Variety: The Human Condition (Female)

A brief intro to The Human Condition: 6 members come together to live in a house for 5 days and 4 nights with a mission. There are 2 versions in the first 2 seasons – male and female. Originally, there were only male members. But when they did a Female Comedian special and it garnered double the ratings of the usual show, they changed it such that males and females alternate. I have only watched the female version.

I first started watching THC because of Shin Bora, who participated in the first Female Special and was then a semi-fixed permanent cast, joining for 3 missions altogether. The fixed female members are: Kim Jimin (my fave), Kim Young Hee, Kim Shin Young and Kim Sook. The last member of the first Female Special was Park Soyoung. Like the male cast, most of them are/were from Gag Concert. Each mission, 2 guests will join our fixed female cast, and they may be comedians, announcers, idols or actresses.

First female special with guest Son Dambi

I originally watched this for Bora so I only intended to watch the episodes she appeared in, but I became a fan of Jimin so I ended up watching all the female episodes!

Each mission is shown in 3 episodes. The missions for the female cast are:

Female Special: Live without handphones & trash

Live without chemical products

Live without meat & flour

Live only on part-time jobs

Overcoming skin & hair problems

Talent sharing

Live on a shoestring budget

And 2 specials: Chuseok and Christmas.

What I love so much about this show is that it hits that variety sweet spot of being fun, funny AND educational. Fun watching them work around their rules, funny because these are all comedians and educational as it provides knowledge and makes you think about your way of life. For example for the trash episode, it’s REALLY REALLY hard because you just don’t think of those little little things.

Or the chemical products where our female celebrities, especially the ‘beauty gagwoman’ Jimin, had to go without makeup, and how they managed to find alternatives for makeup, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.

I also love the camaraderie and bond between the members. Some of them were already close before the show since the gag world in Korea is only that big, but it was always heartwarming to see their bond. Even the cooking and eating scenes were entertaining.

Another part that I love is the Shin Bora-Kim Kilee moments. They are SO CUTE. They had the most scenes together in the first Female Special when they had to date without handphones. Another cute moment was during the Chuseok Special where they painted a mural for a village and Kilee chose purple or ‘Bora-saek’ as the paint colour for his handprint.

I must talk a little about Kim Jimin since this show made me a huge fan of hers. Firstly, I’ve never seen a comedian as pretty as her. And she’s almost all natural, having only done double eyelid surgery. But that’s beside the point. At first, she was a princess, worrying about appearing bare faced in front of the camera and all, but she improved so much and became cool about it. Or rather, was forced to become cool about it since the second mission disallowed them from wearing makeup! She’s also good at cooking, sewing, drawing and just about anything art-y. And she’s also very entertaining with a real personality, and not afraid to make fun of herself.

Also lots of Jimin-Gyeonghwan moments in this show. My favourite was in the ‘Living only with neighbours’ help’ 3^rd episode, when they were recording a song, and Jimin was bragging to Gyeonghwan that the Female Special got double the ratings of the male special.

There are also some Jimin-Jo Ujong moments, but those are just hilarious and not really squee-worthy.

Anyway, I highly recommend everyone to watch this show! Some idols may cameo as guests in certain episodes as well. Like when our members visit Music Bank to get tips from idols. All episodes can be found on KBSWorld Youtube with English subs so it’s really convenient!