New Chinese reality show ‘My Little One’ ignites debate on originality

A new reality TV program, My Little One, has found itself at the center of controversy after accusations that it has copied the format of a South Korean program arose after its debut on streaming platforms Mango TV and Tencent Video on Saturday.

The show has a group of celebrities go about their daily lives as their parents watch through remote video monitors. According to the show’s creators, the show aims to help the two generations understand each other better.

Produced by Hunan Broadcasting System, the show has quickly gained an audience. As of Monday, the first episode has earned more than 25 million views.

However, after the show’s debut some Chinese netizens noticed that the format is almost identical to a popular South Korean TV show My Little Old Boy, which sees the mothers of male celebrities comment on recorded footage of their sons’ daily lives.

The South Korean show began airing in August 28, 2016, going on to win Program of the Year (Variety) at the 10th SBS Entertainment Awards that year.

The similarities between the show has ignited heated debate on Chinese media review platform Douban, with many netizens accusing the Chinese show of blatantly ripping off the South Korean show.

“Mango TV just can’t let go of South Korean TV shows. And now it is borrowing South Korean material like it is a free library,” netizen Anzaida Kuma noted on Douban on Sunday.

“Why are we paying so much attention on copyright and plagiarism instead of the show itself?” Hutouhunao countered.