TV show panels, from left, Hwang Kyo-ik, Chang Dong-seon and the host Yoo Hee-yeol, Rhyu Si-min and Yoo Hyun-joon pose in the still of the season two's first episode. / Courtesy of tvN



By Kim Jae-heun

Korean society has been experiencing a communication conflict between generations, as the younger generation calls the older generation, especially men, "kkondae."



"Kkondae" is a slang word for an older man who has an aggressive attitude and tends to talk down to younger people.

Korean culture inherits neo-Confucian ideas from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), when the idea was pervasive during the period and children grew up told to obey elders and never talk back or dissent strongly against them. For elders, maintaining nonchalance was thought as one of the most important virtues to pursue.



When the first season of the reality TV show "Dictionary of Useless General Knowledge" was launched in June _ gathering four 40- and 50-something intellectuals from different fields to travel the country and fan the breeze _ many doubted its success even if it was produced by popular producer Na Young-seok.



Na is best-known for producing hit variety series like "2 Days & 1 Night," "Grandpas Over Flowers," and "Three Meals a Day" and their spin-offs.





Poster for reality TV show the "Dictionary of Useless General Knowledge" / Courtesy of tvN



The TV show had no concrete identity but showed intellectuals freely chatting over broad ideas that seem meaningless. Every professional finds it hard to talk outside of his expertise and when the topic is unrelated to his field, particularly, the intellect's words can easily become ordinary chatter.



One of the four intellects, columnist Hwang Kyo-ik also predicted the nine-episode series would not make it to the end and stop at the fifth.



"I thought producer Na Young-seok and his crew would fall into a slump through this TV program," Hwang, an esteemed food columnist, said during cable channel tvN's brand festival at Blue Square in Hannam-dong, Sunday. "You know, we are all old men looking haggard and chatting about not-so-easy topics on the screen. I thought the series would record low viewership rating.



"But, at the same time, I thought it would be fun to watch Na and his crew fail. Unexpectedly, the result came out fairly successful."



However, the very first episode of "Dictionary of Useless General Knowledge" began easily with a 5.4 percent viewer rating and recorded an average of 7 percent at the end according to Nielson Korea.



The four professionals talk about various issues from their perspective of expertise such as society, politics, arts, science and literature as they travel particular tourist sites. The intellectuals share their background knowledge of the historical sites and approach the show in terms of humanities studies.



The panels share insightful talks about topics people can easily be ignorant of and fulfill useless curiosities that anybody can have on a daily basis.



"The most important thing about this variety TV show is that it talks about the humanities in a comfortable atmosphere," said culture critic Bae Kuk-nam. "Other entertainment shows cast a TV personality or comedian to share jokes only and they intend to make audiences laugh. But the Dictionary of Useless General Knowledge distinguishes itself by fulfilling audiences' intellectual curiosity. Plus, the humanities are on trend nowadays."



The season one panel members included novelist Kim Young-ha, writer and former health minister Rhyu Si-min, Korea Advance Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) scientist and professor of bio and brain engineering at Jeong Jae-seung, and Hwang.



They showed old people can get together and spend the whole night chatting without establishing hierarchy. Older participants volunteered to drive the car for younger members to rest and prepare dinner if they are not so busy.



"In our society, age makes order of rank and this has generated conflicts between the younger and older generations. But these days, we are witnessing more middle-aged men and women trying to communicate and seek horizontal leadership. The Dictionary of Useless General Knowledge is the epitome of the trend," Bae said.



The culture critic, however, suggested improvements for the TV show.



"It is good that the show has made people to easily approach issues in humanities. But the entertainment show only deals with topics superficially and it can overlook the essence of the humanities. Another problem is the show only casts middle-aged men. I think a mixed-gender group should appear on the small screen and talk about issues more deeply," Bae said.



Riding on the popularity of the first season, the cable channel premiered the second season of the series on Oct. 27.

Kim and Jeong decided to leave the show for a while to concentrate on their jobs and architect Yoo Hyun-joon and scientist Chang Dong-seon join the panels. Singer-songwriter and TV host Yoo Hee-yeol is the moderator of the show.



The first episode of the second season started fairly successfully, recording a 6.6 percent TV viewer rating. At its highest, the rating peaked to 8.6 percent, which is comparatively high for a cable channel TV show.



Panel member Rhyu Si-min says the intellects can talk on the show for another 10 years, but it will need member changes in between because a person has a limit to knowledge and information.



"The more I appear in the show, the more limit I see," Rhyu said.





