[Variety] Good Sunday - Running Man 런닝맨

[ojlover]

Yup, yup. The latest episode definitely was a real fun. I just love the guests, they got along well with the cast and just being themselves. I never thought that Chun Jung Myung is a cutie because he looks so serious on his series. JYP just rocked the episode. I love how he was being humble during team forming. How he said they should have called Suzy since the cast was expecting her rather than male guests and he said sorry to Gwang Soo about it. I never expected he could be so humble. Honestly, I wasn't fond of him because he looks scandalous and has so many bad rumors. Now, I found out that this guy is not that bad. Back to the show, I love that all groups were given equal air time, possibly because all of them were funny. The final game was so competitive and funny at the same time. With Jong Kook as the sparta, Chun Jung Myung with his jijitsu, and JYP being aggressive, it was just awesome. I think this is the first episode where we can see the final game has been so intense. Usually, we can predict who is gonna be the final winner. Someone who is more popular or has strength usually will win. But for this episode it is really hard to predict since all groups are equal in terms of strength and competitiveness. And I really love it when Gwang Soo and JYP won. They deserved it. Frankly, a part of me wants to see Gwang Soo win even though he seemed a bit pathetic when he fought with Haha and stupid when he back stabbed Chun Jung Myung. Anyhow, he deserved it because he has been working hard in improving his image on the show. In short, the latest episode is Daebak!!

As a side note, I though this episode was great but it didn't really do well in ratings. Same goes to Big Brothers episode before. It was so funny but it didn't record high ratings. I wonder what and who Korean audience actually would like to see on the show. As for me, as long as the guests being active and interact well with the cast and the game is interesting, I'm on it.

[aYuko]

Does anyone know which episode was haha & SJH couple game? Thanks

[ww23]

3. Which guests do you love to see in special 100th episode?

2NE1 2NE1 2NE1....     ESPECİALLY PARK BOM.....AND GONG YOO

[kepogee]

Which guest I would love to guest in the 100th episode?

Can I have Jo In Sung as guest, please? Kthxbye. 

[Guest nicha1980]

My guess for 100th Episode...

Guest will be Park Ji Sung and Oversea Filming...lol

[Guest maldini3]

where is the next episode ....ep 93

[enrell]

where is the next episode ....ep 93

semi-fly might be busy..

[Guest flydolesqueue]

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[Guest seica]

It's always been pretty obvious that the show is scripted, but lately, these show producers/writers are taking this concept a little too far, making the show too rigid and too predictable.  This latest episode was pretty pathetic in how much the crap was all scripted and they made it look so obvious.  It's losing more and more of "reality TV" component.

Also, I just can't get used to seeing some 5'8", 160lbs guy with like 15" arms continue to be portrayed as some kind of superhuman, mega-strength freak that everyone is afraid of.  I understand that every character has his/her own trait that the writers have developed to give them their unique qualities, but why not start to change things up a little.  Even after almost 2 years of this show, they are still playing that "Sparta" crap to describe Jongkook.   He got toyed around by HoDong in X-men anytime Hodong wanted to show his strength/skill and wasn't fooling around to make people laugh.  Even Sooro in Family Outing was stronger than Jongkook.

Since the writers will continue to make all the current regular characters act like little pussies to make Jongkook look like a dominant male, I want to see guest(s) who can/will totally physically dominate Jongkook to make him look like a little baby...sort of like when Sexiyama guested in Family Outing to completely embarrass Jongkook repreatedly.

Change it up a little, writers/producers.

[Guest timpa]

^That did happen on the Nichkhun/Taecyeon episode... They pretty much dominated KJK.

It's his character on the show though and to a certain extent it is true. He is stronger than the other Running Man members, but yea they do 'overplay' things to make it look more interesting. YJS is nowhere near as weak as he sometimes pretends to be on the show for the sake of creating a story.

I the the 'capable man' character is actually at times more interesting than Spartakook. It's fun to see him figure out the twists and things based on pasts shows/experience and know what is being done to try to trick him or the other members.

[Guest boyofin9]

It's always been pretty obvious that the show is scripted, but lately, these show producers/writers are taking this concept a little too far, making the show too rigid and too predictable.  This latest episode was pretty pathetic in how much the crap was all scripted and they made it look so obvious.  It's losing more and more of "reality TV" component.

Also, I just can't get used to seeing some 5'8", 160lbs guy with like 15" arms continue to be portrayed as some kind of superhuman, mega-strength freak that everyone is afraid of.  I understand that every character has his/her own trait that the writers have developed to give them their unique qualities, but why not start to change things up a little.  Even after almost 2 years of this show, they are still playing that "Sparta" crap to describe Jongkook.   He got toyed around by HoDong in X-men anytime Hodong wanted to show his strength/skill and wasn't fooling around to make people laugh.  Even Sooro in Family Outing was stronger than Jongkook.

Since the writers will continue to make all the current regular characters act like little pussies to make Jongkook look like a dominant male, I want to see guest(s) who can/will totally physically dominate Jongkook to make him look like a little baby...sort of like when Sexiyama guested in Family Outing to completely embarrass Jongkook repreatedly.

Change it up a little, writers/producers.

I sense a lot of bitterness in this post haha. I find it interesting how u decided to include kjk's physical stats, he is actually around to 5'10" and around 167-170 lbs. but that's irrelevant. As for Hodong, i don't know if u realize, but hodong was at one point wrestling champion of korea and competed at over 200 lbs. He even stated that he still weighs in around 200 and idk if u saw 1night2days a while back, he defeated one by one a large group of military soldiers in ssireum (wrestling). bottom line he's a former athlete and i guarantee u NO ONE gave kjk the expectations to be at hodong's level. so in my opinion the fact that kjk couldn't compete with hodong doesn't detract anything away from kjk's physical ability, given who kang ho dong is. 

Secondly, idk if u noticed, but the only people who have really to quote you "embarrassed" kjk on broadcast, are athletes or former athletes. sexyama is an mma fighter in the UFC for heavens sake and he easily outweighed kjk by 20 lbs on family outing. as for sooro, sooro's mentioned before that kjk's let him win a couple times on the show for entertainment value. not to undermine sooro's strength, but like kjk, he also had that "strong, game devil" reputation on family outing that he had to live up to. 

kjk's physique and strength is something that is quite uncommon in the kpop, or korean general population. in a society where "slim, skinny" is prevalent and desired, it's natural the korean general and celebrity population would see kjk's bulky frame as a symbol of strength and power. ive been to korea many times to visit my relatives and the last time i went (this summer), i had to ask my cousin if the men in korea lifted weights because literally almost EVERY guy i saw while walking around was really skinny. I am a former varsity football player, and i got strange looks on the subway because of my size. 

bottom line, yes the spartakooks is a character the PD's push kjk to play, but i wouldn't underestimate his strength. i have yet to see anyone in the kpop and korean entertainment world come even close to kjk and mighty mouth sangchu's physical ability. and that includes idols as well.

p.s. to the other post above me, unless ur of sexyama or ho dongs strength, i find it hard to fend off both nichkhun and taecyeon 2vs1. and that particular episode kjk's back was extremely hurting him (he told nichkhun when nichkhun cornered him on that episode, and nichkhun said that "he had heard") so if anything kjk didn't put up much a fight.

[Guest FluffyBunnyPwn]

^ That part in episode 93, I literally laughed for like 2 minutes straight. My abs got quite a workout from the unfortunate event that was bestowed upon Haha. For those of you who has seen it, you definitely know what I'm talking about.

[Sir Mac]

It's kinda interesting how YJS always gets involved in high-height related stuff even though it seems like he has a genuine fear of heights. Remember how he avoided doing the lift in the Alice in Wonderland episode? Also, if you look carefully in past episodes (involving gondolas, glass floors on high buildings, etc) he always does a thing where he suddenly pauses and closes his eyes during those situations.

I've also seen a clip of him on a very old variety show where he's genuinely freaking out during an army bootcamp thing while crossing a high rope bridge.

I guess he deals with it a lot better now though since he was able to bungee jump and look cool doing so. (Or maybe he was keeping his cool in front of Son Ye Jin?) This latest episode though...lol.

[Rori]

The scripting has been a bit too obvious in the last few episodes that it has slightly taken enjoyment from watching. Only slightly though, it can still entertain me and make me fold up laughing, ie Kwangsoo and his disguise in the last episode was amazing. I had to replay that a few times more. And speaking of the last episode that was one of the best concepts yet but I cannot express my disappointment enough the way it turned out. There is only so many times KJK can dominate everyone until it becomes boring and predictable. The moment the second round voting started and it was someone other than KJK chosen the winner was already decided. Of course HaHa was just slightly unlucky too with the tie breaker. They had a bit of hope with the "Angels" but it wasn't meant to be. I hope the PD repeats a similar concept just to see what could happen.

I have loved KJK since FO and along with YJS he makes RM for me but it still doesn't change my opinion. Oh you can have guests, stronger than KJK, guest on the show (but honestly I think 3 female actresses are even stronger than any potential UFC, wrestling champions. Do you remember him not even putting up a fight against Go Ara, Hyomin and Im Soo Hyang?) but even then, they are just guests; they will only appear once or twice. This is about the permanent cast of RM and, like seica said, it needs changing around.

[Guest Fresh02]

It's kind of ironic that people are complaining about KJK winning - he hasn't won in a long time and there have been so many times that KJK has been scripted to lose. Yes, like he's really going to run to Kwang Soo and conveniently expose his back to JYP. Or walk in front of Han Ga In, easily letting her take his tag off. When on other occassions he's snuck up on and he's able to instantly flip around before they can take his tag.

It's actually the other way around. They have to script KJK to lose, or he's going win every game. Or there has to be some kind of cheating, spy, betrayal, some secret advantage, or women involved. All have been used to beat KJK. When they play straight up like in the last episode, how do you overpower someone like KJK? The guy's muscles aren't fake you know. He's strong and he's fit, they don't need to script him dominating someone or multiple people. It's not like he's a dumb brute, he actually figures things out really quick in the games. KJK hasn't won in a long time and they do one episode where he does again and people are up in arms about scripting.

This is all my opinion and anyone can disagree. I'm not gonna argue online - this is my only and last reply on this regardless of any other responses.

[Rori]

^ That is all obvious but you can't deny that some people were just not satisfied with the last episode. You are correct that KJK hasn't won in a while and he has to win at a times but history was just being repeated, again, in the last episode. KJK can win, but why does it have to be in the no-guest/RM only episode? Even the rest of the RM members want KJK taken out as quickly as possible so why did, after the first round, they give up on KJK? This is why I am calling out the writing here. I doubt the production team want to see KJK sit out the whole episode, I doubt most fans would but it wouldn't hurt. Just once to have the impossible happen and have KJK one of the first to be eliminated. If JSJ & KS can improve and take out other members by themselves then KJK can be taken down a notch.

edit: I know no one likes to see the word 'scripted' in connection with a variety show they enjoy so I'm sorry if I am annoying anyone with these last few posts. I'll try to keep it happy. ^^

[Guest nicha1980]

Will we start argument over KJK's character/script again? It's been so long huh...

Poor him really...He won in awhile and people here already started complaining...lol

[Guest cherryleen]

well well....I dun understand why some people complaining about KJK winning on RM.....

Did he win every week? When was the last time he won?

And in the survival episode, he was really running, chasing and sweating to win the first round.

Do you expect RM members to vote KJK in all the 3 rounds?? Does this make sense?

If you are expecting this, then I think you might as well send your "winner" list to the PD each wk and ask them to film according to your wish and no more complains

[Guest timpa]

well well....I dun understand why some people complaining about KJK winning on RM.....

Did he win every week? When was the last time he won?

And in the survival episode, he was really running, chasing and sweating to win the first round.

Do you expect RM members to vote KJK in all the 3 rounds?? Does this make sense?

If you are expecting this, then I think you might as well send your "winner" list to the PD each wk and ask them to film according to your wish and no more complains

Actually it makes complete sense to vote him all 3 rounds because you want to eliminate your strongest competitor to give yourself a better chance to win the final round

However, Running Man isn't the Olympics. It isn't a World Cup Game, it isn't baseball, etc... The ultimate goal is not to win rounds/games. The goal is to put on an entertaining show to attract an audience. People toss out the term 'scripted' a lot. I don't think that term is correct for a lot of what happens. That term implies someone is telling the cast *WHAT* to do. While I think a lot of the time its the individual member themself who decides to act a certain way for the sake of making an more interesting story.

Like when KJK 'lets' someone get away from him in a normal match. Or when he teams up with someone who he honestly doesn't need to team up with and from a pure winning perspective it would be better for him to eliminate the person immediately... but he does it to try and add more elements to that week's show to make it more interesting. I think you can always tell when KJK is 'faking' something on the show. His voice changes a bit and he tends to start talking more. There's been a number of times where you can pretty much tell he deliberately turned his back and walked and let someone get his tag. I don't think it was the PD telling him to let it happen, but he realizes he can't win every week or it makes things boring.

That goes for the whole cast though. I mean c'mon no matter how strong KJK if all 6 members team up at the start and gang attack KJK he's going to be eliminated every time... but that would make the show boring so they go off in 1 or 2's and make themselves vulnerable to being picked off.

[Guest boyofin9]

^ That is all obvious but you can't deny that some people were just not satisfied with the last episode. You are correct that KJK hasn't won in a while and he has to win at a times but history was just being repeated, again, in the last episode. KJK can win, but why does it have to be in the no-guest/RM only episode? Even the rest of the RM members want KJK taken out as quickly as possible so why did, after the first round, they give up on KJK? This is why I am calling out the writing here. I doubt the production team want to see KJK sit out the whole episode, I doubt most fans would but it wouldn't hurt. Just once to have the impossible happen and have KJK one of the first to be eliminated. If JSJ & KS can improve and take out other members by themselves then KJK can be taken down a notch.

edit: I know no one likes to see the word 'scripted' in connection with a variety show they enjoy so I'm sorry if I am annoying anyone with these last few posts. I'll try to keep it happy. ^^

well, he was the first one out after Haha's time controller thing during that previous superpower episode with just the RM cast members. Honestly if I think back, I think this is really the only episode with a survival of the fittest theme among the members, that he's actually won. no offense to anyone, but i don't understand the complaining. 90% of the time he is "The Capable One" that uses his intellect rather than spartakooks, and the one time his strength is used, people go nuts about scripting? And I completely agree with the previous post about him being scripted to lose. He is the capable one, mentally and physically. If it was just a straight up competition he would destroy everyone. That's why they throw in things like double name tags, spies, betrayals, etc to make it more interesting. Basically he goes through every episode with a handicap, a much needed handicap, but a handicap nonetheless.