▲ These photos, provided by Channel A and tvN, show posters for 'City Seafood' and 'Seojin's.' (L to R) (PHOTOS NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

▲ These photos, provided by Channel A, show scenes from 'City Seafood.' (PHOTOS NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

▲ These photos, provided by tvN, show scenes from 'Seojin's.' (PHOTOS NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Apr. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean show business industry is busy showcasing spin-off variety shows that incorporate new concepts while making the best use of their respective identity, universe, and the eye-catching chemistry of the cast.

Channel A has recently unveiled a spin-off variety show of its mega-hit fishing entertainment series “The Fisherman and the City” under the title of “City Seafood.” While the four-seasons-long fishing entertainment series captured the beautiful scenery and sea fishing of celebrities who touts themselves as veteran fishers, its spin-off variety show features the same cast, including Lee Deok-hwa, Lee Kyung-kyu, Lee Soo-geun, Lee Tae-gon, and Kim Joon-hyun, running a sushi bar.

The cast who used to compete against each other to catch more fish in the series now work hand in hand in the spin-off show to serve their customers the meal of the best quality. In the meantime, their unparalleled chemistry yet remains even with such a sudden background transformation. Customers visiting their restaurants, who claim to be fans of their original series “The Fisherman and the City,” all leave their bar satisfied.

In the meantime, tvN, the leading local cable channel run by CJ ENM, recently dropped a spin-off variety show of its smash-hit reality shows “Youn’s Kitchen” and “Youn’s Stay.” This spin-off cooking-travel reality show is aired every Friday under the title of “Seojin’s.”

Lee, who used to assist Youn Yuh-jung in “Youn’s Kitchen” and “Youn’s Stay,” became the owner of the restaurant of his name, which he runs along with the cast of the original series Jung Yu-mi, Park Seo-joon, Choi Woo-shik, and the newly joined BTS’ V.

While the show’s synopsis of running a Korean restaurant overseas remained the same, the identity of the show went through a slight change with the change of the restaurant owner. A smile blooms on Lee’s face when his restaurant is crowded with customers, but he soon frowns as soon as it gets empty, making his co-workers playfully uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, it has become fairly apparent that spin-off shows have become another trend in the domestic show business industry, particularly for competition shows that aim to discover budding stars.

TV Chosun’s sensational trot competition show series “Mr. Trot,” which kicked off the trot boom in South Korea, released plentiful spin-off shows, including “Call Center of Love” and “PPONG School,” featuring the winners such as Lim Young-woong and Young Tak. Meanwhile, MBN’s recently wrapped-up trot competition show “Glowing Trotmen” also showcased a spin-off show titled “Glowing Rose Troupe” (literal translation).

In addition, female dancers such as Aiki and Leejung, who plucked to stardom by appearing in Mnet’s dancing competition show “Street Woman Fighter” where the dance craze in South Korea originated from, showed off their new charm by cooking in rubber band pants in the spin-off variety show “We Don’t Bite: Street Woman Fighter.”

Meanwhile, such spin-off shows have been receiving mixed reviews: Fans of the original shows left complimentary reviews, writing, “It was nice to get to know other sides of my favorite cast” and “It fills up the blank after my favorite show wrapped up.” However, some wrote, “We are getting tired of this cast and format,” or “Didn’t we have enough of this show?”

Despite such mixed responses, the entertainment industry cannot let go of these spin-off shows as they have this unrivaled advantage of extending the popularity of programs that they have poured their time and effort into from planning to broadcasting. By producing such spin-off shows, the industry is making use of the original hit shows as intellectual properties (IP).

Hwang Jin-mi, a pop culture critic, said, “It is an obvious move for the industry to produce such spin-off shows in this era with diversified channels and overloading content,” adding, “It is one of their strategies to make a profit with less budget rather than always aiming for high quality, freshness, and high ratings.”

She then added, “Even fresh shows based on novel ideas are no longer guaranteed to be a hit these days. Considering such circumstances, it is rather inevitable for this trend of producing derivatives using the IP of a hit variety show to become more prevalent.”  

 

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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