'Infinite Challenge' takes break for the first time since 2006

By Park Jin-hai

“Infinite Challenge,” MBC’s popular entertainment show airing every Saturday for nearly ten years non-stop, will take a seven-week break starting Jan. 28 at the request of the show’s producer.

The unprecedented decision was made due to a lack of ideas and accumulated fatigue of the show’s staff.

Since debuting in May 2006, the variety show has featured episodes with fresh ideas in no fixed format and has been on air every weekend for the past 10 years. The only time the show was not on air was when MBC’s union staged the nation’s longest media strike in 2012, calling for the resignation of its president.

The program’s producer Kim Tae-ho recently left a message on social media saying, “My heart races fast, as if I’m chased after… If Santa Claus can give a present this Christmas to our production staff, who return home late with heavy minds, please give us a one-month break to look back and another two months for preparations.” He hashtagged phrases like “Let us live. If it continues like this, the worst thing might happen.”

The hiatus of MBC’s flagship show reignited the discussion that major TV broadcasters should adopt a season production format.

Although cable channels have been making programs in a seasonal format, including cable network tvN’s reality show “Three Meals a Day” that took a break and returned with its third season, major TV stations haven’t seen any successes with it. MBC’s “Future Diary,” which was said to be the first such show, wrapped after eight episodes but season 2 is not likely to happen. KBS variety shows “Happy Together” and “2 Days 1 Night” were aired in seasonal format, but it was rather due to a retouch of the programs following changes of its producers or hosts, rather than a break to prepare for the next season.

Star producer Na Young-seok, who left KBS four years ago and had a series of hit programs on tvN such as “Grandpas Over Flowers” and “Youth Over Flowers,” openly said in the past that one of the major reasons he left KBS was not being allowed to make a season format show on a major TV broadcasting channel.

Industry insiders say it is difficult because major TV stations must give up revenues from commercials sales.

“In the case of popular prime-time show like Infinite Challenge, its absence can affect commercial sales not only for the program itself, but for the programs before and after it. On the part of broadcasters, the stake is too big to give up,” a producer of a local broadcaster said.

Culture critic Kim Kyo-suk says the seasonal production format needs to settle down to make better quality programs.

“These days, local variety shows’ trends are swiftly changing. In order to meet the viewers’ ever-increasing needs for quality and curiosity, the shows staff need a break to move forward,” he said. “If the program wants to maintain its brand value for a long time, a season format is a must.”