Running Man Episode 661 Review
Guests: Joohoney (rapper of MonstaX), Yun Sungbin (Olympic Skeleton-ist…skeleton-er…??)
My Entertainment Score: 8 out of 10 laughs
My only real complaint this week is that there wasn’t a name tag ripping game and that the prizes were disappointing to the point that even the guests pointed it out. Ouch. Otherwise, the games were all funny and mostly innovative. I had a great time. I recommend this one.
What Happened:
Theme: Go Away Age Party
Opening/Guest Introductions (start of episode- 9:45)
Race Explanation (9:45- 11:30)
The Korean government decided to officially switch to the international aging system. Before now, Koreans were 1 when they were born (It was their 1st year) and everyone began using the next age up at the New Year. So a child born in September would be 2 at 4 months of life. Anyway, the switch means that everyone is, officially speaking, at least 1 year younger.
To celebrate this change, the race will reflect on the year that each of the members was born. After each game, the teams will try to pick events that happened in the year that their team members were born. The winning team gets to pick 5 events while the losing team gets to pick 3 events. For each event that is correctly identified, the members of that team will earn 5 R coins. R coins can be traded in for chances to win prizes at the end of the day. It’s not explained until the end of the day that prizes are not guaranteed, nor that only the winning team gets the chance.
Teams were created by the staff in the hopes of creating a fair balance:
Joohoney Team: Jaesuk, Jongkook, Jihyo
Sungbin Team: Seokjin, Haha, Somin, Sechan
First Mission: Cool Touch of Running Man (11:30- 45:00)
YES! This was amazingly funny. Two raised pools of cold water were placed near each other. Each team sent out a player who would strap in their legs. They would play a pushing game (each pushes the other’s hands) until one person’s back/backside hit the water.
Round 1: Jihyo v Somin
Round 2: Joohoney v Seokjin
Round 3: Jongkook v Sungbin.
*Jaesuk and Sechan try getting pushed by Sungbin after his match…hilarious*
Picking Events - 28:28. We see here that each member has a large poster board with spaces marked out for each event. When an event is chosen, it is revealed on the board. They do a good job of giving a brief overview of why each event was important or interesting.
*Note: This section has a talking bit where Joohoney gets to show off his aegyo and Sungbin..tries. I loved seeing the guests highlighted rather than teased.*
Second Mission: Beneficial Cheating Quiz (45:00- 1:07:45)
This may be one of my favorite quizzes ever. Before hearing the rules, each team had to rank themselves on intelligence. The LOWEST ranking member would be given the quiz questions to answer. Two of the remaining members (preferably the two most knowledgeable) laid down on mats in front of their team’s quiz recipient. If they knew an answer, they could write it down and put the answer board on their forehead to help. However…The member answering the quiz had a bucket of water on his or her head and goggles to impede vision, so helping would get a bucket of water dumped on your face.
Picking Events - 58:00.
PPL Lunch - 1:06:00. Poor Sungbin and Haha had to sit separately because they both had advertising deals with other brands.
Third Mission: Running Man On The Cliff (1:07:45- 1:27:20)
If you like athletic feats, this is the game for you. Teams were separated by a large block (it seemed to be covered in some kind of padding) that ran on a track. At either end of the track was a foam pit. Members would push the block, attempting to run the other team off the track by moving far enough forward. This was played in multiple rounds with best 2 out of 3 as the goal.
Round 1: 2 v 2: Joohoney and Jihyo vs Sechan and Somin
Round 2: 2 v 2: Jongkook and Jaesuk vs Sungbin and Haha
Round 3: 3 v 3: Jaesuk, Jongkook, and Joohoney vs Sungbin, Sechan, and Seokjin
**Round 3 was incredible!!**
Picking Events - 1:23:45.
Final Results (1:27:20- end of episode)
The winning team exchanges the earned R coins for heavier coins. From behind a line, they toss the coins at the possible prizes…everything from chips and toilet paper to an iPad and a Ferrari (yes, the actual car, but they would have to land a coin on the top of a water bottle from…hmm..5 feet, I’m guessing, away.
Preview: Running Scout vs The False Running Scout. The next show is themed around the fact that the International Boy Scouts convention is happening. Hwang Kwanghee (singer of Z:EA, miss that group) and Lee Daeho (baseball player) join the crew in adorable outfits to try to earn badges and root out the false scout.
!!!Spoilers!!!
Cool Touch of Running Man
Round 1: Jihyo beats Somin
Round 2: Joohoney beats Seokjin –which means the smaller team has won 2 out of 3.
Round 3: Sungbin beats Jongkook! This match was played with 5 R coins as the bet since it wouldn’t make a difference to the winner if it wasn’t played.
Event Picking Results:
Joohoney Team gets 3 (out of 5) correct - 15 R coins
Sungbin Team gets 1 (out of 3) correct - 5 R coins
Beneficial Cheating Quiz
Sungbin’s Team wins and gets 5 event choices.
Event Picking Results:
Joohoney Team gets 3 (out of 3) correct - 15 R coins
Sungbin Team gets 3 (out of 5) correct - 15 R coirs
Running Man on the Cliff
Round 1: Joohoney and Jihyo beat Sechan and Somin
Round 2: Sungbin and Haha beat Jongkook and Jaesuk
Round 3: Seokjin, Haha, and Sungbin beat Jaesuk, Jongkook, and Joohoney.
**Round 3 went for 20 minutes in real life. The production team set a 1 minute timer after that, afraid that the members would get dehydrated and whoever moved farthest at that point won.**
This means team Sungbin won the game overall and gets 5 event guesses.
Event Picking Results:
Joohoney Team gets 3 (out of 3) correct - 15 R coins
Sungbin Team gets 3 (out of 5) correct - 15 R coirs
Final Results
R Coin Results:
Joohoney Team: 45
Sungbin Team: 40
Jongkook lands on a pair of black shorts.
Jaesuk wins toilet paper and snacks.
Jihyo doesn’t win anything.
Joohoney doesn’t win anything.
