Written by Funn Lim
I read with shock that with the change of cast, it is considered the end of Season 1 for 1 Night 2 Days, an extremely funny addictive reality show starring some big names, one of whom is Lee Seunggi. I consider it a reality show but in reality it is like a game/adventure/survivor show shot over a period of 2 days 1 night. 5 years on and it is considered season 1. I am truly sad to say good bye to Seunggi, whom I fell in love with, his charm, his intelligence, his ability to cook the perfect rice with a timer and an internet connection for recipes!! He is very very smart, and to his fellow brothers, very handsome too. Did I mention smart? When I see him I can imagine him being always the 1st in class. I can't fault him for anything, he can be pretty devious but all in good fun. Then there's Ji Won, the truly devious one, the one who can think of ways to settle the most intricate clues. He may not be the most well tempered, but he is the one with the greatest love for food and when you give him a mission, he can interprete it in such ways to bend you to his will. These 2 are leaving; Seunggi because admittedly he became too big for this show, even the director feels they're holding him back and the other that is Ji Won to concentrate on his music and starting a family. The fan favourite PD, that is Na PD, whose tricks and rules would often get backfired by the more devious cast members and that made Na PD even more endearing is also leaving, to produce/direct other shows. Season 2 has kicked in, reportedly with great success since 3 members are still in the show. The original big brother, Kang Hodong remains ridiculously in retirement for some stupid reasons. Fans should petition him to return. When he left, there was a big void, and suddenly the quietest member that is Uhm Taewoong talked more, everyone had to interact more instead of relying on the usually reliable Kang Hodong. I actually enjoyed the episodes after Hodong left as well, my love for each member grew. For me, Segeun is the most active one; he did so much, he had to run more, climb more, etc and to me I admire his tenacity and strength. Jongmin is the silly innocent one and in the 2nd last episode when he had to say a goodbye speech to the current cast (not that he is leaving but just an end of an era), he choked back tears and confessed the last 2 years were hard and that he wished he could have done better. Fans cried out "Jongmin, you did well!!" and I agree. I always enjoy watching his silly funny antics and he gave me an impression he is 100% good guy. Then there's Taewoong, the one who is the quietest, can't do games, can't do sport but someone you know who loves nature. He can walk and walk and he is rather good at the labour sort of job.
I love them all. And to see my 2 favourite leaving, it is hard but life goes on. Seunggi will go to greater lengths for his career, in music which he is breaking into the tough Japanese market and more TV or perhaps in future movies. Truthfully 1N2D gave him his stardom but in the end was actually holding him back. Jiwon I suppose wanted a more set schedule and less hectic one.
Of all the episodes which I started only quite recent, my favourite funniest one was when Seunggi dressed up as a woman and had to take a cold icy bath. It was nearing porn and was so very funny. The most educational involved the history professor, which I find absolutely fascinating, since the professor was very very keen in explaining the history and his students, that is the 5 guys were keen on learning and actually gave thoughtful answers. Again here you see how intuitive Jiwon was, how practical Taewoong was and how intelligent Seunggi was. He can even name all the emperors it seems!
Season 2 comes with I believe 4 new members, one of whom I already knew that is Sung Shikyung if my spelling is correct. He participated in the 1 to 100 year old fan tour and he had to handle the 2nd toughest group, the older group and he amazed me with his sensitivity and his gracefulness in handling the oldest generation. I believe women who was lining up to marry him before his appearance will after that willing to sacrifice whatever to marry him. He does make an ideal husband, like how Seunggi will make an ideal boyfriend! But the one I am most keen to watch is Kim Seung Woo, forever to me he is Manager Han Tae Jun from Hotelier, recently looking way too handsome that it is so wrong in the rather bland Iris. He was in fact the reason to watch Iris and no other. I wonder how he will fare. I mean this show is rather clear that it is tough, you end up starving most of the time and very tired. But it is good fun in the end, even if there are so many reasons to lose their temper, none of them did. I suppose 5 or 6 guys together are all brothers, and young at heart!
I shall miss Seunggi and Jiwon. And I look forward to the new members. But I am sure the members staying behind will miss the rapport they had built over 5 years. I remember one episode Sugeun made a bargain with Na PD for some prizes and he said have someone pour something hot on Jongmin and not only Jongmin will not be angry, he will say "It's ok" twice. They did that and indeed Jongmin did exactly that! But there was a long pause between "It's ok". In fact Jongmin didn't look angry at all. He was even more apologetic than the person pouring the hot cup of something on him! So Sugeun said test no. 2; have a crew member eat chocolate in front of them and Jiwon will beg for a piece of it since Jiwon loves to eat. And indeed, Jiwon saw the chocolate and made motions like share with me! and in the end Sugeun won! This simple exercise shows how much Sugeun knows these 2. They even know each other's reaction and all these weren't built on one day; it was 5 years worth of comraderie and friendship, which had to be restarted with the next new members.
Which brings me to this question; why would anyone want to join this really physically tough show? Like Shikyung who knew what he was getting into? I suppose first and foremost, fame. It is the most watched show on TV, consistently high ratings and everyone who saw them on street knew they were filming 1N2D and will offer help in some ways. Then there's the brotherhood that is undeniable. But mostly it is punishing but it is fun. If the girls can do it, like Choi Jiwoo who actually joined for 1 time and did reasonably well and changed her perceptions from cold aloof to rather cute and funny, why not?
I personally can't do it. But I can certainly sit down every Friday and have a great laugh. Everytime I had a bad day, I need only watch this show and everything is just too funny. I confess I have not watched any drama of Seunggi or Taewoong or heard Jongmin or Jiwon's songs or even Seunggi's or watch Sugeun and Hodong's talk shows. I knew them all from this show. I will miss them all in one screen, Na PD included.
If you've never watched this show, I think you can start with Season 2 but I think the recent episodes of Season 1 are great as well. This show is great because it shows the huge stars as normal people. I mean this is a very exposed sort of show. You leave nothing behind. It is reality show except more real. The reaction is honest, the results sometimes unexpected. It is such an exposing show, emotionally, physically and also mentally exhaustive that I am surprised anyone would want to be in it. You won't find such a show in HK because no one would be that open and honest. Korea did it with style. It is also because it has a simple format, clean cut games and all in all clean cut good fun! Any age can watch, any age can enjoy.
27.03.2012
I am having so much fun watching the old episodes of this group, the introduction of Seunggi, Taewoong, etc. Seunggi was quite obvious why he joined; he wanted to promote his music. He took every opportunity to promote himself and music but I suppose after a few years it is because he enjoys hanging out with his hyungs. Taewoong has even less reason to join and his first appearance, he was ambushed and was caught in only his boxers!! Rather sexy intro. I have never seen Taewoong's intro. When I first started watching, he was already in it, quiet but dependable and I really liked him. After watching his intro and what he went through on first day of filming, it confirms all the reasons why I like him so. Not an ounce of temper or arrogance, I think he joined because he wanted to experience some serious bromance since he lacks that in his own family. He certainly adapted very well. The earlier episodes were so funny! And I do get why many considered Jongmin changed after he came back from the army. He was always the dumb one but he was witty dumb. For a while he looked lost but since the last episode, he seems to have regained some of his quick wit. I really miss Seunggi and Jiwon though. Amazing past episodes and the things they went through. I seriously don't think any famous actors would want to subject themselves to that unless they were looking for something. I really miss this group. I also miss Hodong and what a shame he didn't join the last episode. Is he really that into his retirement?
As for Season 2, you can find it in youtube and everywhere else. I am increasingly missing season 2. Somehow I don't like the format anymore. It is too much games, too little sightseeing and whilst I like the new members, I feel since they're all almost equal in age, somehow the fun is lost. When Hodong was there, he was clearly the big brother and part of the enjoyment is seeing how he walks all over them and they being scared of him. At the same time you see a great respect to him as his affection to them and also poor Seunggi being bullied and then pampered. In fact Seunggi has such old taste that he blends well with them. That sort of comraderie is missing in Season 2. I feel perhaps this show should have ended in Season 1.
Oh I even miss Jiwon. Really miss them all. Glad to read also Seunggi's popularity is going even more sky high as he was chosen to run the Olympic torch (representing Samsung his sponsor or rather he is their spokesperson but still.. a huge deal!).
27.06.2012
Looking for Season 1? You can't buy it, even if you can, no subtitles. But there is an almost full torrent with really good English subtitles which you can find here at asiator.net which doesn't require you to have certain level of whatever to download. Just remember everytime you resume download, click Reseed Request (make sure you register first before you do that) and abot 10-15 100% seeders will come to your rescue. Took me a long time to download but I finished; all avi files (some were mp4) and HD for most. This torrent is missing ep 1-26 (prior to Lee Seunggi time so this torrent starts at Seunggi's 1st episode), ep 34 and ep 49, all of which were never subbed in English. You can still find these missing episodes subbed in Chinese or Vietnamese broken down into several parts but English sub, none whatsoever. Stranger than x-files why ep 34 and 49 are not subbed at all. You can find almost all in youtube with 1 or 2 parts missing but won't kill you to miss those. However if you want an almost complete collection, this is the torrent to get. Now I wish someone just upload ep 34 and 49 with English sub because I know you have it! Oh come on! Complete the collection please!!As for Season 2, you can find it in youtube and everywhere else. I am increasingly missing season 2. Somehow I don't like the format anymore. It is too much games, too little sightseeing and whilst I like the new members, I feel since they're all almost equal in age, somehow the fun is lost. When Hodong was there, he was clearly the big brother and part of the enjoyment is seeing how he walks all over them and they being scared of him. At the same time you see a great respect to him as his affection to them and also poor Seunggi being bullied and then pampered. In fact Seunggi has such old taste that he blends well with them. That sort of comraderie is missing in Season 2. I feel perhaps this show should have ended in Season 1.
Oh I even miss Jiwon. Really miss them all. Glad to read also Seunggi's popularity is going even more sky high as he was chosen to run the Olympic torch (representing Samsung his sponsor or rather he is their spokesperson but still.. a huge deal!).
(L to R) MC Mong, Sanggeun, Sugeun, Jiwon, Hodong, Seunggi and Kim C
The best 1N2D combination. The cartoon really captures their "characters" in the show.
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