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Running Man: Episode 77

EPISODE 77. Broadcast on January 15, 2012.

All that running from last week’s episode must have worn everyone out as they blissfully dream the night away. Dawn breaks, and a melodious morning song streams into their windows, beckoning them awake.

But this isn’t just an ordinary wake-up call – someone’s singing live: singer IU, giggling and dancing to awaken the cast. I’m just impressed this girl can carry a tune at sunrise, let alone with such energy.

What I’m more amused by is the cast’s reactions from Mung Ji-hyo‘s disheveled appearance to Jae-suk and Haha madly brushing their teeth from the window. The real kicker is Sung-soo, who rushes outside with a basket in hand to give to IU.

Everyone eventually trickles outside and Jong-kook’s entrance is by far the best – breaking into dance in front of IU like an eager fanboy. Then you’ve got the other ten uncle fans point towards themselves when she sings “Oppa” in her song “Good Day.”

When she wraps up, the boys immediately breathe down the staff’s throats for making IU strain hers so early in the morning in the cold (Fun fact: She’s the 2012 Yeosu goodwill ambassador).

Today’s teams of four have already been determined by the order of their arrival. There’s a mix of ecstasy and disappointment on the boys’ faces, mostly on Jin-hee’s end. Ha – and he looks so scrubby that the others call him the pension’s owner.

By the by, whatever happened to our slick killers from yesterday? ‘Cause in sweats and parkas, they look a lot like the lazy oppa next door.

The boys persist that IU should choose her own team, but not surprisingly, Mr. PD doesn’t budge. Thus, the teams are as follows: Yellow (IU, Chun-hee, Kwang-soo, & Sung-soo), Red (Ji-hyo, Sang-wook, Haha, & Jae-suk), and Blue (Gary, Suk-jin, Jin-hee, & Jong-kook).

Today’s mission is a Bingo Race: each team must create a bingo through completing various food missions. The first team who fulfills a bingo in the final mission will earn a well-deserved prize. And they’re off!

In their cars, each team strategizes where to head off first. I absolutely adore Sang-wook’s hearty laugh. I also love that he’s technologically inept and that when he can’t figure out the navigation system, it takes all of Ji-hyo’s willpower NOT to bark at him (It also helps that he’s older, so he gets to pull rank. Well, sort of.).

The Yellow Team arrives at their first location. Here they’ll have to get their clams to open over the flame within 2 minutes. They can’t eat ’em if they don’t succeed. RM staff, you meanies – Don’t you know that you’re not supposed to play with your food?

Chun-hee sounds like the expert in this bunch, instructing the others about how to fan it just so. But even with the master coaching them, the clams refuse to part open.

The Blue Team is served a sushi buffet and they’ve got a speed quiz before they can dig in. Jin-hee answers incorrectly and they’re forced to simply stare at the delicious array before them. The staff keep pouring out questions and the team keep shelling out wrong answers. Boy, are they ever going to eat?

The Red Team’s mission is to replicate the same table setting like the one next door. With so many side dishes, this is going to be difficult. Sang-wook is such a go-getter declaring that they’re finished even though he isn’t certain where everything is placed.

Another peek will earn them an extra item to place and he says, “Well that’s better!” His teammates glare.

HAHAHAHAHA!! I feel so bad for the Yellow Team frantically blowing their flames, almost willing their clams to open wide with their minds. One thing they’ve definitely got going for them is teamwork as they help each other out as soon as theirs opens. After what seems like endless rounds of fanning, the last clam pops open with a mere 3 seconds left on the timer.

All the teams finish their first mission and dig in to their hearts’ content. Man, I should have eaten dinner before this – this HD camera makes the food look so enticing that I’m seriously salivating right now.

For their next stop, the Red and Yellow Teams choose a crab restaurant. The mission here is to flip crab shells on a tray. Hee – I love how Sang-wook acts with such bravado about this task and then masks his failure with his trademark rich chuckle.

Then when he suggests a new method, Ji-hyo shouts at him to stick to how they’ve been doing it. He fails. Again. Kwang-soo: “Man, this hyung isn’t good at anything either.” Speak for yourself, buddy.

The PD steps in to inform them that the Blue Team already completed two missions, so the staff tweaks the rules to speed things along. Haroro fails and to punish him, Jae-suk leaves him out of the team cheer. Aww.

Jae-suk and Ji-hyo pass with ease and it’s the two black holes I’m worried about. Ji-hyo instructs Sang-wook to stare at the crab’s eyes (ew) and not to slip up just to boost the show’s entertainment value.

Sang-wook: “But I’ve never tried to be funny!” Hahaha – you’re killing me with the one liners today.

He flips, and now it’s down to Haha who… fails and then calls to reverse time like the Time Controller he is. They succeed after another round and the Yellow Team also passes quickly thereafter. While they munch on crab (drrooool), Sang-wook wonders how fun it would be if they tried to match a 10 x 10 bingo versus 3 x 3. More glaring.

With only one mission left, all of our teams hurry to their last bingo mission location. The Red Team must successfully answer two Yes/No trivia questions. The first, (“Is the winter solstice the coldest night of the year?”) leads to an even split in their answers, and Haha belatedly argues that he put up the wrong answer, nudging Ji-hyo to play along.

Sang-wook is the odd one out about a question concerning Odong Island as the biggest in Yeosu (he gets it right). They press him for more info and he replies, “I don’t know anything past that!”

HA!!! This question, (“Haha is the shortest among the Running Man cast.”) leads to these above answers, and it ignites Haha’s temper. He’s taller than Ji-hyo (maybe with shoe lifts?) and the boys try to preserve his pride by saying it was pretty tricky.

Jae-suk adds that this kind of ambiguous question would be too difficult to get right on a college entrance examination. I read somewhere that pop culture questions have been included in recent years, so there’s hope for you yet, Haha!

Once everyone gets their bingo, a new card of numbers appears. Their final mission is to tear off each other’s tags (this time, there are numbers instead of their names) to create a bingo. There are some extra numbers planted around the area – so get a huntin’!

Everyone’s got their eyes on grabbing the hidden numbers but the Yellow Team has the biggest disadvantage – they’ve got two weaklings: Kwang-soo and Chun-hee. Or as Jin-hee puts it, “Everyone’s coming after you guys!” But these guys seemingly have the easiest game plan as they only need to grab Jae-suk and Gary while searching for one extra digit.

Chun-hee asks Kwang-soo where the staff tends to hide their clues. Poor Kwang-soo tells him that he doesn’t have a lot of experience in finding things since he’s usually eliminated first. Aww.

They inspect a suspicious helicopter for clues, and Chun-hee gets the not-so-brilliant idea that it might be under the helicopter and then they try to LIFT it. *facepalm* These two.

The Blue Team sails into the final mission location and their epic introduction is hilarious – you’ve got two strongmen, Jong-kook and Jin-hee, and then they abruptly cut to Gary and Suk-jin, who’s yawning.

The island is fairly hilly and when Jae-suk stares at a steep incline, determined to climb it to find more clues, his VJ asks hesitantl, “Are you going to up?” Jae-suk: “Of course I am!” and his poor VJ huffs while trudging behind him.

But Jae-suk is convinced that something will turn up past the bend. And something does… more hills.

His VJ suddenly gets spooked by something in the distance which also scares Jae-suk. There’s nothing there when they zoom in to check, which earns a scolding by Jae-suk. His VJ defends that he thought he saw a wild pig. Heehee.

Jae-suk returns just in time to interrupt another one of Haha’s love declarations, to IU this time, and chides him for doing not doing his part for the mission. Haha grabs his extra bingo cheat sheet and rips it apart, reminding us of Jae-suk the Space Controller. Jae-suk gets worked up and Haha asks in reply if he should turn back time.

They spot Sang-wook, the self-declared seeker extraordinare, in the far distance and shout to say hello. He interprets this as calling him over and in no time, he runs over to meet them, showing off the number he tracked down for his team.

The Blue Team soon join them, noticing that Jae-suk and Haha look mighty suspicious guarding Sang-wook so closely – they must be holding onto a clue.

They taunt each other, although I don’t see why they do since these guys are a pretty weak barricade. Like how Jae-suk starts dancing to “Gee” to insult Jin-hee (his surname is Ji = Gee), and Suk-jin encourages him to dish it back by calling him ‘Grasshopper.’

Jin-hee: “How can I call the “Nation’s Grasshopper” a “Grasshopper”?” which effectively works as a back-handed insult but still saves face for Jae-suk, who is often known as the nation’s MC.

I know that Kwang-soo isn’t necessarily the best Running Man, but I get this feeling that he’d be a really great oppa and just super fun. Ooh, and then he finally sees it: a clue hidden in the cracks. Did you really think they were going to be able to find that, RM staff?! And then Chun-hee finds another one squeezed in between the gap of a rock wall.

Now there’s only one number left to find, and the Yellow Team has the biggest advantage on the final bingo board. That’s great and all, but when are you going to start ripping off some tags, people!

As if the cast heard my cry, Jae-suk rallies his team down to corner Kwang-soo and IU. Kwang-soo does his best to protect IU, who nearly grabs Jae-suk’s tag before they’re joined by the rest of their teammates.

The Blue Team, however, observes this scene unfold from far off. Jin-hee suggests that they intervene once the weaker teams finish each other off, and his teammates call him Ji Zhuge Liang (a reference to Zhuge Liang, a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period in China). They turn to leave, but Gary warns that they might create an alliance…

…Which is exactly what these two teams are busy doing. Haha instructs Kwang-soo and Chun-hee to goad Jong-kook into chasing them, though it does little to bubble Jong-kook’s anger.

But then Chun-hee grabs Haha’s tag which topples the new alliance and results in a domino effect. Everyone starts grabbing each other’s tags (to the Blue Team’s amusement) and various scuffles breaks out between them. By the end of it, Haha successfully rips off Kwang-soo’s tag and Sung-soo eliminates Ji-hyo.

The Red Team is pleased to pick up Kwang-soo’s discovered clue. Now they have to eliminate the Blue Team members who are on the move. In an ideal situation, they’ll take out Gary, but if it comes down to the wire then they’ll have to attack Jin-hee.

Speaking of whom, he’s busy climbing up the hill, concealing himself in the thickets. He’s so engrossed in spy mode that he doesn’t notice that he’s torn his jacket, revealing the stuffing. At least it makes for some laughs as he runs across the hills, feathers floating into the air behind him.

Jin-hee attacks the Red Team and is soon joined by Gary. It doesn’t take them long to realize they’ve been lured into a dangerous situation and retreat for a brief break. Everyone gathers around for a final tussle – Sung-soo dives for Jong-kook to save IU, and Jae-suk reaches for Gary’s back…

And Jae-suk cleanly rips the tag off, earning the coveted bingo for his team! The Red Team win a helicopter ride off of the island, and they lift off, zooming into the sunset.

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i love you gummimochi

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Thank you! This was a fun episode!

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I totally LOOOVE Running Man thank you so much for recapping this gummimochi! :)

I LOL-ed so hard because of HaHa and Jaesuk in this episode ahaha especially on the true / false part and on the helicopter where they freaked out like mad.

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yes!! thank you gummimochi !! ♥ I watched it already but read your recap because I wanted to see your funny comments! I loved Ju Sang wook in this hehehehe I know him from Thorn birds and its great to see him so cheery in real life lol Yeah the last part was so funny recalling the Hong Kong Ep where Jaesuk and Haha had a fear of heights, so their 'prize' riding the helicopter was more like a punishment lol

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yes! i like that part in the helicopter! it is more of a punishment to both of them than a reward!

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thanks gummimochi! this episode was hilarious for me cos i got to see all my favourite guests in one ep. Kim Sung Soo, IU, Joo Sang Wook, Ji Jin Hee and Lee Chun Hee. saw them in various dramas and variety shows. hehe. and i woudl like to point out... at the last part where the red team sat the helicopter, joo sang wook and ji hyo were enjoying the ride but haha and jae suk were like 'aghhhhhhhh' hahahahhaha. super funny.

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Oh man! I saw that too coz they are afraid of heights. In a way, it wasn't such a reward for the two =P

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Hahaha. I was wondering if Jaesuk enjoyed it all since he fear of heights is so well known. Hahaha. And poor Haroro. XD

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watch HaHa grab JH's arm. sooo cute.

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I laughed so hard when Chun Hee and Kwang Soo attempted to lift the helicopter. Gosh, they're so similar as to what Daesung said about the two of them! XD

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it was a hilarious episode! thank you!
can't wait for next ep!

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I never know that Sang-wook is so hilarious... totally different from the killer image from last week.
And Ji Jin Hee with the cotton flying from his back is an invaluable scene.

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Oh my god, when Jin Hee was running across the field with the cotton/feathers all around him, I couldn't stop laughing. It was hilarious, and such a change from his smooth persona of last week.

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yaaah lol and the music being played.... RM makes me laugh every week! lol ♥♥♥

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i am in love with joo sang wook!!! <3 for a moment i thought he looks good with song ji hyo. just my thought.

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Thanks for the recap!!
I watched this episode already. I really love your recaps!
~Hwaiting Jihyo and SangWook XD

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I first heard about the four guy guests during the last episode, so I assumed they (well, all of them except for Chun-hee) had this cool image because they were so cool and slick. But then this episode blew that image away for me, ha! Sang-wook with his laugh, Sung-soo the IU-fanboy (the flower basket killed me), and Jin-hee with his slow-motion running and the feathers flying. I liked how protective Sung-soo was of IU (from his running to help her with Jong-kook when she called Oppa to shielding her from the dust flying around when the helicopter was taking off).

I know a lot of people like Running Man episodes with just the main cast (and I do, too), but I also like episodes with guest stars because I like to see the fun side of these guests.

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Haha perhaps this win is not that great for Haha and Jae Suk since they're afraid of heights! Oh well, it was an entertaining episode! Can't wait for the next to come!

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I actually want them to find more number around the village but well, of course, it's easier to steal it from the members.

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one of the funniest episode of running man! thanks gummimochi... ^^

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Terrific recap, Gummimochi! (and it's nice to finally be able to attach the sound of your voice to your writing - that was a fun Podcast!)

"By the by, whatever happened to our slick killers from yesterday? ‘Cause in sweats and parkas, they look a lot like the lazy oppa next door."
How true - talk about clothes making the man! It makes me appreciate how well these guys clean up.

How impressive was it to watch Ji-hyo hold back her frustration with Sang-wook - there was a few times when she just wanted to throttle him but held back. I love that she doesn't hold back with her core mates. Her interactions with them make for some of the funniest scenes.

That scene with Dumb & Dumber trying to pick up the helicopter was priceless - can they really be that foolish? Guess so. And watching Jae-suk and HaHa in the helicopter at the end was hysterical. They were shrieking like little girls!
:)

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Thank you gummimochi, I was drooling with you when they filmed the table of sashimi!! Loved the guests in this episode, Sang Wook is just soooo adorable and I found it hilarious how they were all fanboys of IU especially the part where Ji Jin Hee gets so happy when he receives a handshake from IU :D so different from his killer image

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This was my first time watching Korean Variety & Running Man and I must say I laughed from the beginning to the end. Before I forget, I would like to mention that I only watched it because I loved your recap. Heartfelt thanks!

Just excellent!

I found my new phrase of the month, 'uncle fanboy,' JUST WONDERFUL!

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love that they continue referencing haha and jaesuk's super powers =D

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The games on RM have definitely improved over the early eps; less just running around and more creative.

Kim Sung-soo being all giddy like an excited schoolboy over IU was hilarious (in contrast, he was all cool and nonchalant w/ Hyori on FO).

Sang-wook stole the show w/ his straightforward but hilarious comments; loved how Ji-hyo was restraining herself until she couldn't help it anymore and gave Sang-wook a good swack (she's so cute when she does the whole 'angry" thing).

Jae-suk never fails to crack me up and his “Gee” dance had me rolling on the floor.

Also got to love the the "Welcome to Dongmakol" reference when the down in Ji Jin-jee's jacket started escaping.

Chunderella and Kwangvatar are truly opposite sides of the same coin.

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I'm shipping for sang wook & ji hyo, these two were adorable next to each other.

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I thought it was just hilarious that the two most scared of heights won the trip on the helicopter.

PS: The food looked so good. It was ridiculous ><

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I bet Kwangvatar would be a fun person to know.

I really loved the guests in this episode. So funny. I love how Jihyo eventually blew up at Sangwook. Hahaha. Can we get these two in a drama together please? XD

Chunhee and Kwangsoo are just so..... *facepalm* Yeah, these two. I love how the Blue Team were just waiting to swoop in and after the other team were done eliminating each other. I love how Jaesuk's poor VJ is just as popular as the Running Man cast. XD Like the poor Maknae FD who has no choice but to wear wigs and other costumes to throw the cast off.

Running Man, why so cool? X)

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I think Ji hyo and Sang wook should be in a drama together. They will be a bickering couple.

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Thank you for the recap!
I have to say kudos to Kim Sung Soo b/c of his heroic oppa dive for the distressed-damsel trap set by evil-smiling Spartakook. I think he would be a great character to add to the cast b/c he seems less shy and more competitive...unlike should we say the uber cute Joo Sang Wook who was all "man" talk during the challenges but total "running" only during the name-tag ripping battles. LOL.

But Haha and Jaesuk made the best couple in this episode. They are ridonculous together!

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Jaesuk, Haha and Jongkook really form a great core for variety, as they have done since their X-Man days.

It's too bad the producers of Family Outing didn't get Haha - would have made a great variety show even better.

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Man, how epic would that have been to see Haha on Family Outing? Truthfully, I still like the original cast of FO, and it just went downhill after Chunderella and Savage Yejin left, and I don't know how well Haha would have fit in, but I trust in Jong-kook and Haha's longtime relationship with each other with Jaesuk that I wouldn't have minded seeing an FO with all 3 in it.

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looks like the Nation's MC is afraid of helicopter ride.

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Running Man is undoubtedly the first Korean variety show I have fell in love with, a while back when there were roughly 20 episodes - I started watching for celebrity guests, but the basic foundation, between the main cast, is what made this show solid. Over time, I found the games and teams repetitive, especially since this show supports a lot of celebrity appearances and a good amount of them are not very in tune with the show's variety sense (Family Outing guests are some of the more entertaining ones since they are familiar with this format.) I'm sure the PD's and writers also understood this, as they left behind the original Hide n' Seek and Pictures game after they had been used too much. Like 1N2D, I think a large part is due to their dedication and ridiculous games/setups that keeps this show fresh, to keep the Running Men on their feet and leave the audience guessing. I think their more recent episodes are getting better, their activities are not as predictable but still have that Running Man flavor. The concept behind Superpowers Special was so ridiculous, but the RM team made it work very well, and the RM cast played along with dedication, while laughing off everybody's "powers."

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Pretty much what I had stated as well.

Based on watching a few of the early eps, I wasn't too impressed; the games themselves really weren't that entertaining and all the running around made it hard for the cast to joke around w/ each other (that's what was so great about FO - not only were the games more conducive to the cast and guests interacting w/ each other, but cooking allowed for plenty of tomfoolery).

Didn't really watch for a while until I started watching some of the more recent eps for the guests - and things have improved drastically w/ the games being much more varied and interesting.

The food errand game in the Beijing ep was a total hoot since the teams couldn't speak Mandarin and the superpowers ep was simply brilliant.

Also while I like Joong-ki as an actor (esp. his turn on "TWDR"), I think it was good thing for RM that the permanent cast was reduced down to the core group (Joong-ki and Lizzy really didn't bring any extra element to show).

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IU can sing well despite being in the morning and cold. Most singers complain about that nor want to sing yet IU sang so well.

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super love this episode. thanks for the recap

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