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| Actor Lee Dong-wook's talk show "Because I want to talk" ended Wednesday with a 2.3 percent viewership rating. Courtesy of SBS |
By Lee Gyu-lee
It started with a big fanfare but turned out to be much ado about nothing.
This is a simple explanation of the SBS TV talk show "Because I want to talk" hosted by actor Lee Dong-wook.
The weekly program wrapped up its three-month journey on Wednesday with a disappointing viewership rating.
The final episode had BoA, a household name on the K-pop scene, as a guest in an apparent effort to produce a grand finale, but to no avail ― it marked the show's second-lowest rating of 2.3 percent.
What went wrong?
Fans had high hopes for Lee's show before it started after the actor led Mnet's popular audition show "Produce X 101" last year. Lee also expressed his excitement at starting a talk show during a media conference in December, saying "it's a dream come true."
The first guest was actor Gong Yoo, whose appearance helped the show make a successful start with a 4.8 percent rating.
The show format was a one-on-one interview between Lee and a guest drawn from diverse fields, including a medical examiner, a pro boxer and a Buddhist monk.
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| Scenes from the show's first episode with actor Gong Yoo as guest. / Courtesy of SBS |
However, the rating soon fell below 4 percent, reaching 2.2 percent at its lowest.
Some viewers complimented Lee's thorough approach and seriousness in interviewing, but others questioned his ability to fully lead the show, saying it fell short of being entertaining.
The Korean title of the show was "Because Lee Dong-wook wants to talk" and there's usually an extra weight on the host that comes with having their name engraved on the title. Yet it seems Lee's first grand attempt at running his own show did not turn out to be as triumphant as his initial ambition.
