Variety Is The Hilarious Spice Of Life In K-Pop
K-Pop is a whole package kind of thing for me, so when funny variety content shows up for artists, I'm absolutely seated.
I've said this a lot before, but I'm a "whole package" type of fan when it comes to K-Pop. To be able to like and follow a group or act, I've got to like the whole package - visual, music, choreography, and personality. The last is something that I think has been heavily debated in K-Pop, insofar as whether or not we're getting the "real" artist or something that is carefully marketed or constructed. For my part, by the way, my experience tells me that to some extent all entertainers have a front, but there's at least a varying degree of "realness" in their presentation.
Putting all that aside, though, one of my favorite parts of being a K-Pop fan is the opportunities for artists to be off-stage and to show us different sides of themselves. Variety shows in K-Pop havebeen a staple since forever, and it was and still is a big part of why I tend to start getting interested in groups. This is multipled tenfold if the show is meant to be funny or otherwise comedic. Maybe it's because of the fact that the performance presentation is so well-rehearsed and practiced, but seeing some of that facade crack, even if contrived or otherwise set up, is just great to me.
It's an oldie but goodie, but idols cooking or attempting to cook, bake, or otherwise make food is one of my favorites. It's probably part of the reason why I managed to become fans of ITZY, a big 4 group under JYP that I've felt sometimes gets unfairly evaluated in comparison to both their predecessors (like TWICE) and their contemporaries (like NMIXX). ITZY, I feel, was the "OG" experimental music group for the company, but aside from bangers like "Wannabe" having lots of longevity, the variety content has always been on-point. Do I feel bad that ITZY leader Yeji almost set the dorm on fire heating up chocolate in the microwave? Yes. Did I scratch my head and wonder why she was using a hand mixer on a whole stick of butter? Also yes. But was it funny to the point of putting me in tears and made me want to listen to their music more? Absolutely. Not being perfect is ironically part of the charm of this kind of content.
If the variety show has a gimmick I probably like it even better. There are a few of these with various shelf lifes, but having a group participate in the gimmick almost always uncovers something fun. SNSD's Sunny ran a show for a while where she acted like a new trainee learning from "current" groups, and having Dreamcatcher on raised their profile and was funny at the same time. This was especially the case when teaching Sunny about "ending fairies", those last poses or shots after a music show performance which weren't a thing when she was actively promoting with SNSD. But there was also wholesomeness watching Main Rapper Dami, long known as a hardcore SNSD fan, get her 2nd generation fankit signed with a "forged Sunny signature" by the legendary idol. I was already a big Dreamcatcher fan at this point, but seeing a normally calm member of the group behave like a shy fangirl and get emotional was entertainment at its best.
These days we see less outside variety and more in-house stuff - whether it manifests as the company/group's own content, or if a member splits off to do some of their own thing on a dedicated channel. The stage chaos of MAMAMOO has always been a part of why they're my 2nd favorite group, but Solar's long-lived solarsido channel has provided endless fun and laughs in a bunch of situations. This is especially true when other members make appearances - like Moonbyul (and her dogs, as above) have.
But perhaps the best part of watching variety in K-Pop is the right moments create memorable, iconic, laugh out loud after years moments. Do I remember the rest of that Knowing Bros episode that had TWICE? Probably not. But do I recall and can still laugh about how Dahyun took the show's student gimmick far enough that she was yelling at boss JYP for being incompetent at the "shouting in silence" game? Absolutely. K-Pop's one of those brutal, unforgiving industries at times when it comes to the "attention economy", and anything tha can be done to have a K-Pop act keep a permanent share of that marketplace is a good thing. That's what variety is far, and that's why I make it a regular part of my K-Pop diet.
If you've got more fun K-Pop variety you want to share, you know where I am on Bluesky, so be sure to send them my way!
