I. Introduction
NCT Life is an ongoing Korean reality/variety series that follows the members of the boy group, NCT, as they travel, play and perform. The group structure of NCT is unique among K-Pop groups due to the fact that the concept of NCT is an ever expanding group with "unlimited" members and it is comprised of several individual subunits. Currently there are 23 members in NCT, making up four individual subunits.
Members of all of the sub-units have featured in seasons, although not every member has been featured. Shotaro, Sungchan and WayV's Xiaojun, Hendery and Yangyang have never appeared on NCT Life.
Each season follows a specific theme with recurring or new members, dependent on the theme, such as travel, behind-the-scenes preparations for performances, competitions and games. Some seasons are produced in conjunction with national or local tourism boards and have aired on both conventional and streaming platforms. In early seasons of the show, some featured members may not have yet debuted with NCT or in a permanent sub-unit.
The series currently has 11 seasons.
II. Overview
NCT Life in Bangkok is the first season of NCT Life and features the pre-debut members of NCT, when they are still members of SM Rookies and follows their journey to debut. As part of the show, Ten serves as a guide to the other members to his native Thailand, including Hansol, Taeil, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Mark, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin and Jisung. Members also interview on local TV shows and perform in appearances, while learning Thai customs and language. Additionally, members offer insights into their casting and training. Members also toured Ten's old school and talked to his teachers. All of the featured members would later go on to debut in NCT except for Hansol, who left SM Entertainment in 2017.
NCT Life in Bangkok was aired on Naver TV Cast, VLive and MBC Music in Korea, Youku and Tudou in China and True4U in Thailand. It aired between April 16-May 7, 2016.
III. Episode List
All of this season of NCT Life is currently available on VLive to watch. Fan subs were provided in multiple languages within the platform. Each episode is 25-30 minutes.
Episode | Date | Link |
1 | 4/16/16 |
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2 | 4/17/16 |
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3 | 4/23/16 |
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4 | 4/24/16 |
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5 | 4/30/16 |
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6 | 5/1/16 |
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IV. NCT Trivia
Many familiar and popular memes or references within the fandom appear in the NCT Life series.
Members are not yet in NCT or separated into the sub-units in this series. They have not made their formal debut.
Series notes:
- The clip for Jeno in the introduction is a popular commercial from his time as a child actor.
- Haechan is referred to in the series as Donghyuck, his actual name. He takes the stage name Haechan when he debuts.
- Jaehyun is known as Jae-Hyun in SM Rookies.
- Hansol is the only member who does not debut in NCT. He left SM Entertainment in 2017.
- Hansol is the oldest member at 20. Jisung is the youngest member at 14.
Episode 1:
- Members say this is their first reality show, but several of them had previously appeared on other shows.
- When Taeyong is talking about being scouted, the big three he lists are the major TV networks.
- Jaehyun hugging the stuffed dog appear in video compilations.
- Ten spins with the camera, which is an ongoing theme in NCT travel0related shows.
- Members reacting to the in-car cameras is a joke that spans the whole series.
- Jaehyun is the youngest member in the first group. For many years, he was the maknae of these members.
- The members' aeygo in the car appears in compilation videos.
- Taeyong's dislike of aegyo is a long-running joke across all the seasons.
- Taeyong's persona in early seasons is the "tough guy."
- Taeil is the oldest member and they are hyping his OST song.
- Ten not being able to answer questions about Thailand is a continuing joke in the season.
Episode 2:
- Taeyong being easily scared is a long running joke in NCT content.
- Doyoung debuts a long-running joke in NCT Life - "Vroom Vroom Talk Show." (The joke is that the show is boring and the members complain every time he starts it in future episodes, while he says it's exciting. It is always accompanied by a light-up microphone.) It appears in almost every NCT Life season that Doyoung is in.
- This is the first appearance of Johnny's ongoing segment Johnny's Fashion Evaluation, which is a running joke through NCT content. Johnny, who the group members describe as a fashionista, assesses and rates members' fashions. This first segment often appears in video compilations, from Taeyong's fire eyes to boxer Jaehyun to "color match color match."
- Taeyong's "Everything I do is a pose" is also popular.
Episode 3:
- Vroom VroomTalk Show returns.
- Johnny is excited about seeing all the grass, which reminds him of America, where he is from.
- Johnny plays the piano with Doyoung. He often plays the piano in SM Rookies shows. Jaehyun can also play the piano well.
- The members sing "A Whole New World." This is a very long-running joke in NCT content. Jaehyun sang the song on the Mickey Mouse Club Korea, and in SM Rookies, as well as on shows like Knowing Bros. During behind the scenes during NCT 2020 Resonance, Doyoung joked that the material on their costumes reminded him of carpet and hopped on Jaehyun's back while singing "A Whole New World."
- Ten is a great artist, which is why the members are hassling him here.
Episode 4:
- Ten's teacher says he was good at dancing, but not singing. He is now the main dancer and one of the main vocalists in WayV.
Episode 5:
- Ten testing the members with spicy food competitions is a long-running theme.
- Taeyong struggling with spicy food is also a long-running thing.
- The future members of NCT Dream are dancing to EXO's "Call Me Baby."
Episode 6:
- "Switch" is a song that will be released on NCT 127's first EP, NCT #127.
- Jaehyun jokes that it's the third time they celebrated his birthday. He also received a surprise birthday cake on stage during their SM Rookies show, which is also captured in the 2020 NCT U "From Home (Rearranged Ver.)" video at 3:57.
- Members are asked where they'd like to go and they will travel to those places over the next three years: Japan (Season 7 NCT Life in Osaka, with Yuta as the tour guide as he hoped, also NCT 127 Teach Me Japan), Chicago (NCT 127 Hit The States) and LA (NCT 127 Hit the States).