'The Secret Friends Club' shows how even an A-list cast can struggle in a dopamine-driven entertainment show economy
"The Secret Friends Club," featuring A-listers such as Blackpink's Jennie and Go Youn-jung (recently seen in "Can This Love Be Translated?"), is struggling to gain traction despite coming from one of Korea's most acclaimed variety show creators.
The series attempts to introduce more "warmhearted" entertainment programming in a landscape increasingly dominated by dopamine-driven formats, but has posted ratings of around 1.6 percent across its first four episodes.
Structured in three parts, the show's first part features Jennie, Dex, Chu Sung-hoon and Noh Hong-chul, while the second part stars Go Youn-jung, Park Myung-soo, Hong Jin-kyung and Jung Hae-in. In the show, participants play rounds of Secret Santa as they secretly infiltrate their assigned person's daily life to prepare and deliver a surprise gift, without revealing their identity.
Rather than leaning on spectacle or tension, the show opts for warmth and sincerity, highlighting thoughtful gift-giving and the emotional considerations behind each gesture.
"The Secret Friends Club" aligns with the broader ambitions of producer Kim Tae-ho, the acclaimed producer behind successful variety franchises such as "Infinite Challenge," to champion gentler entertainment in a market flooded with survival competitions and dating reality shows.
The project follows his earlier efforts such as "My Name Is Gabriel," a tentpole JTBC variety series starring Ji Chang-wook, Jennie and Park Bo-gum, in which celebrities stepped into the lives of ordinary people overseas. "My Name Is Gabriel" hovered around 1 percent ratings until its 14th and final episode in October 2024.
"'The Secret Friends Club' is a program that seeks empathy rather than dopamine," Kim said in an interview Friday. "Survival formats and other genres with proven appeal dominate the variety landscape, but I wanted to try something new beyond that, so I decided to dive in."
Industry observers, however, argue that such "warmhearted" formats require sharper strategic positioning — securing a core fandom, for example — to compete.
"Realistically, variety shows tend to succeed (in Korea) when they deliver strong dopamine hits," said pop culture critic Kim Hern-sik.
"But of course, the performance of ‘wholesome' variety content can vary depending on its nature. But in order to do that, leveraging a cast member's brand and fandom is essential. Take Park Bo-gum's show, for example: It combined running a hair salon with volunteer work. The ratings were around 3 percent, but it clearly leveraged Park's powerful brand and fandom. Ultimately, a wholesome variety show needs to be specialized around a brand with built-in fandom appeal," he said.
Park Bo-gum, known for K-drama hits such as "Reply 1988" and "When Life Gives You Tangerines," is currently starring in "The Village Barber," a tvN variety series in which he runs a hair salon in a rural village. The show premiered Jan. 30.
"The key point when shooting a 'warmhearted' entertainment show may be that you shouldn't force people into a predetermined format or message. Instead, you should build the concept around the cast. Securing a core fandom or niche fanbase first, and then layering the 'wholesome' element on top, may be a more effective approach," Kim added, citing Jung Hae-in's casting as a case study.
"For Jung's case in 'The Secret Friends Club,' the question was how well his strong image as a romance lead was utilized. In the case of Park Bo-gum, Park had a firmly established pure and wholesome image, which naturally aligned with the variety format he is trying out right now," he said.
yoonseo.3348@heraldcorp.com
