An Introduction to the Most Essential BTS Shows for New ARMY
BTS may be known for its slew of catchy hits, including its most recent album BE and the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Dynamite,” but if you’ve only recently become a member of the BTS fandom, ARMY, you might be overwhelmed with the sheer amount of content and shows available aside from its musical catalog. Between the group’s several reality and variety shows available on Weverse, a Korean mobile app created by BTS’s label, Big Hit Entertainment, and VLIVE and YouTube, BTS’s extensive filmography can be overwhelming at first glance.
Whether you’ve been an ARMY for a few years or only a few days, here’s a rundown of the most essential shows that make up BTS’s extensive media library to help familiarize yourself with the members behind the music.
Run BTS!
Perhaps the best place to start for any new ARMY to get a more comprehensive look into the various quirks and personalities of each member and the group’s overall dynamic, Run BTS! is BTS’s current main variety program, featuring roughly 30-minute episodes of the seven members participating in hilarious missions and challenges, oftentimes accompanied by prizes for the winners and penalties for the losers (including members donning sunflower masks at the airport and wearing BT21 character mascot suits in consequent episodes). Highlights throughout the show’s catalog of over 100 episodes include the members solving puzzles while running away from zombies, playing a series of mini-games in the middle of both an amusement park and water park, recreating classic Korean variety show games, and singing karaoke on a chaotic camping trip. The show has also featured the group dabbling in new hobbies and activities, including coffee-making, cooking, and even dubbing Disney movies.
Run BTS! airs every Tuesday on VLIVE and the Weverse app at 9:00 p.m. KST, with all previous episodes available for free on VLIVE.
In the SOOP
BTS’s latest reality show, In the SOOP, which aired earlier this summer, shares a refreshing, everyday glimpse into how the members spend their days off from working and performing. In the SOOP takes place in a rural setting in the Korean woods (“soop” in Korean means forest) and features Jin, RM, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook enjoying the outdoors and leisure time with one another, with minimal interruption from the production staff. Some highlights from the series include the members cooking, fishing, painting, playing video games and table tennis with each other, and playing music for one another—a snippet of “Blue & Grey,” one of the tracks off the group’s newest album BE, was even played during episode 5 of the show.
In the SOOP is available for purchase on Weverse.
Bon Voyage (Seasons 1-4)
BTS has toured all over the world for their performances, but they’ve also traveled far and wide during their time off and in between tour dates as part of Bon Voyage, the group’s lighthearted travel reality series that highlights the members’ adventures and escapades as they navigate foreign countries for the first time without the help of their managers. The first three seasons feature BTS’s antics as they travel to Northern Europe, Hawaii, and Malta, respectively, while season 4 covers the group’s camping trip in New Zealand (their first winter season vacation in the series).
Bon Voyage Seasons 1-3 are available for purchase on VLIVE+. Bon Voyage Season 4 is available for purchase on Weverse.
BANGTAN BOMBs
On top of BTS’s many live stage performances, award show appearances, music videos, photo and video shoots, and other projects is a slew of behind-the-scenes footage of the group, compressed into short videos called “Bangtan Bombs.” Although over 1000 Bangtan Bombs already exist on BTS’s BANGTANTV YouTube channel, each episode provides an even further glimpse into the group’s backstage shenanigans and daily lives. Bangtan Bombs also often include fun bonuses for ARMY, including dance practices and music video reactions from the members themselves.
Burn the Stage, Bring the Soul, and Break the Silence Docu-series
BTS’s three docu-series, Burn the Stage, Bring the Soul, and Break the Silence (all of which accompany their respective movie counterparts of the same names) showcase a more intimate, inside look at the group’s world tours, career milestones, and rise to becoming one of the biggest musical acts in the world. Burn the Stage, which premiered in 2018, follows the group’s triumphs and hardships as they embarked on their sold-out 2017 WINGS world tour. Bring the Soul, released in 2019, captures untold stories from their movie of the same name and features never-before-seen footage and candid interviews from the members during their 2018 Love Yourself tour. Break the Silence, BTS’s most recent docu-series, focuses again on the Love Yourself tour and subsequent Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour, highlighting the group’s bond with both each other and with their fans, ARMY.
Burn the Stage is available for viewing on YouTube Premium. Bring the Soul and Break the Silence are available for purchase on Weverse.
Bonus: BTS GAYO
Before Run BTS!, there was BTS GAYO, one of BTS’s first forays into the variety show format (after their first, Rookie King: Channel Bangtan, which originally aired on SBS in Korea in 2013). BTS GAYO, which has two seasons, the first from 2015 and the second from 2017, features the group participating in K-Pop-related games and activities, from testing their knowledge of girl group dances to re-enacting scenes from dramas with popular OSTs to creating a self-made music video for their song “Spine Breaker.”
All episodes of BTS GAYO are available for free on VLIVE.
*Chloe Lelchuk is a recent college graduate and self-proclaimed pop culture aficionado from just outside Los Angeles. An avid entertainment stan, when she’s not listening to music or catching up on her favorite reality TV show, she's probably keeping up with all things BTS, drinking way too much coffee, or making another attempt at going viral on TikTok. You can find her on Twitter (@chlolel)