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| A poster for JTBC’s new sports talk show “SeriMoney Club” / Courtesy of JTBC |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Sports variety shows are growing increasingly popular on TV, with programs revolving around different types of athletics from golf to baseball hitting the small screen. A series of golf shows are also coming out, with big golf stars as hosts.
Cable network TV Chosun’s “Golf King,” which started May 24, stars former LPGA champion Kim Mi-hyun and comedian Kim Gook-jin, well-known for being a golf enthusiast. The two lead a team of celebrities who are new to golfing and train them to compete against the guests in each episode.
The show has garnered a 5 percent viewership rating with its premiere and has topped ratings among variety shows airing in the same time slot.
Legendary golfer Park Se-ri is set to host a show called “SeriMoney Club,” ― a reference to her given name ― which will go on air next Wednesday. The golfer-turned-TV personality, along with comedian Yang Se-chan and singer Kim Jong-kook, will invite guests from different fields to talk about their lives while playing golf and raising money for donations.
“I wanted to introduce golf to the audience while raising donations… and I thought it would be meaningful if we join hands with those who like golf to raise money for a good cause,” Park said in a written interview, Wednesday.
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| A scene from TV Chosun’s variety show “Golf King” / Korea Times file |
Other networks and streaming services are also releasing golf competition shows like tvN D’s YouTube show, “Star Golf Big League,” and SBS and streaming service Wavve’s “Team072.”
Meanwhile, more female-oriented sports variety shows, an area traditionally featuring male cast members, are also gaining the spotlight.
SBS’s “Kick A Goal,” about female celebrities forming amateur soccer teams, started as a two-part pilot program in February and has landed a regular slot that started June 16. It scored a 10.2 percent viewership rating with the pilot episode and a 6.2 percent with the first episode since its official launch.
The show follows six different football clubs, which are grouped depending on the cast members’ backgrounds, such as an actress’ team, models’ team, and ex-pat TV personalities’ team.
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| SBS’s “Kick A Goal” follows female celebrities starting football clubs. Courtesy of SBS |
Each team is led by former World Cup players, including Lee Young-pyo, Kim Byung-ji, and Choi Jin-cheul, to train them and compete in games with other teams.
“Soccer is popular, but in reality, women don’t seem to actually play the sport as much as men do,” Kim, one of the team’s coaches, said during the show’s media conference, last week. “With this program, I hope to show people that soccer is fun to play and women’s soccer can be just as interesting.”
One of the players on the show, model Han Hye-jin, said she never expected herself to enjoy playing soccer so much before appearing in the show. “For models, we work alone most of the time, but playing this team sport together has been such a refreshing experience,” she added.
Another sport show on MBC called “Witches” followed celebrities, including K-pop group Apink’s Yoon Bo-mi and comedian Kim Min-kyung, starting a women’s baseball team and getting trained by former pro-league baseball players like Shim Soo-chang and Dustin Nippert.
The show started the first season as a web series late last year, but became a three-part series on MBC in its second season, which aired early this month.
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