With its prologue airing on June 5th, 2017, 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 is SEVENTEEN’s self-produced content with quite a complex history. In the beginning, the program showed unreleased videos from SEVENTEEN during their promotional period, and at one point adopted reality shows and games. Then in 2020 this year, it settled into a variety show format with subject matters that evolved from ideas generated by members. As a result, despite being under the same name, the nature of the content varies based on the period, and even the recently produced content that has a different feel depending on the concepts and themes, leaving you head-scratching on where to start. So for readers who got wind of 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 being fun to watch yet couldn’t choose which one to press play, we picked out five episodes for everyone’s tastes. Given the connection with the recent stream of 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉, we selected among episodes in 2019 and 2020 that were updated with features of variety shows.

〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 is on track to expand the breadth of languages with translated subtitles. We urge respective users of the language to check the availability of subtitling service for each content. The recent content ‘BAD CLUE’ for example, is available in Thai, English, Spanish, Japanese, Indonesian in addition to Korean.

Gaming show more dynamic than the game itself – “Four Feet Rider”

〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉’s ambitious work bringing “Kartrider” to the real world as a four-wheeled bike version - after receiving approval from the game Kartrider that is. Every aspect from the racing track seemingly not too gigantic but enough to wear out the members as they race, Kartrider items suitably altered to fit reality, the screen layout creating an illusion of watching a race game, to the BGM with just about the right tempo, is appropriately programmed. And yet, regardless of the preparation by the crew, SEVENTEEN plays the game the way they please. One of the members gets close to quitting as he complains about the course being too long and difficult, JEONGHAN’s many outrageous fouls invite others to treat him like a bug or hack. Meanwhile, members who should be supporting the driver on the same team get carried away with the water guns, and go on a shooting spree at friends and foes alike. Verging on non-verbal performance entertainment, members’ verbal chatter and nonstop body movements keeps the audience laughing. As a bonus to round out the episode, the audience gets a peek at the extra scenes where members disclose their past game IDs to each other.

The turning point of 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉  - “Nonely Night”

〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 sought to gradually transform itself into a variety show genre, as illustrated by “TTT” with the secondary title “SVT REALITY,” as well as 2019’s 3rd episode with the concept of an entry-level worker brainstorming for program topics to develop into content of 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉. Afterwards, members go through “MBTI of SVT,” combining an MBTI test and candid camera, and moves on to unleash their potential in “Karaoke Escape” and “Nonely Night.” SEVENTEEN manages to somehow sing songs they don’t know in order to break free from the karaoke room, and in the “Nonely Night” episode, put on full display of their “spectacular flair for entertainment” that confuse the audience as to whether they’re actually watching MBC’s 〈infinite challenge〉.  For example, under the title “High-class, No-logic Talkshow,” members continuously drive on the topic, “Living with a pigeon for one year vs. Living as a pigeon for one year,” arguing illogically along the lines of “if you live with a pigeon, you acquire the pigeon's talent nobody else gets to have.” Meanwhile DK’s pigeon impersonation is needlessly exceptional. Instructed to sing or chatter without much of a boundary or rule to speak of, SEVENTEEN comes to self-discover their talents – marking a true turning point for a team that produces its own content. “Nonely Night” even returned as a sequel in 2020 as “Nonely Night II.” One of the recent topics was “Living with Jwi (187cm in height, very tidy and speaks fluent Korean) for 1 year vs. Living as Jwi for 1 year.”

Serious about Entertainment – “Ad-Lib : SEVENTEEN Got Talent”

In “Ad-Lib : SEVENTEEN Got Talent,” members act out fictional characters based on the character names written on notes they each received randomly 10 minutes before shooting. Given characters with puzzling names in the likes of “Tastebud Controlled Male,” “Dancing Machine,” “Angry Ballader,” “Musical Guy,” and “Sloth Rapper” among others, members showcase their spontaneous performance that would qualify for 〈America’s Got Talent〉. Personally whenever I feel depressed, I go back to watch the scene where JUN acts as the musical guy “Moon Other” who renders his response, “I have none,” as a musical tune when asked what he will showcase. The members’ subtle balancing act in adopting speech and gestures of characters one might have come across online onto a novel character unlikely seen before, would make anyone laugh. Furthermore, THE 8 acts as JUN and JOSHUA plays the robot “Shubot.” If none of this makes sense, just give it a watch. The moment “JUN” and “Moon Other” blends will put you in stitches. At the same time, it serves as a killer moment showing members who weren’t familiar with the Korean language come so far as to make jokes in Korean. If you watch this episode and then watch videos like SEVENTEEN’s “Fearless,” you’ll be at once baffled and blown away at the gap between the team’s performance abilities and talent for entertainment.

So is it a person or a ghost? -“Hide and Seek”

Going into 2020, buzz started to build on 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 beyond the fandom, and SEVENTEEN’s agency Pledis Entertainment put out an official advertisement in social media, signaling its commitment as strong as SEVENTEEN’s to the program. The popularity that has been gathering steam explodes in “Hide and Seek.” 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 which had been using trendy themes, such as room escape and game show, once again presents content in step with the trend, unveiling “Hide and Seek” as a horror special in time for the summer season. “Hide and seek” was designed to create a suitable degree of horror yet hit the right note in not appearing overly harsh on members, and it met the fans’ expectation towards a horror special. A sense of realism was ramped up compared to typical theme park horror content, while the tone was adjusted to take the edge out of feeling too perilous. At any rate, the one thing that became the talk of the town after airing, was the unidentified character mentioned by the members during the show, which fueled questions online on whether this figure was a ghost, a mannequin or a prank pulled off by the crew. By building on 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉’s existing popularity, the anticipations toward a horror special that had become a rare treat in today’s TV shows, along with the mysterious ending, this particular episode made 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 a red hot topic on the online community.

If you’re at the cusp of becoming a core fan –“TTT (MT SVT REALITY)” (2018) & “TTT (Camping ver.)” (2019)

The “TTT” series covering SEVENTEEN’s overnight trip at the end of the year in 2018 and 2019, is profoundly meaningful for both 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 and the group SEVENTEEN. The 2018 “TTT” threw in various games over the course of the trip and changed a documentary into a reality show, and thus transitioning itself into a full-fledged variety show. At the same time, it shed light on the sides of members even fans failed to clearly notice until that point. The games members play in the car, grocery shopping in the supermarket and the unique way they each sleep at the destination all felt real without the crew stepping in with instructions. In the scene where they chat over ramen, looking messy and frizzy just after waking up, conjured up the image of college social clubs. The 2018 “TTT” pulled in SEVENTEEN’s real-world relationship as colleagues and friends into 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 and fans were able to grasp the chemistry conveyed in various content. What this means is fleshed out in 2019 “TTT.” Members were given more free time than the previous year and they share their thoughts regarding the group that they never unveiled on camera before. S.COUPS expresses his wish for the team to last by saying, “I don’t think we will part even after time goes by. I guess I just can’t imagine.” Meanwhile, WOOZI says “to be honest, how can thirteen different people get along well?” but also adds, “and yet all thirteen of us are here. And even though we’ve been through a lot so far, these days I want to do much more going forward.” He continues, “we are in a situation where it’s all too easy to become sensitive about performance and numbers and these things do get to us. But still, I hope we can stay together for a long time.” As idols straddling the realities involving thoughts on contract renewal and career path, and the ideals of wishing to be together, they pour out their hearts and promises to each other as well as to the fans. The team’s youngest member DINO says, “Changing the rings feels like I’m also changing and growing,” and the members really do grow through their relations and interactions with each other. After watching “TTT” over two years, the recent episodes of 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 seem different, because now we have a better sense of how they are able to enjoy 〈GOING SEVENTEEN〉 so much.