"Kim=I Live Alone Sat=What Are You Doing on the Weekend Sun=Best Mountain" PD Kim Myeong-yeop, confident in changing MBC weekend schedule [★FULL Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

"'I want to beat '2 Days & 1 Night' and 'Running Man' at least once.'

With a bold scheduling decision of extending the pilot to five episodes and adding a seventh episode, 'Best Mountain' is ambitiously aiming to take the top spot in MBC Sunday variety shows.

The program has reason to be confident: it brings together variety stars in their prime—Yoo Se-yoon, Jang Dong-min, Boom, Yang Se-hyung, and Heo Kyeong-hwan—along with PD Kim Myeong-yeop, who directed 'Radio Star' and is being hailed as MBC's next star PD.

Viewers who watched 'Best Mountain' praised the members' primal laughter and chemistry, saying, "It feels like 'Infinite Challenge' is rising again," and even a niche fanbase emerged within the five pilot episodes. In the upcoming seventh episode, the show will expand beyond just 'mountains' to showcase various formats, suggesting that 'Best Mountain's' comedy spectrum will grow even wider.

'Best Mountain' is Korea's first true survival mountain variety show, featuring intense competition toward the summit through various missions set in the mountains. It includes Yoo Se-yoon, the 2025 MBC Entertainment Awards male Choi U-su-sang (수상) winner, along with fellow nominees Jang Dong-min, Boom, and Yang Se-hyung, plus 'catfish' member Heo Kyeong-hwan.

Originally scheduled for five episodes, 'Best Mountain' began broadcasting on May 3 and completed its pilot run by May 31. With a sensitive production team and cast, the show secured a 'golden LINE-up' and competed in the Sunday 6 p.m. prime time slot against KBS 2TV's '2 Days & 1 Night' and SBS's 'Running Man'. 'Best Mountain' will continue from its sixth episode on the 28th through its twelfth episode on August 9.

The members climbed mountains of varying difficulty, from familiar Achasan and Yongmabong to Mangwusan, Daedunsan, the rugged Geumgangsan, and the Jirisan Baemudong course, presenting a different game each episode. At the mountain halfway point, chefs Kouji, Imokase, and patissier Hwang Ji-oh made surprise appearances, creating a unique scene where the members enjoyed a dream meal. Most importantly, in the variety world, the lineup of Yoo Se-yoon, Jang Dong-min, Boom, Yang Se-hyung, and Heo Kyeong-hwan formed a 'caviar combination' never seen before, delivering Tik-Taka chemistry that exceeded expectations.

StarNews recently spoke with PD Kim Myeong-yeop about the behind-the-scenes production of MBC's variety show 'Best Mountain'.

PD Kim Myeong-yeop noted that 'Best Mountain' fans have responded positively, with comments such as, "A second 'Infinite Challenge' has appeared," "Friday 'I Live Alone,' Saturday 'What Are You Doing on the Weekend,' Sunday 'Best Mountain'—MBC's variety golden age has arrived," "It's fun because it's pure comedians and MCs," and "The member combination is great." He said, "There were more positive comments than I expected. Reading the comments made me feel that we were on the right track."

When asked about the members' reactions after completing the five-episode pilot, PD Kim said, "The members weren't obsessed with ratings, but they kept contacting me every week, saying, 'You know ratings don't matter,' and reassuring me. They were satisfied, so I thought I just needed to do well. However, the members expressed they didn't want to climb mountains in the additional episodes."

The extended episodes of 'Best Mountain' from 6 to 12 will feature different titles and formats each week, including 'Best Mountain,' 'Best Mountain Attack,' 'Best Mountain Rose Meeting,' 'Best Mountain All-Subject Central Battle,' 'Best Mountain School Trip,' and 'Best Mountain Umi-Yangga.' PD Kim revealed, "We want to go anywhere, whether mountains or the sea, and create a show where the members have fun."

When asked how 'Best Mountain' plans to differentiate itself and compete with same-time slot variety shows '2 Days & 1 Night' and 'Running Man,' he replied, "'2 Days & 1 Night' has a solid fixed viewership and excels at luck-based games. We wanted to create our own games. 'Running Man' is also the ultimate variety show, with excellent build-ups in games and missions and great cast chemistry. We aim to go in a different direction from 'Running Man.' We want to deliver raw chemistry and an unrefined tone and manner."

PD Kim praised the cast members Yoo Se-yoon, Jang Dong-min, Boom, Yang Se-hyung, and Heo Kyeong-hwan not only for their variety strengths but also for their character. "Yoo Se-yoon has been a close friend since his time on 'Radio Star.' He knows his strengths and weaknesses well, so when we set up a show suited to him, he performs better than anyone else, becoming a 'wild man who dances the sword.' His greatest strength is that he is the trendiest among the members. Recently, he even dances the Curtis dance during breaks. He is smart and seems to be the most creative person. Jang Dong-min is like a CP. As a top player in survival shows, he has a strong planner mindset and asks us many questions. We also ask him for ideas. He speaks plainly and is truly smart, willing to step in as a player even if he gets criticized like the 'Gura' character on 'Radio Star.'"

"Heo Kyeong-hwan is a person with no real flaws. He contacts us often, has excellent character, and is very diligent. He is someone who must succeed. He never refuses or hesitates when asked to do something and never loses his original intention. Boom is a very kind person. He always contacts us after filming and watches the broadcast, encouraging us by saying, 'It's so fun.' He fulfills all requests and offers many ideas, especially greeting elderly people well on the mountain. Yang Se-hyung picks up trash even when there's no camera and carries the writers' bags. He is one of the celebrities with the best character I've seen."

Filming on the mountains required more arduous pre-production work than viewers could imagine. Each mountain was climbed at least three times. PD Kim explained, "From episodes 1 to 5, our focus was on playing games on the mountains, so we prioritized finding mountains where we could do that. We viewed hundreds of mountains in Korea and personally visited twenty, also securing cooperation from local governments. The final mountain locations were visited twice for pre-surveys and once for filming, meaning each mountain was climbed a total of three times. The staff worked extremely hard moving equipment."

Since 'Best Mountain' was born from the context of the 2025 MBC Entertainment Awards male Choi U-su-sang (수상) winner and nominees, there are expectations for awards at the 2026 MBC Entertainment Awards. He said, "It seems that works that perform well in the second half of the year receive good awards. We will broadcast up to the twelfth episode on August 9, and if the remaining seven episodes go well, we want to extend further. If our program remains active until the Entertainment Awards, perhaps that itself will be an award."

In particular, PD Kim stated, "I believe we should not try to follow others but focus on what we can do," revealing a unique spirit and motto in variety production.

Finally, he told 'Best Mountain' viewers, "We showed you the mountain theme without regret over five episodes, but for the upcoming seven episodes, we plan to prepare well by not limiting ourselves to mountains but showcasing what the members do best. One comment that stood out was, 'It's not easy to watch TV together these days, but we watched Best Mountain as a family.' We want to create a program that families can enjoy laughing together on Sunday evenings. We want to become a 'rice companion' like 'Jang-jorim' or a 'rice side dish.' We also want to beat '2 Days & 1 Night' and 'Running Man' at least once and show our unique differences. Please watch our friendly competition well."

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*This content was translated by AI.