What’s The Most Annoying Thing About Korean Entertainment Shows? “Physical: 100” Viewers Answer
From Produce 101 to the latest Physical: 100, South Korean TV shows are peak entertainment for viewers in Korea and around the world. There’s no doubt about it!
But as more shows get aired overseas, viewers are realizing that K-Variety has one undeniably obnoxious trait: The Replay.
When an online post opened the discussion over a group of tweets from international viewers complaining about Physical: 100 episodes overdoing the “replay effect”…
…Korean viewers couldn’t agree more!
- “This is true.”
- “F*cking obnoxious. The latest trot shows do this a lot, too.”
- “LMAO. I remember back when I used to watch the Produce series. Whenever I wanted to focus on a performance, the editing would slap me with the scene repeats with audience reactions. It would piss me off so much.”
- “At least it’s better than having commercial breaks… Haha.”
- “I hate when even K-Dramas do this with their romantic scenes, with the slo-mo and all.”
- “So out of date.”
- “When I was watching a Korean show and it was having one of its repeat moments, my American brother-in-law came running over to ask what’s wrong [with the TV]. He went, ‘Oh, hell no.’ Haha.”
- “Honestly? Physical: 100 isn’t even that bad.”
- “I fricking hate this. HAHA. It keeps going and going and going.”
- “I also noticed how Physical: 100 was getting heat for the repeated scenes. I think, if the producers are thinking about a second season, that the editing could use even less replays. People don’t like it anymore.”
- “I hate it so much. I haven’t watched Korean shows in a while because of this.”
- “I don’t get it. The viewers no longer want such edits. So how come the producers keep using the technique?”
- “I watch Boys Planet these days. It’s not only the repeated scenes… It’s also how only a handful of contestant faces are constantly shown. It never shows enough singing or dancing. Five seconds and that’s it. I can’t stand it.”
- “Koreans hate it, too… Please make it stop somehow.”
- “It began with Dream Team. We have a long track record… One of the reasons I don’t watch [Korean TV] anymore.”
Is it new to television editing, though?
No. A tweet pointed out that Korean television has “suffered” the dramatic scene repeats for decades. Back when Let’s Go! Dream Team aired from 1999 to 2016, the producers used to go ham on this editing technique.
이분야갑 출발드림팀
편집이 죄다이럼..정신병걸릴것가틈 pic.twitter.com/OU4c5Oyy4j— 개병규 (@kyubalnom) February 10, 2023
Let’s Go! Dream Team is the epitome of this. All of the episodes are edited like this… It almost drives me insane.
— @kyubalnom/Twitter
Future television programs, like I Am A Singer, followed suit.
외국인들 한국예능의 과도한 리플레이 욕하는거 볼때마다 이 영상 꼭 보여주고 싶음 pic.twitter.com/8BD8mWlKXE
— 피지컬0 (@whereisgunny) February 10, 2023
Whenever international viewers complain about Korean variety shows’ excessive replay, I feel the need to share this clip.
— @whereisgunny/Twitter
Viewers also commented that some of the most notorious “abusers” of the merciless replaying are the K-Pop idol audition programs. From the OG Superstar K to the most recent Boys Planet, these survival shows are packed with non-stop repeats.
엠넷특 pic.twitter.com/8NDmfYRqZb
— 부우킴 (@skrrr_kim) February 11, 2023
One comment, though, claiming to be coming from a producer defended the production choice and explained how some scenes need to be repeated multiple times.
I’m an active producer in the field. I understand how the viewers feel about repeated scenes, but these exist for a reason. For one, it’s for recognition. Viewers watching the content are watching it for the first time. So if the audio and video keep rolling past the important points, some are bound to fail to recognize them. You might feel like all the scenes are digestible in the first glance, but we’re talking about the audience at large. Especially in content that is geared toward all ages, the production team must slow down and repeat certain scenes a couple of times to make sure that the viewers recognize them as intended. When we speed through the content, we lose viewership from older audiences…
…Excessive repeats are falling out of trend, that’s for sure. The field is aware that it once peaked and it’s no longer as effective. Production teams do refrain from overdoing it. We’re working toward coming up with better, more sophisticated methods and techniques to replace it altogether…
…It might seem unusual to non-Korean audiences, since the technique isn’t frequented outside Korea. But replays that are cleverly put together can give a scene good rhythm, help the audience with comprehension, and even add humor to the episode.
— Korean Comment
Check out this segment from Physical: 100 Episode 5, featuring some replays.
Share This Post
