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Running Man: Episode 143

Time to loosen those vocal chords and get that tambourine ready for a noraebang experience you likely won’t ever forget. The godfather of variety pays our cast a visit to train their sharp wit, fine-tune their physical gags, and bring out a new persona. Some things don’t ever change, and perhaps someone’s bad luck is really a sign that the variety gods have a bright future ahead of them.

EPISODE 143. Broadcast on April 28, 2013.

A mysterious man checks his watch as he waits on the rooftop. He whips his head around at the sound of footsteps. Meet Lee Kyung-kyu, who is pretty much the dae sunbaenim of varietyland. And you don’t keep a variety veteran waiting.

Haha yells for the others to haul ass in order to properly greet their guest, and Kyung-kyu even picks up a megaphone to drive the point home. One by one, they each arrive and all are nonplussed in his presence.

How cute is it that the mat-hyung is totally prepared for today’s filming – he even wore sneakers! Kyung-kyu is fully aware of how rigorous this show can be, but he’s confident that he can at least take on Suk-jin.

I’m surprised that for someone who’s been so active in the biz for so long, this is his first time on an SBS Sunday variety show. Then again, he’s pretty busy with his other shows, which include Healing Camp and Star Junior Show. But today, he’s going to give Running Man his full, undivided attention.

Count on Jae-suk to lay down the ground rules when it comes to dealing with Kyung-kyu. It indirectly gives us a nice intro to the man’s MC and variety persona and it boils down to this: He doesn’t put up with pointless or unfunny humor.

I have heard in the past from other celebrities about his no-nonsense aka scary way of handling variety, and he doesn’t hesitate to scold his hoobaes. So basically, you’ll have to earn your entertainment creds with him. Just think of him like a variety barometer.

That isn’t to say that the man is all cold, since he’s also known as a considerate host and has built a respectable reputation over the years.

But Kyung-kyu gets thrown off when Mr. PD suddenly gives him the floor. He agrees that they’ll have to split teams, but before they do, he blurts out: “Don’t you think that we’d need at least ten people?”

The cast is quick on the uptake and asks if the mat-hyung brought other guests along with him today. It’s a hilariously awkward exchange as Kyung-kyu tries to initially coolly play off the moment, and then just gives in and introduces our guests.

Say hello to actors Kim In-kwon and Ryu Hyun-kyung, who are here to promote their movie The Singing Contest. Ah, and Kyung-kyu is the movie producer, which also explains his “Producer” chair in the beginning of the episode.

In line with his “purely innocent” reason to appear on Running Man today, Kyung-kyu passes on the opportunity to talk about the movie and jokes that he feels like the PR person who tagged along with the movie stars.

Then when Mr. PD announces that they’ll split teams, Kyung-kyu’s like, Already?

Our teams are split in half and it really does seem like it’s Gen X (Kyung-kyu, Jae-suk, Suk-jin, Ji-hyo, and Kwang-soo) vs. Gen Y (Hyun-kyung, In-kwon, Jong-kook, Gary, and Haha). Ha – maybe it’s just the mat-hyung trio that tips those scales.

Thus it’s by no coincidence that today’s theme is entitled “Superpower Noraebang,” where our teams will collect coins at each station, and the team with the highest score in their show’s own singing contest will win it.

In the car, Jae-suk worries that Ji-hyo’s busy drama schedule has already taken a toll on her health. Looking out the window, Kwang-soo wistfully agrees with that statement and quips, “You can’t hide your age.”

Kyung-kyu interjects, “You know I’m turning 60 soon right?” Then he impresses the cast on how much he knows about Kwang-soo, like his incredible popularity overseas.

The conversation turns to the past rumors of how scary Kyung-kyu used to be, so Jae-suk gives him the opportunity to clear the air. Suk-jin starts laughing at the first rumor (that he would make the female staff cry) as Kyung-kyu insists that they only cried when they had to exchange goodbyes.

He continues that the female staff writers were so scared of him at one point that whenever he walked down the hallway, they’d part like the Red Sea. Kwang-soo mentions that he heard that some people even threw salt at the dae sunbae and Kyung-kyu seethes, “It wasn’t salt!”

(Traditionally, salt is thrown to drive out evil spirits or to purify someone. In this case, throwing salt at a person would be considered as an insult.)

Jae-suk mentions that Kyung-kyu was always nice to him over the years. Kyung-kyu replies, “There are a few people I hate.” Then he asks how Park Myung-soo is doing. Ooh.

At the jjimjilbang, the cast will play a series of three games. Jong-kook gives this long explanation that he and In-kwon used to be on a popular survival-type variety show back in the day.

In danger of being eliminated, Jae-suk prompted the actor to sing a song… and he belted out “Morning Dew,” which has a pretty, mellow melody. Good to relieve stress, not so much to avoid elimination.

According to Gary, Hyun-kyung can tear up the dance floor with her hip-hop skills. Kwang-soo jokes: “I can’t stand to see women dance like that!”

The goal of the first game is to get your opponent to lose their balance by tugging on a towel. Coach Kookie steps in to make sure both Suk-jin and In-kwon are in position; the only drawback is that we can’t see Big Nose Hyung‘s face.

Kyung-kyu quickly fixes that by twisting his head towards the camera. OW. They spend another good minute to determine rule specifics until Kyung-kyu finally has enough and yells, “You all sure talk a lot!”

Suk-jin warns In-kwon that he’ll put up a good fight… but less than a second into the match, he trips. HA.

After an easy win against In-kwon, Kyung-kyu calls out Hyun-kyung in hopes to keep up his winning streak. Then Jong-kook steps in. Gulp.

On the sidelines, Haha calls out: “These two are angry 24/7!” Hahaha.

Kyung-kyu dishes out the trash-talk, and admits that he’s got his eye on becoming a regular cast member. “You know what’s coming, right? Just concentrate on your singing career.”

They face-off, and both men resist each other’s attacks pretty well. And though strength isn’t supposed to be a determining factor, Jong-kook wins anyway.

Kyung-kyu is still bitter about his loss and scolds Jong-kook in the following match, citing that he’s hurting the Giraffe. Looks like some things don’t change, do they?

But that moral support disappears the next minute, and when Kwang-soo cries out in pain again, Kyung-kyu’s like, Deal with it.

We skip ahead to the final round and whaddayaknow – it’s the Monday Couple. I love how both of them are like, You again? in this playful annoyed voice.

Gary quickly cuts down the rumors that he’s a master at martial arts, but he does admit, “I have a third degree belt in the art of love.”

It’s a literal push-pull when the game actually begins and Gary quips, “Are we playing a give-and-take [or a push and pull] here too?” Puhaha.

He playfully tugs back and forth, but in a distracted moment, Ji-hyo sends him literally crashing back to Earth.

In the second game, the team who ends up with the one raw egg (out of 30) loses. Kyung-kyu claims that he can tell right away, thanks to his long history in the chicken business. He adds: “I can even tell if it’s unfertilized or not!”

Either he’s really good or he’s overconfident, and when he’s asked just how you can tell the difference, he can’t give an answer. Heh, overconfident it is then.

Suk-jin stirs up trouble when he comments on how Kyung-kyu really does favor Jae-suk. He wonders if it’s due to Jae-suk’s overwhelming popularity, to which Kyung-kyu answers that he was always a fan even when the nation’s MC was a no-name.

Suk-jin: “The Kyung-kyu I know doesn’t like those who aren’t famous.” Then Kyung-kyu lunges at him.

Each team passes the first few turns and the cast members happily eat their hard-boiled eggs. Round after round we go until we finally get to Kyung-kyu’s turn. Wouldn’t it be a hilarious karmic revenge if he ends up with the raw egg?

To his great relief, he passes. Jong-kook is up next and it’s apparent that he’s on Kyung-kyu’s naughty list. Spartakooks insists that he’s doing his best, and Kyung-kyu retorts, “Watch the broadcast. You talk more than anything else!”

We’re down to twenty eggs already and everyone grows anxious as the number continues to dwindle. It’s Kwang-soo’s turn again and he dismisses everyone else’s comments about his perpetual bad luck.

And then the raw egg explodes on his forehead. Oof. Then the others belatedly add in consolation: “This is a moment every variety star dreams of!”

The next round starts off with twenty eggs and everyone is speechless when Kyung-kyu says that they should have these eggs for lunch and wrap up filming as quickly as possible. Jae-suk: “Do you plan to go home afterward?” Kyung-kyu: *shakes head*

So Kwang-soo starts off this round as calm as you please because what are the chances he’ll end up with a raw egg again, right? The answer is pretty good and ends up with an egged forehead.

AHAHAHAHA. Am dying of laughter. You just cannot make this stuff up. Both the cast and the staff are astonished, and we hear a collective “Oohhh~”

The cast members praise Kwang-soo, saying that the variety gods have poured their favor upon him… and then Kyung-kyu barks that the Giraffe ended the game too quickly.

Their last game at the sauna requires the cast to roll a coin so that it gets stuck between fork prongs. Jong-kook gets scolded for his comment that these games simply call for a living, breathing person without discrimination of age or strength.

Then his sincere remark gets misconstrued as condescending, and Kyung-kyu finally blows up: “Don’t call me ‘hyungnim’! Call me ‘ajusshi’!”

The cast finally gets around to practice and Kyung-kyu keeps catching the other team’s coins. They yell back: “Ajusshi!”

In-kwon starts off the game and though he gets the coin to zip down speedily, he’s not that accurate. Haha comes pretty close, but he too misses.

Ji-hyo runs into trouble getting the coin to roll in a straight line. But then to her luck, one of her coins gets stuck between the prongs. Beginner’s luck or not, it’s daebak.

Then the team acknowledges that their Ace Ji-hyo and their black hole Kwang-soo just cancel each other out. Jae-suk:”That’s why we can’t gain anything!”

But Kwang-soo turns his luck around and successfully adds a coin to his team’s count. Yay!

Jong-kook is just out of luck today – everything he says earns him a lecture. Then before Kyung-kyu’s turn, Haha jokes that if he succeeds, it will mean that his movie will be a hit… and the coin rolls right in between the prongs.

Kyung-kyu does a happy dance (with thrusting?) and Jae-suk adds, “There are only two ajusshis in this world. Won Bin and Kyung-kyu!”

So the Gen X team wins the first game and after much debate, they choose the gold coin.

Our next mission takes place at a field where each team will need to protect their respective ‘kings’ in dodgeball. Huh, today’s rules seem refreshingly straightforward and simple.

The teams settle on the king of comedy (Kyung-kyu) and the king of singers (Jong-kook). And just to make sure that we know who reigns supreme around these parts, the staff makes them wear beanies. Heehee – it makes Kyung-kyu look like an elf.

Suk-jin is eliminated as soon as the game begins, followed by Gary. To everyone’s surprise, Hyun-kyung catches the ball and turns around to throw it back at the opposing team.

Kyung-kyu barely misses a shot by Gary but that puts him in the direct line of fire for Hyun-kyung, who picks up the ball, her target in sight. Ji-hyo takes the hit.

Poor Kwang-soo is left as the lone bodyguard and he continues to take hit after hit. Then Kyung-kyu takes possession of the ball and he revs up to throw the ball, which falls short. HA.

Then Kwang-soo tags Jong-kook out to score the first point.

Hyun-kyung is ready to go for another set whereas Kyung-kyu already looks exhausted. So they go again and as expected, Hyun-kyung doesn’t hold back. Even though her attacks miss, it’s safe to say that she’s tougher than she looks.

More cast members are tagged out left and right and some time later, Hyun-kyung is left to protect Jong-kook. With the Bodyguard soundtrack playing in the background, Hyun-kyung jumps around to block any incoming attacks.

She tries her best to intercept Jae-suk’s throw, but alas Jong-kook is hit and Jae-suk’s team wins again.

With two victories under his belt, Kyung-kyu is in a jolly mood and to everyone’s astonishment, he asks Kwang-soo which coin he should choose. Suk-jin: “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say something like that!”

Mr. PD announces the third mission as an Avatar 1 vs. 1 nametag rippin’ game where each player must follow the specific directions of their host. This setup brings back memories of another discontinued variety show, Hot Brothers.

The Gen Y team chooses In-kwon as their first avatar. But before they send him in, the team teaches him the “proper way” to tear off nametags. So remember – use your left hand to prevent your opponent from turning around and your right hand for rippin’!

Thankfully In-kwon is a quick study and he easily rips off Gary’s nametag in practice. Given that your opponent is Suk-jin, I’d say you don’t have much to worry about.

The two run into each other as soon as they step outside, and now I get the appeal of this game. Neither avatar can act out of their own accord, and Haha instructs In-kwon to find a hiding place and wait.

But thanks to the cameras, the Gen X team keeps a close eye on In-kwon’s movements. When Kyung-kyu suggests a face-off, his team members gasp in surprise (“Already?”), and then he immediately second guesses himself. Ha.

So he instructs Suk-jin to wait, which lures In-kwon back downstairs. The two meet and they circle around each other as the hosts simultaneously shout instructions. Then In-kwon gains the upper hand and eliminates Suk-jin.

Kyung-kyu considers it a missed opportunity that Suk-jin could have feigned injury in order to buy a few precious seconds. They send Kwangvatar out next, and it’s no surprise that the role fits him like a glove.

Kwangvatar is told to proceed with caution and a few moments later, we get why: In-kwon jumps out from his hiding place and attacks. Then it cracks me up that Haha suggests to In-kwon to pretend to be hurt if he finds himself in a tight spot.

But what’s more surprising is that Kyung-kyu orders Kwang-soo to retreat. The expression on Kwangvatar‘s face is like, Hyungnim, say what?

Then after Kwang-soo’s inevitable elimination, he marches back inside, yelling: “I had his nametag in my hand!” Kyung-kyu: “Well it looked like you were losing from over here…”

Everyone is on alert now that Ace Ji-hyo is out on the field. As per her host’s instructions, she chases after In-kwon up the stairs. They meet at the staircase and Ji-hyo is flabbergasted to hear that Haha is the other avatar’s host.

Kyung-kyu observes the exchange and thinks aloud: “Should I tell her to smack him?” And then he does.

The two stand around awkwardly at the mercy of their hosts and In-kwon yells at Ji-hyo. Then we see Ji-hyo slowly back away and In-kwon is instructed to give chase.

But as soon as he reaches the stairwell, Ji-hyo spins him around and eliminates him.

The two ladies meet right outside headquarters, and Haha orders Hyun-kyung to start dancing then and there. Turns out that her dancing skills are a real thing and she’s pretty good.

Then Hyun-kyung steps forward and the ladies attempt to grab at each other’s backs. When that doesn’t work, Hyun-kyung takes another dance break.

What the – did Ji-hyo just tear off her own nametag? Everyone is shocked by the act, but we soon find out that it’s all part of the plan, and Jae-suk immediately heads out. Not only that, eagle-eyed Jong-kook immediately zeroes in on this plan.

So Hyun-kyung frantically tries to run away, but runs into Jae-suk as soon as she turns around. Jae-suk gives chase until they find themselves at the same location they started at.

Jong-kook gets ready to take her place, but she might not need her help as she grabs hold of Jae-suk’s nametag… and tears it off. Dayum.

Thus, Kyung-kyu is forced to head out himself and he doesn’t let up when he faces Hyun-kyung. It’s too bad that his efforts are for naught as she easily takes him out and secures her team’s first win. I know who’s getting MVP today.

Our cast arrives at the final mission location where they’ll participate in the in-house Superpower Singing Contest. As a refresher, the team with the highest score wins. The coins correspond to the songs they’ll be singing.

There’s also a mysterious wire hanging above them, but we’ll find out what that does later.

Up first is Mung Ji-hyo and Kwang-soo who starts us off with 2PM’s “Heartbeat.” You’d think that as the youngest members on their team, there would be a fighting chance that they’d know the song. (They don’t.)

Then their superpower kicks in as they sing the pre-chorus, and an entire choir assembles behind them. It takes both Ji-hyo and Kwang-soo a good minute before they realize the presence of 50 acapella singers singing along in harmony.

That. is. Awesome. Thanks to their help, they get a 96. Woah.

Turns out the wire is for the Gen Y team (singing Son Chan-hwi’s “Tears”), and Hyun-kyung happily volunteers herself. She and In-kwon belt out the song as the staff set her up.

Once she’s good to go, the staff hoist her up, which means InstaScream. HA – and the monitor is hooked up to wires too. At least she’ll still be able to read the lyrics?

All those screams are worth it and Gen Y scores a 96.

The Gen X hyungs start to sing their trot single (“Shabang Shabang”) as the other wait expectantly – what could the next superpower be? And then the curtain pulls back to reveal Park Hyun-bin, the singer, crooning to the song with them. Daebak.

Haha complains about this unfair advantage while In-kwon admits that the song’s so catchy that it makes it him want to dance. Ha.

It earns the team another high score (99), and Kyung-kyu is in such a good mood again that he says with a smile, “Our next song is ‘Gangnam Style’! What if PSY swung by?”

Cut to: Singing ‘Gangnam Style’ as Jae-suk and Kwang-soo peddle away on a bike to keep the monitor on. Caption: He (PSY) couldn’t come because he was busy…

The monitor keeps flickering back and forth as their other teammates sing and dance. Or try to since the audio keeps cutting off at crucial moments.

The Gen Y team gets to choose their next song and they decide on an upbeat rock song, “Romantic Cat” (Cherry Filter). What I love most about this performance is how the entire team just throws themselves into the song, with the occasional holler from In-kwon to ring out the chorus.

And yet, their score (97) isn’t enough to beat the Gen X team’s score of 99.

The Gen X team hands over the trophy to Kyung-kyu (“Is this entire thing made of real gold?”), who then gives it to Hyun-kyung instead. Not before pocketing the actual gold coin attached to the trophy for himself, of course.

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Thanks!!
Yay being first to comment.. This episode was hilariously funny plus Kwangsoo's memorable bad luck!! :))

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The noraebang challenge was the best

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hahaa..props for Hyun-kyung.she's a kick ass female guest.and that 3rd level in love?hahahaa...where does gary come up w such cheesy (yet awesome) pickup lines?

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teehee, this episode was sooo halirious! Lee Kyung-kyu was very mean to KJK, and not only that, I feel like he was rushing everything... I understand that its for "variety"...but, he took it too far...

Please don't yell at me....^^

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Poor Kookie! I have to say Lee Kyung Kyu's not a very good sport here. Some of his comments flustered the RM members... Hyun Kyung was daebak though. I didn't know her before this and now I'm having a girl crush on her. She's so awesomely tough and doesn't care about the camera at all. In Kwon was quiet at first, but I liked him by the end of the episode. Especially the name tag ripping parts. The preview for the next episode doesn't excite. More ttakji? No thanks.

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Well, he is Kang Ho Dong's mentor. He's been around for what, 30+ years?

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Yes i agree.. it actually feels like he was trying to get more attention and air time by keep interrupting the other members when they are speaking to tell them to hurry up. I don't like his style of hosting at all, talking down to his hoobae like that even though he might think it's for the sake of "variety". I don't find him very funny in the first place. It's just not nice at all to keep putting KJK down all the time.

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Lee Kyung Kyu took those actors to promote them and his movie, but his variety style still comes of as thinking only of himself, him getting as much air time as possible. Maybe it got cut off, but you can barely see him interacting with his actors. Then again, they were not in the same team, but there were enough chances to talk with each other.
But while he was hell of annoying at times, there were quite a few times I laughed out loud because of him.
I think it comes as a habit for him though, dunno. After all these years of trying to survive in this industry and get as much air time as possible, it may come natural to him now. It's just that I totally hate his "variety" style of interrupting people and making it about himself all the time.
I watched quite a few episodes of Qualifications of Men in which he was the MC(that show got canceled recently, after a long run on KBS) and I loved most of the episodes and the cast, but he got just too annoying so I tried to fast forward his parts at first, but then gave up. I saw a Hwasin episode with him and Hyun Kyung, In Kwon and a younger actor though, and didn't mind him that much, so it depends on the type of the show I guess.

In conclusion, he's interesting as long as he doesn't start to talk down to people and interrupt them while not adding any value to the show. If he tries to be interesting, and doesn't only rely on the "what I say is law" attitude, then I have no problem with it. I learned to no discredit him as soon as he appears on the screen, even in the same show he can be quite different, but my patience only lasts 15 minutes haha.

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My best moments of the ep:

1) Giraffe's blessing from variety gods!! (I actually replayed that section 10 times because it was hilarious!)

2) Monday couple lives on! Oh Gaery Gaery....

3) Hyunkyung as probably the best female guest we've had so far! So epic! New up and coming ace?

4) I want more noraebang games!

All in all I think this is one of the best episodes!

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Ryu Hyun-kyung is serious Running Man material. They should add her as a permanent cast.

Lee Kyung-Kyu is the godfather of variety, Yoo Jae Suk and Kang Ho Dong are all his students.

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hyunkyung is my new girl crush

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thanks....

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What I love about reality/variety shows is that the audience know that it's being fed lines, but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of it all. We know two people will be grouped together for popularity (Monday Couple most obviously), that some events are orchestrated in some way, others wouldn't've been funny without editing. But the bromance (well, with Song Ji Hyo!) is real. This show has totally taken me hook, line and sinker in the past few weeks where I uh may have sat in bed and marathoned a lot of it.

And hahaha Gary. No wonder they keep pushing Monday Couple, I was on naver right after the show aired and there were five pages already of articles about the same two lines he'd said omg. And all the respect for the people who are behind their simple variety personas. Gary is a prime example of making himself much more stupid, blank and weak than he is - and then you listen to a Leessang song and it's like, wow.

Glad it's Sunday night and only have to wait for a couple of more hours until the next one comes up online! Thanks for the recap!

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It seems i'm the only one who totally disliked Hyun Kyung this epi. IMO, her super-extra-competitive appearance turned me off of an otherwise superbly hilarious episode. She's no fun at all, just focused on beating out the others -_-

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He wasn't any meaner than KJK is when he is trying to hurry things along

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To each his/her own. I can see why you're put off but for me it's really entertaining to see guests being over-competitive (mostly for female guests). Even if they're being so serious about it, because that's why the Running Man cast is there... to provide the fun. What's refreshing is seeing her being so active on the show other than taking the backseat. The way the guests are on this episode, you'd think that Lee Kyung Kyu would dominate the whole episode as the guest, but I think Hyun Kyung stole the spotlight here

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I'm with you. For me what totally puts me off is when a female guest acts like a damsel in stress. It's Running Man for goodness sake! I think if they want to just look pretty and cute, they shouldn't try RM, try other variety shows.

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Indeed, to each of their own. There are two types of RM guests that usually put me off: 1) pretty whiney girls who do nothing but look pretty and be put on a pedestal e.g. Jessica, Hyuna, Sulli, etc 2) This one, just like Lee Shi Young whose episode I also disliked, who treats the game with 200% seriousness. You're not in Dream Team have fun a little bit will ya.

Well, I prefer RM's guests who come and have fun while being active like Han Hyo Joo or Han Hye Jin more. Period.

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Wouldn't totally put Sulli in the group w/ the "whiney girls" - in her 1st appearance she was a lot of fun "taking care" of YJS who had to suffer piggy-backing the "baby giant" and chipped in when YJS was making fun of LKS while in the car (can tell YJS really liked Sulli since he was had a look of total disappointment when he wasn't paired up w/ her during her 2nd appearance.

But yeah, her 3rd appearance wasn't the greatest.

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wow, I thoroughly disagree. She was smiling and laughing throughout the whole show (watch her react to everyone during all the games, she was enjoying herself). And I don't see how she is more "competitive" than the other Running men, she just happened to be good at the games. Especially during the dodgeball game "EVERYONE" was competitive there, there was no chance to stop and have "fun" then (well, except when the guy kept falling down) because you're literally trying to avoid being hit. And she just happened to be very good at the game. You can tell they were having fun, even her. Especially during the avatar game, she was very game, doing those crazy dance moves and also very excited when she was able to rip the name tags. And even though she was not a great singer, she was very game for karaoke, volunteering for the harness, dancing crazily with her teammates during the last song. I thought she was one of the best female contestants. So I'm really surprised why you thought she was too "serious".

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I agree.

RHK was clearly having a good time while competing and while maybe she wasn't full of funny quips (she did have a couple), I suspect that was in deference to LKK who was a mixed bag in that regard.

Also, LKK pretty much ruined the name-tag ripping game when he commanded Mong Ji-hyo to rip off her own tag (was trying too hard to be "clever" and deprived the viewers of a good female to female battle) which guaranteed that his team would be on the losing end.

I really liked KIK. While a bit on the quiet side, he really seems good-natured and always had a huge smile on his face. Seems like a fun guy to have drinks with.

LKS's facial expressions when he literally got "egg on his face" were epic.

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What? How is she over competitive? It looked like she was just having fun & she really brought the atmosphere up with her singing. As for the name tag ripping game, did you expect her to raise her hands & surrender? I don't think she's even mentioned once that she wanted to win unlike most gung-ho guests.

She just happened to be really good @ name tag ripping & dodgeball.

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I thought the last two female guests where great, I feel with Ace making her tv drama at the same time the cast and crew are making an effort not to push her too much in RM, so good strong active female guest are all that much more important.

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It is not his first Sunday variety show.

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Kyung-kyu's instruction to Ji-hyo was a major head-scratcher for me. asking your best asset to practically just lay down die seems like a great idea -- if you're looking for a surefire way to lose the game. it would have been a real treat to watch two strong female players going at it -- no holds barred.

LKS splashing his face with 2 raw eggs in a row, whoah! (what are the odds?) -- either he's just one of unluckiest guys around or somebody's playing a mean joke on him. gary was pretty funny, too (ji-hyo sure knows how to play him lol!).

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When Lee Kyungkyu told Jihyo to self-destruct, I was just like: FACEPALM. I mean, first off, consider how many people are on your team compared to how many people are on the other team, and then remember that the other team saved their stronger members (Gary but namely Jongkook) for last. Like, why kill off your own team member? I mean, I get that it was for Hyunkyung to be shocked but would she really be stunned long enough for Jaesuk to come out and rip off her nametag? Since Hyunkyung was rather strong, compared to past female guests, Jihyo might not have won, but Jihyo definitely had a chance against her - they seemed to be pretty equal in terms of strength. I was really itching to see a good opponent for Jihyo and I'm quite annoyed that it ended with some stupid suicide-strategy.

I mean, I don't entirely hate Lee Kyungkyu and he certainly has his own brand of humor, but I just wish he had been better at strategizing.

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exactly. i felt cheated somehow. hopefully Hyun-kyung can come back (as an RM guest) again so the 2 ladies can settle the issue on their own.

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more than facepalming, i was actually too shocked (and confused) at first, because how could ripping off your own name tag be beneficial in any case? it's not like jihyo didn't stand a chance against her either. and this isn't even mentioning the fact that there is a larrrge time gap between when jihyo gets ousted and when jaesuk enters (plenty of time for hyunkyung to recuperate).

i'm largely split on LKK, like i get that he's a huge sunbae and they were all playing off his seniority as part of the humor, but i think there's a point to which you can push the seniority agenda before it gets annoying.

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LKK was a mixed bag.

And the last time RM had a "gag man legend" (the father of Korean slapstick), it was also overly done.

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For me i just thought it was a scripted part of the show, with Jihyo also filming a TV drama and making RM, they seem to be carefull of her work load over the last few episodes, they do not want her ending up in hospital again.

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PARK HYUN-BIN!!! by now even i know parts of his famous song, thanks to the other variety show KBS Immortal Songs 2! hahahaha

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Just Finished this Episode other than the two moon Geun Young episodes it is now one of my fav's !! very funny I enjoyed it from start to finish

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For a variety show people sure are taking it too seriously! Let's just enjoy the fun no?! What's with I hate him & I hate her...geez!
That aside, Park Hyun Bin was such a cool surprise, love him for days! And the final Romantic Cat performance, who else found it so hilarious when IK kept screaming aaaahhhhh... at the randomest of moments?! I've replayed their performance like so many times!

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haven't finished watching, but good episode! lee kyung kyu and the other guests make great guests.

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Didn't really care much for this episode. It took me 3 days just to finish it. Next week seems to be better though.

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I really enjoyed this episode, myself. I got Kyung-kyu's variety persona and demeanor right away, so his gruffness didn't bother me. I also enjoyed the other guests, and it looked like everyone had fun to me. The games were fun, even if the strategizing could have been better, but meh. :)

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Just a note. Never watch RM at 2 am, the uncontrollable laughter will bother roommates. I love this episode.

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This is just my personal opinion. I have never been a person to ship a couple, but the actress and KIM JONG KOOK had sparks flying in this episode. She is really cool with the guys, and i don't think kjk really likes girly girls which will make her fit with him

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I totally agree! I was wondering if she was married or something, because they didn't tease at a love-line for them!

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I didn't think this episode was that funny. :/
I guess it probably meant for Koreans who are familiar with Lee Kyung-kyu though.

Kwangsoo playing the egg bokbulbok was priceless though. :'D
And the soaring through the air tactic to hit them high notes~

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i don't even know what you mean, running man is a korean show and every episode is targeted at korean audiences not international audiences, the shows survival depends upon the tv ratings that is generated by korea's local tv viewers, if they wanted to target international audience they would have invited international guests, international popularity in asian countries is just a bonus for them because they know they are being loved but no way in hell they would feel pressured to change the show format by international audiences, the shows survival all depends on the local audiences, they are the ones who the shows producers target.

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thanks for the recap :)

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The other two guests are not as recognisable so it was good and cool of the RM cast to give them opportunities to be in the limelight, especially during the avatar name tag game. That was quite awesome seeing Hyun kyung attack Jaesuk =) And Kwang Soo must be having a bad day or rather a good day on that filming day.

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Kim Jong Kook as coach kook is daebak.. He is so good in games which requires strength. Wish that Gary and him can have a faceoff though. Monday couple is so cute and I notice that song Ji Hyo look pale and sickly sometimes maybe she had overworked. The classic moment:
1) Kwangsoo egg smashed! Variety Gods favor him. Haha
2)The two guests were good in nametag rigging.
3) Jong kook and Gary lesson on nametag rigging
4) Jong kook the commander that is so smart and sharp in analyzing and stragtagizing - he can figure out the other team motive
5) the dodgeball game - Jong kook get protected

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KJK and Gary did have a faceoff in episode 130 :)

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Anyone know the name/artists of the song that plays during the Monday Couple's towel battle? I used to know, but it's really killing me now that I can't remember.

~Too cute that segment. Though Lee Kwang Soo's variety god egg serendipity took the cake!

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nevermind! I just realized it's from Lee Ssang blues XD

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And to make up for it – found out that Lee Ssang’s Blues samples from a classical orchestral piece titled “In a Persian Market” – http://youtu.be/Q2lANtTxKYw the sampled part begins at around 1:07. Enjoy!

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