Variety Show Overview and Rant

When I was already an avid watcher of kdramas, I stumbled upon their variety shows. The first one being Hello Counsellor (hi to everyone that remembers this existed). That's where I got to know a lot of celebrities and enjoyed my evenings watching it.

Slowly, there were more variety shows added to my watch list: 2 Days 1 Night, The Return of Superman, I Live Alone, and so on.

I don't have enough time to watch variety shows like I used to, but I still try to see what's up from time to time (mostly dating shows).

Here is what I watched this year, what I'm anticipating and more!

Rant with me about variety shows you watched this year in the comments!

Every time I watch Single's Inferno, I'm the first one to complain how they have boring conversations, how it's repetitive and similar stuff, but somehow every year I keep watching it.

I watched the 4th season, and I must say I didn't like it very much. All of you have probably heard the criticism about how it turned out to be a one-woman show, with little to no screen time for others. It did become just a clout-chasing influencer event, and as much as people complain about it, they still support those people and care too much about them.

Also, today I already saw the cast for the next season, their birth dates and jobs were revealed, which is like the main mystery of the show. I haven't looked at the list, in case I decide to watch the next season, but I hope there are more new things to it.

I know most of the people from dating shows won't be a true couple, but at least bring some entertainment...

The Devil's Plan Death Room was another disappointment for me. A lot of the people seemed hypocritical and crybabies whenever they don't get what they want. They cry about it and blame someone else, which got me annoyed.

This season was also not as good as the first one. For me, there will always be too many rules that I can't be bothered to listen to, but the participants were the ones to bring amusement. Also, the cliffhangers always got me in the first season, making me watch the next episode quickly. This time, there was barely anything that caught my interest.

I'm not even sure why I finished it because I skipped so much of it.

The most recent variety show I finished is Better Late Than Single, another dating show. This had such an interesting premise: people who never dated find their first love.

After watching it, you can tell why some people haven't dated yet.

In the end, it was again about one popular man and woman, but it's hard to blame them. Nobody else seemed interested or willing to produce good content. (I guess this is what we get when we don't have influencer wanna-bes)

There are definitely some things that I would change in the show, like having those 'cupids'/advisors at all times. They should be able to call them when advice is needed or when the cupid seems that help is needed.

The way they just showed the participants' introduction and what they went through to improve was underwhelming.

A food for thought: every dating show has people who come a bit later to mix things up, but they somehow end up doing nothing. It was the same with Single's Inferno and Better Late Than Single; new people didn't even get a minute of screentime.

They should make a rule of eliminating people or something if they don't do anything worthwhile.

The Great Escape: The Story is already airing, but there isn't a good place to watch it that also has good subtitles.

I wanted to start it because I watched all The Great Escape seasons, but now I'm also a bit scared after reading some of the reviews. The show doesn't seem fun, and the cast isn't entertaining to watch.

There weren't any high hopes already because I had some issues with the previous seasons, but this pushed me to question if I should spend my time on it.

The Echoes of Survivors: Inside Korea’s Tragedies will air the same day this blog comes out (August 15th). This is a documentary series that will reveal horrible tales of those who survived Korea's gloomiest chapters.

It will be on Netflix, so we will have good subtitles for it!

Crime Scene Zero, which should air in September, also seems interesting if you're a fan of crime shows that are more similar to The Great Escape. As I understand from the synopsis, there will be two groups of detectives and suspects, so it should be fun to watch rival teams.

I feel like for the past years there have been so many travelling shows and I'm kind of tired of them all. It doesn't matter who you put in it's just not that interesting when there are already 100 similar shows to it.

It would be great to have a refreshing concept that is rarely/never done. Of course, it would be riskier, but I do feel fatigue from the same shows.

I would also like to see more actors participating in the variety shows. Something similar to Youth MT, where we had different teams of actors from various dramas. It's probably because I'm the most interested in those people, but it does feel like we barely see them if they're not filming a drama.

There is also a cute documentary, My Dear Youth - Coffee Prince, and I would loooove to have something similar.

Recently, I have heard that there will be a reunion for Reply 1988 cast for their 10th anniversary, so my wishes are already coming true.