The Hosts
The hosts were still their usual funny selves. The new host, Im Si Wan (Reply 1997 cameo), resembled Jin Goo a bit. But I found him a more responsible version. I loved how he blended in well right away with the other hosts. He felt at ease joking around with them.
It was fun watching Sung Dong Il (Hospital Playlist, Ms. Hammurabi, Prison Playbook, Reply 1988, Reply 1994, and Reply 1997) and Kim Hee Won (Angry Mom) argue, bicker, compete, etc. Dong Il loved teasing Hee Won who seemed to be on the more sensitive side. It was funny watching them continue their fishing contest - with the self-proclaimed best in fishing Dong Il still unable to catch any fish. Well, he did catch one but Si Wan dropped it. :D
The Guests
We love watching variety shows because we get to see more personal versions of our favorite artists. They may play serious roles or are very effective villains, but most of them are actually very soft spoken and timid in real life.
For instance, Bae Doo Na looked all business and passionate when we watched her on Persona. In real life, however, she was mostly smiling and cheerful. I loved how she didn't really seem to care about her looks.
Another example was Oh Jung Se (Extreme Job) who was a very annoying semi-villain in Hot Stove League. He was totally different here - he was quiet and reserved. He was the exact opposite of his friend and returning guest Gong Hyo Jin (The Producers) who was very loud and bubbly. It was really fun seeing Hyo Jin again. She definitely brought life to the house with her incessant talking. :D
Another batch of quiet guests was Kim Byung Chul (Descendants of the Sun) and Lim Yoon A (Exit and Confidential Assignment). I'm used to seeing Byung Chul in serious, domineering, and stern roles. But I saw none of that here. He was just smiling shyly most of the time.
The two times I've seen Yoon A in her movies, she played funny and crazy roles. But she seemed quite shy here. There were even moments when she felt awkward around the hosts. Maybe because she was young and she only knew Si Wan. And it probably didn't help that Dong Il fussed over her as an SNSD member. :D
It was nice to see Kim Dong Wook again. He seemed to have matured a lot from Coffee Prince from more than 10 years ago.
I was surprised to know that Jeon Hye Jin (A Taxi Driver) was the wife of Lee Sun Kyun (Parasite, My Mister, and Coffee Prince).
My Favorite Guests
My favorites would have to be the loud ones because they made the house fun and lively.
Oh Na Ra (My Mister) was probably the loudest guest. I loved how she was teasing everyone, especially Si Wan whom she described as refreshing (as opposed to her two oppas, haha). My favorite part was when she played music and danced around the house. She also had lovely personal gifts for the hosts - chopping boards with their faces carved on them. I love Oh Na Ra because she still looks so young and fresh despite her age.
We also enjoyed Kim You Jung's (Angry Mom) episode. Oppa became an instant fan, which led us to a failed attempt to watch Backstreet Rookie. You Jung looks so angelic. She's always smiling and was like a real daughter to Dong Il and Hee Won. It also helped that she seemed to be friends with Si Wan. She looked really comfortable around everyone.
The warmest episode would probably be the one with Jin Goo. It was nice to see all of them together. They all felt genuinely happy to be with each other. Dong Il kept on saying that the family was complete again. Jin Goo cooked yummy dishes for everyone. I loved Dong Il and Jin Goo's conversation about the latter's struggles as an actor and how he still wants to do a lot for his career before getting married. It was the perfect finale for Dong Il's birthday. It's just unfortunate that Hee Won and Dong Il got seasick and were not able to complete their fishing competition.
Execution
Over all, the show was still so much fun to watch. The winter episodes were quite challenging because the hosts mostly stayed indoors. But the spring episodes were so much brighter and more fun. They hinted at another season during the finale. And we'll definitely look forward to that so we can learn more about our favorite K artists. :)
Oppa says...4.7.
Noona says...4.5.