Invincible Youth


Invincible Youth is a South Korean variety show which aired its first season on KBS2 from October 23, 2009 to December 24, 2010. Season 1 featured seven girls from K-pop idol groups wherein they experience how it is to live and survive in the Korean rural outdoors. It started its second season on November 12, 2011 featuring eight girls.

Background

Season 1

The first season of the show involved Korean entertainers meeting weekly to work and learn about farming in a Yuchi-ri village in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province in South Korea. This involved both agricultural work, interacting with members of an aging rural community, and competing in challenges involving agrarian or domestic tasks. As the show's popularity grew, the cast and crew began work to make their filming location a sustainable site for agritourism, enter produce in food competition, and promote environmentally conscious farming. Some of the products were sold within the local community, to the general public, or distributed as gifts.
The G7 girls initially included Narsha of Brown Eyed Girls, Sunhwa of Secret, Hyuna of 4Minute, Hyomin of T-ara, Sunny and Yuri of Girls' Generation, and Hara of Kara.
On Friday, May 14, 2010, the PD of the show Kim Ho-sang announced that Sunny, Yuri, and Hyuna would be leaving the show due to scheduling conflicts with their respective groups' overseas promotions. Their replacements were decided through private auditions with members of other K-pop girl groups.
On May 30, it was confirmed that After School's Jooyeon, f’s Victoria and Kim Sori will become the three new members of G7 on Invincible Youth. Kim Jong-min also became a semi-permanent member for a month under the moniker of being a "Variety show mentor" for the new members.
On the August 27th episode, it was announced that Kim Tae-woo will be taking a temporary leave of absence due to a surgery he is to receive for his throat. He vowed to come back to the show as soon as he makes a full recovery. Starting episode 44, Song Eun-i filled in as a semi-permanent MC in Kim Tae-woo's absence. On December 8, 2010, it was revealed that Invincible Youth finished recording their finale episode. They had filmed for over one year, since October 2009.
In an interview with Star News on December 10, production director Kim Sang-ho said, "We're not discontinuing the show because of low viewer ratings. There has been a lot of conflicting schedules due to girl groups like KARA expanding their activities overseas. It was difficult to take out some of the fixed members, so we decided to end season one for now. There's a lot of trust being placed on the worth of the Invincible Youth brand. After discussions with other producers, everyone agreed to end season one and go ahead with season two next year."
Season 1 Slogan: 청춘은 지지 않는다~ 청춘~ 불패
Episode #GuestsSummary
1-The members are woken up and driven to Idol Village. The members gather in their new home where they meet each other and establish rules for their village. The members put on a performance for the rest of the village before being assigned various farming tasks. Narsha & Hyomin are assigned to pick beans, Sunny & Sunhwa are assigned to clean a hen house, and Yuri, Hyuna & Hara are assigned to build a latrine. After completing their tasks, the members gather in their home and make phone calls to their family members.
2-The members compete in a talent contest to determine which members will be completing which tasks. Narsha & Hyuna are assigned to collect Ginko nuts, Yuri is assigned to pick peppers, and Sunny, Hara, Sunhwa & Hyomin are assigned to build a hen house and a fence. The members come together at their home to eat dinner and to make phone calls to their families.
3-The members continuing making phone calls from the last episode and then go to sleep. Sunhwa, Narsha, Hyomin & Yuri are assigned with apple picking and Hara, Hyuna & Sunny are assigned with fixing their fence, burying kimchi pots and getting food for the G7 supper.
4-The members present the items they will be bartering with to get food at the market. The members are tasked with selling apples at the market to see who the most popular member is. The members then gather at their home to eat dinner.
5-The episode starts with Yuri leading the other members in a yoga session. The members then participate in a legging splitting contest to see who can stretch out the farthest. The members make kimchi with the women of the village and then deliver kimchi to the elders of the village. The members then gather at their home to talk about their experiences visiting other parts of the village.
6Minho The members visit Road Lee to help him pick fermented beans. Minho picks his ideal girl from G7 and helps the members with the fermented beans. Sunny, Hara & Minho pick mudfish to make soup for the group's dinner. Hara, Hyomin & Sunny babysit an infant and help the child fall asleep.
7-The members receive a calf for their village and learn how to take care of it. Narsha, Sunhwa & Yuri deliver a television to an elder who Narsha had previously befriended. Sunny, Hyomin & Hara are assigned to build a stable for the calf and Narsha, Sunhwa & Yuri are assigned to plant garlic. The members compete in a quiz. to determine who owns the calf which Sunny wins. The members then visit various homes in the village to help students complete their homework.
8-Yuri completes her second yoga class. The members receive their first hen and guide it into the new hen house. Yuri, Hyuna, Sunhwa & Narsha are assigned with making tofu and Sunny, Hyomin & Hara are assigned to make steamed buns. The members gather in their home to eat the steamed buns and to play a game to assign members to make bean sprouts.
18Nicole

Season 2

Executive producer Kim Ho-sang told Star News on August 31 that the second season will take place in a fishing village in Daebu Island, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.
G8 members included Girls' Generation's Sunny and Hyoyeon, Amber, Suzy, Bora, Yewon, Ko Woo-ri, Jiyoung. Lee Soo-geun, Ji Hyun-woo and Boom served as MC's. Sunny is the only returning member from Season 1, although Hyoyeon, Jiyoung and Bora were guests during the previous season.
The first episode of Invincible Youth 2 premiered on November 12, 2011 in South Korea, while the international premiere on KBS World was on December 2, 2011.
Prior to the airing of the April 7th episode, multiple news reports were released confirming that cast members Lee Soo-geun, Ji Hyun-woo, Amber and Woori will be leaving the show. Season 1 cast member Kim Shin-young returned as an MC starting from the April 14th episode.
It was then later revealed that Sunny would also be leaving the show. As she was the only member from season 1, they agreed that she would stay on with season 2 until the program became somewhat stable. She left the show after the July 7th episode. Comedian Lee Young-ja was cast afterwards, starting with the July 21st episode.
Invincible Youth 2 stopped airing in mid-November due to scheduling conflicts with the cast members as well as low ratings. The final episode was filmed November 7 and aired on November 17.
Season 2 Slogan: 청춘이여 영원하라! 청춘~ 불패

Invincible Youth members

Season 1

Hosts

G7 members

Season 2

Hosts

G8 members

List of special guests

Season 1

Season 2

Music

Season 1: During Season 1, a short clip of "I Can Do Better" by Avril Lavigne is played at the start of each episode. "Rockstar" by Miley Cyrus was used as an opening theme for a number of early episodes. A medley of songs by the American rock group Journey performed by the cast of the American television show Glee was used to open several of the final episodes. The ending theme of every episode is a track titled "All About You" by an English pop rock group named Mcfly.
Season 2: During Season 2 the ending theme for episode 1 through to episode 7 is "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. In subsequent episodes, the ending theme is "I Will" by The Beatles. After the cast change, it has since been replaced with promotions for PVs.