These days, the trend in entertainment is season-based… “Focus on content” vs “Following success patterns”

Sequels to popular programs are being produced one after another.

Popularity in 82 countries… Netflix ‘Physical: 100’
Season 2 ranked first in non-English languages ​​just one week after its release

tvN’s ‘Europe Outside the Tent’ and ENA’s ‘Earth and Fire’
A sequel will be released by changing only the filming location and cast.
Target viewers with anticipation of previous work instead of novelty

Netflix’s ‘Physical: 100 Season 2 – Underground’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘Season 2’), an entertainment program in which 100 people who pride themselves on having the strongest physique compete to find the best ‘body’ with the most perfect physique, has been airing for over 19 years. It was finally revealed.

‘Physical: 100’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘Season 1’), which was released in January last year, showed the thin line between competition and cooperation as the strongest people on earth fought from the bottom. In particular, the match they competed in was reminiscent of the Olympic Games in the ancient Greek and Roman era, making it the first Korean entertainment show to achieve first place in the Netflix Global Top 10 TV Shows (Non-English) category. It shook the world by climbing into the TOP 10 list in 82 countries and recording 192.63 million hours of cumulative viewing time over 6 weeks.

Thanks to this popularity, Season 2 was also produced, and episodes 1 to 4, which were released on the 19th, featured matches dealing with ‘power’ that were no less powerful than Season 1. From the non-powered treadmill running, which is a pre-quest, to the signature game, stealing the ball, and the 5-on-5 maze battle. In addition to the strong physical strength shown in Season 1, we were able to see the intellectual side of the participants through various strategies. Episodes 5 to 7 on the 26th showed an intense survival game with a loser revival battle and a mine transport battle.

Season 2 continued the reputation of the previous work. According to the official weekly rankings announced by Netflix on the 27th, in the weekly top 10 rankings compiled from the 18th to the 24th, it recorded 6.1 million views and 25.3 million viewing hours in the first week of release, ranking first in the non-English language category among the top 10 global TV shows. occupied.

There is a boom in season formats in entertainment programs like ‘Physical: 100’. It continues the title of the previous work, but adds some newness by giving some variations to the concept or changing the cast or location. Although it does not provide a complete difference in that it continues the previous work, it is attracting viewers to the screen with ‘familiar enjoyment’ and ‘expectation’ from the previous work.

A representative seasonal entertainment show is the tvN ‘Europe Outside the Tent’ series, which first aired in August 2022. With the concept of a free European camping entertainment, it was about actors Yoo Hae-jin, Jin Seon-gyu, Park Ji-hwan, and Yoon Kyun-sang traveling to Switzerland and Italy. Afterwards, in January 2023, actors Cho Jin-woong, Choi Won-young, Park Myung-hoon, and Kwon Yul appeared in ‘Outside the Tent: Europe and Spain’. In ‘Outside the Tent, Southern France, Europe’, which began broadcasting on the 18th of last month, actors Ra Mi-ran, Han Ga-in, Jo Bo-ah, and Ryu Hye-young are traveling.

ENA’s travel entertainment program ‘Earth Mabul World Travel’, in which three travel creators go on separate trips, has also returned with Season 2. ‘Earth Mabul World Travel 2’, which has been airing since the 9th, features the main characters of Season 1, Panibottle, Wonji, and Kwak. Tube appears as is, and like the previous work, he travels by throwing dice on a country board laid out in the form of the board game ‘Bulmabul’.

The tvN entertainment program ‘Seojin’s’, in which the ‘Lee Seojin Division’, consisting of actor Lee Seojin, Park Seojun, Choi Woosik, and Jung Yumi, runs a restaurant overseas, is also filming Season 2. The cast and crew left for Iceland on the 18th.

Disney Plus also plans to release ‘The Zone: You Must Survive Season 3’ in the second half of this year, its representative original entertainment program, starring Yoo Jae-seok and Kwon Yuri, who face the mission of surviving 4 hours in a virtual space crossing reality and surreality. am.

It can be said that the increase in seasonal entertainment programs reflects the production team’s will to continue providing high-quality content rather than challenging themselves with new content. Kim So-yeon, CEO of Walt Disney Company Korea, said at the ‘Disney Plus Content Lineup Media Day’ held on the 12th, “Rather than focusing on increasing overall volume, we will focus on quality,” adding, “We will create quality content through selection and concentration.” “We will focus on presenting works that can be done as a season or as a franchise (showcasing a variety of works through a central theme or sub-theme).” On the other hand, some voices are criticizing that this is just a follow-up to a successful pattern.

Reporter Lee Bok-jin [email protected]

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