Variety Review: Running Man Episode 577

Guests: Kim Joonho (comedian)

My Entertainment Score: 7 out of 10 laughs

There were funny moments in this episode. However, I preferred the betting to ⅔ of the actual missions, which was unfortunate. I also really enjoyed the concept of the race: making one person’s rank determine the fate of the whole. But it didn’t work very well in this particular episode. I don’t know if the members were off or Joonho made it tough, but there wasn’t the jockeying and hustling that I expected, so I was a little disappointed.

What Happened:

Theme: Mansion of Misfortune Race

Opening/ Guest Introductions (start of episode- 4:55)

Race Explanation (4:55- 8:36)

There are no teams this week. The member with the most chocolates at the end of the day will win. They choose their starting number by picking a bag. The bags ranged from having 20 down to 6 chocolates in increments of 2. (20, 18, 16, etc.)

The top 4 members at the end of the day will get a prize. On the other hand, the people who get the penalty are determined by Joonho and his ranking. If he makes the top 4, he will choose just one person among those who scored below him to receive the penalty. If Joonho is in the bottom 4, he and everyone who ranked lower than him will get the penalty. If he is in last place, everyone will receive the penalty.

Each mission will earn candies and everyone can bet in one of 3 games between missions to earn candies. The three games are: 1) Russian Roulette (using balloon squeezing guns), 2) Truth and A Lie TMI (members must choose between a true and false TMI about another member), 3) Dial Tone Odd or Even (They must guess whether a friend they call will answer on an odd or even number of rings)

After each mission, Joonho’s rank will be revealed to everyone. Those who rank first or second in the missions will also learn their own ranking.

First Mission: Shout at the Same Time (8:36- 25:30)

The members play in paired teams. They play Shout in the Silence for 3 minutes each. As a twist, both members are going to have words to describe. The team score will include all of the correct answers given by the teammates, but the number of individually correct answers within the team will create a rank for each. So, the first place team will take ranks 1 and 2 overall, with number 1 going to the person who got the most correct answers in that team. The second place team will take ranks 3 and 4 overall, with 3 going to the person that got the most correct in that team and so on.

The teams are Sechan and Haha, Jaesuk and Joonho, Seokjin and Somin, Jongkook and Jihyo.

Betting Time (25:30-33:24)

Second Mission: Running Man Election Debate (33:24- 59:15)

Each member is given exactly one minute to garner votes from the staff on the platform of “I am the celebrity that will have a more promising 2022”. At the end of that minute, their mic is cut off, which was very funny for the first few people that didn’t expect it.

The members then each get a 3 minute debate time. They are allowed to ask any question of the member of their choice.

After all the members have had a turn, the staff votes. The member with the lowest votes will get a penalty and chocolates will be given out according to their voted ranking.

Betting Time (59:15- 1:08:45)

Third Mission: Red Light, Green Light Bell Chase (1:08:45- 1:21:13)

This was played in two rounds: one with Jongkook as the chaser and one with Joonho as the chaser. The hiding members wore bells and had to look for 4-leaf clover cards. The chaser had a walkie-talkie and would do the “Rose of Sharon Has Bloomed” into it for everyone to hear. When it finished, anyone in his line of sight had to freeze or be ‘caught’ thus ending their search. Each ‘caught’ member counted as 3 clovers for the chaser.

Final Results (1:21:13- end of episode)

The winners got Korean pork as a prize. The penalty was to read a children’s story book and write a 400 character minimum book report about it. Those were posted to the Running Man social media account.

Preview: Hiking Vacation expenses Trip with guest Jang Hyuk (actor).

!!!Spoilers!!!

Starting Chocolate

Jaesuk- 20

Jongkook- 12

Joonho- 18

Seokjin- 6

Haha- 14

Jihyo- 16

Sechan- 8

Somin- 10

Shout at the Same Time

Seokjin and Somin- 1 point

Sechan and Haha- 3 hilarious points.

Joonho and Jaesuk- 3 points (all Jaesuk’s)

Jongkook and Jihyo- 5 points

Jongkook- 20 candies
Jihyo- 18 candies
Sechan -16 candies
Haha- 14 candies
Jaesuk- 12 candies
Joonho- 10 candies
Somin- 8 candies
Seokjin- 6 candies (again.)

Joonho is currently 5th.

***I’m not even going to try to keep track of the running tally of candies. All the betting in the free time isn’t shown, so it would be completely useless.***

Running Man Election Debate

**97 votes cast**