Variety Overview

I did this kind of overview last year when I had a bit fewer variety shows to comment on, so I was waiting to watch a few more and do this year's one.

When suddenly I have so many things to write about!

This overview will start where I left off, when I finished "Better Late than Single" first season and wrote how much fun I had watching it. This will be about some shows I have been waiting on and not so much.

Have you seen any of these variety shows? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Let's start with variety shows that I watched recently.

Last year, I mentioned that I would like to watch "The Echoes of Survivors: Inside Korea's Tragedies." It had an interesting premise of telling the truth about horrible things that happened in recent history, such as a brother's home, the Chijon family and more.

It's a documentary style where victims tell their own stories: how they survived these harsh times, while the director also tries to hold perpetrators accountable.

This was a very hard watch; however, I hated how the victims were put back in the same settings, some wearing the same clothes as they did in the past.

It really wasn't necessary, and it made people, including me, feel uncomfortable.

I imagine that the audience for the documentary is mostly people who don't know much about the cases or who want to see from the victims' perspective.

Some of the stories were a bit rushed, especially about the JMS church. They probably have so much to say about that, and it is hard to fit everything in two episodes, but maybe not even starting would have helped.

That's why more explanation would have been very helpful.

Apart from that, it was an interesting watch. The poor will probably never get their apologies and truth, while the rich are still in the same or in better positions.

Moving to something lighter.

I tuned in for "House on Wheels: Beyond the Ocean". I have seen a few previous seasons, but what made me come back was that they filmed in Japan. Other than that, the concept did not change. They travelled with their colleagues that they met on the filming set, ate lots of delicious food and relaxed.

It's a great way to see actors on variety shows and get to see a glimpse of their real personalities.

It would have been perfect if they had met some Japanese actors on the way, but it's understandable, as the language barrier might be a bit annoying, and I'm not sure how much the main cast has ever interacted with any Japanese actors, so it wouldn't be as comfortable as them meeting their colleagues.

This is how I finished 2025, and a new year means new variety shows!

Now we finished talking about 2025, let's move on to the next year

The first thing that I finished was "Reply 1988: 10th Anniversary"!

This drama holds such a special place in my heart. That is where I fell in love with so many actors who played here, and it was the first Reply series I'd seen.

Seeing most of the actors get together, play some games, and just have a good time was incredible. It was like watching a good old variety show where you have a bit of a crazy cast with PD Na's games and punishments.

They also had some moments to reflect on the filming days and meet Seong Jin Ju, now all grown up!

In the last post, I complained about "Single's Inferno", so as a true fan I had to watch the new season!

I'm not sure if it was my sickness or what, but I quite enjoyed season 5. It brought back some excitement, and I liked how they finally included missions where it wasn't all about strength. For example, the photoshoot mission was fun to watch as you could see some jealous faces and intrigue going on.

Also, we have to thank Mina Sue for bringing the drama!

On another note, people should stop commenting on their Instagrams and start understanding that this is just a show and does not fully showcase the real people. Even if they are a bit rude, they bring the drama that we love to see in these shows.

I also can't believe that some of the relationships made in "Single's Inferno" are lasting, though; still not many updates since February.

To comment a bit on the reunion, it was fun to watch some of the moments, but we can all agree that we were more interested in some of the cast members than others. But it was a nice touch to see who was still together and who didn't last long.

So, you'll know where to find me around January!

I don't talk much about K-pop here, but I'm finally revealing myself as a Wannable. Who loves for them to come back together, though I have to admit that I never watched Produce 101.

Anyway, the "Wanna One Go: Back to Base" reunion was fun to watch and see all the members together in one place. It was interesting how Mnet made it interactive, as fans had a chance to vote for what they wanted to see in the other episode, for example, some behind-the-scenes footage.

However, it would have been more interesting to watch if they had more to do. The photoshoot mission was fun, but some other times it seemed that they just walked around without much of the purpose.

It was lovely to see them kind of interact with Lai Guan Lin, and remember the moments and days that have passed. Plus we got one more extra song out of it, so I cannot complain.

As we talk of the reunions, I have to comment on "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God 10th Anniversary"!

Different from the "Reply 1988" reunion, this has focused on relaxation and just spending some time with the actors.

It was nice to see them back together and having a lovely chat and a great time while recreating the scenes, but it was a bit boring. The games did not create any tension, and there weren't any surprise elements.

Maybe I'm comparing it too much to "Reply 1988: 10th anniversary", but it would have been interesting then to see this one being filmed in a different way. Like with the "Coffee Prince" reunion, where we got to see actors reacting to scenes while reminiscing on those times. Not all of the actors met each other, and they didn't play games, but a lot of them still had their chance to say something about their experiences.

Don't get me wrong, they still did that while having some food and fun, and I still liked watching them be together, as the four of them seemed like great friends.

Maybe I'm just petty that Yook Sung Jae didn't come.

After all these shows, what's next?

For now I'm watching the second season of "Better Late Than Single", and it's very fun.

At this moment, I don't see anything that catches my eye. Maybe I might check out "The Village Barber 2" as I heard nice reviews about the first season.

But as I'm guessing it's more like a relaxing watch, which I'm not particularly excited about, but it's another chance to get a glimpse of some actors, so who knows!

Instead of more, I want less!

Last year I asked for more things, but this time I want some of the trends to go away.

I believe we would live nicely without so many traveling/relaxing shows. Not all of them are bad, but sometimes it seems like it's the only variety shows that are coming out, and it gets a bit repetitive.

This can also be said about dating shows; there is one for anyone. I realise the hypocrisy, as I would watch one with an interesting concept.

Why are we using AI for a variety show? No more creativity in these writers' rooms?

"Murder's Club: Liar's Table" sounded so interesting until I read the synopsis where the first sentence already describes it as "AI mystery deduction game show".

SKIP

And why are we still propagating bad stereotypes?

"The Psychopath I Met" is a thriller talk show based on true stories, dealing with the actual experiences of individuals such as psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists. It is expected to raise awareness about real-life horrors.

This is literally the synopsis to it, and of course, we have celebrities talking about it and not real psychologists or therapists...

It's 2026, guys; we can do better!