I liked it but my one complaint was the bell ringing challenge was like watching paint dry...I think they could have done some creative edits and shorten that challenge considerably because I think I almost fell asleep.

Overall I really enjoyed it and loved the respect they showed to each other. That being said I wish there was more than just the tall lanky American pitcher competing. I'd like to see a few more Americans just to see how they would do.

My wife and I both enjoyed this one very much. It kind of reminded me of the Challenge but minus the MTV drama and ahole personalities which I hate. And obviously a much bigger field. It was a nice refreshing competition show that was about the physical tasks first and foremost.

The only thing that really bothered me was the gratuitous use of replays. They would replay the same moment like 3 times in a row from different angles as people would yell, but nothing was really even happening. It got pretty annoying by the end. Maybe that style of editing is more appreciated in SK, but I did not like it.

Also, they claimed the competition was to find the best body regardless of size, gender or race. Including that race bit was funny to me as they only had like 3 non Asian participants.

Watched the pilot on Friday night. Very intriguing and interesting.

I did find it amusing once they all arrived when the voiceover announced the purpose of the gathering to be a test of physical body types, genders, and ethnicities.

Uh, there are literally 3 non-Koreans in the entire group. A white German guy, a black guy who I forget his background, and maybe one other white guy? Lol.

Fascinating watch though.

Also don't watch the English dubbed version just read subtitles.

The dub is horrible

CondensedFogAggie said:

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Clavell said:

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Enjoyed it, but did find myself fast forwarding during repeat competitions (i.e., how many times need to watch a ship pulled or sand carried). That is why liked last episode to pick finalist best since each competition only once.

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The ship pull was actually interesting.

That meathead muscle group was so confident and narrowly focused in on their strength advantage, that they just brute forced their way through the exercise using the most inefficient physics possible. They didn't even think of an alternative.

Unexpected reminder that your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness.

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I watched almost the whole thing this weekend. I was wondering why nobody used the logs up the incline. Did I miss that being against the rules? At least throw a layer of sand on the wood. Sand+wood is much more slippery than just plan wood.

Enzo The Baker said:

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BallerStaf2003 said:

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Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

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The level of respect and decency that they show towards one another is amazing and is part of the reason I like the show so much. I hope that when they inevitably make the US version they can try to replicate that, although probably impossible knowing American personalities.

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I was talking about this with a friend today. What is it about their culture that they are so respectful of each other and so accountable with themselves, and we as a culture are so toxic and negative?

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I think it boils down to collectivism (Korea) vs individualism (US). But there are pluses and minuses to both. There can be toxicity anywhere.

I am loving this show. I don't think the formula would work for a US show though.

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I disagree. Americans used to be much more respectful of each other And we were more individualist back then compared to today.

However, I can't put my finger on why we have changed so much.

aznaggiegirl07 said:

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ya'll happy with the winner?

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I was cool with him. Though the guy I was rooting for was the mountain rescue guy. Mostly because that's a selfless profession. And he was a beast at the hanging challenges. It was hilarious when that one girl said it was "ridiculous" when she saw him shaking out his arms on the rope challenge. I was routing against the influencers because I hate the American version of those. Before it started, I would have bet money that professional athletes would have been in the final 5. They have an advantage over people who don't compete. Though I was only 3 out of 5 on that prediction.

I would imagine he would have won the next two events, but probably would have lost the rope pulling finale.

I didn't find the final to be very compelling in all honesty. I thought the semifinals were way more interesting, I enjoyed all of those. Seeing those guys keep the atlas stone on their shoulders for an hour and a half, awesome. Racing for prometheus' torch was fun. No one had a chance against the climber in the rope competition. The 4 person race was fun to watch. The Sisyphus challenge was grueling, hats off to all of them, those guys had nothing left in in the tank. I thought the cyclist was going to win it all after that since that's such a huge test of strength and endurance. Though I do think that one was so intense he might not have fully recovered before the final. I was happy he won contest that and not the skeleton racer because I got tired of how everyone treated him like he was just going to win by showing up.

According to Reddit, there was apparently some controversy on the final challenge. It is claimed that the producers stopped the final challenge 2 times in the middle of it. People are thinking it tainted the results and that they picked the winner.

PatAg said:

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I would imagine he would have won the next two events, but probably would have lost the rope pulling finale.

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You talking about the mountain climber guy? Or was that responding to a different post? Cuz I think he would have done well in the rope pulling challenge, myself.

My boys and I got a good laugh at the dubs, quite comical. I enjoyed the downtime parts where they goofed around in the lounge. The impromptu vertical jump contest was impressive! "it was so cool!"

I hope they do another one!

So I've been watching a similar show on Netflix called, "Siren: Survive The Island."

More of a hunger games, capture the flag vibe. Some of the same people that were in Physical are in this. Recommend it so far.

Another show just released on Netflix that I'm assuming is from the same people: Devil's Plan.

All mind games versus physical ones.

Season 2 just dropped. It feels like the entire Korean Olympic team is competing this year.

Just watched episode 1. I was pretty shocked at how terrible the majority of these athletes were at running. The 51st placed guy ran 1.14 mi in 10 minutes which is an 8:45 pace/mile. I get that manual treadmills are more difficult, but having used similars ones before, the difference is maybe about 1 minute/mile pace less than road running (at most). I'd expect any professional athlete outside of powerlifters to be able to run at least an 8 minute mile. There was also so much oohing and awing over people being able to run for 10 minutes straight which seems bizarre for professional athletes.

I'm probably the most shocked; however, that the 400m specialist woman couldn't even make it into the top 10, let alone the top 30. I think she ended up with only 2 miles after 17 minutes.