The main contributor of Home Alone, actor Kim Kwang-kyu, joins hands with Lee Seo-jin to aim at his original program. Using the playful bickering chemistry with his 20-year friend Lee Seo-jin as their weapon, they have thrown down the gauntlet to challenge the time-slot leader Home Alone.
SBS's new variety show airing its first episode on the 3rd, My manager who is too prickly for me - Biseojin (hereafter Biseojin), is a real road talk show in which Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu transform into a star's daily managers and closely care for them throughout a day.
On the 2nd, a day before the first broadcast, Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu held a press conference at Myeong-dong Community House Masil in Jung-gu, Seoul, and candidly expressed their feelings about the program being scheduled in the same time slot as Home Alone.
Kim Kwang-kyu, who was an original member and a hit contributor of Home Alone in the past, now faces his former program as a competitor. Lee Seo-jin expressed concern, saying, "We go up against Home Alone and I don't know if we're in our right minds. It seems like it will be hard to win."
But Kim Kwang-kyu, who came from Home Alone, had a different view. He showed confidence, saying, "I was the main contributor of Home Alone," and added, "The programs Lee Seo-jin always says 'failed' actually did well. So I don't feel bad about this one either. Surprisingly, the ratings might explode," raising expectations for Biseojin's upset.
Biseojin's most powerful weapon is undoubtedly the "tikitaka chemistry" born from Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu's 20-year friendship. Kim Jung-wook, the producer-director, said, "Their bickering chemistry is real. To the production team it looks like a mom and dad fighting, but the point of interest is that they are the only ones who think deeply about each other," emphasizing that the relationship between the two is the program's core entertainment.
Throughout the press conference the two kept up affectionate disses toward each other. Lee Seo-jin called Kim Kwang-kyu "like a painful little toe" and bragged, "I constantly brought him in." In response, Kim Kwang-kyu said, "I don't understand saying that with your own mouth," but added, "Because you never know where Lee Seo-jin will pop off, I have to keep him in check."
Though they acted as if they couldn't stand each other, Kim Kwang-kyu said of Lee Seo-jin, "He is a companion for life. I think of him again when I get home," and Lee Seo-jin shot back, "A companion I don't want to accompany," turning the venue into a sea of laughter.
If Home Alone shows a star's unvarnished solo life, Biseojin wagers on raw relationships and talk created by Lee Seo-jin, Kim Kwang-kyu and guests within the new relationship of managers. Observers are watching to see what synergy the prickliness of "pro caregiver" Lee Seo-jin and the cheerfulness of "professional chauffeur secretary" Kim Kwang-kyu will create to draw out the stars' bare faces, and how much this strong chemistry will threaten Home Alone's dominance.
Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu's hard-fought manager challenge, SBS's My manager who is too prickly for me - Biseojin, premieres on the 3rd at 9:50 p.m.
[OSEN]