The Legends Of Variety: Shinhwa-Ha-Ha-Ha!

There some things in this world that are just too difficult for the average person to accomplish – solving string theory, finding a K-drama that doesn’t have a wrist grab, and compiling a list of memorable moments from Shinhwa’s maaany variety show appearances.

With 20 years of activity under their belt, they have been on their fair share of variety shows – from being the permanent cast of  “Love Letter” in 2004, to having their own variety show, “Shinhwa Broadcast” in 2012, and everything else in between (and before and after). It certainly doesn’t help that they are ridiculously “extra” in everything that they do, bringing constant laughter to viewers. So again, this is a very difficult task, but someone has to do it! For Shinhwa~! *cue dramatic music*

As it is their 20th anniversary this year, here are 20 moments from their various variety show appearances, with extra attention on their own “Shinhwa Broadcast” (because it’s just that awesome!)

1. Shinhwa Broadcast’s SF channel

This was their very first entry of “Shinhwa Broadcast” and was filmed only a few days after Min Woo was discharged from the army. You’d think the boys would be somewhat awkward in front of the camera, given that most of them had been out of the spotlight fulfilling their army duties. But Shinhwa came out of the gate, guns-a-blazin’, showing off the bond and chemistry they had built up over the years, and gave viewers a taste of what the show was going to be like (chaotic and outrageous!). They fully embraced the silly concept of dressing up as superheroes, and had fun being flung out of flying chairs.

2. Shinhwa Broadcast’s MT channel

These episodes are memorable for so many reasons. It started off with the rest of the members pulling a prank on their leader, Eric. Not realizing what was going on, Eric believed that he was just having the worst day ever. He good-naturedly took on all the punishments, even changing right in front of everyone. Though in the end, he was so tired he basically had Hye Sung do everything for him, including feeding him and picking up his stuff. This was also the episode of the infamous “farting exercise.”

3. Shinhwa Broadcast’s remake channel

The remake channel paid homage to a variety of yesteryear, “Family Arcade.” It invited six female guests to go head-to-head against the boys, and boy were the laughs just pouring in from everywhere! Andy was certainly the MVP of these two episodes, with his hilarious reactions to the “guess-the-object” game (his savage brothers really enjoyed teasing him,) and his antics in the “guess-the-phrase” game. The “shouting-in-the-silence” game, where they shouted phrases while having headphones on, also turned funky in the end, thanks to their terrible lip-reading skills.

4. Shinhwa Broadcast’s farming channel

These episodes were a parody of “Family Outing,” and the boys were tasked to find “Soo Jung” in the village they went to, only to belatedly realize they were in fact looking for a cow named Soo Jung. They had fun fishing and playing paintball, with the losing teams having to clean up Soo Jung. She was probably so excited to see the boys, that she proceeded to gift them with both pee and poo, while they were cleaning her up. And when Andy, Eric, and Hye Sung were relegated to sleep outdoors, Andy and Eric (in their childish selves) just had to hide and leave Hye Sung flustered and alone outside. Also, their self-improvised “Pocheon Song” still cracks me up to this day!

5. Shinhwa Broadcast’s kids channel

Shinhwa members with kids! What could go wrong? As any fans of Shinhwa can tell you, the boys are basically kids themselves, with Eric even having the nickname of “Mun-3-year-old.” And the kids, being kids, were brutally honest with their opinions, often leaving our boys up against walls in defeat. The kids were also tasked to dress and do makeup for the members, with hilarious results. All in all, super cute kids plus super childish boys equals prime entertainment!

6. Shinhwa Broadcast’s speech channel

Hye Sung, relenting that he likes Eric more than poop.

As per any other channels, these episodes were filled with many memorable moments, including when they had to debate on trivial issues and write a poem titled “Park Choong Jae” (Jun Jin’s real name). But the arguably funniest ones were when Dong Wan had to deliver his spontaneous speeches to win votes. He was gloriously self-deprecating, taking shots at his height. He spat out stories after stories (“I need to wear larger shoes so I can fit in the insoles!”), with the members continuously asking for more, because they were that hilarious!

7. Shinhwa Broadcast’s global channel

Shinhwa traveled around the globe with their guest, Super Junior, and played games in various exotic locations, all in the comfort of the studio! A simple game of deciding partners was made hilarious by the chemistry between both groups, as they tried their best to seduce someone from the other team to partner with them. At one point, they finally came to their senses and questioned why they were going to such lengths between a bunch of guys! And in true variety-dol fashion, both Shinhwa and Super Junior turned a simple dance into gif-able wonders (and stuff of nightmares!)

8. Shinhwa Broadcast’s sports channel

These episodes will forever be remembered for the awakening of “Zomdy” (Zombie Andy) in the fencing event! Zomdy scared the heck out of his older brothers, and they even made him promise to never unleash it again! We were also treated to the boys trying to make the ugliest faces possible, then enter a “Kiss and Cry” corner to get their scores, while various toys were chucked at them in lieu of congratulatory flowers.

9. Shinhwa Broadcast’s guest channel

The guests for these episodes were none other than the SHINee members, who have a very competitive spirit (Minho in particular) like their seniors. They competed in sporting events, and the winning team could grab a member from the losing team. The Shinhwa members at one point were ecstatic to defect to SHINee’s team, even chucking their orange vests in return for the pearl aqua one (their respective fanclub colors). Onew‘s infamous forehead flick also made multiple appearances, and scared Shinhwa speechless!

10. Shinhwa Broadcast’s secret lessons (Living Alone)

While most of the episodes of the “secret lessons” series featured pretty amazing teachers, this episode’s “teacher” was quickly overshadowed by the skills of Andy himself. In fact, the teacher was so easygoing and so quick to concede to Andy, that the members were wondering if it wasn’t actually a hidden camera prank. And having lived alone while in university, I can tell you, some of the hacks were pretty awesome, including using a foil-wrapped iron to cook meat and fashioning a mobile phone hands-free carrier out of clothes hangers.

11. Weekly Idol

Shinhwa has only been on “Weekly Idol” once as a full group in 2017, and we need to rectify this, stat! Hopefully, the powers that be will bring them on again this year during their promotional period, because they were a blast! They caused a ruckus from beginning to end – forgetting their own songs, leaving skid marks on the floor, confidently declaring they would do 4x-speed dance (then quickly retracting the statement,) and just being, well, Shinhwa!

They were promoting “Touch.” Get it? Touch?

12. Healing Camp

First aired in 2015, this episode of “Healing Camp” started off with a homage to “Love Letter,” a variety show that basically revolved around Shinhwa upon its conception. Dances were danced, roses and gifts were given, and in the end, a couple was born! And there was only one couple, because Sung Yuri was the only female on the cast. We heard stories both heart-warming and outrageously silly, and at one point, Jun Jin even randomly took out gonggi stones (a Korean children’s game played with pebbles) and they all sat on the floor playing, oblivious to what else was happening.

Mission accomplished!

13. Radio Star

Shinhwa made two consecutive appearances in 2012 and 2013, with the 2013 standing out, as Hye Sung was recruited to be part of the MC team. And having one of their own on the other side naturally meant more dirt and savagery flung their way (With Jun Jin reflecting it back and turning the tables on Hye Sung instead)! During this episode, we received one key piece of information – while Eric was deemed as one of the top earners in the group in 2012, he had allegedly fallen to last place by 2013. The reason? Because he had spent all his money on dog food for Gomdori (the name of his pet dog)!

I will spend all my savings on you, but you will not lick me on camera!

14. Happy Together

Shinhwa has been on “Happy Together” as a group quite a few times, coincidentally experiencing the many different variations. Their second to last outing was in 2013, where they shared many funny stories with the MCs. What made this episode extra special was that it brought on KBS’s own sports announcer, Choi Hee, who was also an avid fan of Shinhwa. She shared a unique fan perspective on the boys, and asked the important questions like why Dong Wan was never shipped with any of the other boys (awww).

15. Again 1998, Shinhwa vs. Lee Hyori

This technically isn’t a variety show, but it perfectly showcases their personality. They really played into the sunbae/hoobae roles with Lee Hyori, who debuted with Fin.K.L around the same time as them. Their chumminess and openness with each other is a rarity to see between idols of today – heck, it’s more normal to see male and female idols standing a meter apart from each other – and is one of the reasons why we love our first generation idols. This video is just savage on savage and good fun all the way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh-r6WCTVWg

16. Win Win

Their 2012 appearance on “Win Win” has a place on this list, not because of the laughs, but because of the really personal and sincere talks. Viewers were able to see a different side of the boys, and I for one had a newfound appreciation for just how much they had been through over the years. We were also reminded of the utmost loyalty they have towards each other and to Shinhwa the group itself. I watch their variety appearances for the laughs, but this is one appearance that had me tearing up, and made me love them even more!

17. Shinhwa’s 18th

When this was announced, I was super excited! It was good to see the boys together again on a show just by themselves, as this is often when they shine the most (or at their wildest). They did not disappoint (okay, I do wish it had waaay more episodes though,) as they even made a car trip or preparing dinner funny! I have to give a special shout-out to episode five, where they were just hanging around drinking and playing random games, including using a lie-detector, playing the “silent 007” game, and even “who can fart first?” And like the members themselves, you’ll be laughing from beginning to end!

18. X-man

“X-man” was another vehicle that featured Shinhwa prominently, and they were well known for their competitive spirit. They were often split across two teams, and it wasn’t rare to see them taking out all the other guests before going head-to-head with each other. Even with physical giants like Kang Ho Dong and Kim Jong Kook on the playing field, you could count on Shinhwa to last to the end while also delivering the laughs. And what’s even better than their physical bouts? Them tearing into each other during the “of course” games!

19. Running Man

Shinhwa’s first (of two) appearance on “Running Man” is well-known for having Shinhwa completely decimate the “Running Man” members on all the missions. And even though they were only five against seven (Dong Wan was busy filming), they unleashed their competitive spirits and had the “Running Man” members work extra hard. Their second appearance was just as physical, and though they didn’t win that time around, it was still memorable for just how well they worked as a team.

20. SNL Korea

Shinhwa was invited to host the show in 2013, and they parodied (read: made fun of) everything! (And I mean everything!) From using Eric’s famous line “Do you smell something burning” as a slogan to a barbecue eatery, to having Jun Jin sell insecticide (his real name, Choong Jae, sounds like the Korean word for insecticide), to placing them in a museum (as per their legendary longevity in the industry!), you could tell they were having a blast! It also gave us this amazing gif:

And now before we end, here’s an important message from our beloved leader Eric to all the fans:

 Very. Deep!

Which episode of “Shinhwa Broadcast” have you watched the most? And how many times have people given you weird looks from laughing at these dorks too much? Leave your love and comments below!

Belinda_C could do 100 moments if she had to. There’s just so much to love and so much to laugh at. *inserts fan chant*. Also, nooooooooo to Doni and Coni leaving “Weekly Idol” 🙁 🙁 🙁

All-time favorite variety show: “Shinhwa Broadcast” (duh!)
Currently watching: “Running Man,” “Hyori’s Homestay 2,” and “Super TV”
Looking forward to: Shinhwa on every variety show ever!