TV hosts channel hope on the home front with new series

No studio. No makeup artists. No expensive equipment to ensure broadcast quality. No bright lights. No hand signals telling you the countdown to live on-air transmission. TV show host He Jiong is breaking new ground－at home.

With a small video device set up in his living room at his residence in Changsha, Central China's Hunan province, He sits on a carpet. Without makeup, chic outfits or his colleagues, He, wearing casual clothes and a pair of black-framed glasses, starts to talk to camera.

"It feels very strange," says the host, when he was first told to make the show.

"When I was told about recording a new TV show a few days ago, I doubted it would work since we are supposed to stay at home to avoid exposure to the virus. Then my colleagues told me that the new TV show will be made at home.

"Soon my doorbell rang and I got a delivery box, which had a video recorder and scripts in it."

That was the beginning of the TV show, Hey! What Are You Doing?, produced by Hunan Satellite TV Station, which premiered on Feb 7.

On the show, He, one of the most popular TV hosts in the country, with more than 100 million followers on Chinese micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo, invites several Chinese pop stars, actors and actresses, to join him via the internet.

They share their daily routines and how they spend their time during the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, such as doing exercises to keep fit at home and cooking together with their parents. The show also features other popular hosts, including Du Haitao and Li Weijia.

While some fans are drawn to the new show for its innovative approach, many other fans also share their homebound routines online, as well as offering encouragement for China's fight against the epidemic.

"Life goes on, though we face difficulties caused by the viral outbreak," wrote a fan, who watched the new TV show. "I've been following the news about the virus every day," shared another. "The show brings laughter, which makes me relaxed."

He says he has been staying at home just like many other people. "The show is to accompany the audience, while all of us are affected by the viral outbreak," says He.

He is one of the hosts of the weekly entertainment show, Happy Camp, which was launched by Hunan Satellite TV Station in July 1997 and has enjoyed huge popularity among audiences, both at home and overseas, over the past two decades.

The new TV show, Hey! What Are You Doing?, is produced by the team of Happy Camp, headed by producer Liu Wei.

According to Liu, the production team of the new show spent five days working on it, from making plans to postproduction.

"Many celebrity guests who joined in the show have never recorded a show at home," says Liu. "It's challenging for them to reveal their real life and communicate with the audiences in this way."

To Liu and his team, the warm response from the enthusiastic viewers is the best reward, and they are "glad to see the positive feedback of the audience after the show's premiere".

"We want to entertain and help them to reduce their negativity, such as anxiety and fear, in a different way, since everyone lives under great pressure due to the viral outbreak," Liu says.

For Liu, who has been in charge of the Happy Camp production team for about three years, the ongoing outbreak also interrupted his life. Like many people, he works from home, communicating with his team members through video conferences and social media platforms.

"It feels busier than when we work in the office. It's a unique experience for all of us," says Liu.

Another new show by Hunan Satellite TV, titled Day Day Cloud Time, also premiered on Feb 7. With the host, Wang Han, in the recording room, the show has celebrity guests interact from their homes that are located in different parts of the country.

The show is produced by popular Chinese talk show Day Day Up, also by Hunan Satellite TV.

With quiz questions and interviews, Day Day Cloud Time focuses on knowledge about the epidemic, charity donations and psychological counseling, as well as connecting each episode's celebrity guests, such as young actors Wang Yibo and Gao Tianhe, via the internet.

"From recording to broadcasting, it took about 30 hours, which broke the convention of traditional TV show production," says the show's producer Shen Xin.

On the show, Olympic champion gymnast Yang Wei and his family share their life in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

"Like many people living in Wuhan, we barely go out," Yang's wife, Yang Yun, says on the show. "We have received lots of good wishes and we stay together."