Variety Review: RUNNING MAN CLASSICS Episodes 31-40
The classic episodes’ cast was Jaesuk, Seokjin, Jongkook, Haha, Jihyo, Gary, Kwangsoo, and Joongki--8 members.
Episode 31
Guests: Hyunyoung (actress and model)
Location: A water park in winter (The indoor section except for a funny opening)
Games: Find the Guest, Water Microphone Karaoke, Unite to Win
Highlights or notes:
Water Microphone Karaoke got dirty
The Unite to Win mission was a rope bridge. Every time a bell sounded, one person had to enter the bridge according to a pre-determined order. A random draw determined what order they had to exit the bridge. I wanna play!!!
My rating: 7 I had forgotten about this episode, but it was a fun rewatch.
Penalty: None
Episode 32
Guests: Kim Kwangkyu (actor), Tony (formerly of H.O.T., head of TN Nation Entertainment)
Location: Woongjin Thinkbig Offices
Games: Find the guests, Office Olympics (basketball, weightlifting, track and field)
Highlights or notes:
I really enjoy Kwangkyu as an actor. He’s in my favorite kdrama of all time- “I Can Hear Your Voice”.
The team picks were done through a draft and it got super silly.
Basketball was played around a conference table with rolling chairs. A crumpled paper was used for the ball and waste baskets were the goal. It got EXTREMELY competitive.
Weightlifting was a combined team score. They had to deadlift a bar with reams of printer paper hanging from either side and hold the final pose for 5 seconds to get the points.
Two members were chosen to run. At the sound of a phone ringing in a cubicle-type office space, they had to find the correct phone and answer it to win.
My rating: 7
Penalty: Wearing long johns and getting dropped off on Jamsu bridge. They had to get to the end of it.
Episode 33
Guests: Oh Jiho (actor)
Location: Incheon International Airport
Games: Make a Team, Catch the Guest, Exchange Game, Find the Ticket, Luggage Race
Highlights or notes:
To make a team, members had to gather at either the number 3 or number 5 exit of a subway. When 4 members gathered, they would be a team for the entire episode.
Making a team had a very dramatic moment for the Monday Couple.
In Catch the Guest, Jiho had to find four supply boxes and make it to the airport without getting caught. They went all over the city. He could travel as he wished, but the members had to take public transportation. Everyone had a GPS tracking system to see where the others were.
The exchange game was super funny and would make a great party game. Two members were handed a stack of $1 bills. They had to count those bills while exchanging multiplication table questions. The air blowing mic would blast them for each wrong multiplication question. ---The winner was a huge surprise at the time.---
In find the ticket, they had to dig a ticket out of a suitcase and then repack the suitcase before a member of the other team.
The luggage in the luggage race was immigration bags that the other team members sat in like a little train. Adorable.
My rating: 5. It was funny but not my favoritest ever.
Penalty: Long johns at the beach and painting their faces with mud.
Episode 34
Guests: Park Jungyu (actor), and UEE of AfterSchool
Location: Hongdae
Games: Find the guest, 1 vs 9- Trick UEE, Blindfolded Barista
Highlights or notes:
The guests were searching for tickets in one of 5 restaurants in the area. The members had to finish a serving at every place they checked...out of 20 possible places.
The 1 vs 9 was to call a childhood friend to come out to where they are. The team in which the person whose friend arrives last will lose.
Blindfolded Barista is one of my all-time favorites. One member is blindfolded and has to pour water into cups that the rest of the team are holding over their heads. The goal is to fill the cups to a certain line without overflowing.
My rating: 6- The find the guest was too long even the first time I watched and by this point I just felt bad for the elaborate tricks in the 1 vs 9. I was glad when they moved away from that.
Penalty: Long Johns to model for an art class
Episode 35
Guests: Daesung of BigBang and Yonghwa of CNBlue
Location: Han River, Nanji Campground
Games: Jihyo’s River Taxi, Find the Guests
Highlights or notes:
Jihyo’s River Taxi was a chance for Jihyo to choose the team she wanted. Everyone else formed the other team. (4 and 4)
The guests needed to find fire logs with the Running Man member’s names on it to win.
The episode ended without a conclusion on Find the Guests.
My rating: 6
Penalty: Continued in next episode...
Episode 36
Guests: Daesung of Big Bang and Yonghwa of CNBlue
Location: Nanji Campground
Games: Conclusion of Find the Guests, Campground pictionary grocery game, Camping cook-off, Hold Back Your Drool Game,
Highlights or notes:
For the campground pictionary grocery game, three members of each team drew a clue about what they should cook for dinner that night. The remaining 2 members looked at the clue and then drove to the grocery store to buy the necessary ingredients. They had 15 minutes in the store.
The Hold Back Your Drool Game was funnier than expected. A member from each team was chosen. They simply had to not swallow for longer than the other member....as super delicious meat was grilled right before their eyes.
My rating: 6 -Haha’s reaction to the grilled meat was the best part of this episode for me.
Penalty: Long johns- find their way from a tent near a statue of admiral Shin to a statue of King Sejeong.
Episode 37
Guests: Park Yejin (actress)
Location: M Shopping Mall
Games: Find the Guest, Mall Restaurant Opening
Highlights or notes:
The Guest’s mission was to find and change into 4 different looks in the mall: Tomboy, Training, Business, and Young Casual. Each would make 2 members out.
The members could only start searching for the guest after they each gave out 30 signatures at obscure locations.
The ‘prison’ was in the mall’s gym. We got some classic scenes here as the members entertained themselves with sit ups.
My rating: 3 -There was only one game beyond find the guest and it was mostly cooking. The find the guest mission was half done before the members ever began hunting as well, so some of my favorite chasers were out before it began.
Penalty: Sharing noodles (Lady and the Tramp Style) while in longjohns.
Episode 38
Guests: None
Location: Seoul Hospital
Games: “Find the Guest”, Best 2 out of 3 ‘Medical Exams’
Highlights or notes:
The start of Yooruce Willis. –During Find the Guest, he is given a special mission to ‘become’ the guest and hunt down/eliminate the other players.
The first ‘medical’ exam was an eyesight test. The members had to watch a ping pong game and guess a word written on the ball.
The second ‘medical’ exam was a stress test. One member of a team was hooked up to a stress test machine for one minute while the other team messed with them. The team with the lowest stress levels won.
My rating: 4
Penalty: hiking in long johns until they find shoes.
Episode 39
Guests: SNSD’s (aka Girls Generation) Sunny and Yoona
Location: Seoul Folk Flea Market
Games: Catch the Running Men, Find the Most Popular Snack
Highlights or notes:
Instead of Catching the Guests, this week, the guests had to catch the running men while they were carrying out a mission.
Between the two games, everyone sat for a while and asked each other questions.
My rating: 7
Penalty: Walk like a model in long johns in the middle of a mall.
Episode 40
Guests: 2PM’s Nickhun and Taecyeon
Location: French Culture Village in Gapyeong
Games: Catch the Running Men (Bell Chase), Running Man Virus
Highlights or notes:
The Running Men had a mission to find 8 Little Prince costumes around the village before the guests hunted them down and tore off their name tags.
Running Man Virus was a game based on the Drama “Beethoven Virus”. Two teams had to play one song without error. The staff joined in to help and there was a fantastic practice time.
My rating: 10 - This is one of the episodes that I remembered best and it went into my little notebook of ‘things to go back and watch again’.
Penalty: Going down a street in the middle of the night in a conga line. The person in front plays a wind up instrument for them.
