The travel exploration reality show "We Three", with three artists, Guo Qilin, Mao Buyi and Wei Daxun as regular guests, is currently being aired on Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV. "The Three of Us" not only attracted great attention when it first aired, but also successfully ac

's travel exploration reality show " We Three ", in which three artists, Guo Qilin, Mao Buyi, and Wei Daxun, serve as regular guests, is currently being broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV.

"The Three of Us" not only attracted great attention when it premiered, but also successfully achieved the China Audiovisual Big Data CVB ratings of 0.348%, share of 2.072%, and provincial satellite TV ranking first in the same period. It also continued to dominate the rankings after four episodes. Won the fourth consecutive ratings crown. In the

program, the familiar and interesting interactions between the three guests made the audience realize the fact while talking about it - another acquaintance variety show is popular!

The predecessor of

evolved from "Tuanzhu", longevity variety shows, etc.

The so-called "acquaintance variety show" is a variety show that uses celebrity guests who are familiar with each other as the main team and relies on group travel, themed chats or life experiences.

"Tuan Zheng" is one of the early models of acquaintance variety shows. Members belonging to the same idol group show all aspects of their dormitory life in front of the camera. It not only shows the real daily life of the members outside the stage, but also allows fans to see The chemistry and spark among the members.

Take tfboys as an example. As early as 2013, they participated in the self-made family variety show "TF Boy Go", and then successively launched the real group variety "tfboys Idol Notes" and the group variety "tfboys" which records the daily life of members. Observation diary 》. These variety shows show the growth process of this idol boy group and also leave precious materials for fans.

Group variety shows are not exclusive to idol groups. Regardless of the attributes of the guests, any variety show led by a single company or label is often an acquaintance variety show model. For example, " Deyun Douxiaoshe " and "Mahua Special Happy" are comedy label reality shows led by Deyunshe and Kaixinmahua respectively. "What to do with !" launched by Xiaoguo Culture in 2022! Talk show special " also consists of talk show actors who are familiar with each other, such as Li Dan and Yang Li, to form the "easily the strongest scriptwriter department in the universe", allowing various jokes to inspire the greatest "laughter" among them.

In 2017, the first season of "'s longing for life " was broadcast, which deeply combined the two modes of acquaintance variety show and slow variety show. In the program, Huang Lei, He Jiong, and Liu Xianhua returned to their hometown together to bring a picture of life of "self-reliance, self-sufficiency, warm hospitality, and perfect ecology" to the audience. The program has received good response and has been continuously launched. In the seventh season, despite subsequent personnel adjustments and changes, the regular partners of Huang Lei and He Jiong remained unchanged and have always "supported the Mushroom House family."

In the past two years, the 0713 "Re-employed Boy Group", which has been dormant in the entertainment industry for a long time, became popular through the spin-off variety show "Welcome to the Mushroom House" in the fifth season of "Longing for Life", and then became a regular guest in major variety shows. There are also resident variety shows such as "Happy Start Again". The cohesion and tacit understanding brought about by knowing each other for more than ten years have made the "Re-employed Boy Group" a ratings guarantee for various programs.

It is worth mentioning that acquaintance variety shows can also evolve from longevity variety shows. Deng Chao, Li Chen, Lu Han, Chen He and other regular guests who are active in long-lived variety shows such as " run " and " extreme challenge " have cultivated friendships during their long partnership time, which not only promotes reverse The program evolved into a familiarity variety show, and the same team was used to create " hahahahaha " to continue the "unjust brotherhood."

base

Native friendship is deep and can withstand "offense"

Why has acquaintance variety shows become a popular model in the variety show market?

Interesting chemical reactions between acquaintances are the first element.

As we all know, the effectiveness of variety shows relies heavily on the interaction between guests. Guests who are acquaintances with "original friendship" can not only save the cost of getting along with each other, but can also frequently cause confusion, and the topics discussed are more down-to-earth. In

's "Happy Restart", the "re-employed boy band" usually "attack" each other with explosive memes such as "not popular", "wedding singer", "divorced", "unaccording to the past".However, when the guests themselves have deep friendships, the more "offensive" they are, the more effective the variety show will be, and the tacit sense of propriety among acquaintances will not cause discomfort to the audience.

In addition, if the guests are not familiar with each other, the program team will inevitably need to set up some topics to "break the ice." Such topics often have strong social connotations and can easily create a sense of distance among the audience. The topic setting of acquaintance variety shows is more relaxed and casual, and it is easy for the audience to find resonance.

" Mao Xuewang " controlled by Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin is one of the best. Since its launch, "Yang Tianzhen talks about love and career", "Yang Mi teaches Li Xueqin about love", "Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin discuss the entertainment industry" Contents such as "Add WeChat Baitai" have been released one after another.

The friend self-service group show "Happy Adults" built around Shen Yue's circle of friends is also a vivid example. In the show, various conflicts during the trip such as "Wang Jingxuan complained about Wu Yuheng not reading the guide" were reviewed in a joking way , which can arouse the audience's resonance and thinking without being too serious.

In addition, in the early years, life variety shows and travel variety shows often used the conflict between the main guests as a gimmick, and used tense "next episode previews" to make the audience want to stop. Nowadays, audiences who have watched countless variety shows and are familiar with various routines have long been "desensitized" to this. In addition, urbanites are currently facing greater work and life pressures. Today's lifestyle and travel variety shows tend to convey " "Healing" and "dining", focusing on bringing pleasure and relaxation to the audience. Therefore, the magnetic field between the host and guest is also the reason why acquaintance variety shows are so popular.

In 2021, the original friendship reality show " happens to be a boy " with Dong Zijian, Liu Haoran, and Wang Junkai as regular guests, restored the true appearance of three popular artists getting along with their friends of the same age, without makeup, childish and middle-class " Top-notch" delighted the audience.

In addition, guests’ variety show skills can range from high to low. “Kings of memes” and “variety show masters” can often mobilize the atmosphere of the show, and the corresponding scenes will be more, but it is also easy for some slow-burning “i people” ( Introverted people) The guests become the background, causing an imbalance in the content of the program.

acquaintance variety shows allow guests to take better care of each other and avoid cold scenes or situations where some socially fearful guests will not be on camera. Guests who are familiar enough will work together to fight for their rights and interests from the program team. For example, in the discontinued "Yearing" In "Life", the introverted and talkative Zhang Zifeng received everyone's attention, while Huang Lei "stepped forward with slippers in hand" to bargain with the director team. The scene of "domineering against the program team" often amused the audience.

The production of

does not require high-intensity competition. It focuses on the joyful Buddhist style

and the cost is controllable. It is easy to "use small to make a big difference", which is also an important reason for the popularity of acquaintance variety shows.

In the past, the more luxurious the guest lineup, the larger the game settings, and the greater the financial investment, the greater the probability of success of variety shows. However, the current competition in the variety show market is fierce, investment has become more difficult, and marketing costs remain high. Most program groups prefer programs that are less difficult to produce and have controllable risks. Compared with sports, competition or mystery variety shows that embody the "feeling of pleasure", the cost of time and capital investment is low, and the production difficulty is small. These are the advantages of acquaintance variety shows.

At the end of 2019, guest Gao Yixiang died of sudden cardiac death while recording the urban night scene chasing competition show "Chasing Me". In the end, this extreme program that emphasized "unreplicable real-life experience" and cost more than 100 million yuan to build the program equipment and stage design was stopped. It is reported that in order to highlight the visual effect, the program team chose to record at night. In terms of link settings, various high-intensity links such as plum blossom piles, walking over eaves and climbing tall buildings with bare hands were also set up.

Such intensity made Olympic champion Li Xiaopeng say in the show: "I can't do it anymore, I really can't run anymore." Zhong Chuxi, a guest who once participated in the show and then quit, said, "I'm really too tired after recording the show. I took Suxiaojiuxin Pills for three days.”

In addition, entertainment variety shows such as “Singer”, “I Am a Speaker”, “Chinese Poetry Conference” and “Actors Please Take Your Place” have higher requirements on the talent and cultural quality of guests. .

In comparison, most acquaintance variety shows are mainly based on "fixed base + chat" or "fixed guests + travel check-in". They do not require high-intensity competition or outstanding artistic skills, and the production difficulty is greatly reduced.

Take "Mao Xue Wang" as an example. The two main guests, Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin, meet guests in an indoor scene, eat, chat, and do entertainment activities with the guests. Whether it is scenery or props, the cost is relatively low. "The Three of Us" also focuses on a happy Buddhist style. Whether it is eating barbecue in Changbai Mountain or riding a bike in Hengyang, Hunan, it emphasizes relaxation and ease.

In addition, because it focuses on acquaintance games and relies on mutual introductions between artists, the artist fees for acquaintance variety shows will be greatly reduced, or even equal to zero. As we all know, Land Rover acted as the free artist coordinator for the "Familiar Variety Show Ceiling" and "Welcome to the Mushroom House". With the mentality of "it's not going to work anyway, let's all get together", it invited several " "07 Fast Man" participated in the recording.

From an investment perspective, acquaintance variety shows are also well recognized by the market and advertisers. For example, the fourth season of "Longing for Life" ushered in the largest number of advertisements since the show began - as many as 14 brands, covering beverages, mobile phones, smart homes, cars, pet supplies, mobile applications, grain and oil and other categories. The duration of each episode is only more than 100 minutes, which means that there will be a round of advertising placement in almost less than 10 minutes, and the duration is variable. In addition, advertisements will be inserted when the program is broadcast on TV stations and online platforms.

For this reason, Huang Lei deliberately inoculated the audience in the pilot film: "There are indeed a lot of advertisements this season. I hope viewers will bear with you. We will try to make it interesting." Too many advertisements will damage the quality of the program content. Yes, but the ability of acquaintance variety shows to attract money is also evident.

has low investment and low production difficulty, but it is expected to arouse high discussion. No wonder acquaintance variety shows have become one of the most popular types of small and medium-sized variety shows.

Text丨Reporter Ai Xiuyu

Pictures丨Stills, posters, etc.