Format

MBC unveiled a new unscripted show on December 11th, a Sunday night prime time show titled Keep Talking and Love It– MMA of the Tongues (3 x 70’). The show is a storytelling battle among 8 contestants, the so-called ‘tongue fighters’. They go on a stage decorated with a luminous MMA fighting ring. On stage, for 5 minutes each, they unfold their strong and original stories aiming to capture the attention of 100 audiences. Yet, are they able to finish their stories? The answer is NO. The story is halted at its very climax and the 100 audiences in the studio vote for a story that they wish to listen to further. Outside the MMA ring sits 4 celebrity storytelling master panels who provide comments on each story to guide the audiences’ decision-making for the vote. Only the winner seizes the opportunity to continue their story till the end, whereas the loser misses the chance forever. All the stories told are so intense that they captivate and from time to time move the audience to tears. The storytelling goes beyond ‘fun’, they are ‘magical’ and ‘authentic’. The tournament among the 8 will eventually lead to its final storytelling round. Who will be the last tongue fighter standing?
The MBC producer of the show, Seung-Hun Han is a huge fan of history. He says he produced the show, inspired by the street storytellers of 18th Century Korea, whose numbers rose with the flourish of original Korean novels – which were then, the biggest form of entertainment regardless of age, gender and status. The street storytellers were the ones who read out the newly published novels in village markets and virtually any place where people gathered. They were popular due to their ability to bring the novel to life through their outstanding storytelling skills. However, these street storytellers used to stop the story at its climax. Then, the listeners, unable to control their curiosity, would throw money at them, begging the storyteller to continue. Producer Han read a line of historic records that there was even a case when a listener who craved to listen up further, became so over-excited and unable to bear it any longer, stabbed the storyteller to death. Han explains that the popular webtoons and web novels of the present age also follow the path of street storytellers and always finish an episode at its climax to attract more paid membership viewers.
The era of storytelling returns as the audience craves mesmerizing stories more than ever. When preparing for the new show Keep Talking and I Love It, Producer Han intended to find the most prominent street storyteller of the 21st century - the only tongue fighter nobody can beat. Invited storytellers range from divorce lawyers, health trainers, a North Korean refugee, and literature teachers to transgender Youtube content creators and many more. The stories told by the 8 contestants are so diverse that even a google algorithm will never be able to cover their range. Just like MMA fighting where players of different skills compete against one another, the show’s tongue fighters tell cliffhanger stories that are comic, tragic, romantic to mysterious.
Jean Hur, director of format sales at MBC says “Keep Talking and I Love It - MMA of the Tongues is such an original storytelling tournament creatively presented as an unscripted show, a tongue sports competition portraying the power of story. We look forward to introducing the show internationally as we believe this is the very show enjoyable by viewers regardless of age, gender and nationality.”