With 164 episodes to date, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s long-running series “TO DO” might be on a short break, but the group’s still putting their variety show skills to good use. With their latest series “NOT TO DO” and “HUENINGKAI’s Countless Friends,” TOMORROW X TOGETHER not only showcases the entertainment chops they’ve honed for nearly seven years together but also highlight how tight-knit their teamwork can be even when they’re not all onscreen as a full ensemble. We talked to HYBE Media Studio Production 2 Team head Mina Lee, director Jeongsun Kim, writer Hyeyeon Son, and BIGHIT MUSIC Content Marketing Team rep Yubin Hwang about how they tided MOA over on Mondays while “TO DO” was MIA.
The name “NOT TO DO” already hinted there’d be something fun and new compared to “TO DO.” What makes “NOT TO DO” different in a way that “they can just enjoy themselves”?
Jeongsun Kim: I think the original “TO DO” found its place as a fan-focused series where the group members take the lead in creating the big picture, and we aimed to keep that connection with the original series while also showing a new side of them by coming up with a format where someone else could lead the way and the group could just come along for the ride. Where “TO DO” is all about what the TOMORROW X TOGETHER members do, for “NOT TO DO,” we focused on things where it’s okay not to do. Seeing as the things they do on conversation-heavy shows like “Idol Human Theater” end up turning into memes a lot, we wanted to foster a laid-back atmosphere that people could expect to highlight how good the boys are in a variety show setting.
Yubin Hwang: A big thing that sets “NOT TO DO” apart is how alert it is to adapting to what MOA wants and to new trends. We felt that rolling out a fresh series while the group was between albums—one that met those needs and stayed current with what’s popular—would be a big hit with viewers. I think another thing that sets it apart from “TO DO” is how you get to see the chemistry between different subsets of the group. Even in terms of editing and visuals, we dialed it back to give it more of a YouTube web series vibe than the usual polished K-pop content, which I think adds another layer of distinction.
Exploring things like saju and face readings, personal color consulting, and psychiatric evaluations are all different ways of analyzing something to discover a new side to them. Why did you pick those three activities specifically?
Jeongsun Kim: TOMORROW X TOGETHER never talked about personal colors or fortune-telling on an official basis before, so we hoped MOA would find it really interesting. As for the psychiatric evaluation, it’s not something you usually see in K-pop content, but it’s a big thing on the rest of YouTube, so we were excited to take that on. With all the group’s experience and knack for being entertaining, we figured they would put a fun spin on it. Our hope for “NOT TO DO” was that it would be an exciting look into new info and chemistry from the boys for MOA.
Hyeyeon Son: We spoke with Dr. Kim Chong Gi a lot right from the planning stages of the “NOT TO DO” psychiatric evaluation episode. We recognized that visiting a psychiatrist isn’t always the easiest thing, so we brainstormed how to make it engaging and relatable for viewers without losing the inherent therapeutic aspect. We cut it down into a kind of taste-test version. It came across as engaging as it did thanks to TAEHYUN and HUENINGKAI really opening up about their thoughts.
Mina Lee: To be honest, if TOMORROW X TOGETHER was brand new at this, they might have wanted to keep their thoughts to themselves, but as they’re now in their seventh year, it seems like it’s become almost effortless for them to share what’s on their minds with enough finesse to make it entertaining. This didn’t make the final cut, but SOOBIN and BEOMGYU both got so into things later on while filming the saju and face reading episode of “NOT TO DO” that they just asked questions about things they’d always been curious about. It was actually the first episode we shot, but seeing how relaxed they already were was a relief.
YEONJUN had a scheduling conflict, so you instead created an episode of “NOT TO DO” for him that combined personal color consulting with saju and face reading. What did it take to keep the shoot efficient given the limited timeframe?
Jeongsun Kim: Since we were working under time constraints, we tried to make that episode as packed as possible while keeping the fun variety show vibe, so in order to surprise YEONJUN, we had the personal color consultant and the saju and face reading expert each hide in a storage room and fitting room, ready to pop out at the perfect moment. I’m sure it must’ve been uncomfortable for them, but they still happily played along, which I’m really grateful for. (laughs)
One of the best things about “NOT TO DO” was how the boys sang songs to close each episode. What was the idea behind wrapping up each time with an impromptu song of their own making?
Mina Lee: While we were planning out “NOT TO DO,” we wanted to really strip down the format, but we still needed the show to have a kick to it. That’s when our writers came up with the idea for an ending song. Actually, the group members weren’t exactly sure about the whole singing thing once we got there. (laughs) They were like, “Does that work?” It was their first time and all, but they did a great job, and the directors worked their magic in the editing room to really bring those moments to life.
Hyeyeon Son: The ending song is one of the reasons we filmed BEOMGYU and SOOBIN first. We felt like BEOMGYU would set the perfect tone for the whole concept, and he totally nailed it. (laughs) And the way SOOBIN was softly ad-libbing along with him made it that much funnier. We were like, “Off to a great start!”
Where “NOT TO DO” is all about trying out the latest trends, “HUENINGKAI’s Countless Friends” feels like a totally one-of-a-kind concept that only HUENINGKAI could pull off.
Yubin Hwang: The show was inspired by two extremely well-known memes in the K-pop scene—the countless memes and the “HUENINGKAI chingu-deuldo cheombeong-cheombeong” meme. Once we added the idea of making new friends into the mix, we figured it would naturally bring out HUENINGKAI’s character, and they had such a fun outline for it. That’s how that show came to be.
Jeongsun Kim: The main goal of “HUENINGKAI’s Countless Friends,” just like with “NOT TO DO,” was to show the group members being themselves. We wanted to take what was happening between HUENINGKAI and his guests, as well as what was going on with the boys giving orders, and use both situations to convey how entertaining TOMORROW X TOGETHER is in a fresh, new way. During the planning phase, we thought it’d be great if the interactions played out naturally—whether HUENINGKAI got along perfectly with the guest or if things were awkward. I mean, not everyone clicks instantly with everyone they meet, right? We figured that would let viewers connect with HUENINGKAI’s charm in an organic way, which is why we spent a lot of time working on different environments for him to interact with for each episode.
What was the most important thing when you were searching for people born in 2002 to bring on?
Mina Lee: We focused on choosing guests who would bring out something new in HUENINGKAI when meeting him. Our writers did preliminary interviews with the upcoming guests before filming, and all three of them said they’d like to be his friend and that it sounded fun, which was lucky. (laughs)
Hyeyeon Son: Based on those interviews, we put together “top secret intel” for the boys giving orders. We briefly checked for things that you can’t really find out online, like what to say to them to get them to open up or whether there was any news on things that were already publicly known. We also asked about their impressions on TOMORROW X TOGETHER and whether they had any connection to them in the past. Young Ji actually said the interview felt like talking with a school counselor. (laughs) I think it’d probably be fun to watch if someone even more introverted than HUENINGKAI came on. So if you’re looking to be friends with him, get in touch. (laughs)
The segment where HUENINGKAI tries out his potential friend’s hobbies and interests as an icebreaker was such a fun concept.
Hyeyeon Son: There’s a part in the third episode where BEOMGYU asks, “Does he even like green tea?” and TAEHYUN responds, “He has to match her taste.” I thought that comment really hit the nail on the head—it’s all about getting the other person to open up with the goal of making a new friend. So we designed that segment to keep the atmosphere light for the guests while making sure HUENINGKAI could get them both to open up. (laughs)
Jeongsun Kim: In order to show off what makes them both special, we felt we had to make things comfortable not only for HUENINGKAI but for his guest, too. Because we tailored the segments to each guest, we were able to show Young Ji playing the gentle confidence booster for HUENINGKAI, NICHOLAS being himself and a top-notch badminton player, and Patricia delighting everyone with her big, playful reactions.
There were also the other group members, guiding HUENINGKAI remotely to help him keep his cool despite the unfamiliar environment. What sort of entertainment value were you hoping for from that setup?
Jeongsun Kim: Since the TOMORROW X TOGETHER members were the ones to make the countless memes in the first place, having them there to help HUENINGKAI make new friends felt like the best possible course of action. It’s actually easier a lot of the time for people to warm up to each other when there’s a group dynamic, so we felt the other group members needed to be there as his moral support. And, because the TOMORROW X TOGETHER members are natural entertainers, them giving directions gave a look at what makes them unique while also adding comedy into the show.
Yubin Hwang: While watching on set and playing back the edited version, I noticed how BEOMGYU and SOOBIN always had these laugh-out-loud moments, while TAEHYUN played more of a role where he would help to build chemistry between HUENINGKAI and his guest. I think they each made the command center entertaining in their own unique way.
Mina Lee: Even though they were starring in a brand-new series with no reference point, we made good use of them to make the show fun and they were perfect in their role, giving instructions. Hopefully we’ll get to see YEONJUN appear on “HUENINGKAI’s Countless Friends” in the future and that he’ll be right at home giving orders, too. (laughs)
Jeongsun Kim: As when HUENINGKAI asked Patricia, “Are you doing alright? It must’ve been so chaotic,” he really empathized with his guests and said a lot of kind words to them. We felt that’s another part of HUENINGKAI’s charm, so we worked that into the show as much as possible.
With two different shows capturing TOMORROW X TOGETHER in their variety show element, you gave MOA plenty of laughs. What memorable moments did you take away from making “NOT TO DO” and “HUENINGKAI’s Countless Friends”?
Mina Lee: What sticks out the most for me is when we were getting props together for the “HUENINGKAI’s Countless Friends” teaser. (laughs) For the stuffed tofu people, we bought the supplies, worked on the stitching, and took out some of the stuffing. It was all done by hand. HUENINGKAI had a lot of fun with that on set, and MOA loved it when the teaser dropped, so it’s something I remember fondly. Also, watching MOA speculate about who the third guest could be based on which celebrities love matcha was entertaining to watch. (laughs)
Yubin Hwang: I was blown away by how positively people responded to the videos. We expected MOA to love both series, but they even drew in fans of other artists and people who watch variety shows on YouTube in general too. It did good numbers, too, looking at the number of views, and even new viewers were leaving positive comments like, “This is hilarious,” which meant a lot to me. (laughs)
Jeongsun Kim: For me, the standout moment was during the psychiatric evaluation episode of “NOT TO DO” when HUENINGKAI explained he wasn’t always an ENFP. That was something that just came up naturally in conversation while they were waiting around. Even TAEHYUN, who was on set, admitted it was his first time hearing this after seven years. That was the big moment for me. (laughs)
Hyeyeon Son: Personally, if I could go back to any point in 2025, it’d be shooting the psychiatric evaluation episode of “NOT TO DO.” It was just that much fun. (laughs) I’m really happy it came across to viewers just how fun it was there because I wanted to let them in on exactly how it felt. I was especially impressed by HUENINGKAI’s quick wit—watching his banter with the doctor and how his drawing evolved along the way.