"Hello Counselor!"

send in your concern
guilty pleasures Tuesday 012 & misc list 059

Guilty Pleasure Traits =

+ a peek into Korean's daily life + feeling sympathetic with each concern and rush of excitement over finding the solutions + rotating celebrity guests = Extremely High

I've been struggling to find what kind of materials to cover for this particular segment (as I did for the others before) and then after I finished watching Hello Counselor yesterday, then I thought that it is perfect just for this.

Korean variety shows is a unique field unlike any others in the world and this advice show is a fitting example of their culture and variety sense combined in a perfect marriage, using the power of local celebrities to show put the spotlight on everyday human struggles. It is quite a niche sub-genre of the whole industry but it is quite endearing in its honesty and intent to help in delving into the citizen's worries one by one, uncovering the root of the problem and finding the solution, or at least try their darnest to. Sure the occasional weekly celebrity guests are just part and parcel of the variety shows but having them there beside the usual four (now three as one is taking a hiatus ... I hope he is getting better!) hosts provide an alternative point of view to give a certain topic fresh eyes or a new perspective, help to have a devil's advocate to see it from the person who is causing the problem rather than the one posting in the concern. The range of the concerns themselves going all over the spectrum of human life from the youngest in kids and oldest in grandparents with the topics from the most childish quarrels to the extremes of marital disputes and life-threatening issues. It used to be four but the current three concerns a week format gives them much more time to dive into each of them much more deeply and hopefully help the individuals coming out of the show at least a little better compared to when they first came in.

At least I know I'm not a psychopath since I can relate to almost all of the people on the show, mostly the ones sending in the concerns and surprisingly there were a few times I could see where the cause of the problem came from. This is an effective mirror of today's society and it reminds me that we are just human and we should always strive to keep reflecting upon ourselves and be better than yesterday, hopefully.

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Chance of Hitting Mainstream =  100% since the ongoing popularity is still going strong ever since its inception and first episode almost eight years ago.

a case for the weekly sympathetic emotional ride:

+ Highlights +

entertaining banters between the hosts and the guests while delving genuinely into the people's concerns and try to see the real reasons behind each concern and would strive to find a common ground between the two individuals.

? Main contention ?

seeing that every event have two sides to it and you'll never the full story until you hear both sides ...

- Lowlights -

sometimes there are a few exceptions whereby the cause for concerns do not learn anything at all at the end of the conversation as they are too dense or just ignorant enough to not change their ways at the end of it,

~

there is only three concerns per episode and I wish there would be more so they could help more people.

{ underlying themes }

I love that so many properties are being adapted year after year, making those who aren't familiar with the source materials to delve into them!

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No list for today ... I could've listed a few of my favourite concerns but my memory is just not that good.

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+ . ? . - .

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Well, that's all folks! Thank you for your time and please do come back for my future posts! :-)