The Hungry and the Hairy Review 2021 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
Two Korean celebrities who have known each other for a number of years became really close friends over the past year or two, and the two of them couldn’t be more different than each other.
Rain (aka Jung Ji-hoon), a well-known actor and singer, is the “Hungry” part of this pair; when he works, he only eats one meal per day in order to maintain his amazing physique, but he loves food, and when he’s not working, he basically eats all the time. He’s definitely quiet and considered, and very organized. Ro Hong-chul, a host of various variety and reality shows over the past decade or so, is the “Hairy” one — though he shaved his copious beard right before their trip for an ad campaign. He’s outspoken, kisses up to the bosses at Netflix (he wears the red “N” on his hat), and is pretty devil-may-care.
The two of them decided that they should go out on the road together, taking weekends or weeks off their busy schedules to ride motorcycles, eat great food and bond with each other. And why not have Netflix pay them to do it? Their first trip is on Jeju Island, a self-governing island that’s famous for its seascapes and volcanoes.
The day they get there, the weather is lousy, but the two of them are busy goofing with each other about their packing habits. Rain loads an immensely heavy duffel bag on the back of his BMW, while Hong-chul basically has an extra pair of underwear and a toothbrush. They stop at a place where Hong-chul has had “hangover soup” in the past, and Rain savors every bite. Then they almost immediately go to a burger joint, where Hong-chul and Rain talk about Rain’s wife and how they got together.
Finally, after a ride in the rain to their modern Airbnb, Rain cooks a multi course dinner for friends that live on the island, and the two talk about how they became friends in recent years.
The Hungry And The Hairy could have gone the way of a lot of reality series from East Asia, full of noise and big graphics, with lots of people yelling and laughing and doing things that make audiences scratch their heads. Some of those elements, like the funky graphics, are there, but for the most part, the show is a laid back travelogue that shows two guys who became friends in their late 30s, and how they complement each other despite being very different.
What made us smile during the entire first episode was the banter, whether it was between Rain and Hong-chul or between the two of them and the friends they had dinner with. It was natural and easygoing, and the two of them felt like they’ve been close friends for decades instead of only a couple of years. Sure, the scenery was shot beautifully, as were the shots where we saw food being lovingly prepared. But the key to the show is the guys’ friendship, and the heartfelt explanations of why they managed to bond, despite being in a business where people are usually in it for themselves.
Because each episode is around an hour or so long, we get to linger at locations, and get a really good listen to the banter we just mentioned. The dinner party they had with the couple they knew from the island felt so relaxed and natural that we wanted to be there with them. Any show that makes us want to travel 15 hours just so we can be there must be doing something right.
