TV to feature idols, hidden cameras over Seollal

Former footballer Ahn Jung-hwan will experience what it’s like to be 80 years old at MBC’s “Journal From the Future” on Feb. 8. / Courtesy of MBC

By Kwon Ji-youn

The nation’s three major broadcasters have prepared pilots that will cater to the tastes of all members of the family as they gather for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Idols, cooks and hidden cameras will return without fail, and music shows will attempt to follow in the footsteps of “King of Mask Singer,” which premiered around this time last year and secured a permanent prime time slot on MBC not long after.

The “Idol Star Athletics Championships” will tough out controversies surrounding competitors’ injuries as the broadcasters try their hand at innovation with shows that bring entertainment and social media together.

Here are some keywords for this year’s Lunar New Year long weekend entertainment guide:

SBS’s “The Boss Is Watching,” airing on Feb. 6, will feature idol singers and CEOs of their agencies.

Idols

Tonight, idol singers and their bosses, the CEOs of the agencies that represent them, will kick off the long weekend entertainment festivities in SBS’s “The Boss Is Watching” with a survival performance competition that will determine the top group. BTS, BTOB, Seventeen, Super Junior, Teen Top, Lovelyz, Twice, AOA, EXID, B.A.P and their bosses are set to appear.

On Monday and Tuesday, idol stars and their brothers and sisters will spend 48 hours together in KBS’s “We Are Siblings.” It stars actress Gong Seung-yeon and her sister Jeong-yeon, a member of girl group Twice, as well as EXID member Ha-ni and her brother, among others.

KBS’s “Muscle Queen Project,” to air on Tuesday, casts the health trainers of idol groups, letting viewers in on the secrets to maintaining a slim and athletic body. Some 300 idol group members will run, jump, kick and wrestle for gold medals in MBC’s “Idol Star Athletics Championships” on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a special episode of “KBS Nationwide Singing Contest” will host idols and their families.

MBC’s “Idol Star Athletics Championships” will air on Feb. 9 and 10.

Music

Music shows will take on a new color this holiday season.

MBC and SBS have put together their own duet music shows. MBC’s “Duet Festival,” which was first aired over the Chuseok long weekend last year, will expand its lineup to include more non-idol musicians like Jung Joon-young, Hong Jin-young, Zico and Buzz member Min Kyung-hoon.

SBS’s “Fantastic Duo” will pair singers with non-celebrities through a smartphone application. Singers Lim Chang-jung, Kim Bum-soo, Jang Yoon-jeong and comedian Park Myung-soo will recruit vocalists through their smartphones, and perform with them in a duet competition.

“God’s Voice,” set to air Wednesday on SBS, will have amateur vocalists challenge professional musicians in a singing battle. Park Jung-hyun, Gummy, Yoon Do-hyun and Kim Jo-han are among the pros to appear.

Cook TV

Veteran comedian Lee Gyeong-gyu will pilot a cooking show of his own this holiday.

“Lee Gyeong-gyu’s Cooking Expedition” will air early Saturday morning on MBC. The members of the expedition ― Moon Hee-jun, Shin Bong-sun, Sam Hammington, Sam Okyere and Kim Sang-hyuk ― will travel in search of regional specialties, which they will then use to create new recipes with the help of star chefs.

A pilot on SBS will feature comedians Jung Jun-ha and Lee Guk-joo and chefs Choi Hyun-seok and Oh Se-deuk in an eating contest.

Innovation

Some innovative programs are also set to air during the holiday.

A new program on MBC set for Sunday evening will have celebrities leave spontaneously on a trip, all the while following instructions given by fans on social media. Actors Yoon Kye-sang, Kwon Yul and rapper MC Gree, among others, will appear.

MBC’s “Insta Wars” will invite non-celebrity social media stars to the studio to give viewers the lowdown on how to attract more followers on Tuesday. Kim Seong-ju and Park Myung-soo will emcee.

MBC’s “Journal From the Future,” to air Monday, allows celebrities to live a day in the life of their future selves. Former footballer Ahn Jung-hwan will learn what it’s like to be 80 years old, and rapper Jessi will spend a day as a 58-year-old, her mother’s current age.

Comedians Lee, Noh Hong-chul and Super Junior member Lee Teuk will star in MBC’s “Hidden Camera Battle: Game of Thrones” on Tuesday.

Each will mock a colleague in a fake outburst recorded on a hidden camera, only to reveal at the end that all was in good fun. Lee is expected to come up with the best hidden camera piece because he was behind the popularity of the 1991 weekly show “Sunday Sunday Night.” The show put a celebrity or a public figure into a dire, nonsensical situation secretly choreographed by the production staff. Hidden cameras show how the stars react to the fake settings.