“Physical 100,” the first unscripted Korean show to top Netflix’s non-English global charts, is being given a second season.
The show falls between a talent contest and a survival competition with 100 contestants, including Olympians, professional fighters, bodybuilders and former soldiers, through a series of quests to challenge their strength, endurance, agility, balance and willpower, and to develop the perfect physique. Controversially it mixed men and women and amateurs and professionals.
The show incorporated a plaster cast of each contestant’s torso. This was destroyed with a sledgehammer when they were eliminated.
The first season debuted in January and remained in the Top 10 for the past month. More than a month after its debut, it was amassing some 45 million viewing hours and holding up as the second most-watched show on the service.
The nine-episode first series was won by Woo Jin-yong, a 37-year-old CrossFit athlete and snowboarder, who picked up a KRW300 million ($243,000) top prize. He was notable for winning a circular catch-the-tail quest in which he ran more than 20 laps around a race-track.
Timing of the second season production and upload was not disclosed. The show will be directed by Jang Ho-gi
And produced by Lee Jong-il and produced at Galaxy Corporation for Netflix. The studio set, the size of two football fields in the first season, will be expanded in order to incorporate more extreme tests.
“We are very grateful ‘Physical: 100’ received so much love from fans all across the globe, and we paid attention to all the comments and feedback,” said Jang, in a prepared statement. “We decided to retain the essence of the show—finding the perfect physique—while introducing fresh elements. This is our way of expressing our gratitude to the fans of the show.”
“I’m honored to meet a lot of contestants whom I feel are overqualified. And I’m also collaborating with many experts to make sure we have even more electrifying and well-designed quests that will leave audiences on the edge of their seats,” Jang added.
“I give you my word that we will be back with an all-new season that’s got everything taken up a notch for our global fans.”