Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Korea's longest-running comedy show airs finale
KBS's comedy show “Gag Concert” aired its last episode Saturday. Courtesy of KBS
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
The longest-running comedy show “Gag Concert” ended its 21-year air history with its final episode, Saturday.
For the episode, KBS's sketch-comedy show invited former cast members to reenact some hit sketches in the past.
As the show's band joined in for the final wrap of the episode, some cast members were in tears as they bid the farewell. However, despite the finale to end its decades-long run, the show's rating remained at 3 percent.
First aired in 1999, the show reached the peak of its popularity in the early 2000s, garnering around 30 percent viewership rating. It has generated many buzzwords from its sketches and been the springboard to fame for some cast members.
However, the show's ratings began to fall amid the success of reality show biz, and also due to lack of refreshing comedy ideas.
The show failed to pass 10 percent rating for the past year and has remained around 3 percent since April.
The network announced that the show would go into indefinite “hiatus” last month, about a week after rumors of its cancelation surfaced.
“With the changing media environment, trends in comedy, limitations as a sketch-comedy show, and for other reasons, 'Gag Concert' will go on a temporary break for a new transformation,” said KBS in an official statement, without giving details of its return or the changes.