Like families of politicians, many children of celebrities end up following their parent’s footsteps and become TV and movie personalities when they grew up. However, some celebrity parents start their kids young to be several steps ahead of future competition.
It is that practice of giving their young children early exposure to the klieg lights that China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) targeted to prevent the kids of celebrities from being attracted by instant fame. As a result, the children are banned from shows that feature celebrity kids and even from being interviewed or featured in news programs.
The South China Morning Post reported that following the new rules, two productions cancelled their next season shows. These are Hunan TV’s “Dad! Where Are We Going?” and “My Mum is a Superwoman.”
The first show, launched in 2013, was based on a South Korea program with the same title. It features celebrity dads who go on trips with the children in remote parts of China. It would mean a big financial loss for Hunan TV which by the third season was collecting 500 million sponsorship fee from only 38 million in Season 1.
Were it not for the SAPPRFT tighter rules, the cancelled fourth season had more than 1.5 billion yuan in advertisements lined up. Reality shows like “Dad! Where Are We Going” raked in a total of 10 billion yuan revenue in 2015, which translated into large talent fees for the celebrity fathers and their children that Xinhua News Agency, in a commentary, said was not healthy for the psychological development of the celebrity kids.
Another cancelled show was “Dad Come Back.” The SAPPRFT said that in 2015, over 100 entertainment shows on Chinese TV were reality shows that featured children, reported Xinhua.
The second show was supposed to be a female version of the first show and originally slated to air in March, but Huxiu.com, the online information and communication platform of Hunan TV, said it would air the first season online since it had already completed production.