Beginnings Yoo's television debut was on the
KBS Comedian Festival (for college students) in 1991, where he performed a parody of a commercial with Choi Seung-gyung. His dancing to a cover of the song "
Step by Step" by
New Kids on the Block was another early memorable moment. He then rose to prominence when he co-hosted a program called
The Crash of MCs with
Kang Ho-dong,
Lee Hwi-jae, and Kim Han-seok. His first Grand Prize award was for the talk show
Happy Together Friends.
Mainstream recognition as "Nation's MC" X-Man Yoo later hosted the show
X-Man, which soon grew to be one of the most popular and highest rated shows in South Korea. During that time, Yoo became increasingly popular and many programs began to nickname him "the nation's MC". He went on to host various shows, including
New X-Man,
Old TV, and
Haja! Go! (''Let's Do It
) for SBS, but these were all soon canceled due to low ratings on Sunday evenings. However, X-Man'' has found success in international syndication, and Yoo gained popularity among
Korean Wave fans.
Infinite Challenge Yoo was a part of the cast of the top-rated comedy variety program
Infinite Challenge. He had been the host-in-chief since 2005 and was one of the program's founding members. Despite low ratings during its premiere, the show went on to become one of the most popular and influential variety programs in Korea. Dubbed the "national variety show" in Korea,
Infinite Challenge became the forerunner of many programs that used a similar format. Since 2 December 2006, the program has received the highest ratings of prime-time lineups for Saturday evening. Yoo revealed his love for the program during 1-on-1 talk with fellow co-host,
Jeong Hyeong-don, on a "Pause" special (S04E300) that aired on 20 October 2012. He said, "I think my life on television and variety shows will be tied to the fate of
Infinite Challenge... When will we ever get to do another program like this? No matter how hard you try, it's going to be impossible to do another show like this."
Talk shows Yoo also co-hosts
Come to Play with
Kim Won-hee and
Happy Together Season 3. In particular,
Happy Together was one of the longest running talk shows in Korea and has consistently earned high ratings.
Good Sunday Variety Programs: Family Outing and Running Man Yoo became the main host of
Family Outing as part of
SBS's
Good Sunday lineup. Together with
Lee Hyori,
Yoon Jong-shin,
Kim Soo-ro,
Lee Chun-hee,
Kang Dae-sung,
Park Ye-jin, and
Kim Jong-kook (since episode 19), they made up the "family" (cast members) of the show.
Family Outing became one of the top-rated shows in Korea, consistently achieving the highest ratings for the Sunday mid-afternoon time-slot, and it gained popularity among
Hallyu fans. Since 11 July 2010, Yoo has hosted the urban action variety
Running Man together with fellow
Infinite Challenge member
Haha, fellow
Family Outing member
Kim Jong-kook, other entertainers such as
Ji Suk-jin,
Leessang's
Gary (who left since episode 324 to focus on his music career),
Song Ji-hyo,
Lee Kwang-soo (who left after episode 559 to continue with the rehab of an injury he sustained from the past year),
Song Joong-ki (who left since episode 41 to focus on his acting career),
Lizzy of
After School (who left due to schedule conflicts),
Jeon So-min and
Yang Se-chan (both joined since episode 346). Although the program did not have a good start in ratings, it later became very popular and has held a consistent international fanbase to this day.
Post Infinite Challenge After the end of
Infinite Challenge, Yoo's biggest show, in March 2018, articles were being written about how Yoo was in a crisis and past his prime. Though with himself still topping popularity charts, new shows of his such as
Laborhood on Hire and
You Quiz on the Block while finding moderate success and having favourable reviews, were not able to fill the shoes of
Infinite Challenge.
Second heyday: Hangout with Yoo Hangout with Yoo was the eagerly anticipated new project with the partnership of the power duo from
Infinite Challenge. The main driving forces for the success of
Infinite Challenge are main program director
Kim Tae-ho and Yoo, as the main host. Unfortunately, initial reactions to the show were not ideal and ratings were plummeting, leaving many
Infinite Challenge fans disappointed. After the disappointing start a few episodes in, the show began working on a new project. The project was to have Yoo learn to play a simple beat on a drum set. The recorded sample was then passed down from musician to musician in which each musician would add their own accompaniment in, and ultimately end up with a complete song. With the start of this project, ratings and reviews for the show were picking up. With the show slowly picking up in popularity, the media labelled the show as Yoo's second heyday with his debut as a rookie trot singer, Yoo San-seul for another of the show's project. Yoo released a three-track trot album,
Bbong For Yoo.
Other notable programs: Sugar Man and Busted! From 2015 to 2016, Yoo hosted the program
Two Yoo Project Sugar Man together with
Yoo Hee-yeol. The program focuses on current popular artists remaking hit songs from singers who have disappeared from the public eye. The show returned again for a second season in 2018 with Yoo co-hosting alongside
Yoo Hee-yeol,
Joy (Red Velvet), and
Park Na-rae. The show then returned again for a third season in late 2019 with Yoo co-hosting alongside You Hee-yeol,
Kim Eana and
Heize. Yoo hosted both seasons of
Netflix's variety show,
Busted!, which aired in 2018 until 2021.
Guest appearances and collaborations In 2012, Yoo appeared in the
music video for
Psy's hit single "
Gangnam Style". In the video, he reprises the retro disco dancing character he created for the mock-band "Sagging Snail" in
Infinite Challenges West Coast Highway Music Festival special, in which
Psy also appeared. Following his appearance, Yoo became known worldwide as the "yellow suit guy". He also appeared in Psy's follow-up single, "
Gentleman". In 2015, Yoo collaborated with JYP in
Infinite Challenge. On 15 July 2015, Yoo signed an exclusive contract with
FNC Entertainment after having been without an agency for about five years. In 2016, Yoo collaborated with
Exo for the
SM Station single "
Dancing King", which was also a collaboration for
Infinite Challenge. He performed with them at Exo's
Exo Planet 3 – The Exo'rdium concert in Bangkok. In 2020, through
Hangout With Yoo, Yoo collaborated with
Lee Hyo-ri and
Rain to form the summer project co-ed trio
SSAK3. Two original songs, "Beach Again" and "Play That Summer", and one cover song, "In Summer", were released. Soon after the end of
SSAK3, Yoo collaborated with
Lee Hyo-ri together with
Kim Jong-min and
Jung Jae-hyung on the "Refund Sisters" with
Uhm Jung-hwa,
Jessi &
Hwasa as a promise after reaching number 1 in MBC Music Core show. On 6 July 2021, Yoo left FNC Entertainment upon the expiration of his contract and became a free agent. On 14 July, it was announced Yoo has signed with
Antenna. On 13 December 2021, Yoo was diagnosed with
COVID-19, canceled all of his schedules and took the necessary measures in accordance with quarantine agency guidelines. On 21 December 2021, it was reported that Yoo had recovered from the infection after completing home treatment for COVID-19, according to a health official's decision. == Philanthropy ==