Running Man recently celebrated its 10th anniversary by airing a special live episode where cast members were tasked to solve a mystery with the help of the audience.
For the special anniversary episode, the Running Man members were each given roles to play as they tried to solve the mystery. Advantages were given to those who arrived early which included the maknae line of Jung So Min, Lee Kwangsoo, and Yang Se Chan.
The interactive episode title was Challenge of Phantom Thief 'Running Man' wherein members were charged with weeding out two phantom thieves among them with the help of viewers on the live broadcast.
The first part of the show was a taped episode where Lee Kwangsoo was identified as one of the phantom thieves. The second part of the show revealed who the audience suspected to be the second thief. Unfortunately, the viewers were not as skilled at unmasking a thief than the cast members and it turned out that their main suspect Yoo Jae Sook was innocent.
Yang Se Chan was revealed as the second phantom thief which meant he and Kwangsoo won the prize.
Before reaching their 10th anniversary, the show also ran into their fair share of close calls. It can be recalled that there were several rumors that the network was considering pulling the plug on the weekend variety show after the show's ratings took a dive, Soompi reported.
In 2017, there were also rumors that Kim Jong Kook and Song Jihyo were in danger of being booted from the show. The network was flooded with negative criticism for allegedly planning a second season without two of the original cast members.
Kang Gary, who was also one of the original cast members bid goodbye to Running Man after six years in 2016.PD Jung Chul Min stepped down from the show several months before Running Man's 10th anniversary.
In 2017, Jung So Min and Yang Se Chan were added to the regular cast and added fresh blood to the variety show and are now recognized as official members of the RM family. Early this year, it was announced that the Running Man cast was set to embark on a World Tour to celebrate their first decade on the air.
However, due to coronavirus concerns, the first concert date for the Philippines has been rescheduled to December 6, 2020. The original date of the Running Man concert was June 21 and tickets, reportedly, sold out within a few hours, Soompi reported.
