‘What do you do when you play?’ has revived ‘Conscience Refrigerator’. The scene where a child who grew up watching Lee Kyung-kyu‘s ‘Conscience Refrigerator’ becomes a ‘Conscientious Citizen’ left a deep impression.

The MBC ‘What do you do when you play?’ (directed by Kim Jin-yong, Lee Joo-won, Wang Jong-seok, Ahn Ji-sun, Bang Sung-soo/written by Noh Min-sun) aired on the 8th was decorated as the ‘Lee Kyung-kyu is Back on the Go’ episode, and confirmed the hidden consciences that still exist on the roads and subways in 2025. In a world that has become tougher than 29 years ago, the conscience found has drawn an enthusiastic response from viewers, satisfying emotions, fun, and even public interest aspects.

The 2049 viewership rating, a key indicator of channel competitiveness and topicality for ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ that aired that day, recorded 2.2%, taking first place among all Saturday entertainment shows. The viewership rating for households in the metropolitan area was 4.4%. The best minute was the scene where Lee Kyung-kyu reveals his ambition to return with the revived ‘Lee Kyung-kyu Goes’, and the highest viewership rating per minute soared to 6.6%. (Nielsen Korea, metropolitan area standard)

‘Godfather of Entertainment’ Lee Kyung-kyu brought ‘Conscience Refrigerator’ as the legendary entertainment show he wants to do again. The ‘Conscience Refrigerator’, which first aired in 1996, was a corner that looked for a conscientious protagonist who would stop at the stop line on the road, and it was very popular at the time, shaking up the whole country. Lee Kyung-kyu revealed the behind-the-scenes story, saying, “At first, it wasn’t a refrigerator, it was a TV, but I said I‘d give it a big refrigerator since I was giving it anyway. And I made it with the meaning of ‘If you put your conscience in the refrigerator, it won’t rot’,’,”, and praised himself, saying, “These days, I sometimes cry when I‘m driving(?) When the car stops at the stop line! That’s something I made.“

In the meantime, Joo Woo-jae nagged Lee Kyung-kyu and teased him. In the end, Lee Kyung-kyu declared a boycott of Joo Woo-jae by shouting, “I told you not to come out. Don‘t talk.” Joo Woo-jae was named as the representative model on the ‘11 Blacklist of the Entertainment Industry’ that Lee Kyung-kyu recently announced. Even though Lee Kyung-kyu was banned from talking, Joo Woo-jae stubbornly joined the talk, saying, “If you don’t want it to rot, freezing is right. It rots slightly if you refrigerate it,” and Lee Kyung-kyu shouted, “You don‘t know the meaning of life. You’ll be stuck eating refrigerated food for the rest of your life(?),” making everyone laugh.



Then, the members split into teams based on roads and subways and set out to find conscience. They prepared various home appliances as “Conscience Appliances” to scale up to 2025. In the first children‘s protection zone road, the goal was to find the protagonist who stops at the stop line in front of a red flashing light, and in the second subway, the goal was to find the protagonist who brings the wallet (a lost item) that the production crew dropped to the lost and found center.

Joo Woo-jae, Lee Yi-kyung, Park Jin-joo, and Mi-joo began looking for hidden consciences in the subway where many people were passing by. Most people just passed by, thinking that the owner would come and get the wallet. After waiting for an eternity, a couple found the wallet and brought it to the lost and found center. The conscientious people were an unexpected Hong Kong tourist couple (Jacob and Tracy). Furthermore, the Hong Kong couple added to the heartwarming atmosphere by saying that they would donate the item instead of taking it. Joo Woo-jae, who was touched by the capital letter ‘T’, said, “I am so filled with humanity”, and Lee Yi-kyung was moved, saying, “I think I will cry”.

Lee Kyung-kyu, Yoo Jae-suk, and Haha were worried that many people still do not know that they must stop at red flashing lights. Experts also conducted a test in advance and found that not one out of 50 cars stopped, indicating that it would be difficult. The disappointment grew as cars sped through the children’s safety zone and cars just passed by even when there were pedestrians. That‘s when the first conscientious person appeared. Air conditioning construction company CEO Park Yoon-sik revealed his conscience that he has kept for a long time, saying, “I always pause because children might pass by.” Park Yoon-sik was even more touching when he said that he would donate the goods to the underprivileged after filming.

A second conscience that was expected to be difficult also appeared. Kim Sa-gon, who runs a cafe, said that he grew up watching Lee Kyung-kyu’s “Conscience Refrigerator” when he was young, and Lee Kyung-kyu was proud, saying, “The children I raised have turned out this well.” Yoo Jae-suk was touched by Kim Sa-gon’s answer, where he accurately understood the meaning of the red flashing signal, saying, “Wow! I was touched.” Lee Kyung-kyu said, “‘Nolmo’ is a really good program. I’m so happy to be doing ‘Nolmo’ again,” and expressed his aspiration, saying, “I’m always ready on Thursday (the day of the ‘Nolmo’ filming).” Yoo Jae-suk said, “I have confirmed that there are still citizens with a conscience all over the streets,” and promised to return with “Lee Kyung-kyu is Coming,” and Lee Kyung-kyu shouted, “Conscience is alive.”

Meanwhile, the preview for the next episode raised expectations by showing the members going to “I’m on my own” to find a partner. MBC‘s “What Do You Do When You Play?” airs every Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com reporter yyynnn@donga.com

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