New comedy expected to beat SNL Korea

By Kim Jae-heun CJ E&M's nationwide general entertainment network tvN has launched a new comedy series "Conte And the City" for Friday's prime time show at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul on Monday. The comedy targets 20-somethings or-over age audience who return from work to relieve stress by watching TV at home late Friday night. The contents adopt materials like love, marriage and social life that anyone can easily empathize with. A script-writer Yoo Sung-mo of tvN, who directed the channel's previous live television comedy "Saturday Night Live Korea (SNL Korea)," has again taken the helm for the new show. "Conte And the City' and "SNL Korea" are both comedies, but they are different in that "Conte And the City" deals with broader ideas that modern people encounter these days," said Yoo during the press conference. "It's a comedy of empathy that is different from SNL." "Conte And the City is an omnibus comic drama series. We produced the show based on the format of narrative drama," Yoo added. Conte And the City constitutes several episodes such as "Urban Ecology Report," "BSI: Seoul," "Special Exhibition," "Paranormal X," and "Taken: Attack of Girl's Daddy." "Urban Ecology Report" depicts the city dweller's behavior in empathy, while "BIS: Seoul" examines the cause -- scientifically -- why one sulks in human relationships while "Special Exhibition" is a virtual show of unique themes treated comically. "Paranormal X" also shares mysterious experiences of modern people and "Taken" sketches a father's instinctive love for his daughter. Yoo expects to grab a wider audience than he did with SNL that dealt with political satire, sexy ideas as a B-list comedy. The new comedy show features two actors and actress Kim Hye-seong, Lee Jae-yong and Ha Yeon-soo with comediennes Kim Ji-min, Jang Do-yeon and comedian Jang Dong-min. Every week, the production crew will invite guest participants to induce unexpected fun within the primary cast. "It's a different genre (from what I've done) but I like acting. Actors will do what comedians do and comedians will do what actors do. It was great acting in different episode with actors," said comedienne Kim. "Conte And the City" premiers on Friday at 11:30 p.m. and is expected to exceed the popularity of previous tvN's SNL Korea.