Forgotten celebrities return to enjoy popularity in 2016
Lee Kyung-kyu, left, and Kang Ho-dong in “Please, Give Me a Meal” / Courtesy of JTBC
By Yun Suh-young
Kim Heung-kook / Corutesy of JTBC
Park Soo-hong / Corutesy of JTBC
There was no “revolution” in the TV entertainment scene this year, but rather an "evolution" continued in different forms. Much of the status quo was maintained in terms of content this year compared to last year.
Food and music were the two dominant entertainment sectors as they were last year and long-lasting programs continued to maintain their popularity. There were no new noticeable rising trends, but there were noticeably rising popular stars.
As much as food was the key word on many of the TV channels, food programs such as SBS' "Baek Jong-won’s 3 Top Chefs," tvN's "Home Food Master Baek," JTBC's "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator," tvN's "Korean Food Battle," tvN's "What Should We Eat Today," and Comedy TV's "Tasty Kids" were the top faring programs this year.
Subsequently, Baek Jong-won, a chef and CEO of restaurant franchises who had two TV programs named after him, was still one of the most sought-after TV personalities.
Meanwhile music programs were also continuously popular. MBC's "King of Mask Singer" which has been airing since April 2015 saw consistent ratings throughout this year. The program was the talk of the town with singer Ha Hyun-woo of indie rock band Guckkasten maintaining his champion status for 18 consecutive weeks as "Our Neighborhood Music General."
In comparison to King of Mask Singer's popularity, other reality competition shows such as SBS's "Fantastic Duo," MBC's "Duet Singing Show," SBS's "Vocal Battle: Heavenly Voice" and KBS's "Sing Fight" fared poorly.
Quite new formats continued to appear including interior-decorating shows, such as JTBC's "Old House, New House," and tvN's "The Dignity of My Room" and "Let Me Home," but failed to grab audience's attention despite anticipation of their popularity earlier this year.
Old programs such as MBC's "Radio Star" and "Infinite Challenge," and KBS's "2 Nights 1 Day" continued to remain as top shows throughout the years. The former two were launched in 2007 and 2006 respectively, and the latter has been airing since 2013.
In line with old programs, former celebrities who had not appeared on TV for a while were also welcomed back on screen. Entertainer Park Soo-hong who had long been buried by the popularity of other celebrities is seeing his second golden age with SBS' "My Ugly Duckling." Emcees Tak Jae-hoon and Lee Soo-geun, who had been off-screen for a while since their gambling issues became problematic, have returned and are seeing their second heyday. Singer Kim Heung-kook who had a long hiatus is also a frequent guest on entertainment programs.
Meanwhile the unexpectedly revealed political scandal dubbed "Choi Soon-sil gate," named after Choi, a close confidant of President Park Geun-hye, has boosted viewership in TV shows in general. Local broadcasters have been seeing their heyday since October when the scandal was disclosed and episodes related to Choi or TV personalities comically parodying Choi flourished.