'Three Meals a Day' to launch spinoff

A spinoff of popular reality TV show "Three Meals a Day" will be produced sometime in the near future featuring actorsCha Seung-won, middle,Yoo Hae-jin, right, and Korean Wave starJang Geun-seok.

According to tvN on Monday, the popular TV show's broadcaster, the spinoff will have a similar format to "Three Meals a Day", which features actorLee Seo-jinand singer-actor Ok Taec-yeon, a member of K-pop boy band 2AM.

The program began airing in October and depicts how Lee and Ok cook three meals a day while spending their days and nights in a tiny rural town in Gangwon.

The show is currently setting records by achieving the highest viewership ratings in its time slot every week.

On Dec. 12, the cable TV show earned 9.1 percent of the average viewership and became the most-watched show among all the programs televised during the same time slot, beating regular broadcasters such as KBS, MBC and SBS.

The spinoff will take place in a small fishing town.

"[Other than the cast] nothing has been decided yet. This spinoff version will be produced but 'Three Meals a Day' will also be broadcast as scheduled", said an official from tvN.

"Three Meals a Day" is the brainchild of star producer Na Young-seok who also created "Grandpa over Flowers". After the reality TV show, in which four grandpas in their 70s and 80s go backpacking overseas, became a huge hit, Na produced similar series such as "Sisters over Flowers" and "Youth over Flowers".

The spinoffs instantly became the talk of the town, just like the original version.

Viewers have high expectations of the "Three Meals a Day" spinoff because all three actors, Cha, Yoo and Jang hardly appear in reality TV shows.

By Sung So-young [so@joongang.co.kr]