Running Man! (And also, some recaps.)

Finally, after much bickering with my internal editor, we have a Running Man page!  And the peasants rejoiced! 

You can read it in all it's glory HERE. 
No really, please read it.  It took simply AGES to finish.  I have no earthly idea why.  Just humor me. 

But just in case, like us, you'd rather not extend any more effort than necessary to read another rambling praise of a show you haven't seen before, here are some of the highlights of the main page.  

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“You Should Be Watching.”  

A Running Man Endorsement by S’ra

I was having a crappy, crappy week.  I could go into exactly why it was a crappy week but that would kinda interupt the flow of this post -and mostly, I don't remember why it was crappy anymore.  Anyhow, I watched just ONE episode of Running Man on a whim, and by the end,I laughed so hard my stomach and chest hurt the next day. My neighbor probably thinks I'm an insane foreigner now.  (Oh wait… I am.)  

Running Man.    An insanity that I would explain to other Americans as The Amazing Race meets Super-Sloppy-Double-Dare meets a tribute/spoof show? This doesn't phase me at all, mostly because I grew up watching Japanese games shows (which are far most incomprehensible) as a kid in Manila, but a lot of my friends were watching Disney's afternoon cartoon block of other classics like Darkwing Duck ("Let's get Dangerous!") so when I say, "You have to watch this Korean game show!  It's hilarious."  They look at me as though perhaps, I have finally, gone 'round the twist as they'd predicated all those years ago.   So, the show works like this. 
 A group of actors/comedians (usually) invite various guests (anyone from comedians to athletic superstars to  musicians/actors, called "Idols" in Korea) on the show to do things like complete missions and play ridiculous games such as: 
Find fruit in the market and make a pyramid in 20 seconds!  Tag, where the "it" team wear jingle bells and switch places every 15 minutes Running barefoot in freezing streams to make piles of stones on a table Throwing each other off of floats into the pool  Eating things REALLY fast.  Whose team can make a longer line with their legs while doing the splits?  Can you pull this plunger off the wall? Off the car?  Who can find the teammate disguised as a yogurt lady?

Confession:  I basically despise most western reality/game shows. Especially in the United States.  (Sorry, guys!)  They are usually 90% people whining about their personal drama (I get enough of that backstage)  and 10% mildly interesting activities.

  Running Man's drama is all manufactured (as in fake relationship between two comedians on the show, fake rivalries) and the hosts' natural chemistry means they are more interested in entertainment at the expense of personal dignity and occasionally, actually winning the game.
 Mildly surprising to be is the fact that permanent cast range from their late 20's to 50s and despite their TV-appropriate appearances they look rather like average people you might see on the street.   I take that back, if I saw Kwang Soo on the street, I might take a second look.  The kid is quite attractive despite his team members jibes, but his gangly limbs definitely earn him his title of "Giraffe." 
 What was I saying?  Oh right.  These guys are FAST.  The show lives up to its' name.   I kid you not, they would kick our bums all over the place.  Well, at least mine. 

 If nothing else, it's like watching an Olympic competition that's been injected with liquid sugar and then dunked in crack (I mean this in the best possible way). This show proved to me that Variety shows, while always cheesy can also be totally fun without being nasty, backstabbing, and BORING. 

Also, Jackie Chan makes guest appearances.

IT IS HILARIOUS.

In the words of the Anime company, Funamation “You should be watching.” 

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And now, since you've asked (did you ask?):  Here's the very first recap!

Ok, I lied.  To make things tidy, I shall post the first recap in a new post.