Running Man

Running Man may refer to:

Literature

Film and television

Other uses

See also

Running Man (TV series)

Running Man (Korean: 런닝맨) is a South Korean variety show; forming part of SBS's Good Sunday lineup. It first aired on July 11, 2010, and as of 2015, it is currently the longest-running program, at five years on Good Sunday, surpassing X-Man's three and a half years.

Running Man was originally classified as an "urban action variety"; a genre of variety shows in an urban environment. The MCs and guests were to complete missions at a landmark to win the race. The show has since shifted to a more familiar reality-variety show concept focused on games. It has garnered attention as being the comeback program for Yoo Jae-suk, the main MC of the program, after leaving Good Sunday's Family Outing in February 2010.

The show has become popular in other parts of Asia, even reaching its popularity outside Asia, and has gained online popularity among Hallyu fans, having been fansubbed into a number of languages by volunteers, such as English, Spanish, French, Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian, Myanmar, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Turkish.

Running

Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the center of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. A characteristic feature of a running body from the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is that changes in kinetic and potential energy within a stride occur simultaneously, with energy storage accomplished by springy tendons and passive muscle elasticity. The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.

It is assumed that the ancestors of mankind developed the ability to run for long distances about 2.6 million years ago, probably in order to hunt animals. Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various areas. Records of competitive racing date back to the Tailteann Games in Ireland in 1829 BCE, while the first recorded Olympic Games took place in 776 BCE. Running has been described as the world's most accessible sport.

Yoo Jae-suk

Yoo Jae-suk (Hangul: 유재석; RR: Yu Jae-seok; born on August 14, 1972), is a South Korean comedian, actor, and television comedy show host. Nicknamed the "MC of the nation" (국민 MC), a vote by South Korean netizens proclaimed him the most popular Korean comedian for five consecutive years beginning (2004-2008). He has hosted several variety television shows in South Korea, including the popular programs Infinite Challenge and Running Man. He is also nicknamed "The Grasshopper", due to his early appearances where he dressed as a grasshopper. He is now known for his quick wit and appeal across a wide range of demographics. He has established himself as one of Korea's top comedians and TV personalities.

Biography

Yoo Jae-suk was born as the eldest child out of three (he has two younger sisters) on August 14, 1972 in Seoul, South Korea. Yoo Jae-suk attended the Seoul Institute of the Arts, but was unable to graduate due to his busy schedule as an up-and-coming comedian.

His television debut was on the KBS Comedian Festival (for college students) in 1991, where he performed a parody of a commercial with Choi Seung-gyung (Hangul: 최승경). Him dancing to a cover of the song "Step by Step" by New Kids on the Block is also one of his early memorable moments. In 2002, after nine hard years as a relatively unknown comedian, thanks to a recommendation by Choi Jin-sil, he hosted a program called Live and Enjoy Together (Dong-guh-dong-lak). The program became instantly popular and since then Yoo began to host many other variety programs. His potential was fully realized when he co-hosted a program called The Crash of MCs (MC 대격돌 – 공포의 쿵쿵따) with Kang Ho-dong, Lee Hwi-jae and Kim Han-seok.

Good Sunday

Good Sunday (Korean: 일요일이 좋다) is a South Korean reality-variety show shown on the SBS network, which competes directly against MBC's Sunday Night and KBS2's Happy Sunday line-up. The program has suffered from the competition of Happy Sunday and Sunday Night but reached its way to #1 on the Top 20 Charts every Sunday. Good Sunday consists of a line-up of "corner programs", or segments, which air within the program. Currently, Take Care of My Dad airs first at 4:50 pm KST for about 80 minutes, and Running Man airs after at 6:10 pm for about 90 minutes.

History

Prior to Good Sunday, Ultra Sunday Hurray! (초특급 일요일만세) began airing on March 18, 2001. Beginning on January 20, 2002 Show! Sunday World (쇼!일요천하) aired, and on July 14, 2002 Beautiful Sunday (뷰티풀 선데이) aired until March 28, 2004, where Good Sunday began to air its new, popular programming. As of July 11, 2010, the program began airing in high definition for the first time. (Only Part 1, Running Man, aired in HD as Part 2, Family Outing 2, which still aired in SD, was airing its last episode.) As of July 18, 2010, both Part 1 and 2 (Running Man and Heroes) air in HD. Good Sunday was divided into two parts, from July 27, 2008 to May 8, 2011. On May 22, 2011, it returned to airing as one "whole" program beginning at 5:20 pm KST and ending at 8:00 pm for about 160 minutes. As of September 25, 2011, Good Sunday is divided into two parts again, Part 1 airing at 5:20 pm and Part 2 airing at 6:50 pm KST, in an effort to boost ratings. On December 4, 2011, it returned to airing as one whole program again beginning at 5:00 pm for about 180 minutes.