Thanks to a famous Chris Farley sketch set in Japan, Saturday Night Live fans know the hazards inherent in appearing on a game show produced in a foreign country, especially when one doesn’t speak the language. But actor and musician Jack Black, currently starring in Kung Fu Panda 3, fares considerably better on South Korea’s lighthearted Infinity Challenge, an imported series now available for streaming at DramaFever, with new episodes added each Thursday. The program’s vague description sounds innocuous enough:
A “real variety show,” hosts Yoo Jae Suk, Park Myung Soo, Jung Jun Ha, Ha Ha, Noh Hong Chul, Jung Hyung Don, and Gil Seong Joon undergo several challenges every week. From arriving early on set to composing original songs, the hosts scramble their way to the top and win, proving that Infinity Challenge is 3-D: dirty, dangerous, and difficult. Let the games begin!
Apparently, the show’s format allows for celebrity interlopers as well. Clad in a bright blue tracksuit and red-and-white-striped knee socks, Black is more than willing to participate in the Infinity Challenge shenanigans, a gauntlet that includes stuffing his mouth with as many marshmallows as humanly possible. He aces that one, easily besting his small-mouthed challenger.
How about an extreme pillow fight? Black can handle that, too, though the competition seems to take a toll on his body and mind.
And then, there is the video DramaFever describes as “the crème of the crop, Jack Black singing popular K-pop tunes while the hosts guess what hit he is impersonating.” Here, Black listens to some local hits through headphones and then attempts his own a cappella renditions. The Tenacious D singer does not hold back during this round, really throwing himself into his deranged performance.
In addition to the competition and the star power, Infinity Challenge also offers some added entertainment for the subtitle-readers of the world. The translation of the dialogue from Korean into English is somewhat torturous, leading to spontaneous abstract poetry, like this gem from the “marshmallow” round: “His inner feelings have burst. All of the inner grudges Kwanghee held on to came out like batter. The marshmallows have returned to their initial state.”