Wizard of Nowhere

Wizard of Nowhere (Korean: 오지의 마법사; RR: Ojiui Mabeopsa) is a South Korean travel-reality show on MBC TV that started airing on June 5, 2017. The cast of six, divided into two teams, goes to another country for three days. In those three days, they are given missions to do. Before midnight strikes, they must reach their destination for the day. The cast has no phones or wallets or money with them, or even personal belongings. All they have are the essentials from the producers: sleeping bags, tents, cooking equipment, utensils, and some hiking gear. Most of the time, they rely on hitchhiking to complete strangers to get around.

Wizard of Nowhere
Genre	Variety show, Reality show, Travel documentary
Directed by	Kim Joon-hyun, Seo Jeong-woo[1]
Starring	Various artists
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	31 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Park Jeong-gyu[1]
Producer	Ahn Soo-young[1]
Production location	Multi-countries
Running time	70 minutes
Original release
Network	MBC
Release	July 30, 2017 (2017-07-30) – May 27, 2018 (2018-05-27)

Broadcast timeline

Episode type	Broadcast date	Broadcast time
Pilot	June 5, 2017	Mondays at 23:00 (KST)
	June 17, 2017 – July 1, 2017	Saturdays at 23:15 (KST)
Regular	July 30, 2017 – September 3, 2017	Sundays at 18:45 (KST)
	September 10, 2017 – November 12, 2017	Not airing due to MBC Labor Union strike
	November 19, 2017 – May 27, 2018	Sundays at 18:45 (KST)

Cast

Regular members

Member	Episodes	Corresponding Location
Kim Soo-ro	Pilot 1–4; Regular 1–31	Nepal Georgia Kamchatka Peninsula Sicily Tasmania Sri Lanka Estonia
Um Ki-joon	Pilot 1–4; Regular 1–9, 21–31	Nepal Georgia Kamchatka Peninsula Sri Lanka Estonia
Yoon Jung-soo	Pilot 1–4; Regular 1–31	Nepal Georgia Kamchatka Peninsula Sicily Tasmania Sri Lanka Estonia
Kim Tae-won	Pilot 1–4; Regular 1–19, 26–31	Nepal Georgia Kamchatka Peninsula Sicily Estonia
Choi Min-yong	Pilot 2–4; Regular 1–5, 10–20	Nepal Georgia Sicily Tasmania
Kim Jin-woo (WINNER)	Regular 1–25	Georgia Kamchatka Peninsula Sicily Tasmania Sri Lanka
Han Chae-young	Regular 6–20, 26–31	Kamchatka Peninsula Sicily Tasmania Estonia
Eric Nam	Regular 16–31	Sicily Tasmania Sri Lanka Estonia
Don Spike	Regular 20–31	Tasmania Sri Lanka Estonia

Guest members

Member	Episodes	Corresponding Location
Niel (Teen Top)	Pilot 1–4	Nepal
Kim Yong-woon (Kim Jin-woo's father)	Regular 8–9	Kamchatka Peninsula
Oh Se-deuk	Regular 15–19	Sicily
Yook Joong-wan (Rose Motel)	Regular 21–25	Sri Lanka
Han Hyun-min	Regular 22–25	Sri Lanka

List of episodes

Pilot

Episode #	Broadcast date	Visited place	Cast member
1–4	June 5, 2017 – July 1, 2017	Nepal	Kim Soo-ro, Um Ki-joon, Yoon Jung-soo Kim Tae-won, Choi Min-yong, Niel (Teen Top)

Regular broadcast

Total episode #	Regular episode #	Broadcast date	Visited place	Cast member
5–9	1–5	July 30, 2017 – August 27, 2017	Georgia	Kim Su-ro, Um Ki-joon, Kim Jin-woo (WINNER) Kim Tae-won, Choi Min-yong, Yoon Jung-soo
10–13	6–9	September 3, 2017 November 19, 2017 – December 3, 2017	Kamchatka Peninsula	Yoon Jung-soo, Um Ki-joon, Han Chae-young Kim Su-ro, Kim Tae-won, Kim Jin-woo, Kim Yong-woon
13–19	9–15	December 3, 2017 – January 14, 2018	Sicily	Yoon Jung-soo, Kim Tae-won, Choi Min-yong, Eric Nam Kim Su-ro, Kim Jin-woo, Han Chae-young, Oh Se-deuk
20–24	16–20	January 21, 2018 – February 4, 2018 February 25, 2018 – March 4, 2018	Tasmania	Yoon Jung-soo, Han Chae-young, Kim Jin-woo, Don Spike Kim Su-ro, Choi Min-yong, Eric Nam
25–29	21–25	March 11, 2018 March 25, 2018 – April 15, 2018	Sri Lanka	Kim Su-ro, Um Ki-joon, Eric Nam, Kim Jin-woo Yoon Jung-soo, Don Spike, Yook Joong-wan (Rose Motel), Han Hyun-min
30–35	26–31	April 22, 2018 – May 27, 2018	Estonia	Kim Tae-won, Yoon Jung-soo, Don Spike, Han Chae-young Kim Su-ro, Um Ki-joon, Eric Nam

Ratings

In the ratings below, the highest rating for the show will be in red, and the lowest rating for the show will be in blue each year.

2017

Episode #	Broadcast date	Average audience share
		AGB Nielsen[2] (Nationwide)	TNmS[3] (Nationwide)
1	July 30, 2017	5.2%	5.1%
2	August 6, 2017	5.9%	6.2%
3	August 13, 2017	5.7%	5.8%
4	August 20, 2017	6.0%	7.5%
5	August 27, 2017	4.9%	6.3%
6	September 3, 2017	5.5%	5.9%
Ten weeks break due to MBC Labor Union strike
7	November 19, 2017	6.1%	5.8%
8	November 26, 2017	6.5%	6.9%
9	December 3, 2017	5.2%	5.6%
10	December 10, 2017	6.3%	7.2%
11	December 17, 2017	7.3%	6.3%
12	December 24, 2017	8.3%	8.8%
13	December 31, 2017	5.9%	5.3%

List of ratings in 2017 (episodes 1–13)

2018

Episode #	Broadcast date	Average audience share
		TNmS[3] (Nationwide)	AGB Nielsen[2] (Nationwide)
14	January 7	6.8%	7.0%
15	January 14	7.2%	6.6%
16	January 21	7.3%	6.3%
17	January 28	7.6%	6.7%
18	February 4	7.4%	7.9%
Two weeks break due to PyeongChang Olympics 2018
19	February 25	7.3%	7.2%
20	March 4	7.4%	6.0%
21	March 11	7.8%	6.6%
—	March 18	No airing of show this week
22	March 25	8.1%	6.3%
23	April 1	7.2%	6.2%
24	April 8	6.4%	5.8%
25	April 15	6.2%	5.4%
26	April 22	6.8%	5.7%
27	April 29	5.6%	5.9%
28	May 6	5.1%	4.5%
29	May 13	5.7%	4.5%
30	May 20	5.4%	5.0%
31 (End)	May 27	5.0%	5.0%

List of ratings in 2018 (episodes 14–31)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipients	Result
2017	17th MBC Entertainment Awards[4][5]	Program of the Year	Wizard of Nowhere	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Variety Category	Kim Soo-ro	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Variety Category	Yoon Jung-soo	Nominated
			Choi Min-yong	Nominated
		Rookie Award, Variety Category	Han Chae-young	Won
			Um Ki-joon	Nominated
			Kim Jin-woo	Nominated
		Best Teamwork Award	Wizard of Nowhere	Won
		Special Award (Variety Show)	Yoon Jung-soo	Won
		Best Couple Award	Kim Tae-won & Yoon Jung-soo	Nominated