In this article, Channel-Korea will provide you with updates on SNL Korea: The TV Show Popular For Its Adult Content and A Lot of Controversies. So, stay tuned!
What is SNL Korea?
Saturday Night Live Korea is a sketch comedy of South Korea’s late-night television live broadcasts and variety television programs that are broadcast on the cable channel TVN. The show is adapted from the long-running American TV show Saturday Night Live on NBC, and the show’s executive producers are Lorne Michaels and Jennifer Danielson from SNL Studios and Broadway Video, which licenses the format. SNL Korea first premiered on December 3rd, 2011, and aired on Saturdays at 22:50 KST. The program has 205 episodes and 9 seasons. The final episode of SNL Korea was aired on November 18th, 2017.
Cast
Format and Segments
Saturday Night Love Korea follows the same format as the American version, with a number of hosts, cast members and several skits for each episode.
Weekend Update: News sketch that reviews the week’s social, economic, and cultural issues. Anchored by Jang Jin in Seasons 1-3. Wise Search for Life: This pre-recorded sub-segment of Weekend Update satirizes each week’s most talked-about headlines and events. Voice narration by Kim Seul-gie. Dispatch SNL: This live-skit is also a sub-segment of Weekend Update, and includes interviews by its correspondent Kwon Hyeok-su. SNL Invitation: This live-skit, also a sub-segment of Weekend Update, involves a person (usually the episode’s host, or sometimes a cast member) in a fake or actual situation related to the week’s best-known events. SNL Digital Short: Comedic and musical pre-recorded “video shorts” which are performed by SNL Korea cast members and hosts each week (usually one or two per episode). Their most popular shorts are their Grand Theft Auto parodies, ranging from the Joseon period to modern military. Lee Oung-don PD’s Eatable X-File: Since the latter episodes of season 3, each week Shin Dong-yup (in the role of Production Director Lee Oung-don) takes 3 or 4 kinds of foods from the hands of other cast members for fun, to judge whether it’s suitable to eat or not, then runs away quickly. It is a parody of Channel A’s infotainment program Lee Yeong-don PD’s Eatable X-File. Sa-gwa Shilup: This is an occasional skit that adopts a business presentation style, for advertising peculiar products. Moderated by Shin Dong-yup, while wearing clothes and make-up similar to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
List of Idol Appearances
There are many popular K-Pop idols who have been guests on SNL Korea during its time on the air. Here are some of the favorite idols appearances in the show in the last few years.
Orange Caramel: on October 20th, 2012, SNL Korea Season 3 Crayon Pop: on August 3rd, 2012, SNL Korea Season 4 Secret: on August 23rd, 2014, SNL Korea Season 5 Sistar: on September 20th, 2014, SNL Korea Season 5
Girls Day: on October 11th, 2014, SNL Korea Season 5 EXID: on February 21st, 2016, SNL Korea Season 6 SHINee: on May 30th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 6 Seventeen: on September 26th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 6 Wonder Girls: on October 10th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 6
Fiestar: on November 14th, 2015, SNL Korea Season 6 AOA: on June 23rd, 2014, SNL Korea Season 5 Nine Muses: on December 5th, 2015, SNL Korea Season 6 Block B: on November 9th, 2013, SNL Korea Season 4 IOI: on May 7th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 7 AOMG: on June 12th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 6 2PM: on September 10th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 8 Infinite: on October 22nd, 2016, SNL Korea Season 8 Twice: on October 29th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 8
B1A4: on November 26th, 2016, SNL Korea Season 8 Mamamoo: on December 3rd, 2016, SNL Korea Season 8 Gugudan: on April 8th, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9 Apink: on July 1st, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9 Red Velvet: on July 22nd, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9 Wanna One: on August 12th, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9
GFRIEND: on September 9th, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9 DIA: on October 14th, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9 JBJ: on October 28th, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9 Super Junior: on November 11th, 2017, SNL Korea Season 9
Lee Se-young’s Controversy
In 2016, SNL Korea Season 8 faced controversy against idol group B1A4 and comedian Lee Se-young. Lee Se-young was accused of sexually harassing male idols on the show. She was involved in the controversy of sexual assault controversy as a result of excessive behavior from the SNL Korea cast members to the male guests, moreover toward boy groups. B1A4, INFINITE, and Block B are some of the groups that experienced such molestation. In one of the episodes that featured the boy band B1A4 aired on November 26th, 2016, SNL Korea released a behind-the-scenes video on their Facebook. The video features an introduction of the band and a discussion of their upcoming appearance. When the members start to introduce themselves, a group of female staff members start grabbing their crotches aggressively and runoff, leaving them in shock. The video was taken off of the show’s Facebook shortly after along with an apology to the members of B1A4.
However, shortly after the incident, boy bands INFINITE and Block B released videos on their twitters under the hashtag “SNL_성추행” (SNL Sexual Harassment) stating that this behavior was common on the show. SNL Korea also gained heavy criticism after airing a sketch that featured a joke about actress Um Aing-ran’s chest. The actress had been diagnosed with breast cancer earlier in the year and underwent surgery. Jung Yi-rang, the actress who portrayed the actress in the sketch, was unaware of the severity of the condition and issued an apology to her. Season 8 of SNL Korea ended on December 24th, 2016, with singer Hwang Chi-yeul as the last host. tvN issued a statement saying that the show will return for another season but with a new image.
