Yoo Jae-suk and Yoo Yeon-seok’s SBS variety show “틈만나면” has topped the Tuesday ratings in its time slot for the ninth consecutive week, cementing its standing as Korean television’s strongest Tuesday variety program.
The October 13 episode, featuring actors Nam Ji-hyun and Kim Jae-young as guests, peaked at 6.1 percent with a 4.2 percent household rating, while the key 2049 demographic rating reached 1.3 percent — No. 1 among all Tuesday variety shows, MHN reported. TV Daily confirmed the nine-week streak. Nam, a Sogang University psychology graduate, returned to her alma mater’s neighborhood with Kim Jae-young, and the pair cleared all three game stages alongside the two hosts. Nam introduced herself on air as a member of Sogang’s class of 2014 psychology department, and the duo’s calm teamwork in the final basket-toss game drew praise from viewers, according to TV Daily.
At the end of the broadcast, Yoo addressed the same-day recording cancellation from September 22 that had made headlines. He explained that a severe sore throat left his throat so swollen he feared it might be COVID, and that he canceled because he could not meet people if it turned out to be COVID. The cancellation was the first of its kind in the 35 years since his 1991 debut. The scrapped episode’s guests, Chae Soo-bin and Shin Seung-ho, re-shot their segment on October 6 — Shin joked that he first thought the cancellation was a hidden-camera prank.
Season five’s highest mark remains the August 25 episode with Cha Tae-hyun and Jin Ki-joo, which peaked at 6.2 percent and delivered the season’s first three-stage sweep. The September 29 outing with newlywed Byun Yo-han and Noh Jae-won peaked at 4.5 percent.
The momentum continues the run of season four, which ended in April with a 6.9 percent peak for its Lee Kwang-soo and Park Bo-young finale. That season spent 15 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the 2049 demographic, with a season-best 8.4 percent household rating for the Jo In-sung, Park Hae-joon and Park Jung-min episode.
“틈만나면,” in which the two hosts surprise ordinary people during small gaps in their daily routines, airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on SBS. The October 20 episode will feature Shin Seung-ho and Chae Soo-bin around the Gwanghwamun area.
