 |
|
Born
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August 14, 1972
Seoul, South Korea |
Medium
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Stand-up, television
|
Nationality
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South Korean
|
Years active
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1991 – present
|
Genres
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Observational, Sketch, Wit, Parody,Slapstick, Dramatic,
Sitcom
|
Influences
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Shim Hyung-rae,
Lee Kyung-kyu, Shin Dong-yup, Kang Ho-dong, Ji Suk-jin |
Influenced
|
Jung Hyung-don
Noh Hong-chul Haha Lee Kwang-soo Kang Gary Gil Shin Bong-sun |
Spouse
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Na Kyung-eun (나경은) (m. 2008)
|
Notable works and roles
|
Infinite Challenge, Family
Outing, X-Man, Come to Play,Happy Together,Running
Man
|
Biography
Yoo Jae-suk was born as the eldest child out of three (he has
two younger sisters) on August 14, 1972 in Seoul, South Korea. Yoo Jae-suk
attended the Seoul Institute of the Arts, but was unable to graduate due to his
busy schedule as an up-and-coming comedian.
His television debut was on the KBS Comedian Festival (for
college students) in 1991, where he performed a parody of a commercial with
Choi Seung-gyung (Hangul: 최승경). Him dancing to a
cover of the song “Step by Step” by New Kids on the Block is also one
of his early memorable moments. In 2002, after nine hard years as a relatively unknown
comedian, thanks to a recommendation by Choi Jin-sil, he hosted a program
called Live and Enjoy Together (Dong-guh-dong-lak). The
program became instantly popular and since then Yoo began to host many other
variety programs. His potential was fully realized when he co-hosted a program
called The Crash of MCs (MC 대격돌 – 공포의 쿵쿵따) with Kang Ho-dong, Lee Hwi-jae and Kim Han-seok.
His first Grand Prize award was for a popular program called Happy
Together Friends. The show’s concept was for TV personalities to try
and find their school friends (five of them) out of many (false friends) who
are sitting behind a desk. The show was intended to bring back nostalgic
memories about one’s days in school. This Grand Prize was especially memorable,
not just because it was Yoo’s first, but because it was from the broadcasting
station where he made his debut.
He later went on to host the show X-Man, which soon
grew to be one of the most popular and most viewed shows in Korea. During that
time, he became increasingly popular and many programs began to nickname Yoo as
the “MC of the Nation.” However, after a few years, the program was canceled
due to falling ratings as well as an absence of new and innovative ideas. Yoo
went on to host various replacement shows, New X-Man, Old
TV(in which guests would re-enact classic TV serials), and Haja!
Go! (Let’s Do It) for SBS, which were all shortly canceled due
to low ratings on Sunday evenings. However, X-Man has found
success in international syndication.
Yoo is a part of the cast of the top-rated comedy variety
program Infinite Challenge (무한도전) with Jung
Hyung-don and Noh Hong-chul. He is the host-in-chief since 2005 and one of the
program’s founding members.
The program wasn’t popular when it
first aired and its average ratings were low (roughly 5 percent). After Kim
Tae-ho took a role as new PD, the program underwent several changes both in its
concept and the cast. New members such as Park Myung-soo, Haha, and Jeong
Jun-ha were added to the cast ofInfinite Challenge in 2006. By the
time season 3 of the show aired in 2006, the concept and format of “variety
& reality program” became very popular, and Infinite Challenge became
the forerunner of many programs that followed with the same or similar format.
Since December 2, 2006, the program has received the highest ratings of
prime-time lineups for Saturday evening.
Infinite Challenge is seen as Yoo’s favorite and
best program as not only did he met his wife, Na Kyung-eun (나경은), during season 2, he was able to gain even more popularity due
the rising popularity of the show and its significant effect on the general
public. He ended up winning a total of five Grand Prizes (2006, 2007, 2009,
2010 and 2014) with the program. His love to this program was reflected
during 1-on-1 talk with fellow co-host, Jung Hyung-don, on “Pause” special (S04E300)
that aired on October 20, 2012. He said “I think my life on television and
variety shows will be tied to the fate of Infinite Challenge” and
“When will we ever get to do another program like this? No matter how hard you
try, it’s going to be impossible to do another film like this.”
Yoo also co-hosts Come to Play (놀러와) with Kim Won-hee and Happy Together Season 3 (해피 투게더 3) with Park Myung-soo, Park Mi-sun
and Shin Bong-sun. Yoo hosted these talk shows for a long period of time (both
over 5 years), and the ratings have been consistently high throughout his
tenure. Although Happy Together continues to this day, Come
to Play was cancelled in 2012 due to low ratings after its long
tenure. Yoo tries his best to differentiate his hosting styles, both based
on who his guests are and on their current situation.
After those replacement shows on SBS, on June 15, 2008, Yoo,
along with Lee Hyori, Yoon Jong-shin, Kim Su-ro, Lee Chun-hee, Kang Dae-sung,
Park Ye-jin and Kim Jong-kook (since episode 19) became the hosts and family
members of Family Outing (Korean: 패밀리가 떴다) as a part of
SBS’s Good Sunday lineup. Since then, Family Outing has
become one of the top-rated shows in Korea, consistently achieving the highest
ratings at the Sunday mid-afternoon time-slot (especially during the first and
second quarters of 2009). However, with various problems and scandals regarding
the program, and by the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, a rumor of Yoo not
continuing his contract with Family Outing was raised. By the
time of his contract expiration, Family Outing rating wasn’t
the same as that of early 2009, and Season 1 was brought to an end.
On July 6, 2008, Yoo Jae-suk married MBC announcer Na Kyung-eun
(나경은) who worked with him on the show Infinite Challenge. Yoo and his wife welcomed
their first child, a son, on May 1, 2010.
Since July 11, 2010, he has hosted a variety show called Running
Mantogether with fellow Infinite Challenge member, Haha,
and other entertainers such as Ji Suk-jin, Kim Jong-kook, LeeSsang’s Gary, Song
Ji-hyo, Lee Kwang-soo, and Song Joong-ki (who has since left the show as of
episode 41 to focus on his acting career). Although the program did not have a
good start in ratings, it later became one of Korea’s most popular shows. The
program is not only popular in Korea, but also in other countries as shown by
their overseas filming & fanmeeting demand.
In 2012, Yoo Jae-suk and fellow hosts of Infinite
Challenge, Noh Hong-chul and Haha, appeared in the music video for Psy’s
hit single “Gangnam Style.”. In the video, he was reprising the retro
disco dancing character he created for the mock-band “Drooping Snail” inInfinite
Challenge’s West Coast Highway Music Festival special where Psy also
appeared.
In 2013, Yoo Jae-suk appeared in the music video for Psy’s
follow-up single, “Gentleman”, together with other cast members of Infinite
Challenge“.
In 2015, Yoo Jae-suk appeared in Jinusean’s Tell Me One More
Time music video.
On July 15, 2015, Yoo Jae-suk signed an exclusive contract with
FNC Entertainment after having been without an agency for about 5 years.
In 2015, Yoo Jae-suk made a cameo appearance in the South Korean
drama, My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol.
Source: Wikipedia.org
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