rated
9 / 10
genre
Game, Variety, Entertainment, Outdoor Reality
season count
14
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This show has accompanied me since I was a child. I remember watching this at seven or eight years old, popsicle in hand, delighted by the hilarious and exciting moments that a reality show supplies its audience with. I’m not even sure what season it was. But after leaving China after an eventful summer, I dropped the show for quite a while until a year ago. Rewatching it sparked my childhood memories, so here I am.
In Keep Running (previously Running Man China), celebrities, usually in teams, compete for a prize or honor in each episode. These MCs usually participate in a variety of challenges or missions to provide them with advantages for the final competition, a nametag-ripping elimination battle.
The show started off great, and it remained great for quite a while. The original cast consisted of Deng Chao, Chen He, Li Chen, Zheng Kai, Angelababy, Wang Zulan, and Wang Baoqiang, a perfect group that had great dynamics. Even when Wang Baoqiang was swapped out with Bao Bei’er and eventually Lu Han, the show continued to be funny and thrilling at the same time. Each person had their own role and their own quirks. Deng Chao was a great leader but also hilarious with his messed-up English pronunciations; Chen He was lazy and a self-proclaimed genius; Wang Zulan was constantly bullied for his height but also a comedian; Angelababy, as the only girl, stood her ground for all the challenges. The list goes on. Each episode had its own creative twist; it was never boring to watch, and there wasn’t any very apparent bias towards one popular person. It did not disappoint my positive memories.
Unfortunately, as it progresses, it becomes a little more debatable. As of June 2023, the 14th season and 11th year of the show is airing. But most of the time, good shows always deteriorate if the seasons drag on for too long (another example is Sing! China). Keep Running didn’t escape the curse. As the number of seasons increased, the rating of the show decreased, and I can’t help but somewhat agree with the low-raters, no matter how much I love the show. I still laugh at some funny moments, but it’s not the same as in the earlier seasons, in which I could get a real, good laugh. The original MCs were also true to themselves; I felt like they truly had a relationship with each other. Now? Now the MCs’ relationship seems to be hanging on by a thread; they’re constantly faking their smiles and their remarks likely do not reflect what they’re truly thinking.
This degradation stemmed from the start of the 7th season, in which four OG members, Deng Chao, Chen He, Lu Han, and Wang Zulan, suddenly all pulled out of the show. That changed things drastically. Over the course of eight seasons, as new members came and went, the show became less and less exciting. At some point, the battles and challenges became far more boring and sometimes even repetitive.
Even the people changed. It might be linked to the social conformity so common in society today, and the pressure to look flawless, but it’s become less of a fighting, epic show than a talk show. An especially notable change of character is Angelababy, who has participated since the first season and is currently still on the show. In the early seasons, she was quite a lovable person. Despite being the only girl on set, she shone in her own way and was capable of winning battles using her tactics and determined personality. She also didn’t seem to be wearing much makeup most of the time. But now? Now it’s obvious that she’s done so much plastic surgery that she no longer looks like a normal, natural person. She and the other female contestants cake on so much makeup to make themselves look beautiful, and she her presence is no longer felt; she turned from a true threat and a valuable player to nothing but a beautiful display.
That brings me to my next point: the overuse of guests. Once again, the first few seasons did it perfectly well. There were a few episodes where there were a lot of guest celebrities (those who only appeared for an episode or two), usually a maximum of twelve, but most of the time, there were only a few. Sometimes, it was just the original MC cast competing. Now, there’s always a huge amount of guests. I’m not sure what prompted this change, but it’s irritating. The audience no longer gets to know the participants, and instead just understands bits and pieces of each person. It gives the entire show a divided feeling. In fact, just a week ago, a new episode was released. I checked it out and my jaw dropped – there were a total of 36 celebrities participating in that episode. What’s the fun in that?
Nonetheless, I still enjoy this show. I still watch, I still laugh, I still smile. There are still moments that are true, and there are still members who I like. But it’s rarer now. Today, the show is nothing but a nostalgic shadow of what it once was, in all its fun. Those were the truly glorious days, where the MCs bonded with each other like brothers and sisters and played games to their heart’s content. I could feel every moment in my blood, Like Deng Chao would say, that’s when they were truly “伐木累”. Family.
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