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| "Halbe (Grandfathers) Over Flowers," the reality show starring four older stars, airs on tvN every Friday night. / Courtesy of tvN |
By Chung Ah-young
The local entertainment scene has been dominated by young stars as most of the popular TV shows adopt reality formats that heavily rely on physical activities and adventures. But four graying stars are braving the trend by appearing in a new show "Halbe (Grandfathers) Over Flowers" on tvN, a cable channel operated by CJ E&M, launched last Friday.
The inaugural episode's viewer rating was an impressive 4.15 percent, the highest for the cable entertainment programs, which is also equivalent to 4.2 percent of SBS's "Thank You" in the same time slot.
Four older actors ― Lee Sun-jae, 80, Shin Gu, 78, Park Geun-hyung, 74, and Baek Il-sup, 69 ― are dubbed as H4 inspired by F4 in the popular television drama "Boys Over Flowers."
The show is the first work by Na Young-seok, the former producer of "2 Days and 1 Night" on KBS since he moved to CJ E&M early this year. The reality show features the main four actors' backpacking trip to Paris along with actor Lee Suh-jin, 42, who supports them as a "porter."
The first episode portrayed the casting process, their packingat home and their troubles in Paris.
The viewers glued to the screen as the show revealed the actor's spontaneous reactions to their wives at home. Lee Sun-jae who often acts as a patriarchal and serious father in dramas listened to his wife when packing. Baek, the youngest in the main cast, made coffee for three others while grumbling, which made the viewers laugh.
Ironically, the viewer rating for young women in their 20s was 7.18 percent, the highest among other age groups. "The show was really funny. It was a little different from other shows because the main cast didn't really care about the cameras. They just revealed their realistic lives, and their wit and humor from their experience and age are really funny but sometimes touching," Song Ji-hyun, a university student, said.
