16 March 2008 (2008-03-16) – 6 May 2017 (2017-05-06)
We Got Married (Korean: 우리 결혼했어요) was a South Korean realityvariety show that aired on MBC from 2008 to 2017.[1] The show paired up celebrities who pretended to be married couples and completed various challenges together.[2] The show ran for four seasons and inspired several spin-offs, including a "global edition" of the show that featured non-Korean celebrities.[3]
Pilot special
The show's pilot episode was aired on 6 February 2008 as a Korean New Year special. On the episode, four arranged celebrity couples had to prepare dinner with a fixed amount of money.
With a new format and slightly different couples, newlyweds are given a mission to complete each week. As during the special pilot episode, interviewed participants provide a unique perspective on the ongoing relationship conflicts and developments. All of the recorded material is then played in front of the participants, MCs, and audience who add commentary or clarification.
Beginning with a Lunar New Year's Special in 2009 with three new couples, a new format is introduced into the show, first forecasted through the addition of Kangin and Lee Yoon-ji. Each couple is given a concept to portray; in Kangin and Lee Yoon-ji's case, a college couple living with a limited income.
As of May 2009, the producers announced another change in the format with all four couples departing, cutting down to just one couple and shortening the show to just 60 minutes. The show will now portray a more realistic side to what a marriage is, instead of "the painted image of marriage based on romance". For the first time, a real couple is cast in the show. Guest celebrities are invited to be show's commentators for each episode so that they can share their opinions on marriage on behalf of their age group. SG Wannabe's Kim Yong-jun and Hwang Jung-eum also do the interview room together dressed in wedding attire.
However, due to low ratings, the show returned to its old format with the addition of a make-believe couple actor Park Jae-jung and After School member Uee on 2 August 2009. For the Chuseok special, Brown Eyed Girls' Gain & 2AM's Jo Kwon and SG Wannabe's Lee Seok-hun & host Kim Na-young appeared as two new couples. The episode achieved Season 2's highest rating, and Gain and Jo Kwon were announced to be a permanent couple.
Season three officially begins on 9 April, with two additional couples upon the departure of Yonghwa & Seohyun, as well as a new format. Park Hwi-sun and K.Will are added for Season 3 to the cast as MCs.
In late March 2010, MBC stopped broadcast of new episodes due to labour strikes, with repeats airing instead.[8] This event, compounded with the ROKS Cheonan sinking incident, which caused cancellation of most variety shows at the time, resulted in a backlog of footage for the couples Jo Kwon & Gain and Yonghwa & Seohyun. This resulted in the contents of their latest episodes being of footage recorded some months previously, rather than the normal 1–2 weeks of the original.
During Lee Joon & Oh Yeon-seo's season 4 tenure (broadcasting from September 2012 through February 2013), Oh Yeon-seo was observed meeting in public with Lee Jang-woo, her male co-star from the drama series, Here Comes Mr. Oh.[9] When pictures and videos were released in January 2013, media and WGM fans surmised Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Jang-woo, formerly of WGM (Season 3), were in a romantic relationship. Because Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Joon were in the midst of filming WGM at the time this news was released, the integrity of their virtual marriage was questioned by fans.[10] The negative reaction was further exacerbated by Oh Yeon-seo's multiple declarations of romantic interest in Lee Joon (e.g. as her "ideal type" and wanting to meet with him outside of filming).[11] This backlash and perceived broken trust resulted in fans voicing their desire for Oh Yeon-Seo to exit WGM.[12] Shortly after the rumors of Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Jang-woo's relationship surfaced, Lee Joon publicly expressed his frustration about not having his voice heard, with online fans suggesting it was due to his overbearing workload and/or Oh Yeon-seo's alleged relationship with Lee Jang-woo.[13] A few weeks later, Lee Joon and Oh Yeon-seo ended their tenure on WGM.[14]
On March 20, 2015, two new pairings were announced. One of them being Henry Lau and Kim Ye-won. The couple went on to appear in a few episodes.[15] On June 2, it was confirmed that the couple were to leave the show as a video involving actress Lee Tae-im and Kim Ye-won was leaked to the public. In the video, Lee was seen repeatedly cursing at and threatening Kim on the set of MBC's My Tutor Friend. This led to Lee facing severe backlash from the public. She then apologised to Kim and the latter accepted her apology in kind words.
However, a full video was later revealed, showing Kim being rude to Lee first by not using honorifics, glaring at the senior actress during the outburst and cursing at her after she had left the scene. The public then turned their back towards Kim, cancelling her and calling her behaviour "victim-playing".[16] After the announcement that the Ye-won–Henry couple will be leaving the show, Kim posted an apology on her Twitter. In it, she apologized to Henry, the We Got Married staff, the viewers, the fans and finally to actress Lee Tae-im.[17]
Spin-offs
Pit-a-Pat Shake
MBC aired a new show based on We Got Married. The emphasis of the show was described as a shift from married life to the dating period. The head producer of Pit-a-Pat Shake was the original producer of We Got Married, when couples such as Seo In-young and Crown J as well as Shin Ae and Alex aired. The success of the earliest and most memorable couples gave people high hopes for the pilot. A Lunar Year Special was filmed and aired as the pilot episode.[18]
The Chinese version of We Got Married paired Korean and Chinese celebrities. Two out of three pairings were international: T-ara's Hyomin and Super Junior's Kyuhyun. It was produced by MBC to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of South Korea's diplomatic ties with China. It aired as a Valentine's Day special in China on an entertainment channel of Shanghai Media Group and on MBC on 25 February but with only the Korean segments.[21]
A global edition spinoff of the widely popular We Got Married, get to see how the on-screen virtual marriage between idol celebrities from different countries work out through weekly missions and candid interviews. Couples are paired from Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
The licensed remake of popular South Korean Variety Show We Got Married, titled "We Are In Love" was broadcast starting on 19 April 2015. It has the same basic format except that the couples are not 'married' but 'dating'. This change was made in order to present a more realistic story in which couples first must be in love to form the basis of marriage and then get married.
^한승연·리지·효린·한선화, 우결 연애판 두근두근'출연 [Lizzy, Sunhwa, Hyorin, and Seungyeon confirmed for We Got Married spin-off]. Naver News (in Korean). 6 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
