On November 8, 2015, Running Man aired a special episode which featured a total of 200 people. Alongside the main cast consisting of “Grasshopper” Yoo Jae Suk, “Big Nose Older Brother” Ji Suk Jin, “Tiger” Kim Jong Kook, “Giraffe” Lee Kwang Soo, Ha Ha, and “ The Monday Couple ” Gary and “Ace” Song Ji Hyo, a plethora cast of well-known Korean personalities were guests. This includes Lee Sang Min, Kim Sook, Park Na Rae, Kim Min Gyo, Hyeon Joon Yeob, Lee Ha Neul, Seulong of 2AM, GOT7, SEVENTEEN, and UEE of After School just to name a few.
Needless to say, it was one of the most chaotic, yet entertaining episodes Running Man has ever aired yet. It can also be said that an episode of this size and caliber cannot be aired in just one episode. As a result, this special was divided into two parts in which the latter part recently aired in Korea. In the end, all 200 participants were treated to something special. GFriend suddenly appeared and performed their hit song “Me Gustas Tu,” which touched all their hearts.
According to AllKpop , the second part of the 100 vs. 100 episode ended with the team consisting of the Running Man main cast and their celebrity friends winning the competition in a 60 vs. 60 volleyball match. They defeated the “Heroes,” a team consisting of Korea’s most prominent Judo and Tae Kwon Do masters, professional wrestlers, and action stuntmen. At the end of the competition, however, everyone won as shown in the video clip attached below.
As shown in the video above, the sudden appearance of GFriend was such a wonderful surprise, even the show’s staff bum rushed up to the front to get a glimpse of Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji (though it is possible they were setting up to record them). Nevertheless, it was a lighthearted way to end one of the most competitive (and successful) episodes Running Man has ever filmed within its five-year run.
Making its debut on July 11, 2010, Running Man has featured the aforementioned main cast over the course of five years spanning a total of 271 episodes on the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), as reported by KpopStarz . First starting out as an “urban action variety show” in which participants would complete missions at a popular Korean landmark to win the race, it has since shifted to a more familiar reality-variety show format focused on the game show concept. Despite any changes it may have experienced, the ratings do not lie and shows just how consistent it remains in popularity. Five years is an amazingly long time for any show in Korea to run. As a matter of fact, the are officially the longest-running program in the country, surpassing X-Man by three-and-a-half-years.
As for GFriend, they are a fairly new K-pop group. Making their debut earlier this year on January 15, 2015 under Source Music and KT Music, GFriend came on the scene with their song “Glass Bead.” It peaked at No. 25 on the Korean music charts, a phenomenal feat given the fact they came from a small company. However, GFriend would garner a ton of attention when one of their live performances of their song “Me Gustas Tu” went viral on an international level. In it, the K-pop group performed on a slipper stage resulting in Yuju falling down a total of eight times while SinB fell hard once. Despite this, they continued to perform to the very end. GFriend was praised for their professionalism which in turn made “Me Gustas Tu” come back on the charts topping eighth on Instiz.
Running Man airs on SBS on Sundays at 6:10 p.m. KST as part of their “Good Sunday” lineup. For those who do not have access to Korean stations and may want to watch previous episodes (especially the one in which GFriend performs at the 100 vs. 100 special), they are available for free (with certain restrictions) on both DramaFever and Viki .
[Image via Wikipedia Commons/ http://mfdicekone.tistory.com/200 ]