KBS2 entertainment show ‘The Boss‘s Ears Are Donkey Ears’ Lee Kyung-kyu showed off his unique entertainment godfather side.

The 292nd episode of KBS2 entertainment show ‘The Boss’s Ears Are Donkey Ears’ (directed by Ahn Sang-eun, hereinafter referred to as ‘Sadangwi’), which aired on Sunday the 9th, recorded a nationwide viewership rating of 5.6%, a peak viewership rating of 8.2%, and a 2049 viewership rating of 1.9%, maintaining the top spot in the same time slot for 141 consecutive weeks. (based on Nielsen Korea)

Boss Um Ji-in stirred up the studio with a special tip before the video was released. It was a photo that Jeon Hyun-moo took with his junior announcer Hong Joo-yeon, Kim Jin-woong, and Lee Kwang-yeop while having a meal. Lee Kyung-kyu suspected, “The two men are scapegoats. They set up a folding screen to feed Hong Joo-yeon”, burning down the studio. On the day of Uhm Ji-in‘s overnight shift, she called together her juniors Hong Joo-yeon, Jung Eun-hye, and Heo Yu-won who had finished work, saying she would teach them the manual for overnight duty that they must not let their guard down, and surprised the juniors by suggesting an overnight duty experience called ‘Girls’ Friday Night’. In addition, Uhm Ji-in had her juniors sign their names as the underwater broadcaster and radio host instead of her, and she went straight into underwater broadcasting training, pointing out Hong Joo-yeon‘s stiff tone and demonstrating to the juniors the importance of practice. Uhm Ji-in threatened Hong Joo-yeon, who had entered the booth for the underwater broadcast of the 9 o’clock news, saying, “I‘ll be watching from outside”, but after they all finished cleanly, she went into parking practice this time. Heading to the parking lot, Uhm Ji-in continued nagging Hong Joo-yeon about her dirty car and the traces of the accident, and Uhm Ji-in, who had been nagging Hong Joo-yeon about her parallel parking skills, demonstrated the perfect parallel parking technique and received applause from her juniors.

Boss Park Myung-soo and his junior comedian Shin Gi-ru went to see the godfather of entertainment Lee Kyung-kyu. Park Myung-soo said, “I came to read the new entertainment landscape of 2025 and gain insight,” and confessed that the status of comedians is not the same as before. Lee Kyung-kyu made everyone laugh from the start by saying, “We have to eradicate the dangerous group.”

Lee Kyung-kyu made everyone laugh with the logic, “I can carry Chef Jung Ji-sun, but businessman Baek Jong-won stole my program, so he’s the enemy.” Lee Kyung-kyu then started to get angry by saying, “PD Kim Young-hee of “’Conscience Refrigerator’, PD Kim Tae-ho of ‘Infinite Challenge’, but the problem is Na Young-seok”, and eventually suggested a ‘Special Act on Banning Broadcast Appearances”, saying, “Return the Baeksang Award trophy”. He then got excited and said, “Isn’t it true that Ahn Jung-hwan, a sportsperson, doesn‘t produce programs with his own money like me?”, but then changed his position and made everyone laugh after thinking of his son-in-law, athlete Kim Young-chan.

Lee Kyung-kyu then said, “Singers are our allies”, but “Webtoon writers are recognized when broadcasting becomes their main job.” He then made people laugh by saying, “Foreigners like Sam Hammington can exchange information and don’t cause much damage. But if they win the grand prize, they‘re out”. “Businessmen are the ones providing PPL”, he welcomed them, and while he was harsh on announcers and models, he classified Jeon Hyun-moo and Hong Jin-kyung, who appeared on his YouTube channel, as his allies, drawing Park Myung-soo’s ire.

Lee Kyung-kyu, who also classified actors on his blacklist, ultimately selected 11 people to be banned from appearing on variety shows: Na Young-seok, Kim Tae-ho, Ahn Jung-hwan, Baek Jong-won, Joo Woo-jae, Lee Hyun-yi, Lee Seo-jin, Jung Yu-mi, Kim Sung-joo, Jang Sung-kyu, and Kim Dae-ho, and made everyone laugh by saying, “But if you appear on my YouTube channel, I‘ll take you off the banned list”.

When asked about the entertainment industry’s outlook for 2025, Lee Kyung-kyu deeply agreed with Park Myung-soo‘s words, “These days, most broadcasts are about marriage and divorce,” and while saying, “You shouldn’t make programs based on the lives of the cast members without developing an entertainment format,” he made everyone burst into laughter by making plans to appear in currently popular parenting and divorce programs himself.

Boss Shin Jong-chul has started preparing for ‘VIP Gourmet Club’. “We don‘t allow even a 1mm error in a hotel banquet,” said Shin Jong-cheol, urging the food and beverage team and the cooking team to provide thorough service and cooking. When the interest of the cast was heightened by the introduction of a gourmet club that uses rare ingredients such as truffles, foie gras, caviar, and lobster, with the per-person ingredient cost exceeding 200,000 won, Shin Jong-cheol raised his voice after receiving news of the ligament injury suffered by bakery manager Ham Seong-ju, saying, “How important are your hands, and don’t you take care of yourself properly?” During the terrifying food ingredient inspection time, the chefs‘ tension rose with the appearance of Shin Jong-cheol, who emphasizes detail. Although the lamb ribs and other meats, lobster, and seafood were accepted, the size of the tomatoes, asparagus, and carrots were all different, and he took off his chef’s hat and stormed out, saying, “Do as you please,” making the staff nervous. Two hours before the re-inspection, the kitchen was covered in dark clouds, and thanks to the chefs who gave it their all, the final cooking rehearsal began after the ingredients were prepared. Shin Jong-cheol, who tasted the first course of the VIP Gourmet Society consisting of a total of seven courses, took a note on his phone and checked the time, saying that it took 5 minutes and 20 seconds for the next dish to come out. He also checked the size and cooking of the vegetables, the size of the sea bream, and the steak. The youngest employee in charge of serving said that Shin Jong-cheol was satisfied, but he emphasized the importance of details by pointing out the uneven vegetable size and the cutting condition of the dessert bread, and concluded the final rehearsal of the VIP Gourmet Society.

‘The Boss‘s Ears Are Donkey Ears’ airs every Sunday at 4:40 PM on KBS 2TV.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com reporter jhj@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.