Running Man Scripted??

    It took almost two years and a terrible Big Bang episode for me to officially come to the conclusion that Running Man has lost its spark. The show that normally exemplifies extremely well thought out game play, organic cast interaction, and is second only to the long-established 1 Night 2 Days in Sunday ratings, has become a lackluster chore to watch. Running Man is a mere shell of the mind-blowing game show that it used to be. And the reason for that? Excessive scripting.
   When it comes to variety shows, mentioning the term “script” is kind of like uttering “Voldemort” in a room full of good wizards: no one wants to hear it. But Running Man does not employ the kind of scripting that you’ll find at your favorite drama’s table read. In variety, scripting refers to things like misleading editing, exaggerated persona's, and cast members who pretend they don’t know what’s going to happen in the show when they really do. It is what happens when a show attempts to create a reality that doesn’t actually exist. Not all scripting is bad. In fact, some of it is necessary for the sake of flow and entertainment. But in the case of Running Man, scripting has totally ruined the show for the dedicated viewer.
In Running Man’s early glory days, the main cast members—a hodgepodge of variety veterans and rookies including the “nation’s MC” Yoo Jae-suk, singer and funnyman Haha, and baby-faced cutie pie Song Joong-ki—split up into teams, locked themselves in huge venues, and played epically intense games of hide and seek. You could practically hear the Running Men’s hearts pound as they hid between tiny cracks in the wall, waiting for their opponents to pass by without seeing them. While the Running Men gradually established their characters and built relationships with each other, the show’s writing staff constantly experimented with different ways to make the games more fresh, edgy, and memorable.