''Handsome Boys of the 20th Century'' () is a South Korean variety-reality show which aired on the cable channel QTV ( ko). It began airing on April 16, 2013 and ran for two seasons with a total of 29 episodes.

Premise and concept

The show features five members from four disbanded or inactive " first-generation" K-pop idol groups, which debuted during the 1990s: H.O.T.,

Sechs Kies Sechs Kies (pronounced as ; ko, 젝스키스) is a first generation South Korean boy band. Making their debut on April 15, 1997, they are one of the first K-pop idol groups, credited with pioneering the idol scene and fandom culture. The grou ...

reunited in 2016. NRG and

g.o.d Groove Over Dose, known by the acronym g.o.d (), is a South Korean boy band formed by IHQ (company), SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to sol ...

came out of hiatus in 2014 and recommenced group activities. H.O.T. is acknowledged to be the first ever highly successful K-pop idol group and was largely rivaled by Sechs Kies. NRG was a pioneer of what has now been termed as the Korean Wave (''Hallyu'';

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 한류) and were the first Korean idol group to successfully break into the market in China. g.o.d was the first idol group to be dubbed "the nation's group" due to their broad popular appeal and became only the second K-pop idol group to have more than one album sell over a million copies.

Moon Hee-joon Moon Hee-joon (; or spelled Moon Hee-jun; born March 14, 1978) is a South Korean pop rock singer-songwriter signed under SidusHQ. He initially rose to fame as the leader of former boy band H.O.T. under SM Entertainment. Biography 1996–2001: ...

, leader of H.O.T., personally invited his H.O.T. bandmate

Tony An Tony Ahn (; born June 7, 1978) is a South Korean singer, best known as a member of boy band H.O.T. After H.O.T. disbanded in 2001, its ex-members Tony Ahn, Jang Woo-hyuk and Lee Jae-won formed the dance music trio jtL. Eventually, JTL unoffic ...

, Sechs Kies leader and rapper

Eun Ji-won Eun Ji-won Hangul: 은지원, Hanja: 殷志源, (born June 8, 1978) is a South Korean rapper and entertainer. He is the leader of the first generation idol group Sechs Kies (젝스키스). He is recognized as an ancestor of the K-pop world, pav ...

, dancer and singer-songwriter

Chun Myung-hoon Chun Myung-hoon (born April 6, 1978) is a South Korean singer, rapper, actor and television presenter. He is a member of boy band NRG. He released his single, ''Welcome To The Jungle'' on October 19, 2012. He is well known as a cast member on s ...

of NRG and rapper

Danny Ahn Danny Ahn (Hangul: 데니안; born December 22, 1978) is a Korean-American entertainer best known as the main rapper of the South Korean pop music group g.o.d. He is notable for his unique rapping. Having made his debut in the entertainment indu ...

of g.o.d, all of whom were born in the same year (1978) and have remained active in the entertainment industry. They would meet in a rented house where they could have a candid chat about issues and topics that they had not been able to speak about due to the closed and highly taciturn culture of the K-pop industry while they were active as members of their groups. Moon had proposed the concept of the show following the success of the television series ''

Reply 1997 ''Reply 1997'' () is a 2012 South Korean television series that centers on the lives of six friends in Busan, as the timeline moves back and forth between their past as 18-year-old high schoolers in 1997 and their present as 33-year-olds at thei ...

'' and a renewed interest in first-generation K-pop idol groups.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

HOTSechgodRG

Upon meeting to film the first episode, the five entertainers decided to name their "group" HOTSechgodRG (핫젝갓알지), which combines all of their idol group names. They released a digital single (a remake of NRG's "You Can Do It") and music video, appeared together on '' Happy Together'' and other variety shows and performed on '' Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend''. The single reached #72 on the

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

. There were plans to hold a concert in December 2013 but with

under investigation for illegal gambling, the four remaining members decided not to continue. In 2014,

and

reunited and starred in ''Where Is My Superhero?'' (W.I.S.H) which aired on

OnStyle tvN STORY is a South Korean cable and satellite television channel owned by CJ ENM E&M Division. The channel is targeted to women, originate from OnStyle. Programs * '' Project Runway Korea'' (February 7, 2009 – May 18, 2015) * '' Korea' ...

. HOTSechgodRG did not make anymore appearances after that as Danny Ahn's group

had just recommenced group activities after a nine-year hiatus while Tony An was banned from television appearances by two major broadcasting stations due to his gambling conviction. The group remains close friends and have occasionally made guest appearances on one another's shows such as Eun Ji-won's travel show ''

Plan Man ''Plan Man'' () is a South Korean travel- reality show. Hosted by Eun Ji-won, the concept revolves around Eun acting as a travel agent and planning a trip for the celebrity participants. Season 1 Season 2 New Beginning * Serri (Dal Shabet) * ...

''.

Reception and impact

The show received considerable attention amongst long-time fans of the four groups and international netizens, especially after the episode of '' Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend'' which HOTSechgodRG participated in was broadcast and a subtitled version uploaded on YouTube by

KBS World KBS World is the Korean Broadcasting System's international broadcasting service. It consists of KBS World Radio, KBS World television channel and KBS Korea. History The foreign-language radio broadcast from KBS (before its restructure into a ...

. Reception was generally positive as many long-time observers and fans commented that during the 1990s and early 2000s, members from different groups (especially H.O.T. and

) collaborating for a television show was inconceivable back then due to the highly exclusive nature of the industry and such interactions had been discouraged. According to the AGB Nielsen ratings, the first season had an average rating of 1.974% (a rating above 1% is considered a success for a cable channel in South Korea). Riding on the increased interest in first-generation groups,

DSP Media DSP Media (Hangul: DSP 미디어) is a South Korean entertainment company established in 1991 by Lee Ho-yeon. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and ...

announced in November 2013 that its "DSP Festival" concert in December would also feature disbanded first-generation groups

and

Click-B Click-B (클릭비) is a South Korean boy group and band formed in August 1999 under DSP Media. Click-B started out as a band combining rock and dance beats in their music. They became a four member group in 2002, with several member changes over ...

alongside current artists. Rumors also began circulating that HOTSechgodRG's respective idol groups would be reuniting; g.o.d came out of hiatus in May 2014 while Sechs Kies, pioneering girl group S.E.S. and NRG all reunited between 2016 and 2017.

Notes

References

External links

Official Website
{{in lang, ko on QTV South Korean variety television shows Korean-language television shows 2000s South Korean television series 2013 South Korean television series debuts