Choi Woo-shik, Jung Yu-mi's reality show 'Summer Vacation' falls flat

TvN's reality show “Summer Vacation,” starring Choi Woo-shik and Jung Yu-mi, hit its lowest viewership rating with the eighth episode Friday. Courtesy of tvN

By Lee Gyu-lee

The supposed-to-be fun, city-escape getaway of tvN's reality show “Summer Vacation” has become what many now describe as “boring” and “colorless, despite its star-studded cast ― “Parasite” movie star Choi Woo-shik and A-lister actress Jung Yu-mi.

The prime time show's viewership rating, which started at 5 percent (July 17), continued to fall and hit its lowest at 2.5 percent with the latest episode on Friday.

It has been a big disappointment especially for those who had expected something better from Na Young-seok, a star producer behind many successful TV shows, including “1 Night 2 Days.”

The show revolves around two friends spending their summer vacation together at a remote place in the countryside. It intended to offer a “healing” time for viewers by giving a glimpse of what it is like to relax and enjoy long holidays far from city noise.

As Na's shows are known for a fly-on-the-wall format that brings out A-listers' off-screen, real-life personalities, many of his fans looked forward to getting to know the actors' personal stories through the show. But it did not take long for them to be disappointed with a tasteless plot and dull, unnatural chemistry among the actors.

Worse, after the first episode, the production team was accused of plagiarizing the house's design from the Japanese video game “My Summer Vacation."

Staff denied the allegations, but said they would make changes after “humbly accepting viewers' opinion.”

Na's previous shows like “Three Meals a Day” and “Youn's Kitchen” had specific “missions” ― such as cooking with self-farmed ingredients only or introducing Korean food to foreigners. The actors' interactions in the process made the shows much more interesting.

A scene from “Summer Vacation.” / Courtesy of tvN

But unlike the previous shows, actors in “Summer Vacation” have too much free time and ― it seems ― they do not know how to have fun with it.

“It just resembles so much 'Three Meals a Day' … I find it unappealing because just seems the same and scripted,” a user wrote online.

And the actors' unrealistically small portion of the meal does not help. The kinds of food they make and the quality of it ― which could have been a key component of the show ― also does not seem to fit the picture of a perfect holiday.

“The fun in this show was supposed to be about making their own meals in nature, but (the food) seems so unappetizing and (the cast) seem so disinterested in eating them anyway,” another viewer wrote on online.

The show invited several actors as guests throughout the episodes, including heartthrob Park Seo-joon and fellow “Parasite” actor Lee Sun-gyun.

Unfortunately, even they have not been able to help much with the poor ratings.

But some people say they still find the show entertaining. “The two look so cute … they are clumsy and are not so good at cooking but that's the fun part of it,” a user wrote.

With two more episodes left of the 10-part show, they would say “Summer Vacation” is not a flop ― yet.