Cultural Memory in Circulation: Invoking I’m Sorry, I Love You in the OTT Variety Show Earth Arcade Season 3

This study examines how cultural memory becomes actualized in the present through invocations of past television dramas within contemporary over-the-top (OTT) variety programming. Rather than interpreting these moments as nostalgia or retro sentiment, the study argues that memory persists through its executability—the capacity to be called, performed, and reconnected. Drawing on Assmann’s theory of cultural memory, the framework integrates Taylor’s distinction between archive and repertoire, Connerton’s concept of habitual repetition, and Couldry’s view of media as practice. The case analysis centers on episodes 3, 4, and 9 of Earth Arcade 3, where the 2004 drama I’m Sorry, I Love You is repeatedly mobilized. Through qualitative coding of speech, reenactment, editing, audience response, and signs of external circulation, the study identifies mechanisms that activate memory across platforms. The findings show that memory becomes a shared affective present through performance before original footage appears. OTT accessibility intensifies this process by enabling immediate and repeated reconnection. Quiz and reward formats further render memory measurable, distributing intimacy and belonging, while short-form redistribution amplifies these acts beyond the program itself. Redefining cultural memory as a performative infrastructure sustained through platform connectivity, the study offers a new lens for understanding circulation in the OTT era.