A South Korean variety-documentary-reality type show focusing on the impending debut of a new K-Pop girl group known as Apink.A South Korean variety-documentary-reality type show focusing on the impending debut of a new K-Pop girl group known as Apink.A South Korean variety-documentary-reality type show focusing on the impending debut of a new K-Pop girl group known as Apink.
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Featured review
Very Good (for about 8-10 episodes).
Apink News is a 12 episode Korean documentary/variety/reality show that aired in 2011.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Here's your premise: An entertainment company suffers a media leak about a new pop idol group they're grooming. Rumors spread, and said company feels the need to address them. So, what better way to handle the situation, then to just go ahead and publicly introduce the group and have them make their debut via their own special documentary variety-reality TV show?
That's the story anyway, even though it sounds more like the plot of an absurd sitcom. I'm not sure how much of this leak/rumor stuff I actually believe in regards to how this entertainment company came up with the idea to debut their new idol group (known as Apink), but it's ingenious nonetheless, and it ultimately works really well on two fronts: 1) it familiarizes the public with the group and helps garner advance support & recognition for them, and, 2) it makes for a pretty entertaining variety type show all on its own.
The seven members of Apink are exactly what you'd expect from an aspiring young female K-Pop group; they all seemingly get along with each other wonderfully, they're all pretty and have varying talents, and they're all unfailingly accommodating & adorable at every turn. Naturally, there's also a deliberate attempt to have a mix of characteristics among them; ages and personalities differ slightly, and, there's a "voice", "visual", "dancer", etc. And, they are young, really young; at the time this show aired, the oldest member was maybe 19 years old, while the youngest was still in middle school. Each episode devotes a portion of its time focusing on one specific member's background, talents, etc, so you can better know each member individually and the role they fill in the group overall. They're all really easy to like, because they are cute, and they're all constantly being shown in the most positive light possible.
As amiable as Apink is, the best thing about this show is everything else that's taking place around them. This show plays a lot like an amusing Korean variety show wherever possible, and it utilizes a veteran team of directors, writers, and editors to accomplish this. Also on hand are experienced speech trainers, ballet instructors, dance choreographers, and the like, that coach the girls up and put them through their paces, along with numerous guest personalities that chip in, and the group's ever-present manager who acts as den mother and do-it-all handler. All of these people contribute significantly to this production, either on-screen or off, and as a result, Apink often appears more like guests on some random variety program, instead of being the focal point of their own show. The girls don't even seem to know what's going on half the time, but they work very, very hard to succeed, and they deal with whatever is thrown at them as best they can.
The show takes the form of a half hour news broadcast parody complete with news anchors and an on-site reporter that oversee the proceedings. All of the news is about Apink, hence the show's title. The news anchors spend a few minutes informing you of current Apink news updates, then it's off to get to know more about the girls and watch them work towards their debut. The news anchors change each week, and the majority of them are from other established idol groups from Apink's same parent company. The implementation of these news anchors is very amusing; many of them are scripted to lament the fact that they weren't provided the perks & exposure Apink is getting when they were debuting, while others are smitten with/resentful of the new girls on the block, etc. It's all done just for variety show fun, and they all came off looking great for playing along and helping out their juniors.
Once the show gets to episode 8 or so, Apink finally makes their debut, and everything goes well. So, Mission Accomplished!...Unfortunately, this show hits a brick wall almost immediately following the girls' debut; the colorful manager and interesting guest personalities are long gone, the sharp writing and editing ends, viewer audience track is over, etc. As a result, the life is sucked out of this show and it's not nearly as entertaining as it originally was. It seems this show's creators simply borrowed and gathered up all the industry people it needed just long enough to get Apink properly introduced and through their debut while making a decent variety show along the way, then those same people had to get back to their regular duties & schedules. Once that happens, Apink is simply passed off to its new managers/handlers to begin the regular grind of a typical K-Pop idol group, and this show gets progressively uninteresting from there.
There's actually 2 additional seasons of Apink News, but they too don't contain any of the components that made this show so good to begin with, and thus aren't nearly as entertaining as the initial season. Apink is just a bunch of teenage girls after all, and teenage girls tend to get a little boring & annoying when you're exposed to them in higher doses. Without a quality support team of established writers, directors, & guests to facilitate the events and take the pressure off the girls, this show just doesn't work very well. These additional seasons really aren't worth watching (unless you're a huge Apink fan)...Season 1, on the other hand (particularly the first 8-10 episodes), is Korean variety show gold.
Summary: If you're a fan of shows like 'Running Man' or 'Heroes' et.al., you'll probably like Season 1 of Apink News, as it incorporates many of the same elements of the aforementioned shows. If you're not familiar with those shows, you still might like this entertaining, and often humorous, take on the life of an up and coming K-Pop girl group.
Bottom Line: 8 out of 10 stars (for season 1 ONLY).
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Here's your premise: An entertainment company suffers a media leak about a new pop idol group they're grooming. Rumors spread, and said company feels the need to address them. So, what better way to handle the situation, then to just go ahead and publicly introduce the group and have them make their debut via their own special documentary variety-reality TV show?
That's the story anyway, even though it sounds more like the plot of an absurd sitcom. I'm not sure how much of this leak/rumor stuff I actually believe in regards to how this entertainment company came up with the idea to debut their new idol group (known as Apink), but it's ingenious nonetheless, and it ultimately works really well on two fronts: 1) it familiarizes the public with the group and helps garner advance support & recognition for them, and, 2) it makes for a pretty entertaining variety type show all on its own.
The seven members of Apink are exactly what you'd expect from an aspiring young female K-Pop group; they all seemingly get along with each other wonderfully, they're all pretty and have varying talents, and they're all unfailingly accommodating & adorable at every turn. Naturally, there's also a deliberate attempt to have a mix of characteristics among them; ages and personalities differ slightly, and, there's a "voice", "visual", "dancer", etc. And, they are young, really young; at the time this show aired, the oldest member was maybe 19 years old, while the youngest was still in middle school. Each episode devotes a portion of its time focusing on one specific member's background, talents, etc, so you can better know each member individually and the role they fill in the group overall. They're all really easy to like, because they are cute, and they're all constantly being shown in the most positive light possible.
As amiable as Apink is, the best thing about this show is everything else that's taking place around them. This show plays a lot like an amusing Korean variety show wherever possible, and it utilizes a veteran team of directors, writers, and editors to accomplish this. Also on hand are experienced speech trainers, ballet instructors, dance choreographers, and the like, that coach the girls up and put them through their paces, along with numerous guest personalities that chip in, and the group's ever-present manager who acts as den mother and do-it-all handler. All of these people contribute significantly to this production, either on-screen or off, and as a result, Apink often appears more like guests on some random variety program, instead of being the focal point of their own show. The girls don't even seem to know what's going on half the time, but they work very, very hard to succeed, and they deal with whatever is thrown at them as best they can.
The show takes the form of a half hour news broadcast parody complete with news anchors and an on-site reporter that oversee the proceedings. All of the news is about Apink, hence the show's title. The news anchors spend a few minutes informing you of current Apink news updates, then it's off to get to know more about the girls and watch them work towards their debut. The news anchors change each week, and the majority of them are from other established idol groups from Apink's same parent company. The implementation of these news anchors is very amusing; many of them are scripted to lament the fact that they weren't provided the perks & exposure Apink is getting when they were debuting, while others are smitten with/resentful of the new girls on the block, etc. It's all done just for variety show fun, and they all came off looking great for playing along and helping out their juniors.
Once the show gets to episode 8 or so, Apink finally makes their debut, and everything goes well. So, Mission Accomplished!...Unfortunately, this show hits a brick wall almost immediately following the girls' debut; the colorful manager and interesting guest personalities are long gone, the sharp writing and editing ends, viewer audience track is over, etc. As a result, the life is sucked out of this show and it's not nearly as entertaining as it originally was. It seems this show's creators simply borrowed and gathered up all the industry people it needed just long enough to get Apink properly introduced and through their debut while making a decent variety show along the way, then those same people had to get back to their regular duties & schedules. Once that happens, Apink is simply passed off to its new managers/handlers to begin the regular grind of a typical K-Pop idol group, and this show gets progressively uninteresting from there.
There's actually 2 additional seasons of Apink News, but they too don't contain any of the components that made this show so good to begin with, and thus aren't nearly as entertaining as the initial season. Apink is just a bunch of teenage girls after all, and teenage girls tend to get a little boring & annoying when you're exposed to them in higher doses. Without a quality support team of established writers, directors, & guests to facilitate the events and take the pressure off the girls, this show just doesn't work very well. These additional seasons really aren't worth watching (unless you're a huge Apink fan)...Season 1, on the other hand (particularly the first 8-10 episodes), is Korean variety show gold.
Summary: If you're a fan of shows like 'Running Man' or 'Heroes' et.al., you'll probably like Season 1 of Apink News, as it incorporates many of the same elements of the aforementioned shows. If you're not familiar with those shows, you still might like this entertaining, and often humorous, take on the life of an up and coming K-Pop girl group.
Bottom Line: 8 out of 10 stars (for season 1 ONLY).
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