YG Entertainment presents new variety show 'Trip or Trap'
The cast members of a new variety show “Trip or Trap” participate in a press conference at the SBS building in Mokdong, Seoul, Monday. From left are Lee Jae-jin, Eun Ji-won, Ahn Jung-hwan, Seo Jang-hun, Jo Se-ho and Yoo Byung-jae. / Yonhap
By Kim Jae-heun
YG Entertainment introduced its new reality travel show “Trip or Trap” on SBS on Monday. This is the first time in the entertainment company’s 20 years that it has produced a TV show in cooperation with a broadcasting company.
The pilot premiered in July, starring six entertainers including comedians Yoo Byung-jae and Jo Se-ho and athletes-turned-TV personalities Ahn Jung-hwan and Seo Jang-hoon.
In the first episode, Yoo said he has lost many TV jobs after joining YG Entertainment. But the show received positive feedback from viewers and SBS added it to its Monday schedule, set to air on Sept. 5 at 11:10 p.m.
It has been reported that YG founder Yang Hyun-suk has been actively trying to coproduce the show for Yoo after his remark in the pilot.
“Well… I thank him that he has been secretly promoting me to appear on the show, but I rather advise him to release more YG artists’ albums if he has time to concern himself with me,” Yoo joked during a press conference at SBS’ building in Mokdong, southwestern Seoul.
In its regular season episodes, “Trip or Trap” cast members include former members of ‘90s idol group Sechs Kies Lee Jae-jin and Eun Ji-won, instead of actor Kim Min-seok and Jung Kook of idol band BTS.
The travel competition divides the six cast members into groups of two ― the “Flower Road” team and “Dirt Road” team. The audience votes for the team leaders on V Line, a live broadcasting application powered by Korea’s top portal website Naver, and the leaders get to choose their members.
The Flower Road team will enjoy luxury travel while the Dirt Road team suffers on a penniless trip, such as riding six hours through the countryside in a compact car and sleeping outdoors in the rain. However, the show adopts a twist, in which a participant earns a “transfer card” that can put him in a luxury car and a hotel. The teams travel for three days and the first destination is Namhae, an island in South Gyeongsang Province.
In order to prevent biased voting such as fans choosing their favorite TV personalities to include in the Flower Road team, producer Park Seung-min said he will adopt a different voting system each time.
“Today we had reporters here voting for team leaders. Tonight we will have viewers vote live online and next time the method will be different. Please watch the episodes to find out for yourself. We will develop the voting method every episode,” said Park.
The producer also hinted that he will also invite guest participants not part of the regular cast.
“During the two-night, three-day trip we will have a new guest participating in our show like Twice did last time. But this time, the guest will not necessarily be on the Flower Road team and can be allocated to the Dirt Road group, depending on how well they play the game,” he said.