Happy Together (TV series)

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Happy Together
Genre	Variety show, Comedy
Starring	Yu Jae-seok Park Myeong-su Shin Bong-seon
Country of origin	South Korea
Language(s)	Korean
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	323 (as of January 17, 2008)
Production
Running time	70 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	KBS
Original run	November 8, 2001 – Present
External links
Official website

Happy Together (Hangul: 해피투게더) is a popular South Korean variety show which first ran on November 8, 2001 on KBS2. It was the most popular show on KBS from 2002-2004, and further continued its success in two more seasons. Currently, Happy Together is still placed one of the most popular show on Korean free-to-air networks which airs every Thursday at 11:05pm regularly.

1 Hosts
2 Season 1
- 2.1 Metal Tray Karaoke Room
3 Season 2
4 Season 3
5 Competition
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Hosts

The hosts('MC's', called by Korean popular culture) of Season 1 were comedian Shin Dong-yeop (신동엽), once K-pop artist Yoo Sung-jun (유승준), who was quickly replaced by entertainer Lee Hyo-ri (이효리). Later in 2003, the two were replaced by comedian Kim Je-dong (김제동), and comedian Yu Jae-seok (유재석), who continued the run till the end.

In Season 2 (Happy Together Friends), it was hosted by Yoo Jae Suk, entertainer Tak Jae Hoon (탁재훈) and Kim Ah-joong (김아중). Tak Jae Hoon and Kim Ah Joong was replaced by Lee Hyo-ri, and comedian Lee Soo-geun (이수근, served as a joint panel) came along later. In 2007, Lee Hyo-ri was replaced by K-pop singer Eugene (유진), and Lee Soo-geun was replaced by comedian Shin Bong-seon (신봉선).

In Season 3 (Happy Together: Let's Go To School; which the name was changed to Happy Together Season 3), it was hosted by Yu Jae-seok, comedian Park Myeong-su (박명수, a long-time colleague of Yu Jae-seok since co-hosting the Muhan Dojeon), actor Park Joon-kyu (박준규), and Shin Bong-seon. Recently, Park Joon-kyu has left the show.

[edit] Season 1

Season 1 of Happy Together lasted for 4 years from November 8, 2001 to April 28, 2005. It was the most popular season of the Happy Together series, aa the most popular variety show on KBS from 2002-2004, and the most watched show on Thursday nights. Season 1 had several different "corners", most famous being the Metal Tray Karaoke Room (쟁반노래방), and several other "corners" like Metal Tray Drama (쟁반극장), and Do Re Mi "Kong Kong Kong" (도레미 콩콩콩). The early Happy Together was a talk show, and a quiz where the MC's face students for scholarships. Later that was scraped and the Classroom Talk (책가방토크) and the Metal Tray Karaoke Room were implemented as permanent corners. During the season, the Metal Tray Karaoke Room corner didn't fill up the whole episode, so other games were added to fill the hour. A highlight episode was shown on April 28, 2005 as the finale to Season 1, where ratings were slightly lower then usual ^[1].

Slogan: "목요일 밤의 행복한 만남, 해피투게더!" (Thursday Nights Happy Meeting, Happy Together!)

[edit] Metal Tray Karaoke Room

In the Metal Tray Karaoke Room (쟁반노래방), the guests would sing a song (usually a kids carol) in 10 turns, which they have to sing every line correctly. 3 chances are available to ease the singing, and as soon as someone makes a mistake, the metal trays on top of their heads will drop on them ^[2].

[edit] Season 2

Season 2 was commonly known as Happy Together Friends (해피투게더 프렌즈), where celebrities find their former schoolmates. This season wasn't as funny as the previous season, because most celebrities and schoolmates would usually be crying or cherishing their time together, greatly reducing the level of laughs. Season 2 ran from May 5, 2005 to June 21, 2007. Season 2 was not as popular as Season 1 but still gained the usual range of ratings (10-18%). In Happy Together Friends, 2 celebrities are to find 5 of their schoolmates from a group of 25-40 people. Celebrities had 2 rounds to find their friends, their friends would speak about past events and their interesting stories, where the celebrities would try to clue in on the person. However, the celebrities only see the screen of the MC's and not the audience of schoolmates.

Slogan: "친구가 있어, 행복한 목요일, 해피투게더 프렌즈!" (Because friends are here, Thursday is happy, Happy Together Friends!)

[edit] Season 3

Season 3 which was known as Happy Together: Let's Go To School (해피투게더 학교가자), where the 4 MC's dressed as females (except for Shin Bong-sun, who is a female), and participated in school-themed games, and the corner from Season 1, where the MC's would play against students in a quiz for a scholarship. This began on July 5, 2007. These proved to be unpopular and were all scraped in 3 weeks. Now, the show is simply known as Happy Together Season 3 which the corners are Challenge! "Am-Kee" Song (도전! 암기송, a challenge among celebrities that sing a song to memory in a Finnish hot sauna), and That's You! (그건 너!). These 2 corners proved to be popular, and ratings have gone back to the usual norm.

Slogan: "함께하면 더욱 행복한 목요일 밤" (If we're together, Thursday night will be very happy!)

"목요일 밤, 즐겁고 신나는 시간~ 해피투게더!" (Thursday nights, fun and happy time~ Happy Together!)

[edit] Competition

This programme has been marked the highest ratings of Thursday night prime-time lineups since its beginning. Every week, between 15 to 20 percent of viewers enjoyed its episodes. Due to its popularity, the 100 minute debate of MBC(MBC 100분토론, the most-trusted TV debate programme of the nation) and the 2nd season of Hey Hey Hey(헤이헤이헤이 시즌2, which eventually went off the air recently) of SBS has suffered from their programming.