Running Man (Korean: 런닝맨) is a South Korean variety show; a part of SBS's Good Sunday lineup. It was first aired on July 11, 2010, currently the longest-running program for being successful for five years on Good Sunday surpassing X-Man. Running Man is classified as an "urban action variety"; a genre of variety shows in an urban environment.[1] The MCs and guests complete missions in a landmark to win the race.[2] The show has since shifted to a more familiar reality-variety show concept focused on games. It has garnered attention as being the come-back program for Yoo Jae-suk, the main MC of the program, after leaving Good Sunday's Family Outing in February 2010.[3]
Airing at the 5 pm KST time slot for most of its run, Running Man switched to the second part of Good Sunday (which happened on May 22 and May 29, 2011 with Kim Yu-na's Kiss and Cry but was quickly switched back due to low ratings) beginning May 6, 2012, airing after Kim Byung-man's Law of the Jungle 2 at 6:10 pm and airing against KBS2 Happy Sunday's 1 Night 2 Days Season 2 and MBC Sunday Night's I Am a Singer 2.[4]
The show has been popular in other parts of Asia as well, and gained online popularity among Hallyu fans, having been subtitled to a number of languages by volunteers, such as English, Spanish, French, Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian, Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese. On November 19, 2014, the show's head director, Cho Hyo-jin, announced his departure from the show after working with the members for four years.[5]
