tvN 'You Quiz on the Block' is drawing praise from viewers with stories that run through the theme 'I know because I tried it.'
On the broadcast on the 3rd (Wed), episode 321 of 'You Quiz on the Block' (directed by Kwak Chung-ah and Heo Kang-seok, writer Lee Un-ju) featured a 20-something special cleaner Um Woo-bin, cardiovascular thoracic surgeon Professor Yu Jae-seok, stock-trading psychiatrist Park Jong-seok, and actor Jung Kyung-ho, who delivered cheerful and sincere stories. In particular, the stories of life and understanding gained through each person's experiences offered heartfelt comfort to those who had been going through difficult times, evoking warm empathy. That day, household ratings in the Seoul metropolitan area and nationwide, and the 20-49 male and female ratings targeted by tvN, ranked first in the same time slot including cable and general programming, continuing its popularity. (Nielsen Korea, paid platforms basis)
Actor Jung Kyung-ho opened up about the worries and efforts hidden behind his usually perfect professional characters with sincere talk. During the filming of the drama 'Sorry, I Love You,' he said there were times when he realized his acting was lacking to the extent that even a one-shot was hard to get. Since then, he revealed that he has continued the habit of carrying a notebook in which he hand-copied scripts like a necessity to build his acting skills, drawing attention. Jung Kyung-ho's unusual love of scripts was greatly influenced by his father, PD Jung Eul-young, a star drama director. There were more drama scripts than books at home, and he grew up imagining acting alone through scripts from a young age. PD Jung at first discouraged him from becoming an actor because it was difficult, but now he supports his son, who has become a star, more than anyone. Jung Kyung-ho also shared a sincere father-and-son story, saying that through direct experience on set he finally came to understand his father's busy life, which he had not understood as a child, bringing emotion.
Psychiatrist Park Jong-seok, who lost his entire fortune in stocks, candidly shared his experience and drew viewers' empathy. He began by telling the story of how he was blinded by the thrill of his first revenue and invested by borrowing 300 million won, and openly recounted how stock addiction eventually led him to lose all his assets and his job. Comparing himself to successful friends and suppressing long-held feelings of inferiority eventually burst forth, and there were moments when he sank to the bottom of life and even considered extreme measures, but what held him back was a friend's single remark. Based on his experience, Dr. Park, reborn as a domestic expert in treating stock addiction, urged people suffering from stock addiction not to fall into the same danger, saying the best blue-chip to cultivate is 'yourself.' Though his experience could have been harrowing, his frank confession instead drew laughter and sympathy.
Professor Yu Jae-seok, a cardiovascular thoracic surgeon known as the real-life model for the character Kim Jun-wan in the drama Hospital Playlist, described the process by which he came to understand and help patients' loneliness. He also attracted interest with the story of having shared a hospital room with a patient he later suspected had transmitted pulmonary tuberculosis to him, along with his own experience of undergoing a lung resection in 2002.
He said that while staying in an isolation ward the hardest thing was 'loneliness,' and based on his experience he warmed viewers by telling how he found companions to talk to for patients without family. That episode was actually introduced in the drama Hospital Playlist and left a deep impression. Professor Yu also shared recently trending information about myocardial infarction and, regarding Kim Su-yong's 'earlobe crease' mentioned as one of the warning signs, expressed the view that it is 'hard to see it as a causal relationship,' drawing attention.
The story of 20-something special cleaner Um Woo-bin, who has cleaned up other people's ends from trash houses to solitary deaths, suicides and natural disaster sites, also drew attention. He said he started working as a special cleaner because of debt and that over the past five years he has received about 1,000 cleaning requests, noting that cleaning the homes of peers who had died alone made him feel even more sorrowful. He recounted working in environments where 'cockroach rain' fell and moments when he struggled with the stench, but he said what was more painful was people's behavior that showed no respect for the deceased.
He also shared that he spent his school years as a reclusive loner and felt more comfortable in dirty spaces, showing deep empathy for young people living in trash houses. He described his work not as a 'special job' but as a 'special calling,' saying that through it his perspective on life has changed.
Meanwhile, next week's broadcast is raising expectations by previewing appearances by veteran entertainer and investment genius Jeon Won-ju, who boasts a 62-year acting career; brothers Lee Ju and Lee Jun-myeong, who swept first place at the top-level abacus competition; Kim Hyun-joo, the granddaughter of independence activists and the publisher of 'Jesse's Diary'; and comedian Kim Su-yong, who collapsed from acute myocardial infarction and returned from the brink of death. tvN 'You Quiz on the Block' airs every Wednesday at 8:45 p.m.
[Photo] 'You Quiz'
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