Infinite Challenge


Infinite Challenge is a South Korean comedic reality television show that aired on MBC TV from 2005 to 2018. The show was produced by Kim Tae-ho, and starred various entertainers, including Yoo Jae-suk, Park Myung-soo, Jeong Jun-ha, Haha, Jung Hyung-don, Noh Hong-chul, Jun Jin, Yang Se-hyung, Hwang Kwang-hee, Gill, and Jo Se-ho.
Infinite Challenge was marketed as "Korea's first reality-variety show", combining the humorous games of Korean variety shows with the intimate filming style of reality television. Each episode features cast members competing in challenges, including physical competitions and song contests.
Often called "the nation's variety show", Infinite Challenge was consistently popular in South Korea during its 13-year run. In 2008, the show reached its viewership peak, with nearly 30 percent of South Korean television viewers watching the program. The show was voted the country's favorite television program in both 2015 and 2016, according to polls conducted by Gallup Korea. Additionally, the show's song contests, which paired cast members with popular musical artists, spawned multiple top ten hits on the Gaon Digital Chart throughout the 2010s.

Series overview

Season 1

Infinite Challenge first aired under the name Reckless Challenge on April 23, 2005 during MBC TV's Saturday night programming block. The show was marketed as "Korea's first reality-variety show" and features people taking on absurd physical challenges, such as playing tug of war with a bull or racing a subway car. The first season of the show stars Yoo Jae-suk, Jung Hyung-don and Noh Hong-chul as regular cast members, with other cast members appearing occasionally. Guest stars include actor Cha Seung-won and tennis player Maria Sharapova.

Season 2

Season 2 began airing on October 29, 2005, and is split into two parts named Excessive Challenge and Infinite Challenge – Master of Quiz. Excessive Challenge has a similar format to Season 1, while Infinite Challenge – Master of Quiz follows a quiz show format. Park Myung-soo, Jeong Jun-ha, and Haha join Season 1 regulars Yoo Jae-suk, Jung Hyung-don and Noh Hong-chul as cast members in Season 2. Singer Lee Hyori appears as a guest star in this season after a slew of episodes without guests.

Season 3

The third season of the show, known simply as Infinite Challenge, began airing on May 6, 2006. Special coverage of 2006 World Cup Germany was featured for the entire month of June 2006, along with some 'Ah-ha' specials at the beginning of each episode. However, on July 8, 2006, the program took its memorable first step as the first 'Real-Variety' television program in Korean television history, with the airing of a segment called 'Please, come early': The six members were asked to come to the recording session on time or experience some form of punishment. Thereafter, the program has created challenges with regard to anything related to real life, in outdoor studios, with little use of acting or heavily based plotting. Since December 2, 2006, the program has received the highest ratings of prime-time lineups for Saturday evening.
In January 2012, the program took a 6-month hiatus due to a labor strike conducted by MBC's reporters and producers. During this period, new episodes were not produced and MBC, instead, aired reruns of previous episodes. In November 2015, Infinite Challenge arranged special exhibition and expo titled "Infinite Challenge Expo", in KINTEX. The program took a 7-week hiatus from broadcast in early 2017, which Kim Tae-ho, the main PD, signified as a period to normalize the production process which has been shortened considerably where the production team had less time and always rushed to meet the deadline. The PD also reveals that the program still continues their regular shooting schedules while being off the air.
The program took another 10-week hiatus from September 9, 2017, due to a labor strike by MBC's reporters and producers. During the strike, new episodes were not aired and reruns of previous episodes were broadcast. The strike ended on November 13, and Infinite Challenge returned to regular broadcasting on November 25. In March 2018, the program came to an end marked by the departure of Kim Tae-ho, the lead producer, which was followed by the members. However, after the last episode was aired, the program returned for 3 more weeks where it aired recap specials that pays tribute to the achievements of the program called "13 Years of Saturdays".

Recurring segments

These segments were featured in multiple episodes over the years due to their popularity."Infinite News" – a parody on news broadcast in which most of the reported stories happened to some or all of the cast members. Those stories revolve around their personal life and tend to balance between facts and the comedic side of them."Infinite Company" – an unscripted skit that parodied on the lives of office employees, similar to The Office. Initially, the skit was a reproduction of the late comedian Kim Hyung-gon work, called President, President, Our President, portraying a situational comedy around a board of directors of a company before it was changed to be about a group of employees in a small department."Ha & Su" – an unscripted situational comedy around the petty quarrels between Jeong Jun-ha and Park Myeong-su, where the latter is aggressive and hot-tempered while the former is timid and simple-minded. In 2011, they were awarded a "Best Couple" award for their dynamic."Jimotmi" – it stands for 지켜주지 못해서 미안해, which means "Sorry I could not look out for you" In this segment, the members play hidden-camera pranks on each other to see how they react to certain contrived situations."Introducing My Ugly Friends Festival" – A segment where the members invited their acquaintances which they considered visually unappealing. Afterwards, the members organize a party where they celebrate with various games."Saturday, Saturday's, I Am A Singer" – Suggested by Park Myeoung-Su and Jeong Jun-ha where the program arranges a stage where old artists were given chances to return and perform their hit songs. Sechs Kies and H.O.T. were able to reunite and came out of retirement through this segment."Please, be..." – a segment which was introduced to instill common principles to all of the members. '"Please, come early"' forces the members to be punctual during filming day as the staff will not inform them when they would film the segment. '"Please, be friendly"', featuring Haha and Jeong Hyeong-don, were created to encourage both members to be more comfortable around each other."Ah-Ha" – a Korean word game in which one member says a word, and the next person must then say that word backwards. Members who failed or made mistakes would be hit over the head. This segment premiered in the 2nd season and was played occasionally in following seasons."One-flash Telepathy" – after hearing a word which was given from the production booth, each member presented a gesture that would best represent that word. A round is cleared if all six members perform the same gesture and punishments were given when they failed. The original alleged purpose of this segment was to unite the minds of the members; however, they have yet to succeed. Voice narration for this segment was provided by Na Gyeong-eun, an announcer and Yoo Jae-suk's wife.Television Advertisements – throughout the episodes, the hosts create some satirical Korean television advertisements.Calendar-making Project – the members created a series of unique calendars and donated all profits from these sales to charity. This project has succeeded every season.

Special segments

Some of the segments of Infinite Challenge also developed into national events with audience participation.2008 Host-in-Chief Elections – after a humorous request by Park Myeong-su to have a new leader in 2008, all Infinite Challenge members and staff held a vote for a new 'host-in-chief' on December 31, 2007, at the nation's own natural gas field near Ulsan. Prior to the election, each member created campaign pledges to encourage voters to vote for them. All entertainment managers, coordinators, MBC staff and the members voted at the South gate of the MBC Headquarters and the votes were counted on the morning of New Year's Day. Afterwards, Park Myeong-su was declared the new host-in-chief, but evidence showed him of tampering the voting box. The new host-in-chief was given 3 weeks to prove his leadership skills. However, after poor performances for 3 whole weeks, Park Myeong-su announced at an Infinite Challenge press conference that he would step down and wait for the new election to take place. In the aftermath, Yoo Jae-suk was appointed as interim host-in-chief on February 2, 2008. The second host-in-chief election was held on February 4, 2008, at the MBC Dream Center in Ilsan and Yoo Jae-suk won the majority of the votes and was once again reinstated as the host-in-chief.WM7 – the "Wrestling Muhan 7" project is an attempt by the members to perform at a professional wrestling event. From July 2009, the members started training by inviting, junior-professional wrestler and the drummer of Cherry Filter, as their coach and Park Myeong-su as their club leader. After numerous injuries, including a concussion suffered by Jeong Hyeong-don, setbacks and delays, the members finally put on a performance in front of a live audience on August 19, 2010, at Jangchung Gymnasium. It was broadcast over 11 episodes and MBC also released a DVD edition of this challenge, featuring several unaired segments, stories and the full uncut performance.Decision 2014 – the show held another host-in-chief election in 2014 where the show elected a host-in-chief with 10 years tenure. These elections mirrored that of actual governmental elections, in an endeavor to promote voter turnout in South Korea's 2014 local elections. Similarly, the members created campaign pledges to attract viewers to vote for them in the preliminary internet polls before the airing of Decision 2014's first episode. The second internet poll was held after the episode aired. After the results of the second poll, Haha and Jeong Jun-ha decided to form a coalition under Jeong Hyeong-don while Park Myeong-su conceded, endorsing Yoo Jae-suk. About 50,000 people, including the members of Infinite Challenge, cast their votes on May 22, 2014, at polling stations in ten major cities. Another 34,000 people cast their votes earlier during the preliminary voting round from May 17–18, 2014. During the day of the election, audiences who could not make it to the polling stations were able to vote through a website, resulting in a turnout of 363,047 people online Combining the live polls and the internet votes, Yoo Jae-suk won the election by defeating Noh Hong-chul with 45,310 marginal votes or 8.29% of the combined votes.Infinite Challenge Song Festival – beginning in 2007, the members collaborated with musicians to compete in a music festival every two years.

Hosts

Timeline


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bar:6 text:"Lee Kyun"
bar:7 text:"Haha"
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bar:7 from:03/27/2010 till:03/31/2018 color:member
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bar:10 from:04/25/2009 till:04/12/2014 color:member
bar:10 from:04/03/2010 till:05/22/2010 color:NA
bar:10 from:01/28/2012 till:07/28/2012 color:NA
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bar:13 from:01/06/2018 till:03/31/2018 color:member

Former

NameJoinedNicknameCharacter Description and Notes
Yoo Jae-suk
April 2005 – March 2018
Park Myung-soo
May - July 2005
October 2005 – March 2018		Park has continuously proclaimed his nickname. He is often referred to as "Father" by the rest of the members due to his elderly look and his position as the oldest member of the program. This is especially prevalent when Myeong-su's receding hair is flattened or his make-up is removed. See his page for more details. His persona is that of a veteran grumpy "upperclassman" of the other members. He often shouts or reprimands his "underclassmen," usually about humorously trivial matters. Thanks to his current work as the co-host of Infinite Challenge, Park Myeong-su gained more than 250 nicknames throughout his appearances on the program as listed by the netizens.
Jeong Jun-ha
March 2006 – March 2018His character is mainly defined by 3 things: his size, appetite, and a degree of slowness in judgment. His extraordinarily large head has gotten him, on a few occasions, called "Chivas Degal". In the 50th episode special of season 3, he was challenged to eat 50 plates of noodles in five minutes. The plates altogether weighed about 10–30 kg.. On episode 61 of season 3, he went to a hair salon with Hong-chul to curl Hong-chul's hair. He asked a woman who was working there if she knew Jun-ha's name, but she said Joong-ang by mistake. Since that time, the members, including the creator Yoo Jae-suk, have frequently teased him as Mr. Jeong Joong-ang, which means 'Mr. Square-in-the-middle'.
Haha
December 2005 – March 2008
March 2010 – March 2018		Haha is long considered the cutest and best-looking member of the cast. He is also the most-educated member, having obtained a Master of Arts in Theatre & Film at Daejin University; however, during the episode of the 50th special, he only got 20 points on a 100-point elementary-level spelling test. In episode 62 of season 3, he sang a song called 'A Little Boy's Story' as a tribute to his short height, which is a constant target of ridicule among the cast. It was a huge sensation with viewers. Haha temporarily left the show from March 2008 through March 2010 in order to fulfill his mandatory military service. In his final episode before entering the service, Haha performed at a guerrilla concert that was secretly organized by his fellow co-hosts.
Hwang Kwanghee
April 2015 – March 2017KwangheeHwang Kwanghee was the youngest member among the cast of Infinite Challenge while he was on the show. A member of ZE:A idol group, Hwang Kwanghee joined the Infinite Challenge cast in April 2015. He was selected through the Sixth Man project which was held in order to fill the empty position after Noh Hong-chul left the program following a drunk driving incident.
Kwanghee left the program in March 2017 in order to fulfill his military duty.
Jun Jin
July 2008 – November 2009In June 2008, Shinhwa member Jun Jin appeared on the show to replace Haha. Jin showed his extraordinary physical talent and was a target for all the other members of Infinite Challenge, who envied his looks and abilities during many challenges.
Gil
April 2009 – April 2014Gil made his first appearance on an episode which featured Korean figure skater Kim Yuna in April 2009, ostensibly substituting for Jeong Jun-ha, who had to leave the episode recording early. He remained a de facto member of Infinite Challenge until he became a full member later that year. During the Boxing episodes in January 2010, Gil showed off his 9-year-long training in the sport. Gil is often called the Unfunny Friend due to his inability to ad-lib as quickly as the other co-hosts.
On April 23, 2014, Gil was caught by the police due to drunk-driving. Fans of the variety show have been flooding the board with requests for Gil to leave the show for his inappropriate actions. Eventually, the MBC executives announced his leave on the same day.
Noh Hong-chul
April 2005 – November 2014'돌+아이/Dol+I' was created by Yoo Jae-suk during episode 22 of season 3. Quickmouth was his original character, due to his ability to speak very rapidly. 돌+아이 is a Korean curse word meaning psychopath, or an extremely crazy person. Since this is a show watched by families, the staff humorously put a plus sign in the middle to separate the word so its literal meaning becomes 'Stone+Kid' when in actuality it means 'psycho'. On-screen graphics often depict this nickname by displaying a large capital 'I' that looks to be made of stone.
Similarly to former member Gil, Noh Hong-chul was caught driving under influence of alcohol on November 7, 2014. Following the incident, Noh Hong-chul released an official apology to the public through MBC. On the afternoon of November 8, MBC announced that Noh Hong-chul would be leaving the show and Infinite Challenge would continue on with the five remaining cast members.
Jeong Hyeong-don
April 2005 – November 2015A comedian by profession before joining the team, Jeong Hyeong-don used to appear in the Korean comedy show Gag Concert. However, over many episodes, he has demonstrated remarkable talent in everything imaginable except being funny. He is teased by the other members for this. His character is also defined by the ability to make anyone around him feel awkward
In November 2015, Jung Hyeong-don had suspended all broadcasting activities for health reasons.
On July 29, 2016, Jeong Hyeong-don's label, FNC Entertainment, officially announced that Jeong Hyeong-don would permanently leave the show after a nine-month hiatus from the broadcast due to poor health condition.
Yang Se-hyung
March 2017 – March 2018
Jo Se-ho
January - March 2018

Occasional appearances

  • There are a number of people who both individually work for this program and irregularly appear with Infinite Challenge members. They are frequently referred to as 'the 8th member'.
NameNicknameOccupationCharacter Description and Notes
Defconn
Singer
Long-time buddy of Jeong Hyeong-don		Since MuDo's 'Rowing challenge' during the Spring-Summer season of 2011, he is the frequent pinch-hitter of this programme, while one or more cast members in absence. Together with Jung Hyung-don, he formed a hip-hop duo "Hyeongdon and Daejoon" . Defconn was the cast member of KBS2 Sunday variety show, 2 Days & 1 Night Season 3.

Long-time buddy &
Entertainment Manager of Park Myeong-su		While serving as a manager, Jeong Sil-jang had aspirations to be a comedian in his own right. Whenever he was given a chance to appear on-screen, he was often ridiculed by other cast members for attempting to constantly outperform others and for overacting in order to gain attention. As such, many of his parts were usually edited out of the final broadcast. To restrain his growing popularity, Park Myeong-su often teasingly ordered that his manager not appear on the show again.
Choi Jong-hun
Entertainment Manager of Jeong Jun-haAs Jeong Jun-ha's coordinator, Choi also hoped to become a rising star as a professional actor his common hope of rising stardom, with a lot of help from Jeong Jun-ha himself. He prepared a bunch of radishes for the members on 'Kimchi Preparation' and 'Jun Hines Ward' episodes well, and he presented his professional agricultural skills on the episodes 'MD Goes to country' and 'Rice-planting'.
Kim Oak-jeong
Mother of HahaAs has been regularly reported by the hosts, Kim has minimal cooking skills and is often humorously featured on the show to feed the cast members. She appeared for the first time in episode 83 of the third season; her closing comment of 'Hit that jackpot!' became an enormously popular new-year greeting.
Kim Tae-ho
Executive Producer of Infinite ChallengeA pioneer of Korean entertainment, Kim Tae-ho produces and directs the show. Besides helping to create the unique Real-Variety format, Kim also innovated Korean television by adding unique captions to the show. Although captions are commonplace on Korean variety shows, Kim's captions went beyond simple descriptions or commentary, adding information on cast members' emotions and expressing reactions to the show, giving the captions an interactive feel that aligned with the viewing audience's thoughts. With high sensitivity for fashion, he gained extraordinary popularity when he officially opened his 'Cyworld' webpage. Although his presence is mostly felt through his captioning and occasional off-screen soundbites, he appeared as a witness of the Moot court challenge, which aired on February 20, 2010.
Kim Tae-hee
Writer of Infinite ChallengeAs a high-profiled co-writer of Infinite Challenge and a Korean actress-namesake, she enjoys her huge popularity from dedicated viewers. During the 'Making a song for X-mas challenge' episode, she became very popular when Noh Hong-chul said that she 'has the posterior of Kim Tae-hee, but the front of Infinite Challenge.'
Shin Mi-so
Fashion Co-ordinator of Yoo Jae-sukA Busan-native who helped assemble Yoo Jae-suk's wardrobe, Shin was also a popular 'guest' on the show. She debuted during a '100-minute Debate', in which she was caught falling asleep in the audience. This incident made her name the top online keyword of March 2007. She was also featured when she accidentally broke a set of illuminators when Lee Young-ae appeared on Infinite Challenge. She eventually appeared as a co-host of 'Madness Couples' with the Host-in-chief Yoo Jae-suk. She was known to be able to argue with all six members of the show, earning her the nickname 'Aegis ship.'

Guests

Korean

Numerous Korean celebrities have appeared on the show due to its popularity. Many of the guests have some relationships with the co-hosts of the show, including:
Actors
Comedians, Entertainers
Musicians
Sports/athletes
Others

Hallmark

Purported foreshadowing of actual events

Infinity Challenge is famous for predicting jokes before some events occurred in real life, like The Simpsons. Several episodes predicted the drama Squid Game. Another episode, "Manager Jeong", Haha bought a book called American Prometheus, and about 2 months later, he wrote a book review for the book, but the contents were messy, so he made the members laugh. In 2023, twelve years later, Christopher Nolan made the film Oppenheimer based on that book, Haha became the South Korean public relations ambassador for that movie. Other examples purported as Infinity Challenge predicting the future include the Brexit, Among Us, Hangout with Yoo, Koo Jun-yup and Barbie Hsu's marriage, and Kim Shin-young's Korea Sings MC selected.
The reason why this makes a lot of prophecy is that this program itself is a format in which different special features with different themes were planned every time, and even though it has been several years since the show ended, it enjoys greater popularity than active programs, and there are overflowing sources that are discovered.

Ratings

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
35January 6, 200716.0%
36January 13, 200718.5%
37January 20, 200718.5%
38January 27, 200717.8%
39February 3, 200717.5%
40February 10, 200717.2%
41February 17, 200715.6%
42February 24, 200714.9%
43March 3, 200717.7%
44March 10, 200715.1%
45March 17, 200715.2%
46March 24, 200716.6%
47March 31, 200714.2%
48April 7, 200715.4%
49April 14, 200714.7%
50April 21, 200713.4%
51April 28, 2007
52May 5, 200717.2%
53May 12, 200716.0%
54May 19, 200715.3%
55May 26, 200713.1%
56June 2, 200714.0%
57June 9, 200716.1%
58June 16, 200716.0%
59June 23, 200718.6%
60June 30, 200718.8%
61July 7, 200715.8%
62July 14, 200716.4%
63July 21, 200717.7%
64July 28, 200717.6%
65August 4, 200715.6%
66August 11, 200719.9%
67August 18, 200724.1%
68August 25, 200721.9%
69September 1, 200720.0%
70September 8, 200719.3%
71September 15, 200720.7%
72September 22, 200722.4%
73September 29, 200723.5%
74October 6, 200720.5%
75October 13, 200720.4%
76October 20, 200723.1%
77October 27, 200719.5%
78November 3, 200721.2%
79November 10, 200721.9%
80November 24, 200722.4%
81December 1, 200717.6%
82December 8, 2007
83December 15, 200721.3%
84December 22, 200721.3%
85December 29, 200722.3%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
86January 5, 200823.6%
87January 12, 200825.8%
88January 19, 200827.9%
89January 26, 200825.0%
90February 2, 200826.4%
91February 9, 2008
92February 16, 200827.4%
93February 23, 200822.0%
94March 1, 200819.7%
95March 8, 200821.6%
96March 15, 200820.1%
97March 22, 200820.9%
98March 29, 200820.6%
99April 5, 200817.2%
100April 12, 200819.5%
101April 19, 200817.9%
102April 26, 200821.2%
103May 3, 200817.1%
104May 10, 200816.3%
105May 17, 200815.4%
106May 24, 200814.9%
107May 31, 200813.9%
108June 7, 200815.4%
109June 14, 200815.4%
110June 21, 200817.0%
111June 28, 200816.9%
112July 5, 200816.0%
113July 12, 200816.8%
114July 19, 200816.6%
115July 26, 200816.7%
116August 2, 200814.7%
117August 16, 200813.6%
118August 23, 200815.6%
119August 30, 200814.9%
120September 6, 200815.8%
121September 13, 200815.4%
122September 20, 200820.1%
123September 27, 200814.6%
124October 4, 200814.0%
125October 11, 200817.7%
126October 18, 200815.4%
127October 25, 200817.0%
128November 1, 200817.9%
129November 8, 200815.8%
130November 15, 200816.4%
131November 22, 200817.2%
132November 29, 200817.1%
133December 6, 200814.8%
134December 13, 2008
135December 20, 200815.4%
136December 27, 200815.3%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
137January 17, 2009
138January 24, 200915.9%
139January 31, 200915.2%
140February 7, 200917.6%
141February 14, 200914.4%
142February 21, 200916.1%
143February 28, 200916.4%
144March 7, 200916.7%
145March 14, 200913.6%
146March 21, 200914.0%
147March 28, 200914.9%
148April 4, 200913.7%
149April 11, 200914.2%
150April 18, 200916.9%
151April 25, 2009
152May 2, 200915.7%
153May 9, 200912.8%
154May 16, 200916.6%
155May 30, 200913.2%
156June 6, 200913.1%
157June 13, 200912.9%
158June 20, 200917.5%
159June 27, 200914.1%
160July 4, 200915.8%
161July 11, 200917.9%
162July 18, 200915.3%
163July 25, 200914.7%
164August 1, 200912.8%
165August 8, 200916.8%
166August 15, 200916.7%
167August 22, 200915.3%
168August 29, 200914.5%
169September 5, 200916.2%
170September 12, 200915.3%
171September 19, 200915.7%
172September 26, 200917.2%
173October 3, 200914.1%
174October 10, 200914.3%
175October 17, 200914.4%
176October 24, 200916.8%
177October 31, 200918.1%
178November 7, 200918.0%
179November 14, 200918.6%
180November 21, 200915.8%
181November 28, 200917.1%
182December 5, 200915.9%
183December 12, 200915.3%
184December 19, 200913.6%
185December 26, 200913.4%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
186January 2, 201016.5%
187January 9, 2010
188January 16, 201017.4%
189January 23, 201017.1%
190January 30, 201016.3%
191February 6, 201015.2%
192February 13, 201016.2%
193February 20, 201017.5%
194February 27, 201016.8%
195March 6, 201019.3%
196March 13, 201015.6%
197March 20, 201019.0%
198March 27, 201017.2%
199May 22, 201017.2%
200May 29, 201013.9%
201June 5, 201015.6%
202June 12, 201016.1%
203June 19, 201016.0%
204June 26, 201016.5%
205July 3, 201014.4%
206July 10, 2010
207July 17, 201016.8%
208July 24, 201014.3%
209July 31, 201013.6%
210August 7, 201013.5%
211August 14, 201015.7%
212August 21, 201016.3%
213August 28, 201013.5%
214September 4, 201016.2%
215September 11, 201017.5%
216September 18, 201013.8%
217September 25, 201015.8%
218October 2, 201016.0%
219October 9, 201014.0%
220October 16, 201015.4%
221October 23, 201016.3%
222October 30, 201013.3%
223November 6, 201014.4%
224November 20, 201013.2%
225November 27, 201015.0%
226December 4, 201015.1%
227December 11, 201014.5%
228December 18, 201015.2%
229December 25, 201013.5%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
230January 1, 201115.8%
231January 8, 201117.8%
232January 15, 201118.4%
233January 22, 201118.9%
234January 29, 201117.9%
235February 5, 2011
236February 12, 201117.1%
237February 19, 201117.3%
238February 26, 201115.2%
239March 5, 201116.6%
240March 12, 201113.7%
241March 19, 201114.8%
242March 26, 201116.4%
243April 2, 201114.8%
244April 9, 201116.2%
245April 16, 2011
246April 23, 201114.4%
247April 30, 201118.7%
248May 7, 201115.1%
249May 14, 201114.4%
250May 21, 201115.3%
251May 28, 201113.3%
252June 4, 201113.8%
253June 11, 201115.4%
254June 18, 201114.1%
255June 25, 201117.4%
256July 2, 201118.5%
257July 9, 201117.5%
258July 16, 201117.2%
259July 23, 201114.4%
260July 30, 201116.1%
261August 6, 201118.0%
262August 13, 201118.0%
263August 20, 201117.1%
264August 27, 201117.5%
265September 3, 201116.8%
266September 10, 201118.1%
267September 17, 201118.0%
268September 24, 201117.4%
269October 1, 201116.4%
270October 8, 201118.6%
271October 15, 201119.2%
272October 22, 201118.0%
273October 29, 201117.4%
274November 5, 201118.6%
275November 12, 201117.1%
276November 19, 201117.0%
277November 26, 201117.0%
278December 3, 201116.1%
279December 10, 201115.6%
280December 17, 201117.9%
281December 24, 201117.5%
282December 31, 201118.2%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
283January 7, 2012
284January 14, 201217.9%
285January 21, 201217.3%
286January 28, 201219.5%
287Aired onlineUnknown
288July 28, 2012
289August 4, 201213.6%
290August 11, 201212.4%
291August 18, 201214.2%
292August 25, 201214.4%
293September 1, 201212.8%
294September 8, 201214.4%
295September 15, 201214.0%
296September 22, 201214.6%
297September 29, 201214.7%
298October 6, 201215.1%
299October 13, 201213.7%
300October 20, 201215.1%
301October 27, 201214.4%
302November 3, 201213.2%
303November 10, 201212.7%
304November 17, 201216.3%
305November 24, 201215.6%
306December 1, 201215.8%
307December 8, 201215.8%
308December 15, 201214.5%
309December 22, 201215.7%
310December 29, 201214.5%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
311January 5, 201315.5%
312January 12, 2013
313January 19, 201316.4%
314January 26, 201314.7%
315February 2, 201314.6%
316February 9, 201312.8%
317February 16, 201313.7%
318February 23, 2013
319March 2, 201314.2%
320March 9, 201314.9%
321March 16, 201314.7%
322March 23, 201314.4%
323March 30, 201315.3%
324April 6, 201315.0%
325April 13, 201312.5%
326April 20, 201314.1%
327April 27, 201312.0%
328May 4, 201310.6%
329May 11, 201313.4%
330May 18, 201314.3%
331May 25, 201311.6%
332June 1, 201311.4%
333June 8, 201312.5%
334June 15, 201313.5%
335June 22, 201313.3%
336June 29, 201311.9%
337July 6, 201313.2%
338July 13, 201311.9%
339July 20, 201313.1%
340July 27, 201311.3%
341August 3, 201311.7%
342August 10, 201312.2%
343August 17, 201312.7%
344August 24, 201311.7%
345August 31, 201312.0%
346September 7, 201313.7%
347September 14, 201311.5%
348September 21, 201312.3%
349September 28, 201314.4%
350October 5, 201312.3%
351October 12, 201314.4%
352October 19, 201316.1%
353October 26, 201315.0%
354November 2, 201316.8%
355November 9, 201315.0%
356November 16, 201313.5%
357November 23, 201314.3%
358November 30, 201313.7%
359December 7, 201312.7%
360December 14, 201314.7%
361December 21, 201315.8%
362December 28, 201315.6%

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
363January 4, 201414.5%
364January 11, 201415.7%
365January 18, 201413.4%
366January 25, 201413.2%
367February 1, 201413.4%
368February 8, 201412.8%
369February 22, 201413.0%
370March 1, 201413.7%
371March 8, 201411.1%
372March 15, 201411.8%
373March 22, 201411.5%
374March 29, 201410.7%
375April 5, 201410.0%
376April 12, 201410.9%
377May 3, 201410.1%
378May 10, 201411.8%
379May 17, 201411.6%
380May 24, 201413.4%
381May 31, 201412.6%
382June 7, 201412.2%
383June 14, 201411.4%
384June 21, 201412.7%
385June 28, 2014
386July 5, 20149.9%
387July 12, 201410.0%
388July 19, 201410.2%
389July 26, 201411.8%
390August 2, 201412.6%
391August 9, 201411.6%
392August 16, 201412.3%
393August 23, 201411.1%
394August 30, 201413.1%
395September 6, 201412.3%
396September 13, 201411.8%
397September 20, 201412.7%
398October 4, 201410.3%
399October 11, 201412.5%
400October 18, 201412.4%
401October 25, 201410.9%
402November 1, 201412.5%
403November 8, 201414.2%
404November 15, 201413.3%
405November 22, 201414.0%
406November 29, 201413.8%
407December 6, 201413.5%
408December 13, 201414.6%
409December 20, 201415.3%
410December 27, 2014

Episode
Original airdateAGB NielsenNationwide ratings
411January 3, 2015
412January 10, 201514.1%
413January 24, 201513.9%
414February 7, 201512.7%
415February 14, 201513.7%
416February 21, 201513.0%
417February 28, 201513.2%
418March 7, 201513.3%
419March 14, 201512.2%
420March 21, 201513.5%
421March 28, 201513.2%
422April 4, 201515.0%
423April 11, 201512.6%
424April 18, 201512.9%
425April 25, 201512.2%
426May 2, 201511.3%
427May 9, 201511.3%
428May 16, 201511.7%
429May 23, 2015
430May 30, 201513.1%
431June 6, 201513.0%
432June 13, 201512.1%
433June 20, 201516.5%
434June 27, 201513.4%
435July 4, 201515.6%
436July 11, 201514.9%
437July 18, 201516.1%
438July 25, 201515.2%
439August 1, 201514.1%
440August 8, 201514.5%
441August 15, 201515.2%
442August 22, 201521.1%
443August 29, 201515.1%
444September 5, 201516.9%
445September 12, 201514.8%
446September 19, 201514.9%
447September 26, 201516.0%
448October 3, 201513.4%
449October 10, 201514.8%
450October 17, 201513.7%
451October 24, 201514.0%
452October 31, 201514.4%
453November 7, 201514.6%
454November 14, 201511.6%
455November 21, 201514.1%
456November 28, 201513.2%
457December 5, 201513.8%
458December 12, 201512.4%
459December 19, 201512.6%
460December 26, 201514.8%

EpisodeOriginal airdateAGB Nielsen
Nationwide Ratings
461January 2, 201617.0%
462January 9, 201613.4%
463January 16, 201612.8%
464January 23, 2016
465January 30, 201615.6%
466February 6, 201616.5%
467February 13, 201616.2%
468February 20, 201614.6%
469February 27, 201612.7%
470March 5, 201613.0%
471March 12, 201612.0%
472March 19, 201611.3%
473March 26, 201611.5%
474April 2, 2016
475April 9, 201613.6%
476April 16, 201615.0%
477April 23, 201614.3%
478April 30, 201616.4%
479May 7, 201611.4%
480May 14, 201612.0%
481May 21, 201613.5%
482May 28, 201613.8%
483June 4, 201614.2%
484June 11, 201613.3%
485June 18, 201613.1%
486June 25, 201612.1%
487July 2, 201613.0%
488July 9, 201612.1%
489July 16, 201615.0%
490July 23, 201612.3%
491July 30, 201611.8%
492August 6, 201611.8%
493August 13, 201613.0%
494August 20, 201613.9%
495August 27, 201614.7%
496September 3, 201615.7%
497September 10, 201613.3%
498September 17, 201614.1%
499September 24, 201613.8%
500October 1, 201614.0%
501October 8, 201612.6%
502October 15, 201612.5%
503October 22, 201612.4%
504October 29, 201611.8%
505November 5, 201613.1%
506November 12, 201612.3%
507November 19, 201614.9%
508November 26, 201614.0%
509December 3, 201611.7%
510December 10, 201612.8%
511December 17, 201612.9%
512December 24, 2016
513December 31, 201611.9%

EpisodeOriginal airdateAGB Nielsen
Nationwide Ratings
514January 7, 201712.5%
515January 14, 2017
516January 21, 201712.6%
517February 18, 20178.9%
518February 25, 2017
519March 4, 20179.0%
520March 11, 20179.1%
521March 18, 201710.8%
522March 25, 201711.2%
523April 1, 201711.4%
524April 8, 20178.9%
525April 15, 201710.2%
526April 22, 20179.8%
527April 29, 201710.8%
528May 6, 20179.6%
529May 13, 201712.0%
530May 20, 20179.8%
531May 27, 201710.2%
532June 3, 201710.0%
533June 10, 201710.9%
534June 17, 201712.5%
535June 24, 201710.1%
536July 1, 201711.7%
537July 8, 201714.5%
538July 15, 201714.9%
539July 22, 201712.1%
540July 29, 201711.1%
541August 5, 20179.8%
542August 12, 20179.6%
543August 19, 201710.8%
544August 26, 20178.8%
545September 2, 20179.2%
546November 25, 20179.8%
547December 2, 20179.6%
548December 9, 201711.9%
549December 16, 20179.8%
550December 23, 201711.2%
551December 30, 201710.4%

The show in popular culture

  • During the 12th episode of MBC's Monday-night variety programme , comedian Park Su-hong urged Noh Hong-chul, Jeong Hyeong-don, and Ha Ha to create a new comic-variety program called 'Yuhan Dojeon'. However, this was a joke when he attended this program as a guest.
  • MBC Drama, MBC's Drama and Entertainment channel on Skylife and Cable TV, has decided to launch a brand-new comic variety show called Infinite Girls, the female edition of Infinite Challenge. Six Korean entertainers including Song Eun-i, Shin Bong-sun, Kim Shin-young, Hwangbo, Baek Bo-ram and Jung Ga-eun serve as the co-hosts of this program. Previous hosts who have already left the show include Ahn Hye-kyung, Kim Hyun-sook, Bin-woo, Kim Ga-yeon and Jung Shi-ah. It aired on September 23, 2007, as a pilot program for Hangawi holidays. Since October 15, 2007, This format went at the MBC every1, MBC's Cable and Satellite network for comedy and variety shows, eventually.
  • On December 27, 2007, the SERI, a well-known economic research institute of South Korea, picked this program as the 6th most-influential product and service of the year 2007, due to its strong public popularity and its own productive characters.Infinite Challenge is often mentioned on other similar programs, when guests asking if the staff of the show in question copied the idea for a segment from Infinite Challenge.
  • In the first quarter of 2008, the Global Marketing Department of MBC reported that MBC had attempted to sell the format of Infinite Challenge to a European agency in Sweden. This was the first time in Korean television history that such a deal had been made. However, the contract was not finalized, as there were too many characters on the program for the Swedish company to reproduce. Even so, rights to the show were eventually sold to Air France and Qatar Airways' in-flight broadcast.
  • The creators of Infinite Challenge filmed an advertisement about Bibimbap which has been shown in Times Square since November 26, 2010. Due to this involvement, the Ministry for Food, [Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (South Korea)|Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] had been put up a Plaque of Honour, to acknowledge MuDo's dedication.
  • In 2011, Infinite Challenge held the West Coast Highway Music Festival. At this festival 7 teams participated and everyone got a trophy.
  • The show is also famous for its loyal fans, especially from the youth demographic. Despite the show's hiatus of 22 weeks due to MBC's Union Labor Strike in 2012, the show was able to keep its strong popularity with television audiences. It was acclaimed as "the most favorite program in South Korea" numerous times.
  • Members of Infinite Challenge'' cast are featured on "Gentleman" music video by Psy.

International

  • On June 30, 2015, the rights to air the show was sold to one of the big channels in China; "CCTV-1" proving Infinite Challenges rise in popularity as a Korean Variety Show Program. The Chinese version of the show started airing in China on December 6, 2015.
  • Before the export publication rights to China, the program was already popular throughout Asia. People of the world watched this program by YouTube and the highest hit is 3,202,248
  • The program went to Japan, China, Thailand, America, Africa, Germany, etc. for filming. Many international celebrities participated in one of the episodes.
  • In April 2013, a British TV program called The Greatest Shows on Earth came to Korea to showcase Korean TV, and visited Infinite Challenge on set. The episode aired on Channel 4 on July 8, 2013. While visiting the recording session for Infinite Challenge, presenter Daisy Donovan also went in front of the cameras and guested a sketch segment which was shown on both shows.

Plagiarism

It has been alleged that the show was copied without permission by a Chinese variety program called Go Fighting.
According to production company MBC: "Currently in China, multiple broadcasting and production companies are saying they are personally producing 'Infinite Challenge' or a similar program, causing a disturbance in the market and damaging MBC Contents' image. From hereon, excepting the broadcasting of 'Infinite Challenge' on CCTV1, we will take firm legal action against any behavior that has nothing to do with MBC while making people confused and misunderstand as MBC's 'Infinite Challenge."