# High Kick: Revenge of the Short Legged (하이킥: 짧은 다리의 역습)
**High Kick: Revenge of the Short Legged** (하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습) is a South Korean daily sitcom broadcast on MBC from September 19, 2011 to March 29, 2012; it is the third and final installment of the High Kick series that began with *Unstoppable High Kick* (2006–2007) and continued with *High Kick Through the Roof* (2009–2010)[1](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3). The 123-episode series aired Monday through Friday at 7:45 pm, directed by Kim Byung-wook, Kim Young-ki, and Jo Chan-joo, written by Lee Young-chul, Hong Bo-hee, Jang Jin-ah, and Baek Seon-woo, and produced by Chorokbaem Media[2](https://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/highkick3/) • [1](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Broadcast | MBC, September 19, 2011 to March 29, 2012, weekdays 7:45 pm[1](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3) • [2](https://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/highkick3/) |
| Episodes | 123[1](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3) |
| Creative team | Direction Kim Byung-wook, Kim Young-ki, Jo Chan-joo; scripts Lee Young-chul, Hong Bo-hee, Jang Jin-ah, Baek Seon-woo; production Chorokbaem Media[2](https://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/highkick3/) |
| Series position | Third and last of the High Kick sitcom series[1](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3) |
| Production contract | MBC signed a production and supply agreement with the producer for 8.7 billion won[3](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036) |
| Debut rating | 12.9% (AGB Nielsen, Seoul capital area), the highest first-episode rating in the series[4](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201110051103171) |
| Series average | 12.7% for the 2011 broadcast year (Nielsen, Seoul-area household basis)[5](https://www.kmcc.go.kr/download.do?fileSeq=48085) |
| Theme song | "Revenge of the Short Legged" by Lee Juck featuring Dynamic Duo[1](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3) |
## Premise and title
The story follows a family that falls suddenly into poverty. A small business run by Ahn Nae-sang (playing a character also named Ahn Nae-sang) is declared bankrupt, and he moves in with his wife Yoon Yoo-sun's brothers, Yoon Kyung-sang and Yoon Ji-suk (played by Yoon Kyung-sang and Seo Ji-seok), along with their son Ahn Jong-seok ([Lee Jong-suk](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-jong-suk)) and daughter Ahn Soo-jeong (Crystal)[6](https://www.ondemandkorea.com/player/vod/high-kick-3-1?contentId=725010) • [2](https://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/highkick3/). Next door live the high school Korean-language teacher [Park Ha-sun](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-ha-sun), her cousin and landlord Kim Ji-won (Kim Ji-won), her schoolmate [Baek Jin-hee](https://www.edgepedia.org/baek-jin-hee), and the native-English teacher Julien[6](https://www.ondemandkorea.com/player/vod/high-kick-3-1?contentId=725010). When Jong-seok, Soo-jeong, and Ji-won enroll at the school where Ji-seok, Ha-sun, and Julien teach, the two households' daily lives intertwine[6](https://www.ondemandkorea.com/player/vod/high-kick-3-1?contentId=725010).
Director Kim Byung-wook explained the title as carrying the hopes of a fallen family and of losers[3](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036). At the production press conference he framed the work as a story of downfall: the family's first refuge from creditors becomes, for some characters, a "prison of the mind" or a comfortable hiding place[7](https://www.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=0005364764). He also asked viewers not to shorten the title; he wanted the series called independently rather than "High Kick 3", since he regarded it as different from the earlier works[3](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036).
## Continuation of the High Kick series
The series continued the format established in *Unstoppable High Kick* and *High Kick Through the Roof*, in which actors appear under their own real names[3](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036). One role departed from this practice in origin: Kim Byung-wook said the rebellious high school girl Soo-jeong had not existed in the script until Crystal auditioned, and the role was built around her actual personality[8](https://cb.yna.co.kr/gate/big5/m-cn.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110918078100005). In an interview before the premiere, the director named Crystal as the cast member most similar to her character[8](https://cb.yna.co.kr/gate/big5/m-cn.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110918078100005).
A feature commonly noted as new was the removal of the grandparent figures who anchored the two earlier seasons; one analysis of family sitcoms describes the latest work as having dropped the grandfather and grandmother[9](https://www.worldview.or.kr/library/series/worldview/download/161/2861/%28201203%29%EC%9B%94%EB%93%9C%EB%B7%B0-4%EA%B5%90.pdf). An educational-journal appraisal placed the change in the series' overall arc: where the earlier seasons centered on blood-family relations and satirized patriarchal authority, this installment kept the family at its center but shifted focus from vertical hierarchy toward characters as horizontal individuals[10](https://www.hangyo.com/news/article.html?no=76477).
## Social satire and tone
In an interview one month into the run, Kim Byung-wook said he wanted to emphasize contemporaneity, describing this season's concept as documentary-like in feel, after the earlier seasons had leaned toward mixed genre play and sincere melodrama respectively[11](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20111021192100005). Reviewers read the title's "short legs" as standing for people denied a fair chance: a story of the desperate survival of losers kicking at an unfair society that never gives them room to use their abilities, producing a "sad laughter" distinct from the earlier seasons[10](https://www.hangyo.com/news/article.html?no=76477).
Money drives the comedy. The graduate Baek Jin-hee carries tens of millions of won in student loans while living unnoticed in someone else's house, and the bankrupt couple repeatedly cry out for money[11](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20111021192100005). A Kyunghyang review noted scenes built directly on economic hardship, from a character whose survival in the job market depends on eating jajangmyeon in ten seconds at an interview, to a doctor (played by [Lee Juck](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-juck), the series' narrator) who chose proctology for the income[4](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201110051103171). The satire extended to a running plot device in which, after losing their home, the family moves in with Yoo-sun's brothers, including Yoon Kyung-sang, whose home is connected to the neighboring household by an underground passage dug for use as an air-raid shelter, a setting the director defended with an argument about its supposed economic effect[11](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20111021192100005) • [18](https://sugotoku.kdaisuki.jp/guide/detail/?id=914).
## Ratings and reception
The premiere out-rated both predecessors. The first episode drew 12.9% in the Seoul capital area (AGB Nielsen), against 8% for *Unstoppable High Kick* and 11.1% for *High Kick Through the Roof*[4](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201110051103171) • [12](https://www.e2news.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=55799). Through episode 20 the national average was 11.3%, essentially level with the 11.1% the previous season had recorded at the same point; that season had only passed 20% after episode 60, once its melodrama lines gained momentum[11](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20111021192100005).
By episode 37 the average stood at 12.4% (Seoul-area AGB Nielsen basis) and the show held first place in its time slot[13](https://v.daum.net/v/20111118122824696). MBC's 2011 management evaluation report lists a full-year average of 12.7% on the Nielsen Seoul-area household basis[5](https://www.kmcc.go.kr/download.do?fileSeq=48085). Reception was nonetheless divided: some viewers found the large cast, more than ten main characters, scattered and slow to establish, while others praised its sharper social satire and richer comedy codes[11](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20111021192100005). A retrospective on the sitcom genre states that the series fell noticeably short of its predecessors in ratings and buzz, after which the sitcom genre lost its strength on terrestrial networks[14](https://v.daum.net/v/20200331100413104?s=print_news).
The broadcaster also drew regulatory criticism: MBC's 2011 evaluation report records that the sitcom, along with other programs, was cited for inappropriate broadcast language including informal speech and profanity[5](https://www.kmcc.go.kr/download.do?fileSeq=48085).
## Cast and later careers
The ensemble used real names for its characters, a High Kick series convention[3](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036). The cast included Ahn Nae-sang, Yoon Yoo-sun, Yoon Kyung-sang, Seo Ji-seok, Lee Jong-suk, Park Ha-sun, Crystal, Kim Ji-won, Baek Jin-hee, Lee Juck, Yoon Gun, Julien Kang, Ko Young-wook, Park Ji-sun, and [Kang Seung-yoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kang-seung-yoon)[3](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036) • [2](https://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/highkick3/). For several of them the sitcom was an early career credit. Lee Jong-suk, who had debuted with attention from *Secret Garden*, won the role through competitive auditions and later called the series a success and an unforgettable work in his acting life, saying it taught him even about one-sided love[15](https://www.inews24.com/view/645901). Kim Ji-won, then a newcomer, cited as the character's signature scene the moment Ji-won fires a rocket she invented into the sky to console Kyung-sang after he loses a patient[16](https://cb.yna.co.kr/gate/big5/cn.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20111115069200005).
Kim Byung-wook's High Kick series had already redefined the Korean family sitcom, but it was not the first Korean series to reach a third installment: MBC's Nonstop 3 preceded it.[10](https://www.hangyo.com/news/article.html?no=76477) • [4](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201110051103171) • [19](https://search.imbc.com/?qt=%EB%85%BC%EC%8A%A4%ED%86%B13). The series remains available on MBC's replay service and streaming platforms[17](https://search.imbc.com/?qt=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5).
## References
1. [하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습, Namu wiki entry](https://d.namu.moe/w/%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5%21%20%EC%A7%A7%EC%9D%80%20%EB%8B%A4%EB%A6%AC%EC%9D%98%20%EC%97%AD%EC%8A%B5?from=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5+3)
2. [MBC 일일시트콤 하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습 메인 페이지, iMBC](https://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/highkick3/)
3. ['하이킥3' 실명사용, 땅굴 등장 등 궁금증 파헤치기, Kukinews (2011-09-09)](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201109090036)
4. [[클릭 TV]하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습, 주간경향 (2011-10-05)](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201110051103171)
5. [2011년도 문화방송 경영평가보고서, 방송통신발전위원회](https://www.kmcc.go.kr/download.do?fileSeq=48085)
6. [하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습 다시보기, OnDemandKorea](https://www.ondemandkorea.com/player/vod/high-kick-3-1?contentId=725010)
7. [이 시대 '짧은 다리'들 발차기를 하다… MBC 시트콤 '하이킥！ 짧은 다리의 역습', 국민일보 (2011)](https://www.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=0005364764)
8. ["크리스탈, '하이킥' 캐릭터와 가장 닮아", 연합뉴스 (2011-09-18)](https://cb.yna.co.kr/gate/big5/m-cn.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110918078100005)
9. [연구와 적용, 월드뷰 4교 (2012)](https://www.worldview.or.kr/library/series/worldview/download/161/2861/%28201203%29%EC%9B%94%EB%93%9C%EB%B7%B0-4%EA%B5%90.pdf)
10. [한국교육신문, 기사 no. 76477 (2011)](https://www.hangyo.com/news/article.html?no=76477)
11. [<'하이킥 3' 때이른 위기설..역습은 시작됐다>, 연합뉴스 (2011-10-23)](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20111021192100005)
12. ['하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습', 사상 최고 12.4% 시청률 기록, 이투뉴스 (2011)](https://www.e2news.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=55799)
13. ['하이킥3' 평균시청률, 동시간대 1위, Daum 뉴스 (2011-11-18)](https://v.daum.net/v/20111118122824696)
14. [언론사뷰](https://v.daum.net/v/20200331100413104?s=print_news)
15. [이종석 "'하이킥' 통해 짝사랑도 배웠죠"(인터뷰①), iNEWS24 (2012)](https://www.inews24.com/view/645901)
16. ["열혈 시청 '하이킥'에 출연..꿈만같아", 연합뉴스 (2011-11-15)](https://cb.yna.co.kr/gate/big5/cn.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20111115069200005)
17. [검색 결과 | GO! MBC](https://search.imbc.com/?qt=%ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4%ED%82%A5)
18. [ハイキック！短足の逆襲, ドラマ映画ガイド, 韓流大好き! for dバリューパス](https://sugotoku.kdaisuki.jp/guide/detail/?id=914)
19. [검색 결과(전체), GO! MBC](https://search.imbc.com/?qt=%EB%85%BC%EC%8A%A4%ED%86%B13)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › Family and household sitcoms › Contemporary family sitcoms*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license