Welcome back to another edition of Soshified’s “The Best of the Best”, a monthly look into the very best examples from categories of just about anything to do with Girls’ Generation. As decided by your votes last month, I rewatched as many of Girls’ Generation’s appearances on variety shows as I could, from Park Kyunglim’s “Wonderful Outing” in 2007 to KBS’s “Dream Team” in 2011, and listed my five favorite appearances in which members of Girls’ Generation were seen as featured guests. Thus, no series in which a member or members were featured as regulars, such as “Girls Go To School” or “Invincible Youth Season 2”, were chosen, but keep an eye out in the future for a “The Best of the Best” with Girls’ Generation’s greatest variety series. For now, check out my top five variety show appearances and be sure to let me know what would have been in your own top five! As always, I’ve included videos with my picks for you to watch, to make you laugh, and to help you decide whether or not you agree, as well as a poll for you to decide what category next month’s “The Best of the Best” will feature. Be sure to vote, and I’ll see you next month!

5. Strong Heart Episode 95

While most of the shows on this list were chosen for making me laugh, episode 95 of “Strong Heart” starts off my list of favorite variety appearances for a different reason. Sunny, Hyoyeon, and Seohyun’s segment on the show opened with the usual comedic antics from MCs Kang Hodong and Lee Seunggi, who tricked actor Lee Dongwook, speaking to the cast over the phone, that all nine members of Girls’ Generation were present. When asked to choose one member to speak with, he picked Taeyeon and admitted he was a fan of her solo songs, though he would later go on to star in “Wild Romance” with Jessica.

Afterwards, the show moved on to what made this episode truly special when Seohyun was given the chance to tell the story of when she met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Despite being known for her quiet nature when outside of the dorm, Seohyun talked for more than eight minutes and recounted her nervousness during the days leading up to and during her meeting with her life mentor. The prim, proper, and perfect maknae, who rarely gets excited, spoke faster and faster as her story went on, saying, “I just felt so happy to be in the same room with him and breathe the same air,” and, “Now that I’ve seen my life mentor once, I can die happy.” Seohyun’s genuine joy while telling about her once-in-a-lifetime experience was a refreshing change for a show where stories usually revolve around relationships or embarrassing stories, and made this episode of “Strong Heart” my favorite ever with Girls’ Generation and fifth on my list of all variety show appearances.



Strong Heart Episode 95

Episode 172 of “Happy Together” is one of the best examples of why the members of Girls’ Generation are at their comedy best when allowed to show off their quick wits while telling stories and secrets. Though only Taeyeon, Sunny, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Seohyun were present, none of the remaining members of Girls’ Generation were spared from having their habits revealed. The members first started by showing their ventriloquism skills, which they admitted to using in front of cameras and especially in Japan, and then explained the slight changes to their performances when especially excited. Yuri proved that unlike the other members, she’s unable to talk without moving her lips, while it was revealed that perfect Seohyun, no matter how excited she is, performs Girls’ Generation’s choreographies the exact same way each and every time.

The spilling of secrets continued in the next part of the show, the “Image Talk” corner, where the five girls each chose one member who she felt most fit a category. This led to Sooyoung’s imitation of Sunny’s way of walking when around men, which was adorable and never fails to make me laugh, as well as Seohyun’s recalling of Sooyoung trash-talking her early in the morning, which was absolutely side-splitting. Finally, you don’t have to understand Korean in order to find Seohyun’s robot-like speech in the show’s closing segments both cute and hilarious. The corner called for using informal speech and speaking in a certain accent or dialect, which Seohyun tried to avoid by using an archaic way of speaking. This eventually caused Park Myungsoo to ask her “What are you?”, a question we would all love to ask her ourselves. Girls’ Generation’s appearance on “Happy Together” is an hour of laughs from stories, secrets, and games, and wins the fourth spot on my list.



Happy Together Episode 172

One of Girls’ Generation’s very first variety shows was also one of the very best and is third on list of my favorite variety appearances. “Happy Shares Company” was a popular show which, for one week, would pit a male celebrity against a female celebrity to see who could spend the least amount of money on food and other expenses from the 10,000 won they are given at the start of the week. Episodes 193 and 194 featured Yoona, one of Girls’ Generation’s biggest eaters, against Big Bang’s Seungri. However, all of the members from the two groups could be seen throughout both episodes, giving Girls’ Generation and Big Bang the chance to show off their hilarious senses of humor and variety talents.

From the very beginning, the show proved it would be full of laughs as the other members of Girls’ Generation pretended to root for Seungri instead of Yoona, and Yoona showed off a “dorky dance” for a discounted pork cutlet. Other Girls’ Generation highlights from the episodes included Yuri pretending to be Yoona and confusing the show’s cameraman, the members dancing to Lee Seungchul’s “Girls’ Generation” before having released their own remake of the song, Taeyeon and Yoona’s infiltration of MBC’s headquarters, Sunny, Yuri, and Yoona’s reenactment of Harry Potter, and Yoona’s designation of Taeyeon as her replacement for “Help Day”, followed by the other members’ celebration at having avoided being selected. Observant fans will also notice that the members of Girls’ Generation purchase bottles of Vita500 in the second episode, a vitamin drink they later endorsed in 2011. “Happy Shares Company” is guaranteed to make you laugh, and though it aired more than four years ago, it is still one of the very best variety appearances by Girls’ Generation.



Happy Shares Company Episode 193





Happy Shares Company Episode 194

2. Running Man Episode 63 and 64

Episodes 63 and 64 of “Running Man” saw six members of Girls’ Generation pair up with six members of the “Running Man” cast for two episodes of nonstop-laughs. Led by Yoo Jae Suk, the “Running Man” team is made up of variety veterans, musicians, and actors: a varied group which perfectly complements the many different personalities in Girls’ Generation. The first episode featured three teams each made up of two couples that raced around the city playing games and completing missions. However, the best parts of “Running Man” always came during the race rather than at the end, and throughout the entire episode, Girls’ Generation showed why they are among the best idol groups in variety, with the ability to make anyone laugh. Some of my favorite parts included Jessica and Hyoyeon battling over Gary, who must have saved a country in his previous life, Seohyun and Kim Jongkook singing “Girls’ Generation”, and shameless Yuri and Yoona dancing to DJ Doc’s “Run to You”.

Most surprisingly, Jessica, whose motto is to “never run, even when you’re late”, stole the show in the first episode and in the first half of the second. During the first episode, she was whiny, pouty, and annoyed Gary to no end with her nonstop aegyo and appeals to the PDs. Jessica’s antics continued in the second episode when Girls’ Generation was pitted against the “Running Man” cast in a cooking competition. The two teams each traded a single member, with Girls’ Generation choosing to take HaHa from the men’s team while the “Running Man” team picked Jessica, despite her notoriously poor cooking skills. She eventually demonstrated her inability to cook while shopping in a supermarket, where she asked both Gary and a cameraman for the ingredients she would need for her supposed specialty, kimchi fried rice. Finally, her reaction after being told that her team had half an hour to cook the entire meal always makes me laugh. The two-episode special ended with a hilarious wake-up session and a thrilling elimination game, in which Seohyun transformed into a terminator intent on eliminating her unnies one-by-one. Overall, the humorous moments are endless throughout these two episodes of “Running Man”, and in one of the best variety shows today, Girls’ Generation made their second best variety appearance ever.

1. Intimate Note Episode 40

There is no better example of a show which displays Girls’ Generation’s ability to entertain than episode forty of “Intimate Note”. This one-hour episode was filled with yelling, arguments, rebuttals, and more yelling as the members aired secret after secret and voiced complaint after complaint. Though they were first split into two teams based on height, the battle quickly turned into a free-for-all with the teammates turning on each other and constantly switching sides. During the lightning-fast arguments, nothing was off limits as the girls revealed each others’ sleeping habits, Sooyoung’s meals with a manager, Jessica’s style of walking, Sunny’s aegyo, Taeyeon’s secrecy, and much more. Finally, the very best part of the show came as Seohyun displayed her unflappable nature and coolly responded to all of her unnies’ complaints with a bright smile and a clear explanation. Her calm attitude contrasted with the chaos during the rest of the episode, but still makes me laugh even after having watched it dozens of times. Overflowing with secrets, grievances, laughter, and betrayal, Girls’ Generation’s episode of “Intimate Note” wins the top spot on my list of Girls’ Generation’s very best variety show appearances.

Intimate Note Episode 40

Sources: bhostssf@Dailymotion.com Written by: bhost909@soshifiedEdited by: moonrise31@soshified, MoonSoshi9@soshified

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