Star Golden Bell

"Star Golden Bell" (Hangul:"스타골든벨") is a South Korean variety show broadcast on KBS. In addition to the main MC, Ji Suk-jin (지석진), there are two additional hosts, Kim Jae-dong (김제동) and Yoon Soo-young, who are either in charge of administering games or are challengers competing against the celebrity contestants. "Star" features 5 lines of 4 people each (the lines named after each Korean character) that have various celebrities from music, film, television, and musicals. The last line ("Bell") contains regularly appearing celebrities, including Kim Chang-ryul from DJ DOC. A popular show, it occasionally enters the Korean top 20 chart [http://soompi.com/?q=node/679] . The show consists of mini-games, which have certain prize amounts. The winning celebrity is then given the opportunity to ring the bell by correctly answering a riddle. If he or she is correct, the money is donated in the winner's name. All "winnings" go to a charity of KBS's choice; the last donation, in the amount of $110,000, was made on July 1 2008. [ [http://english.kbs.co.kr/mcontents/entertainment/1533369_11692.html 'Star Golden Bell Challenge' Gives 110,000 dollars to Community Chest] . KBS. July 7 2008. Retrieved July 8 2008.]

Format

Initial format

Over the past few years, the show has evolved from single line challenges (games involving one team at a time) to group line challenges (games involving the lines going against each other). Initially, "Star Golden Bell" had four "stages" of gameplay in which celebrities can win money to donate. At the end of the first three stages, three contestants were picked to play the fourth stage in order to win the pot.

The first revolved around specific games each line had to play against Park, although before the game, the line playing the game was introduced. At this point, line members often promoted their own work, such as singing their single or talking about their latest film. After the introduction, the celebrities then played a single game, ranging from simple math or word games, where contestants went against Park (either individually or as a team), to more elaborate ones (with costumes or props) in which the objective was to fool Park as she guessed which contestant was out of place.

The second stage involved an English game, in which the celebrity contestants had to describe an item (similar to Taboo) to an "English teacher" without naming it in either Korean or English. Although it is an English game, the rules were very flexible, as contestants were often heard using Konglish to define or explain a word. Each line had a total of 10 words, with each correct guess adding ₩10,000 to the pot.

In the third stage, the line divisions were erased as the entire group came together to win money. In this game, the two hosts (excluding Ji) gave short clues to the contestant, who used them to guess the correct word in question. (For example, in order to guess the word "hair", clues such as "head" and "brush" could have been given.) Each individual's correct guess doubled the amount in the pot, the first amount won being ₩100.

After the three stages were completed, the celebrities voted on the three contestants who would have a chance at ringing the bell and winning the pot. These three then entered the final stage, which had two parts. The first part involved a word game where the finalists must find Korean words existing in a full sentence. The winner who outlasted the other two then solved a difficult riddle. If the person succeeded, he or she would ring the bell and have the honor of having the money given to charity in his or her name. If the contestant failed to answer the final question correctly, there would be no donation made in that person's honor. The money was then accumulated each week until there was a new winnerFact|date=January 2008.

Current format

Although "Star Golden Bell" retains much of its original format, the individual line challenges have ceased, as a greater focus has been placed on celebrity interviews. In addition, the four stages have been reduced to three.

The "Fool the Announcer" game is still played; however, this is the only game to remain on the show. It is now followed by a guessing game, in which the various celebrities have to guess certain words or answers after hearing clues from the announcer. Initially, the celebrities had to put answers in a correct order (for example, the most common surnames in South Korea). The game was replaced by another one, in which the contestants had to find improper or incorrect words in a fake news piece. As of January 2008, the guessing game now involves answering a riddle; hints are given by the son of comedian Kim Gura.

Unlike previous episodes, the final game to choose the "bellringer" is now open to all participants; the ringer is chosen through a "fill in the blank" game.

Trivia

*The two "hosts" were replacements of original hosts Lee Hyuk-jaeFact|date=February 2007 and former anchorwoman Noh Hyun-jung, who married in mid-2006 and moved to the United States [http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=50607] .

References

External links

* [http://www.kbs.co.kr/2tv/enter/starbell/index.html ko icon The official KBS site]