Real Man (TV series)

Real Man (Korean: 진짜 사나이; RR: Jinjja sanai) is a South Korean variety show featuring eight male celebrities as they experience life in the military, which is mandatory for all mentally sound and able-bodied Korean men for two years. The show debuted on MBC on April 14, 2013, as part of the Sunday Night programming block. The last episode of season 2 aired on November 27, 2016.

Real Man
Promotional image
Genre	Reality television
Directed by	Kim Min-jong Kim Myung-jin Im Kyung-sik
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	187
Production
Executive producer	Kim Young-jin
Running time	90 minutes
Original release
Network	MBC
Release	April 14, 2013 (2013-04-14) – November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27)
Related
Sunday Night, Real Man 300

The original cast members were Kim Soo-ro, Mir, Ryu Soo-young, Sam Hammington, Seo Kyung-suk and Son Jin-young.^[1] Jang Hyuk and Park Hyung-sik later joined the cast.^[2][3]

Mir left the show in June 2013. Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young and Jang Hyuk left the show in February 2014 and were replaced by Chun Jung-myung, Park Gun-hyung, K.Will, and Henry Lau.^[4][5]

A spin-off of this program called Real Man 300 began to air every Friday at 21:50 (KST) starting from September 21, 2018.^[6]

On 30 July 2023, A Malaysian version Real Man called Real Man Malaysia: Wira Merah, aired on Astro Ria.

Male cast members

Season 1 (initial sort by debut date) Member Debut date End date Kim Soo-ro March 25, 2013 January 18, 2015 Seo Kyung-suk Sam Hammington Mir June 2, 2013 Ryu Soo-young February 9, 2014 Son Jin-young Jang Hyuk June 9, 2013 Park Hyung-sik August 17, 2014 Park Gun-hyung February 16, 2014 January 18, 2015 K.Will Henry Lau Chun Jung-myung March 23, 2014 October 19, 2014 Yoo Jun-sang October 26, 2014 November 9, 2014 Moon Hee-joon Kim Dong-hyun January 18, 2015 Yook Sungjae Im Hyung-joon Season 2 (initial sort by debut date) Main edition Member Debut date End date Kim Seung-hyun February 10, 2015 April 5, 2015 Kangin Youngmin Kwangmin Sam Kim June 21, 2015 Lee Kyu-han August 23, 2015 Sam Okyere February 7, 2016 Im Won-hee February 14, 2016 Jung Gyu-woon HighTop February 17, 2015 May 3, 2015 Jo Dong-hyuk June 7, 2015 Han Sang-jin April 27, 2015 May 17, 2015 Julien Kang February 7, 2016 Sungjong June 8, 2015 July 26, 2015 Don Spike February 14, 2016 Baro July 20, 2015 August 23, 2015 DinDin September 21, 2015 February 14, 2016 Lee Ki-woo Lee Yi-kyung November 29, 2015 Kim Dong-jun February 7, 2016 Lee Sung-bae [ko]

Middle-age special Member Debut date End date Jo Min-ki February 2, 2016 May 15, 2016 Lee Dong-joon [ko] Kim Min-kyo Bae Soo-bin Mino [ko] Seok Joo-il [ko] Friendly enlisting special Member Debut date End date Jo Jae-yoon May 2, 2016 July 10, 2016 Ryu Seung-soo Woo Ji-won Jackson Wang BamBam Park Chan-ho Lee Sang-ho [ko] Lee Sang-min [ko] Comedian special Member Debut date End date Kim Young-chul February 10, 2015 August 14, 2016 Yoon Jung-soo February 2, 2016 Moon Se-yoon June 20, 2016 Yang Se-chan Lee Jin-ho [ko] Hwang Je-sung [ko] Kim Kiri Heo Kyung-hwan Navy NCO special Member Debut date End date Park Chan-ho May 2, 2016 October 16, 2016 Kim Jung-tae July 25, 2016 Lee Tae-sung Yang Sang-guk Parc Jae-jung Julian Quintart Manly Men special Member Debut date End date Sleepy February 10, 2015 November 27, 2016 Heo Kyung-hwan September 21, 2015 Shim Hyung-tak September 27, 2016 Lee Si-eon Sung Hyuk Jota Yoon Hyung-bin [ko] Kim Bo-sung

Female cast members

Season 1

Edition 1 Member Debut date End date Ra Mi-ran August 24, 2014 September 21, 2014 Hong Eun-hee Kim So-yeon G.NA Maeng Seung-ji [ko] Lee Hye-ri Park Seung-hi

Edition 2 Member Debut date End date Kim Ji-young January 18, 2015 March 8, 2015 Kang Ye-won Lee Ji-ae Lee Da-hee Ahn Young-mi Park Ha-sun Amber Liu Yoon Bo-mi

Season 2

Edition 3 Member Debut date End date Jessi August 19, 2015 October 11, 2015 Yujin Sayuri Fujita Shin So-yul Yoo Sun October 25, 2015 Han Groo Han Chae-ah Kim Hyun-sook Jeon Mi-ra Park Gyu-ri [ko]

Edition 4 Member Debut date End date Cao Lu[7] February 16, 2016 April 10, 2016 Dahyun Nana Jun Hyo-seong Kim Sung-eun Kim Young-hee Lee Chae-young Gong Hyun-joo

Navy NCO special

Member	Debut date	End date
Seo In-young	July 24, 2016	October 16, 2016
Lee Si-young
Solbi
Seo Ji-soo

Episodes

Episode #	Broadcast date	Title	Members	Special appearance(s)
1	2015/01/10	White Horse Army Base (백마부대) (Filmed on March 25–30, 2013)	Kim Soo-ro, Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Mir, Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young	Wheesung
2	2015/01/11
3	April 28, 2013
4	May 5, 2013
5	May 12, 2013	Hwaryong Army Base (화룡부대) (Filmed on April 23–28, 2013)
6	May 19, 2013
7	May 26, 2013
8	June 2, 2013			Girl's Day
9	June 9, 2013	Steel Division, Sea Dragon Army Base (강철사단 해룡연대) (Filmed on May 27-June 1, 2013) New members: Jang Hyuk and Park Hyung-sik	Kim Soo-ro, Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Mir, Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young, Jang Hyuk, Park Hyung-sik
10	June 16, 2013		Kim Soo-ro, Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young, Jang Hyuk, Park Hyung-sik
11	June 23, 2013
12[a]	June 30, 2013			2Eyes
13	July 7, 2013	Cheongryong Army Base (청룡대대) (Filmed on June 25–29, 2013)
14	July 14, 2013
15	July 21, 2013
16	July 28, 2013			Rainbow
17	August 4, 2013	Ikija 'We will win!' Army Base (이기자부대) (Filmed on June 25–29, 2013) (Kim Sooro removed from this army base because his shoulder is hurt)	Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young, Jang Hyuk, Park Hyung-sik
18	August 11, 2013
19	August 18, 2013
20	August 25, 2013
21	September 1, 2013
22	September 8, 2013			Sistar, Kim Tae-woo
23	September 15, 2013	Military Police (수도방위사령부) (Filmed on June 25–29, 2013) (Kim Sooro joins 'Real Man' again, Ryu Sooyoung didn't participate ep. 25-27)	Kim Soo-ro, Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young, Jang Hyuk, Park Hyung-sik
24	September 22, 2013
25	September 29, 2013		Kim Soo-ro, Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Son Jin-young, Jang Hyuk, Park Hyung-sik
26	October 6, 2013
27	October 13, 2013			Apink
28	October 20, 2013	NAVY Part 1 (Filmed on October 8–9, 2013) 6 Days 5 Nights sailing to 'East Sea' and Dokdo |! 28[b]	Kim Soo-ro, Seo Kyung-suk, Sam Hammington, Ryu Soo-young, Son Jin-young, Jang Hyuk, Park Hyung-sik	2Eyes, Park Eun-ji, Jung Joo-yeon [ko]
29[c]	October 27, 2013
30	November 3, 2013
31	November 10, 2013
32	November 17, 2013
33	November 17, 2013	NAVY Part 2 (Filmed on November 12–18, 2013) 7 Days 6 Nights sailing around 'Pyeongtaek' and NLL (Northern Limit Line)
34	December 1, 2013
35	December 8, 2013
36[d]	December 15, 2013
37	December 22, 2013	Baekgol Army Base (백골부대) (Filmed December 10–14, 2013) coldest base in Korea, and visit GOP(General out-post)
38[e][f]	December 29, 2013			Sistar, Miss A
39	January 5, 2014			Dal Shabet
40	January 12, 2014
41	January 19, 2014
42	January 26, 2014	Beonkae Army Base (번개부대) 'South Korea and USA Army Special Warfare Command' (Filmed on January 14–18, 2014) Janghyuk, Ryu Sooyoung, and Son Jinyoung's last episode
43	February 2, 2014			Ailee
44	February 9, 2014
86	December 28, 2014	Sergeants' Holiday Special
104	May 3, 2015	Sea Salvage & Rescue Unit (해군 해난구조대)
105	May 10, 2015
106	May 17, 2015
107	May 24, 2015
108	May 31, 2015
109	June 7, 2015
110	June 14, 2015
111	June 21, 2015
112	June 28, 2015	2nd Infantry Division (제2보병사단 '노도부대')
113	July 5, 2015
114	July 12, 2015
115	July 19, 2015
116	July 26, 2015			EXID
117	August 2, 2015	50th Infantry Division (제50보병사단 '강철사단')
118	August 9, 2015
119	August 16, 2015
120		The Tarantula Unit (제35특공대대) NCO Female Army Edition 3
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
137	December 27, 2015	Marines Special 2: Force Recon Battalion & Mountain Recon Battalion	Kim Dong-jun, DinDin, Julien Kang, Heo Kyung-hwan, Sleepy, Sam Okyere, Lee Ki-woo, Lee Sung-bae [ko]
138	January 03, 2016
139	January 10, 2016
140	January 17, 2016
141	January 24, 2016
142	January 31, 2016
143	February 7, 2016
144	February 14, 2016			GFriend, Jessi
145[g]	February 21, 2016	Special Army Cooking Contest	Kim Young-chul, Don Spike, Im Won-hee, Jung Gyu-woon, Sleepy, DinDin, Lee Ki-woo, Heo Kyung-hwan
146	February 28, 2016	Medical NCO Female Army Edition 4	Cao Lu, Dahyun, Nana, Jun Hyo-seong, Kim Sung-eun, Kim Young-hee, Lee Chae-young, Gong Hyun-joo	Yoo In-na
147	March 6, 2016			Lee Sang-yeob
148	March 13, 2016
149	March 20, 2016
150	March 27, 2016
151	April 3, 2016
152	April 10, 2016
159	May 23, 2016	6th Infantry Division 'BLUE STAR' (6보병사단 '청성부대') (Battle Buddy Special)	Jo Jae-yoon, Ryu Seung-soo, Park Chan-ho, Woo Ji-won, Got7 (Jackson Wang, BamBam), Lee Sang-ho [ko], Lee Sang-min [ko]
160	May 30, 2016
161	June 5, 2016
162	June 12, 2016
163	June 19, 2016
164	June 26, 2016
165	July 04, 2016
166	July 11, 2016			Lovelyz
172	August 14, 2016	Naval Education and Training Command (해군 교육 사령부) Navy NCO Special First Male & Female Joint Enlistment	Seo In-young, Lee Si-young, Solbi, Seo Ji-soo, Park Chan-ho, Kim Jung-tae, Lee Tae-sung, Yang Sang-guk, Parc Jae-jung, Julian Quintart
173	August 21, 2016
174	August 28, 2016
175	September 4, 2016
176	September 11, 2016
177	September 18, 2016
178	September 25, 2016
179	October 2, 2016
180	October 9, 2016
181	October 23, 2016	Award Winning Man (상남자 특집) Tough Guy Special	Shim Hyung-tak, Lee Si-eon, Yoon Hyung-Bin, Sung Hyuk, Jota (singer)
182	October 30, 2016
183	November 6, 2016
184	November 13, 2016
185	November 20, 2016
186	November 27, 2016

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2013	MBC Entertainment Awards	Best Male Newcomer	Park Hyung-sik	Won
			Sam Hammington	Won
		Not Great at Much Award		Won
		Popularity Award	Jang Hyuk	Won
		Popularity Award – MC	Seo Kyung-seok	Won
		PD Award		Won
		Scriptwriter Award	Shin Myung-ji	Won
		Star of the Year	Ryu Soo-young	Won
			Son Jin-young	Won
		Top Excellence Award	Kim Soo-ro	Won
		Excellence Award		Nominated
2014	MBC Entertainment Awards	Excellence Award	Park Gun-hyung	Won
			Seo Kyung-seok	Won
		Top Excellence Award		Won
		Popularity Award – MC		Won
		Friendship Award		Won
			Sam Hammington	Won
			Kim Soo-ro	Won
		Top Excellence Award		Nominated
		Grand Prize (Daesang)		Nominated
		Best Male Newcomer	Henry Lau	Won
		Star of the Year	Ryu Soo-young	Won
			Son Jin-young	Won
		New Star Award	Im Hyung-joon	Won
		Special Award	Hong Eun-hee	Won
		Excellence Award	Ra Mi-ran	Won
		Best Female Newcomer	Lee Hyeri	Won
2015	51st Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Female Variety Performer	Ahn Young-mi	Nominated
	MBC Entertainment Awards	Best Female Newcomer	Jessi	Nominated
			Amber	Won
		Best Male Newcomer	Sleepy	Won
		Best Teamwork Award	Real Man Season 2 - Female Edition 3	Won
		Best Couple Award	Kim Young-chul and Jung Gyu-woon	Nominated
		Special Award	Jeon Mi-ra	Won
		Female Excellence Award - Variety Show		Nominated
			Sayuri	Nominated
			Kim Hyun-sook	Won
		Male Excellence Award - Variety Show	Jung Gyu-woon	Won
		Popularity Award - Variety Show	Kang Ye-won	Won
		Top Female Excellence Award - Variety Show		Nominated
			Ahn Young-mi	Nominated
			Lee Da-hee	Nominated
			Han Chae-ah	Won
		People's Choice - Best Entertainment Program	Real Man Season 2	Nominated
		Top Male Excellence Award - Variety Show	Im Won-hee	Nominated
			Kim Young-chul	Won
		Grand Prize (Daesang)		Nominated
2016	52nd Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Male Variety Performer		Nominated
	16th MBC Entertainment Awards	Scriptwriter of the Year	Lee Hae-young	Won
		Top Female Excellence Award in Variety Show	Seo In-young	Nominated
		Male Excellence Award in Variety Show	Heo Kyung-hwan	Won
		Male Rookie Award in Variety Show	Park Chan-ho	Won
			Lee Si-eon	Nominated
			Jackson Wang	Nominated
		Female Rookie Award in Variety Show	Lee Si-young	Won

Notes

1. 5 Original members got 'Pfc.' ranks
2. Training as Trainee Navy
3. Training on 'sailing ships'
4. Cooking competition and go to GOP
5. Christmas special
6. All the soldiers who have helped 'Real Man' members during the first six bases
7. Cooking Contest