Published on December 18, 2021| No. 2722
Which variety show genre is popular this year?
Looking at the recent popular variety shows, you will find that the "star content" of these programs is decreasing sharply, "The Taste of the People", "It's Nice to Know You", "Heartwarming OFFER3"... How is it all documentary? Without the aura of stardom, what does a variety show rely on to win the hearts of the audience?
There are no urine spots, all pain points
A big reason why documentary variety shows can be loved is that it has a very wide range of empathy.
Although many documentary variety shows still have star guests, more often the camera is no longer aimed at bright stars, but ordinary people in real life.
In "Glad to Know You 2", the audience follows the footsteps of Zhou Xun and Aya, entering the lives of ordinary people in the city and exploring the troubles of ordinary people in the city.
The theme of the first episode is urban socialization, which explores the social distance between people and the loneliness of the city. The second episode focuses on the rental problem, which actually presents not only the anxiety of urban housing, but also the definition of home and the parent-child relationship and marriage promotion involved in family relations.
Similarly, there is the emotional variety show "Goodbye Lover" broadcast in the first half of the year. The program team invited divorced or soon-to-be-divorced couples to travel together, and in the process showed many marital problems, such as loss of companionship, fading passion, fertility problems, etc.
Although the guests of this type of show are still stars, in fact, its focus is no longer the star, but the pain points of life shown in the show. While watching the show, the audience is also watching themselves.
Not a show, but a social responsibility
On the other hand, documentary programs actually bear a certain social responsibility.
One of the most typical is the recent hit "Heartwarming Offer 3". With the outbreak of the epidemic, more and more people have paid attention to the medical industry in the past two years, and the latest season of "Heartwarming Offer 3" has focused on medical workers.
Through the large-scale, dead-end camera setting, the program presents the daily work of medical staff to the audience to the greatest extent. Frequent doctor-patient communication, high-intensity work hours, and a variety of tricky cases... Behind the show, the audience can more deeply appreciate the persistence and hard work of medical staff. To some extent, it has also improved the doctor-patient relationship.
Another show, "Can't Forget the Farm," focuses on the elderly Alzheimer's disease community.
"Can't Forget the Farm" was born out of the variety show "Can't Forget the Restaurant", which has been doing for three years. The show invites a number of Alzheimer's patients to go out of their homes and work together to run a restaurant or farm. Present the difficulties that Alzheimer's patients encounter in the social environment and the harm caused by the disease.
What is rare is that the overall style of the show is still warm and healing, although the patient is entangled with the disease, but still optimistic about life.
With the broadcast of the show, the audience's understanding of Alzheimer's disease and the tolerance of such patients are generally increasing.
Not only entertainment but also public welfare
In fact, as early as the first two years, there were many variety shows trying to do documentary classes. Compared with the current perspective on real problems and ordinary people, the early documentary attempts are more to play the popular science and public welfare nature of such programs.
For example, the national variety show "Extreme Challenge" and "Run It" launched "Run, Yellow River Chapter" and "Extreme Challenge Treasure Line" respectively. These two variety shows retain the entertainment and competitiveness of the original program, while showing more of the customs and customs of different regions, and play a role in promoting public welfare projects.
For example, the first season of "Extreme Challenge Treasure Line" started from Kashgar, Xinjiang, traveled to Yunnan, Gansu and Tibet Autonomous Regions, and followed the road of poverty alleviation in the "three regions and three states" to promote local public welfare publicity.
The "Run, Yellow River" moves along the "Yellow River Ecological and Economic Belt", and with the advancement of the program, it shows the customs and customs of the areas along the Yellow River and the changes of the times.
Of course, for the audience, the focus of these two programs is more from the entertainment competition of the stars, but it does play a certain role in publicizing the audience's understanding and participation in public welfare activities.
The recent hit "Taste of the People", with Nicholas Tse as a resident guest, almost eliminates the entertainment brought by the stars, focusing on the main character and focus on food and beauty.
Stars and guests serve as a key in this show, opening up the scenery and humanities of different regions. The northeast cuisine hidden in the mountains, the fireworks of old Shanghai in the alley, the pure and natural Chuanxi Litang... Against the background of the grassland and the blue sky, the audience's focus is no longer on the star Xie Tingfeng or the red ding zhen, but on the great beauty of the motherland.
From "Run Bar Brothers" to "Longing for Life" to today's "Glad to Know You" and "Taste of the People", the popularity of documentary variety shows is gratifying, which means that domestic variety shows are shifting from pure entertainment to focusing on reality.
【Text/Jiujiu】