Unexpected Business

Unexpected Business (Korean: 어쩌다 사장; RR: Eojjeoda sajang) is a South Korean reality show program by tvN starring Cha Tae-hyun and Zo In-sung, who unexpectedly become the bosses of a countryside grocery store for 10 days.^[1] They take over the store's operations, such as ringing up purchases and managing inventory, and also serve simple meals and snacks.

Unexpected Business
Promotional poster for Season 3
Hangul	어쩌다 사장
Hanja	어쩌다 社長
RR	Eojjeoda sajang
MR	Ŏtchŏda sajang
Genre	Reality
Starring	Cha Tae-hyun Zo In-sung
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	38
Production
Producer	Yoo Ho-jin
Production locations	Woncheon-ri, Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province (Season 1) Gongsan-myeon, Naju, South Jeolla-do (Season 2) Marina, Monterey, California, United States (Season 3)
Original release
Network	tvN, Disney+[a]
Release	February 25, 2021 (2021-02-25) – February 1, 2024 (2024-02-01)

Season 1 aired every Thursday at 20:40 (KST) from February 25, 2021, to May 6, 2021.^[2] The duo take over the reins of a general store in Woncheon-ri, Gangwon Province, which includes a kitchen and small seating space for customers and local residents to dine, rest and socialise.

Season 2 premiered on February 17, 2022, and aired every Thursday at 20:40 (KST) as well.^[3][4] This time, the duo are in charge of a larger supermarket in Gongsan-myeon, South Jeolla-do, selling a wider variety of goods. It also has a bigger dining area and a butchery section, presenting new challenges to the experienced duo.

Season 3 was released on October 26, 2023, and aired every Thursday at 20:40 (KST) as well.^[5] The season is also available for streaming through Disney+.^[6] In this season, they are in charge of a Korean supermarket in Marina, a port city located in western United States.^[7]

Guests

Various celebrities visit the store as "part-time workers" (Korean: 알바생) to help Cha Tae-hyun and Zo In-sung, many of whom are friends or former co-stars personally invited by the two main cast.

Season 1 (2021)

Episode(s)	Guest(s)	Notes	Ref.
2–3	Park Bo-young	Day 2
3–4	Kim Jae-hwa	Day 3
3–5	Yoon Kyung-ho	Day 3 to Day 4 morning
4	Park Kyung-hye	Day 3 evening
5–7	Shin Seung-hwan	Day 4 afternoon to Day 5
	Park Byung-eun	Day 5 evening
	Nam Joo-hyuk	Day 5 evening to Day 6 morning
8–9	Park Inbee	Day 6 afternoon to Day 7 morning	[b]
	Nam Gi-hyeob
	Park In-ah
9	Yoon Shi-yoon	Day 8
	Dong Hyun-bae (ko)
10–11	Jo Bo-ah	Day 9 to Day 10 morning	[c]
11	Hong Kyung-min	Day 10 evening	[d]

Season 2 (2022)

Episode(s)	Guest(s)	Notes	Ref.
1–6	Kim Woo-bin	Day 1 to Day 3
	Lee Kwang-soo	Day 1 to Day 4
	Lim Ju-hwan
6	Lee Eun-hyung (ko)	Day 4	[8]
	Hong Hyun-hee (ko)
7–8	Shin Seung-hwan	Day 5	[9]
7–10	Yoon Kyung-ho	Day 5 to Day 7
	Park Hyo-jun
8–10	Seolhyun	Day 6 to Day 7	[10]
9–10	Park Byung-eun
11–12	Han Hyo-joo	Day 8
11–13	Park Kyung-hye	Day 8 to Day 9
	Kim Hye-soo		[11]
13	Hong Kyung-min	Day 9

Season 3 (2023)

Episode(s)	Guest(s)	Notes	Ref.
1–7	Han Hyo-joo	Day 1 to Day 3	[12]
1–14	Yoon Kyung-ho	Day 1 to Day 9	[13]
	Lim Ju-hwan	Day 1 to Day 9
4–14	Park Byung-eun	Day 2 to Day 9
6–9	Park Kyung-lim	Day 3 to Day 4	[14]
7–11	Kim Ah-joong	Day 4 to Day 6	[13]
12–14	Park Bo-young	Day 7 to Day 9 afternoon	[14]
	Inbee Park	Day 8 to Day 9 afternoon
13–14	Hong Kyung-min	Day 9

Ratings

Unexpected Business : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Season		Episode number														Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	1	1.158	1.277	1.391	1.462	1.493	1.302	1.353	1.335	1.327	1.430	1.607	–			1.376
	2	1.711	1.930	1.754	1.754	1.804	1.692	1.581	1.482	1.560	1.429	1.814	1.576	1.352	–	1.649
	3	1.484	1.554	1.572	1.451	1.277	1.493	1.291	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.239	1.163	1.236	1.345	TBD

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.^[15]

Season 1 (2021)

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[16]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	February 25, 2021	4.138%	4.449%
2	March 4, 2021	5.112%	5.749%
3	March 11, 2021	5.648%	6.503%
4	March 18, 2021	5.689%	5.990%
5	March 25, 2021	5.948%	6.501%
6	April 1, 2021	5.545%	6.053%
7	April 8, 2021	5.323%	6.054%
8	April 15, 2021	5.128%	5.027%
9	April 22, 2021	5.409%	6.081%
10	April 29, 2021	5.817%	6.639%
11	May 6, 2021	6.426%	7.204%
Average		5.471%	6.023%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This show airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC & EBS).

Season 2 (2022)

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[15]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	February 17, 2022	6.455%	6.720%
2	February 24, 2022	7.535%	8.396%
3	March 3, 2022	7.195%	8.457%
4	March 10, 2022	7.141%	7.707%
5	March 17, 2022	7.236%	7.878%
6	March 31, 2022[e]	6.506%	6.880%
7	April 7, 2022	6.256%	6.904%
8	April 14, 2022	6.282%	6.761%
9	April 21, 2022	6.100%	6.571%
10	April 28, 2022	5.756%	6.041%
11	May 5, 2022	7.503%	8.002%
12	May 12, 2022	6.798%	7.403%
13	May 19, 2022	5.778%	5.962%
Average		6.657%	7.206%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This show airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC & EBS).

Season 3 (2023)

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[17]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	October 26, 2023	5.950%	6.407%
2	November 2, 2023	6.555%	6.893%
3	November 9, 2023	6.655%	7.667%
4	November 16, 2023	5.636%	6.248%
5	November 23, 2023	5.095%	5.312%
6	November 30, 2023	5.682%	6.505%
7	December 7, 2023	5.193%	5.494%
8	December 14, 2023	5.814%	N/A
9	December 21, 2023	5.640%
10	December 28, 2023	5.305%
11	January 4, 2024	5.220%	5.910%
12	January 11, 2024	4.988%	5.508%
13	January 18, 2024	4.943%	5.240%
14	February 1, 2024[f]	5.308%	5.462%
Average		—	—
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This show airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC & EBS).

Awards and nominations

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Cable TV Broadcasting Awards	2022	Star Award	Unexpected Business	Won	[19]

Notes

1. For Season 3
2. Park Inbee appeared with her husband Nam Gi-hyeob and her younger sister Park In-ah.
3. Jo Bo-ah was the only guest in Season 1 invited by the production staff.
4. Hong Kyung-min was invited as a guest singer for diners to celebrate the final night, but would eventually help out as a part-time worker.
5. No new episode was aired on March 24, 2022, due to the broadcast of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between South Korea and Iran.
6. Originally scheduled to air on January 25, 2024, the final episode was cancelled due to the broadcast of South Korea's match against Malaysia in 2023 AFC Asian Cup.^[18]