tvN’s ‘Earth Arcade’ to return with second season set in Finland

The hit reality show “Earth Arcade” from 2022 will return with a second season on May 12, looking to continue its winning streak with a proven cast of stars.

Helmed by TV director Na Young-seok, who was behind numerous smash hit variety shows including KBS’ “2 Days 1 Night” (2007-2012), tvN’s “Grandpa Over Flowers” (2013), “New Journey to the West,” “Three Meals a Day” and “Jinny’s Kitchen,” the upcoming program will catch viewers’ hearts once again with the same star-studded cast -- comedian Lee Eun-ji, Mimi of K-pop girl group Oh My Girl, rapper Lee Young-ji and Yujin of girl group Ive.

The previous season topped viewership ratings among variety shows airing in the same time slot for more than nine weeks after its launch. The show's first season topped the weekly trending variety shows chart for the entire month of August -- two months after its release in June 2022.

Yujin also swept the top spots on the weekly rankings of the most viral non-actors for the third consecutive week, according to the analytics firm Good Data Corp.

The firm monitors and compiles data from online posts, videos, social media, news reports and blog posts in determining the ranking.

While the show featured the cast playing various games and missions in Thailand to capture “Torongi,” a fictional moon rabbit character who has escaped to Earth, the second season will see the stars conducting their missions in Finland.

“Earth Arcade 2” premieres at 8:50 p.m. on May 12 on tvN. The show will be available on local streaming service Tving.