“Run! BTS” is well known among ARMY as the serotonin booster. It’s always a delight to watch BTS members laugh and act playful around each other. In addition, it’s funny to see them trying their best to win a challenge, teaming up against each other, and getting suspicious of others — including staff members. But “Run! BTS” is also a space in which BTS share their feelings, through emotional letters and poems to each other, as well as through gifts, anecdotes, and stories. It all goes to show that their bond truly has no comparison.
Before “Run! BTS.”
After BTS debuted, they appeared on some variety shows but things didn’t go well.
We all know that before BTS gained fame, Big Hit Entertainment was a small company. This was, in fact, one of the main reasons why BTS was treated badly on the broadcasts they went to. Their rookie years, even since their debut, were not easy with their display hours on shows cut and reduced excessively. Some of their performances were cut short or would not be broadcasted at all. Other times, their music would get cut off in the middle. One award show even replaced BTS without notice after the festival had already started, and the boys ended up performing for ARMY after the show had already ended, with all the cameras and lights already off.
To give a few other examples, when BTS went on a variety show for the first time in 2014, Yoongi expressed his admiration for the show and the hosts by writing a rap song for the show. The two MCs criticized the song for being “inappropriate” and mocked Yoongi’s sincerity.
Again, in 2016, during a show, Jungkook was very polite and thoughtful in buying burgers for all the members of his team. Rather than thanking Jungkook for the gift, one of his teammates told him the burgers looked like leftovers and outright refused to eat them. The show was broadcast live for fans to vote by giving their idols heart icons, and so the fans could see and confirm that this person was a true bully when he repeatedly interrupted Jungkook for no reason. Even at the end, the actor sulked because he did not receive many votes. Jungkook, kneeling and biting his fingernails, seemed very uncomfortable, and he kept making gestures telling fans not to vote for him anymore. These episodes obviously upset ARMY, who did their best at the time to defend the boys.
Fortunately, Big Hit decided that it was for the best if BTS stopped attending Korean variety shows.
Becoming Variety Show’s MCs
“Run! BTS” is a variety show born to entertain fans of BTS. It slowly took off and has gathered enough success to host famous guests on the show. The show has continued to grow throughout the years — in terms of the duration of the episodes, the types of activities planned, the budget, and the localities they recorded at. Weverse Magazine posted an article on the original content of “Run! BTS” on Jan 25, providing some more insight on the show.
Bang Woo-Jung, Senior Professional of Big Hit Three Sixty’s Creative Studio, said: “Just as a travel program naturally ends when the trip is over, we [producers] realized that we wouldn’t be able to continue on if we tried to stick to just one topic or concept, so we decided to keep every possibility open and make it an anything-goes type of variety show.”
To date, more than 125 “Run! BTS” episodes have been aired, and “some episodes […] have been aired as specials on major broadcast networks including Mnet and JTBC since 2018 is emblematic of the rapidly growing status and influence.” Considering how the industry treated BTS before they became famous, how the tables have turned!
When BTS dubbed Zootopia, Bang said: “Copyright on web-based shows is generally strict, but discussions with Disney went smoothly because it’s BTS.”
The first episode of “Run! BTS” was aired on Aug 1, 2015, and it was an opening for the upcoming show. Since then, BTS has played paintball matches, had fun among dogs and zombies, cooked with chefs, sang karaoke, became detectives, played PC games with the famous T1 Team, composed flower bouquets with a florist, and so much more.
They even hold special episodes once they reach a new milestone; they hosted their own award show for the special 50 episodes. In episode 100, they played sports and quizzes on old “Run! BTS” episodes. The fun is never-ending!
BTS never forgets international fans.
Weverse Magazine says that since the beginning, ‘“Run! BTS” was planned while keeping in mind international users of the VLive platform who are major fans of K-pop […]. The freedom to explore everything is ultimately a way to show an artist’s appeal. ‘Only when the artist really enjoys themselves can the viewers be happy, too,’ said Bang. ‘Conversely, the artist can only enjoy filming when the viewers are happy.’”
BTS always strives to include everyone and make fans happy. In turn, ARMY will always strive to make sure BTS know their efforts never go unseen.
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Written by Antonella
Edited by Clare
Checked by Aury
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