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Youth MT (청춘MT)

Youth MT (청춘MT) is a South Korean TVING original variety show in which 15 actors from three dramas directed by Kim Sung-yoon, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, Itaewon Class, and The Sound of Magic, go on a joint MT, the Korean term for a group retreat, together. It aired eight episodes on TVING from September 9 to October 21, 2022, and was promoted with the catchphrase "K-drama universe grand unification reunion variety".1 • 2

Key factDetail
FormatOutdoor variety show built around a joint MT (group retreat) for actors from three different dramas1
Network and runTVING original, 8 episodes, September 9 to October 21, 2022; first two episodes released simultaneously, then one per Friday1 • 3
Cast15 actors: five each from Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, Itaewon Class, and The Sound of Magic4
ProductionPlanned by Kim Sung-yoon, who directed all three source dramas; directed by Jung Jong-chan; writer Ji Hyun-sook4
Global releaseDistributed in about 150 countries through global OTT platforms5
Later broadcastAfter the TVING run ended, the show began airing on tvN6

Spoilers

Premise and format

The show takes the Korean cultural institution of the MT, a retreat in which students or coworkers travel together for games and bonding, and applies it to actors. The premise is that the lead casts of three dramas directed by Kim Sung-yoon go on a single joint retreat. The three source dramas span different broadcasters, genres, and eras: Moonlight Drawn by Clouds was a 2016 KBS2 historical drama, Itaewon Class a 2020 JTBC drama, and The Sound of Magic (안나라수마나라) a 2022 Netflix original.7

The format follows familiar travel-variety mechanics. In the opening mission, the three team leaders, Kim Yoo-jung, Park Seo-joon, and Ji Chang-wook, travel to filming locations of their own dramas to find scattered teammates and bring them to the base camp in Boryeong. Once assembled, the 15 participants play games for meals and prizes, with teams deliberately mixed across the three dramas.8 • 9 The show's own tagline describes the setup as self-service meals, random teammates, off-the-record talk, and unlimited games and penalties.1

Episodes and release

The first two episodes were released simultaneously on September 9, 2022, with one new episode following each Friday thereafter.3 Episode runtimes ranged from 54 to 68 minutes. The episode titles, in order, were "다시 만난 우리" (We Meet Again), "초면이지만, 즐겁습니다" (Nice to Meet You, but Let's Have Fun), "극적인 여름밤" (A Dramatic Summer Night), "우리 서로 말 놓을까?" (Shall We Speak Casually?), "숨 참고 청춘 Dive" (Hold Your Breath, Youth Dive), "비와 당신의 이야기" (The Rain and Your Story), "청춘포차" (Youth Pub), and "청춘MT 마지막 이야기" (The Last Story of Youth MT).1

Jongho of the band ATEEZ recorded "청춘동화" (Youth Fairy Tale) as an original soundtrack song for the show.12

Cast

The fixed cast consists of five actors from each drama, most playing characters they originated on screen:1

Kim Da-mi, the female lead of Itaewon Class, did not participate because of other filming and appeared only in a video call in episode 2; Ahn Bo-hyun joined the retreat later than the others.7 Special appearances included Yoon Kyung-ho as a substitute participant in episodes 2 through 4, Kim Hye-eun as a special MC for a flying-chair game in episodes 5 and 6, and, in the episode 7 and 8 "Youth Pub" segment, guests including Yoo Jae-myung, Jo Han-chul, Lee Joon-hyuk, and Park Hyo-ju as pub customers.1

Production

Kim Sung-yoon, the director of all three source dramas, planned the show himself, reuniting with the lead actors he had cast. Writer Ji Hyun-sook, who had worked with Kim on variety programs including 2 Days & 1 Night season 3, joined the project, and Jung Jong-chan, known for JTBC's Knowing Bros and Liberation Town, directed.4 TVING lists the creators as Kim Sung-yoon, Jung Jong-chan, Park Su-ji, and Kim Hye-bin.10

Casting alone made the program a talking point before release: assembling 15 working lead actors, several of them top-billed stars, for a single variety shoot was an unusual lineup that reviewers compared to a year-end awards ceremony.11 • 6 Commentators noted that the cast contained almost no performers experienced in variety television, and that much of the show's appeal came from first-time pairings across the three dramas, such as Kim Yoo-jung with Lee Joo-young and Park Seo-joon with Ji Hye-won.9

Reception

The show drew attention chiefly for its cast. Reviewers described the combination of the three dramas' worlds as creating the illusion that the unrelated series shared a single universe, reinforced by replays of famous drama scenes and their soundtracks during the episodes.9 A Dong-A Broadcasting Arts College campus review noted that the program let viewers see the actors' real personalities rather than their drama characters.2

Internationally, the show was released in about 150 countries through global OTT platforms, including the United States, Europe, South America, the Middle East, Oceania, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.5 • 13 It placed within the top 10 of all content on Viu in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, reached first place on Rakuten Viki in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania, and entered the Amazon Prime Video top 10 in Japan.5 • 13 A securities research report on TVING cited Youth MT among the variety programs, alongside Transfer of Love and Lim Young-woong Concert, that built the platform's original-content momentum.14

References

  1. 청춘MT, Namu wiki
  2. [윤희영 (2022). [고독한 미식가] 예능〈청춘MT〉, 동아방송예술대학교 미디어센터](https://press.dima.ac.kr/view.php?idx=147&page=1)
  3. 서희원 (2022). 대세 배우들의 연합 예능MT '청춘MT'는 9일 1~2편 동시공개, 전자신문 via Daum
  4. 최지윤 (2022). 박보검·박서준·지창욱 '청춘MT' 떠난다…김성윤PD 사단, 뉴시스
  5. [진향희 (2022). 박보검·박서준→하정우·신애라도 떠났다..여행 예능 대전[MK픽], 매일경제 via Daum](https://v.daum.net/v/20221002070309574)
  6. [이수연 (2022). '청춘MT' 익숙한 예능맛 없어도 사랑스런 예능 프로그램! [TV별점토크], 스타뉴스](https://www.starnewskorea.com/broadcast-show/2022/11/18/2022111818451134605)
  7. 조성경 (2022). 박서준 박보검과 함께 떠나는 '청춘MT' "짜릿하지 말입니다", 아이즈 via Daum
  8. 청춘 MT – Aired Order, TheTVDB.com
  9. 김상화 (2022). 이 배우들이 한꺼번에 나온다고? 그것도 예능에?, 오마이뉴스 시민기자 via Daum
  10. 청춘MT 1화, TVING
  11. 정덕현 (2022). 박서준·박보검·지창욱이 한자리에, 절로 미소가 나올 수밖에('청춘MT'), 엔터미디어
  12. [[MV] 종호(에이티즈) - 청춘동화 [청춘MT OST], YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTOoe9gYgbk)
  13. 김보영 (2022). '청춘MT' 日 아마존프라임 톱10 랭크…무르익은 배우들의 예능감, 이데일리
  14. 미디어/엔터테인먼트 (OVERWEIGHT), 삼성증권 리서치 (2022)

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Celebrity, family, lifestyle, and court reality series › Lifestyle, dating, and docusoaps › Celebrity and family docusoaps › Premiered 2019 to 2026

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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