had amazing variety shows back in the day.
- LoonaTV is amazing and one reason I'm still so into them today. Putting out very short, meme-ready, daily subbed videos in between debuts/comebacks to keep fans engaged was just such a genius idea.

I have a soft spot for travelling shows. Not just One Fine Day or Battle Trip (though there are very good episodes in there). Twice, Red Velvet, GFriend, Weki Meki, fromis_9 among others had full variety shows around travelling. And of course SNSD's Girl For Rest (aka their final metamorphosis into wine aunts lmao). Something about allowing the idols to interract with each others outside of the idol world, even if it's still scripted, just works on me.
Also pre-debut shows with a fixed line-up, like SNSD's Girls Go to School, slowing parts of the debut process. On top of my head, Lovelyz, Golden Child, fromis_9 also had pre-debut shows.

But I think my favourite variety episode ever is still SNSD's Intimate Note. I rewatch it from time to time, it always makes me laugh and feel nostalgic at the same time. Variety!Soshi at their peek.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

I think the only korean show i actively tried to follow was Running man... before gary left of course
(im one of those fans who believed show was actually getting canceled for good lol)
even before than kdramas or kpop, korean food was my true love so their episode on jjangjjanmyeon route was my first variety love and actually one of my all times favorites
i love this episode so much that during my trip to korea i tried to find this hammer jjang jamyeon restaurant for a while (but korean friends find out that place was closed🥺)


running man episodes with only cast members were EPIC but when they included idols it was fun too.. i dont know how to explain it exactly but seem like back then idols were specifically trained to promote on variety shows and be tv entertainers too

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

First variety I watched was MBLAQ’s idol army. First love is Running Man.