When will a variety show reach peak Running Man levels of international popularity?

    In recent years you've had obviously BTS on the music side of things, Parasite with films and Squid Game with TV shows being absolutely huge.


    All 3 are essentially the magnus opus in their respective fields for South Korea internationally. But another aspect of South Korean entertainment that's pretty unique are their variety shows.


    There's obviously a much higher barrier (due to multiple reasons) to international success with variety shows so at most I can never see one getting big outside of East Asia, but even in that regard unless I'm missing an obvious one no show has got anywhere near the popularity of peak Running Man there either. You're talking a peak that was like 6/7 years ago in my opinion as well.


    With the variety scene not what it used to be in South Korea anymore is the answer - it's very likely it'll never happen?

    Edited 2 times, last by stan12345 ().

  • AllKill VIP

    they would need to have proper lineup

    with healthy ratio men to women

    like 4 and 4

    it's possible to do so but those people would already need to be big enough to be financially stable and do much less other activities

    like you can see that both KJK, and Haha ain't really doing any music anymore

    Jihyo and Somin are acting but in case of Somin we know how it ended with her poor health because she didn't rested enough

    Kwangsoo left due to injury but also to the fact that he wanted to properly focus on acting once more



    so best way would be to grab someone who already has big achievements and kind of doesn't have anything to achieve anymore in own "world" and also someone who wants a longer break

    another factor would be that those episodes must be released and released and released kind of without any bigger breaks for whole year to make people used to it

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  • AllKill VIP

    Doubt it'll ever happen. Idols barely attend variety shows anymore. More and more groups have their own shows instead and those are usually way more popular with fans. I know that a lot of new international kpop fans find Korean comedians extremely annoying so I have hard time seeing them ever becoming popular internationally.

    Back in the early 2010s Running Man had huge upward momentum and then I think the piracy crackdown for fansubs kind of squashed it... I feel like had the timing been better it would have been there.

    Quote from jinaland

    is running man that popular :wow: I only know its popular in asia and there's also chinese version

    Not that easy to find videos but whenever they did episodes abroad in East Asia the amount of fans chasing them around was at a popular idol level.


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    Quote from LovenRose

    Doubt it'll ever happen. Idols barely attend variety shows anymore. More and more groups have their own shows instead and those are usually way more popular with fans. I know that a lot of new international kpop fans find Korean comedians extremely annoying so I have hard time seeing them ever becoming popular internationally.

    It might have helped a bit but idols weren't what made Running Man popular over Asia.

    Quote from doesitneedsaying

    i've never in my life watched an episode of running man (or any other variety show). i have no idea what it's about

    You can try to watch episode with BTS) That's how I fell for Running man rabbit hole back then lol


    Answering OP. Idk if it's possible. Running man was very unique imo: it was not simple talk show, there was a lot of action and competition while it's all fun with no cruel things to people involved, it has had a lot of different concepts where they could just come up with smth new or follow some popular movie/book/etc, it has had power of Yoo Jae Suk who is really one of the best entertainers & MC ever, who is respectful af yet fun af as well, and also the chemistry between whole cast was amazing too. Idk how it all can be repeated. Imo to get same level of popularity show should be based on action for sure, it can't be just a talk show, and such level of popularity can't be reached just if you collect some popular names (idols, actors), you need entertainer of Yoo Jae Suk level who can orchestrate it all but SK doesn't have such while he himself is unfortunately getting old for too much action. I think maybe 2 days 1 night could get some similar level of success but scandal happened and after fresh start new scandal happened so Idk. Maybe they can try to do a remake of Running man with young and popular idols and actors, I think it will go good with young people but will it be as widely known and loved by everyone as Running man original Idk.

    Quote from kirla

    You can try to watch episode with BTS) That's how I fell for Running man rabbit hole back then lol


    Answering OP. Idk if it's possible. Running man was very unique imo: it was not simple talk show, there was a lot of action and competition while it's all fun with no cruel things to people involved, it has had a lot of different concepts where they could just come up with smth new or follow some popular movie/book/etc, it has had power of Yoo Jae Suk who is really one of the best entertainers & MC ever, who is respectful af yet fun af as well, and also the chemistry between whole cast was amazing too. Idk how it all can be repeated. Imo to get same level of popularity show should be based on action for sure, it can't be just a talk show, and such level of popularity can't be reached just if you collect some popular names (idols, actors), you need entertainer of Yoo Jae Suk level who can orchestrate it all but SK doesn't have such while he himself is unfortunately getting old for too much action. I think maybe 2 days 1 night could get some similar level of success but scandal happened and after fresh start new scandal happened so Idk. Maybe they can try to do a remake of Running man with young and popular idols and actors, I think it will go good with young people but will it be as widely known and loved by everyone as Running man original Idk.

    agreed. Their chemistry, their banter and the dynamics between them is what makes the show entertaining. And when the cast changed (or the PDs), their dynamics surely felt different.
    It doesn't mean that the newer people was not good, it just kinda like the original cast was "the running man" and after the cast changed, it becomes "running man 2(?)". It just that different.

    Quote from doesitneedsaying

    i've never in my life watched an episode of running man (or any other variety show). i have no idea what it's about

    I don't like variety shows normally but I religiously watched it when it was first out and still rewatch episodes now when I'm in need of some comedy. I think it fell off a bit by episode 350'ish (/when a member called Gary who is from Leessang left) but it was unique.


    The first couple of seasons are just very urban games based so a lot of different activities and active participation. But the banter and comedy is what made it as episodes without guests are some of the strongest they have.


    I feel like the newer generation would find it a bit dated and maybe inappropriate, especially with how they would be with young female idols and actresses. Obviously done for comedies sake but some people nowadays I can imagine would be kicking off about it. The couple races where they would compete in pairs were always some of the funniest though.

    i still watch running man to this day no matter how much ifans love to talk about how its gotten boring :pepe-hips:


    Quote from desdesdes

    agreed. Their chemistry, their banter and the dynamics between them is what makes the show entertaining. And when the cast changed (or the PDs), their dynamics surely felt different.
    It doesn't mean that the newer people was not good, it just kinda like the original cast was "the running man" and after the cast changed, it becomes "running man 2(?)". It just that different.

    i feel sorry for the people who dropped it after they added sechan and somin, the two gave the show a fresh feeling (if that makes sense) but still integrated really well with the cast and have caused some of the funniest moments in episodes since :pepe-sad:

    LAFBL0s.gif

    let us gather around for the lord’s prayer:

    Nævis we love you. You are the one who protected me when i was in trouble. MY victory, one SYNK DIVE. I know your sacrifices. Let’s meet surely after the resurrection.

    Æmen

    :pepe-pray:

    Quote from bobsyouruncle

    i still watch running man to this day no matter how much ifans love to talk about how its gotten boring :pepe-hips:


    i feel sorry for the people who dropped it after they added sechan and somin, the two gave the show a fresh feeling (if that makes sense) but still integrated really well with the cast and have caused some of the funniest moments in episodes since :pepe-sad:

    ah right, I recently watch that episode which having Mijoo, Yuqi, and Wonyoung as the guest star, And yeah, I also enjoy it, mainly because somin and her awkwardness around the male guest ^^ . A different dynamics but still enjoyable

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