Happy Sunday


Happy Sunday is a Korean reality-variety show shown on the KBS2 network, which competes directly against MBC's Sunday Night and SBS's Good Sunday line-up. Although it has been broadcast since 2003, its line-up of shows has frequently changed, with a complete revamp occurring in Spring of 2007. At that time, three new shows were introduced – Are You Ready, High-Five, and Immortal Songs. Due to its poor reception, Are You Ready quickly evolved into 1 Night 2 Days, with most of its cast intact. In late November 2008, Happy Sunday had a revamp of its shows keeping 1 Night 2 Days as the second segment and bringing back Immortal Songs which was previously liked by viewers. However, in late March, Immortal Songs ended once again and was replaced with Qualifications of Men, making Happy Sunday an all-male cast, with a total of 14 members. In 2013, Qualifications of Men was cancelled and replaced with Star Family Show Mamma Mia. On November 3, 2013 Star Family Show Mamma Mia was moved to Wednesday nights and replaced with The Return of Superman.
Out of the three Sunday night shows, KBS's Happy Sunday, MBC's Sunday Sunday Night and SBS's Good Sunday, only KBS has kept its program as a "whole program". Both MBC and SBS has divided their Sunday night show into two parts, the first segment as one program and the second as another. Both MBC and SBS have done this to record better TV ratings, which is important in South Korean media to prove the show's popularity. The key variety programs which garner Sunday night ratings and are usually compared to one another are KBS Happy Sunday's ''1 Night 2 Days, MBC Sunday Sunday Night's Real Men, and SBS Good Sunday's Running Man''.

History

During the 1990s KBS2's Sunday program was called Super Sunday. But in February 1998, the name was changed to Joyful Super Sunday TV. In November 2003, the name was changed again to 101% Sunday. On September 13, 2004, voice artist and 2003 KBS Entertainment Awards Grand Prize winner, Jang Jeong-jin, was recording for The Lord of the Alley segment where he had to eat rice cakes during a game and was later hospitalized. Because of this incident, Jang died a month later due to necrosis and loss of oxygenation to the brain. The segment was abolished and since November 2004, the program has been renamed Happy Sunday.

Broadcasting times

  • 2004–2006: 5:55 p.m. - 7:55 p.m.
  • 2006–2007: 5:45 p.m. - 7:55 p.m.
  • 2007–2008: 5:30 p.m. - 7:55 p.m.
  • 2008–2009: 5:25 p.m. - 7:55 p.m.
  • 2009–2012: 5:20 p.m. - 7:55 p.m.
  • 2012–2019: 4:55 p.m. - 7:55 p.m.

    Current segments

1 Night 2 Days Season 4

In the segment 1 Night 2 Days, the members go on an overnight trip to various places of interest in Korea. The aim of the segment is to recommend holiday destinations to its viewers. Throughout the show, there are several mini-games played to see who will eat dinner, who will do the chores or work that needs to be done, and who will sleep comfortably.
The show is enormously popular, that even its re-runs has viewership ratings within the Top 20 Sunday night programs.

The Return of Superman

In the segment The Return of Superman, celebrity fathers spend 48 hours with their children without their mothers.

Former segments

I'm Going To See

  • Originally aired: 2005

    Manners Zero

  • Originally aired: 2006
  • MC: Kim Je-dong, Choi Min-soo

    Perfect Attendance! Let's Go To School

  • Originally aired: 2007

    Cool Times, Game Song

  • Originally aired: ? – April 29, 2007
  • MC: Kim Je-dong, Kang Soo-jung
  • Cast: Noh Joo-hyun, Lee Kye-in, Tae Jin-ah, Park Chul, Noh Hong-chul, Yoon Jung-soo

    Shoot-dori

  • Originally aired:
  • Coach: Jun Jin
  • Assistant coach: Kim Jong-min
  • Former/honorary coach: Kim Jong-kook
  • Honorary Shootdori: Lee Hyun-joon
  • Guest assistant coaches: Shin Jung-hwan, Tak Jae-hoon, Jo Hye-ryun, Lee Hae-young
  • Supporters: Cha Tae-hyun, Lee Hyori, So Yi-hyun
  • Soccer team: Ji Seung-joon, Jo Min-ho, Kim Tae-hoon, Oh Ji-woo, Lee Seung-kwon, Choi Sung-woo, Kim Tae-soo, Jin Hyun-woo
Shoot-dori is a variety show where a group of kids train and practice their football skills to compete with other mini-leagues. It is still airing, however at a different time slot and is no longer a part of Happy Sunday. This program now airs on the KBS N Sports channel. It is into its fourth season with a different cast.

Choi Hong-man and Strong Friends

K-1 fighter Choi Hong-man and celebrities participate in various physical challenges and games.

Heroine 6/Heroine 5

This variety show has a school theme, where male celebrity guests come and firstly try to partner with the heroines of their choice, through dance or special performances. Should more than one male choose the same heroine, then they battle it out to win their girl. They will have to do the most bizarre things, like role playing, singing, etc. Afterward, they play two very original games – "Catch the Mouse" and "Dibidibidip".

Are You Ready

  • Originally aired: May 6, 2007 – July 29, 2007
  • MC: Kang Ho-dong
  • Cast: Eun Ji-won, Lee Soo-geun, Ji Sang-ryul, Noh Hong-chul, Kim Jong-min
Are You Ready was a variety show where its cast and special guests played games. The first three episodes were games that were related to the Chinese language, while the following episodes leading to its last episodes were physical and logic-based games. Due to low ratings, Are You Ready was replaced by 1 Night 2 Days with its original cast still in place.

High-Five/Hi-Five

Hosted by Jee Seok-jin, High-Five focuses on having its five female stars try out different jobs; over the course of the show, they have become flight attendants, farmer, stuntwomen, and police officers. Because of the stars' backgrounds, comic twists and events are often added in during training. At the show's start, comedian Jo Hye-ryun, entertainer Hyun Young, singer Chae Yeon, MC Park Kyung-lim, and actress Kim Min-sun were the High-Five stars. Due to filming commitments, Kim had to leave the show on its November 4, 2007 broadcast. She was replaced by news anchor Lee Jung-min. This show was replaced by Delicious Quiz.

Delicious Quiz!/A Taste Of Life

The first episode aired June 1, 2008 replacing High-Five, while retaining Hyun Young and Jo Hye-ryun as part of the cast. Delicious Quiz was a food-based variety show where they traveled around Korea visiting famous restaurants or places related to food. The MCs must answer quizzes related to food and get a certain number of questions correct before they are able to eat the food. The show aimed to introduce viewers to the variety of great foods available in Korea. This show was last aired on September 7, 2008 and was replaced by Schoolympic.

2008 Schoolympic

The first episode aired September 14, 2008 replacing Delicious Quiz. Olympic stars compete in simple yet nostalgic games and activities on a set created to look like a classroom with celebrities as their competitors. The games will require the "athletes" to use simple school necessities like chairs, desks, mops and even buckets. Aiming to bring a more interesting and fun school environment, the show combined elements of sport and school activities with the help of sports stars and celebrities. This show was short lived and it was not replaced; instead, the 2 segments Kko Kko Tours Single♥Single and 1 Night 2 Days both extended their airtime.

Kko Kko Tours Single♥Single

  • Originally aired: September 21, 2008 – November 23, 2008
  • MC: Tak Jae-hoon, Shin Jung-hwan
The first episode was aired on September 21, 2008, replacing Immortal Songs. It was co-hosted by former Country Kko Kko band members Shin Jung-hwan and Tak Jae-hoon. Celebrities invite someone they're interested in and get to know them during a trip. Audiences will get to see the true, sensitive side of celebrities as they open their hearts on air. Only 2 trips was aired over a span of 10 episodes. This segment was cancelled due to high production costs and low ratings. The show was replaced with a new season of Immortal Songs which had been previously cancelled.