Goddamn it, Running Man!
I was about to do weekend work when this popped in from nowhere.
This is the one that had Son Ye Jin as a spy that also had Park Chul Min and Lee Min Ki as guests. This was back when they were still a regular sports variety show. Nowadays, they still do chases, duels, and treasure hunts but with Ji Suk Jin already in his 50s, Yoo Jae Suk turning 50 this year, and only Yang Se Chan and Jeon So Min still in their 30s (late 30s, I may have), I am just happy that they bring these challenges once or twice in six months.
As compared to some of their all-time best moments, we tend to overlook these episodes. If this episode aired in 2022, this could have been one of their bests.
Haha is awesome as hell as the childish casanova while Kim Jong Kook is awesome as the boss henchman. Song Ji Hyo is also still active here... unlike the playfully dazed and confused version of herself. This is not a knock on Ji Hyo but this was at the peak of The Monday Couple era.
But then again, if you're a 2022 fan, you got to check out the early moments of the Spartace team. While her tag team with Kang Gary is just giving away good vibes, Spartace is just a menacing combo.
I guess the bad thing about the early editions of Running Man is the exposure of both Ji Suk Jin and Lee Kwang Soo. LKS got his break as the sleazy betrayer which is basically from episode 100 up until his departure (with him toning down on the sleazy part) but Suk Jin really surged up when Running Man had more talk show moments.
Anyway, check out the clip here. I don't know the name of the Youtube channel because it's in Korean but I also saw retro episodes of Family Outing and X-Man.