Hot Picks: Old Enough

Entertainment format Old Enough! sets out to capture the wonder and amazement of little children going on ‘big adventures’. A long-established hit on Nippon TV in Japan, it follows children as they run errands on their own for the first time. Although the children set off to complete their tasks alone, they are monitored the entire way by the production team.

Nippon TV director of international business Yuki Akehi says Old Enough! “started airing as a segment on a primetime daily entertainment show in 1991 and became so popular that we transformed it into an independent two- to three-hour primetime programme”.

The show continues to air twice a year, usually on public holidays so the whole family can watch.

 According to Akehi, the ratings for Old Enough! are always high – notably among children as well as adults.

“We believe they are intrigued to watch children like themselves on their bold first adventures,” she says.

Nippon TV markets Old Enough! as both a finished show and a format, says Akehi, “and both are very popular”. The finished show has been continuously airing throughout Asia for many years and now also streams on Netflix. The format, meanwhile, “has been produced in the UK, Italy, Vietnam, China and Singapore so far, and there are more options that we hope to announce soon”.

In terms of why it might appeal to international buyers, Akehi says Old Enough! is both funny and heart-warming: “One reason why the programme has been a long-running hit is that it is so fascinating to see how children are capable of thinking and acting on their own, as well as their dedication to completing the errand because it is for someone who needs their help. I think that society has changed a bit, and people may want children to have more audacity as they grow up.”

Akehi says there is a universal emotion at play, which encourages buyers to create their own local versions. “The way the children speak to themselves when they are alone, or when they are with just their brothers or sisters or friends, trying to figure out the errand, is something we would not be able to witness if it weren’t for their secretly hidden microphones and the incognito camera crew that follows them,” she says. “It is irresistibly sweet.”

Safety is clearly a key consideration. The producers meticulously gather research from parental organisations and parents decide the appropriate challenge for each child. Sometimes it’s cooking the family dinner, folding the family’s clothes, or going on an errand in town. And when the kids hit the streets, it is always under the watchful eye of hidden cameras and the show’s safety team, who are disguised as joggers, passersby or gardeners.

Having produced the show for so many years, Nippon TV has built up a vast bank of experience and expertise it can share with partners.

“We provide a detailed bible as well as on-ground or even online creative consultancy, based on Nippon TV’s 30 years of experience, as it is a programme that involves special production know-how,” she says. “It is not only about creating a programme; we ensure that the child has a good day doing the errand, no matter how it turns out.”