X-Man () is a popular South Korean game show that ran from November 8, 2003 to April 8, 2007 on SBS. Its popularity peaked from 2004 to 2006. It was hosted by Yoo Jae-suk, Kang Ho-dong, Kim Je-dong, with Kim being successively replaced by Gong Hyung-jin, Park Kyung-lim, and Lee Hyuk-jae; only the first two were on the program since its inception.
X-man was loosely based on The Mole.
History The program first aired on November 8, 2003 as a "Genuine Psychological Reasoning Variety", Real Situation: Finding X-man (실제상황 X맨을 찾아라), a corner program of Real Situation Saturday. On October 10, 2004, the program was moved to Good Sunday and simply known as X-man. On November 5, 2006, the program became the sole program airing in Good Sunday and was officially known as X-man Good Sunday airing until April 8, 2007.
Real Situation Saturday era In the first season of the program, the main host was Kim Je-dong, with team leaders Kang Ho-dong and Yoo Jae-suk of Kang and Yoo Team respectively. Beginning with Season 2, Yoo Jae-suk replaced Kim Je-dong as main host, with Kim Je-dong becoming the leader of Kim Team (Yoo Team in Season 2). During this early stages of the program, popular games which became staples of the show were Team! Horse Riding, Tongue Twisters Relay, and Fly! Fryingpan with the biggest hit Of Course! created in May 2004.
Good Sunday era Following high ratings in the Saturday evening timeslot, X-man was moved to Good Sunday in October 2004, which was the lowest rated program of the Sunday evening timeslot. After the move, Good Sunday became the top rated program of the Sunday evening timeslot, beating incumbent MBC's Sunday Sunday Night by 2006. As the program aired under Good Sunday, a line up of changes occurred to the opposing team of Kang Team. The team leaders changed from Kim Je-dong to Gong Hyung-jin, Park Kyung-lim, and finally Lee Hyuk-jae. Popular mission Team! Horse Riding was abolished in April 2005 following the injury of comedian during the game. Team! Chicken Fight and Team! "Go" Fighting later replaced it. Also in 2005, popular mission Couples and Warriors Forever became a hot topic following the fabulous performances by guests, which were intended to form couples to play couple games.
X-man Good Sunday era
With the Autumn Program Restructuring of 2006, the second corner program of Good Sunday was cancelled, with X-man reformatted and airing as a stand-alone program. Airing in X-man Good Sunday was New X-man, abandoning the psychological game format and finding the team disruptor, the X-man became the top choice among various celebrities of surveys. Therefore, the objective of the game was to guess who would be the #1 vote-getter and trade the X-man over to the other team. The only time this was possible was when the team won a mission, after which they would have the chance to either retrieve someone from the other team or send someone over. Teams were chosen through a lottery system, with MC Yoo serving as the "divider". The number he picked served as the dividing line between the teams (with Kang Ho-dong getting the guests with earlier numbers, and Lee Hyuk-jae getting the later numbers). The team who has the X-man at the end loses the entire "game". Unfortunately, the new format did not prove to be popular and was cancelled following the Spring Program Restructuring of 2007. It was replaced by Haja! Go! (), which was also hosted by Yoo Jae-suk, with Kang Ho-dong moving to KBS's Happy Sunday. X-man became the last program South Korea's top MCs Yoo Jae-suk and Kang Ho-dong worked together.
Format Each season was divided into two episodes, airing in consecutive weeks. The first season was divided into six episodes, with three chances to find the X-man. The second and third season was divided into four episodes, with two chances. As of the fourth season, challengers only had one chance (two episodes) to find the X-man. The various celebrities were divided into two teams, with one led by Kang Ho-dong (Kang Team) and the second by the other main MC. Yoo Jae-suk served as the show's mediator and main MC. At the start of each episode, one celebrity would be chosen by the producer to be the X-man, whose main mission was to disrupt teamwork in his or her team and purposely throw challenges while keeping his or her identity a secret. Winning teams of each mission would be awarded ₩1 million. Actual amounts were undisclosed after earlier seasons.
After all the missions, the guests then voted on who they think is the X-man. The celebrity participant who was chosen was then digitally "fingerprinted" to see if the others chose correctly. If the others chose correctly, any money earned by the teams was donated to charity, under the names of the various guests. If they failed to find the X-man, the X-man was considered to have succeeded and the money donated to charity was given under the X-mans name.
Missions X-man has featured many missions that have become very popular with the general audience. Missions consisted of various physical and mental games that changed every few months.Main Missions Team! Horse Riding () [Season 1-34] - A traditional Korean game where a horse is formed a (defending) team of men bent down supporting each other with a man standing at the front (the head). The other (attacking) team will jump onto the horse, trying to stay on the horse until all members are on. The defending team must support the other team without collapsing. If all members are on the horse, then the first member in line and the head will play rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner. Tongue Twisters Relay () [Season 1-13,24] - All members of a team must correctly say tongue twisters in relay in a certain time limit. (Run!) Balloon/Couple Quiz ((달려라!) 붕선/커플 귀즈) [Season 3-9,12,13] - A quiz of 10 questions usually relating to the guests of that season, using couples. New Marriages are Beautiful () [Season 2-10] - Couples of each team must complete an obstacle course the fastest. Of Course! () [Season 10-70] - A game where two members face off in asking each other (embarrassing) questions and the opponent must say "Of Course!". A member loses if they are unable to say Of Course! or are knocked down by their opponent. This was an order-deciding game for Tongue Twisters Relay from Season 10-13. Couples and Warriors Forever () [Season 11,14-70] - A couple event where male and female members of each team pair up and play games. Performances and dances are usually involved in the selection round. During Season 66 and 67, a survival element was added, where right after a male performs, he will choose who he wants to be his partner. If she accepts, they immediately become couples, but she can still change her mind if another male chooses her afterwards. Team! Chicken Fight () [Season 30,36-39,41,44-47,49,51] - A traditional Korean game where teams will chicken fight where you stand on one leg and try to knock your opponents while grabbing onto the other ankle. This was a secondary mission in Season 30. Team! "Go" Fighting () [Season 48,50,52-61,64] - Teams are standing on a raised platform and must push the other team off. This was a warm-up game in Season 61. Survival Skybridge () [Season 63-70] - Two teams must eliminate the opposing team using only a skybridge to get between. This was a warm-up game in Season 64. Secondary Missions Baby Warriors () [Season 1] - A member of each team wears a sumo wrestler-like suit and needs to push the opposing member out of the ring. Catch Loves Ball (사랑은 공을 타고~) [Season 1] - Couples must shoot a ball from their mouth and catch it. Who is it? () [Season 1] - Teams must guess who on the other team is carrying a pumpkin, where the other team is carrying fake pumpkins as well. Balance Beam Fight () [Season 1] - A member of each team stand on a balance beam with pans on their hands and must push the opposing member off. Love's Chopsticks () [Season 1] - Couples must maneuver a giant pair of "chopsticks" and move pots to a farther stand. Let's Study () [Season 1] - Teams must memorize the order of fifty countries in five minutes and alternate reciting them correctly. Piggyback Toy Hammers () [Season 1] - A member of each team is piggybacked by another member of their team and must break the other piggybacked opponents balloon attached to their head with a toy hammer. Newspaper Game () [Season 1] - Couples must stand within a newspaper as it gets smaller each round. Team Telepathy () [Season 1] - Teams must pull a table cloth from under a set of dinnerware and not have any of the items move in succession. Lion! Grasshopper! Relay () - Similar to New Marriages are Beautiful, a member of each team dressed in either a lion costume (representing Kang Team) or a grasshopper costume (representing Yu Team), must complete an obstacle course the fastest. Love~ Message! (러브~ 메시지!) [Season 2,3] - Couples must send a message to each other using only actions. Team! Feet Feet () [Season 2,27,35] - Teams must have a designated number of feet standing on the ground. This was an order-deciding mission in Season 7 and a main mission in Season 35. Team! Catch the Tail () [Season 2,29,43] - The head (first member) of the team must catch the tail (last member) of the other team while keeping the team connected to each other. This was a main mission in Season 43. High Jump () [Season 2] - Males and females of each team compete in high jump separately. Survival Push Over () [Season 2] - A member of each team must push each other over using only their hands. Queen Bee Chicken Fighting () [Season 2] - The same as Team! Chicken Fight, a traditional Korean game where teams will chicken fight where you stand on one leg and try to knock your opponents while grabbing onto the other ankle, except teams must attack/protect the "Queen" from falling. Hug~ Your Love!! (사랑을 그대 품~안에!!) [Season 3] - Couples where a member of each team is connected with an elastic belt, and the other member is at either end with a balloon. The member connected to the elastic belt must get to the balloon and break it first by hugging. Skewered Relay () [Season 3] - Teams are connected to each other in an outfit and race to a turning point and back. Fly Frypan () [Season 9-19,21-23,25,26] - A game where a member of a team calls out the name of a member on the other team and a number. That member must say their name corresponding to the number given, following a rhythm and pattern. This continues until someone makes a mistake, and frypans "fly" and hit the heads of their team. Team! Hula Hoop () [Season 32] - All members of each team must successfully jump through a hula hoop rolling at them. Team! Balloon Dodgeball () [Season 53] - Each team must throw a ball at a balloon attached to an opposing members butt and break it in succession. Grab the Belt of Yudo () [Season 65] - A member of each team must take the belt off of the opposing member. Endure Pater () [Season 67] - A member of each team must stay within a designated area for five seconds to win. Touch Touch Wrestling () [Season 69,70] - The same as Endure Pater, except they are able to change out with another member by touching them. Order-deciding/Warm-Up Games Survival Chicken Fight () [Season 1,59] - A traditional Korean game where teams will chicken fight where you stand on one leg and try to knock your opponents while grabbing onto the other ankle. This differs from the main mission as it was played one vs. one on a survival basis. (Frog/Survival/Gomusin) Butt Pushing ((개구리/서바이벌/고무신) 엉덩이 밀치기) [Season 1-11,16,20,22,24,30,35,37,44,46,52,60] - A member of each team must push the opposing member's butt and knock them over. In Frog Butt Pushing, members kneel down in a frog position and are able to move within a designated area. In Survival Butt Pushing, it is played as a team. In Gomusin Butt Pushing, members grab the gomusin underneath and must break the balloon attached to the opponents waist.