Keep Running (Chinese: 奔跑吧; pinyin: Bēnpǎo Ba), previously known as Running Man China, or Hurry Up, Brother (Chinese: 奔跑吧兄弟; pinyin: Bēnpǎo Ba Xiōngdì) before 2017, is a Chinese variety show broadcast on ZRTG: Zhejiang Television.[1][2] It is a spin-off from the popular original South Korean variety show Running Man by SBS.[3] It was first aired on 10 October 2014. The show is classified as a game-variety show, where the MCs and guests complete missions at a landmark to win a race.
The program has itself also been spun-off into a supplemental show, named Running Man Is Coming (Chinese: 跑男来了; pinyin: Pǎonán Láile). It is hosted by Shen Tao (Chinese: 沈涛; pinyin: Shěn Tāo), Luo Xi (Chinese: 罗希; pinyin: Luó Xī), and/or "Jenny" Lin Jieni (Chinese: 林杰妮; pinyin: Lín Jiénī). The show typically centers around secondary footage of Keep Running episodes, behind-the-scenes clips, or even the conclusion or final outcomes of a Keep Running episode that is too long to fit into the original broadcast time slot.
Program name
When the show was first announced, it was known as "跑男" (pinyin: Pǎo Nán) or "Running Man" in Chinese. Programs on the Zhejiang TV channel required names with five Chinese characters (words),[4] hence the program was then renamed to "奔跑吧兄弟" or "Hurry Up, Brother". But, before the official name changed, ZRTG had registered "跑男" as a trademark with the SAIC.[5]
The supplemental show "跑男来了" continues to retain the "跑男" moniker in its title.
Episode style
撕名牌 (pinyin: Sī Míngpái) or "Name-tag Elimination" (lit.'name-tag ripping' or 'name-tag tearing') is one of the main games of each episode and is usually the longest game. There are also many games played by the MCs and guests that often contribute to their result for the final mission.
The team that wins the final mission will receive a prize, usually related to the theme of the episode. However, even if a team wins most of the games, victory is not guaranteed (for example in Season 1 Episode 2, Deng Chao did not win many games but the other teams who had won did not make the right choices of switching the waters, therefore causing their team to win).
For season 8, Zhu Yawen and Wang Yanlin left due to scheduling conflicts. Singer Cai Xukun, actor/comedian Guo Qilin, and actor Sha Yi joined as new members and replaced them. Lucas and Song Yuqi, who are both based in South Korea, were absent for the whole season due to COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions.
For the first Yellow River special season, Lucas and Yuqi were again absent. Cai Xukun only participated in episodes 1-2 due to scheduling conflicts, while Guo Qilin only participated in episodes 3-4 due to scheduling conflicts. Zheng Kai was absent from episodes 1-2 due to the birth of his daughter.
For Season 9, Guo Qilin left the cast due to scheduling conflicts while Lucas and Yuqi rejoined the cast. Yuqi was absent from the first few episodes due to quarantine restrictions.
For Season 10, it was announced that due to scheduling conflicts, Lucas would not be involved in filming, while Yuqi left to focus on her career. Actress Bai Lu, who joined during the second Yellow River special season, and singer Zhou Shen joined the cast. Meanwhile, Cai Xukun returned after a temporary hiatus in the second Yellow River season. Zheng Kai was absent for the second half of the season, starting from episode 7, due to the birth of his second child.
For the Common Prosperity special season, Cai Xukun only participated in the first two journeys, which spanned the first two-and-a-half episodes. Zhou Shen only participated in the first three journeys, which spanned episodes 1-4.
For Season 11, it was announced that due to his upcoming tour, Cai Xukun would not be participating. Yuqi rejoined the cast, and Fan Chengcheng from the Chinese boy group NEXT also joined as a new cast member.
For the Nature special season, it was announced that Angelababy would not be participating, while Zhang Zhenyuan from the Chinese boy group Teens In Times joined as a new cast member. This member setup was retained in Season 12.
The chief production director (PD) is Yao Yitian, who is often referred to on the show by his nickname "Yao PD". His voice is typically the one heard during interactions between cast members and the production crew. He has also at various times been featured on-camera during the show, such as during the last episode of Season 9, "Cast members vs. Production team", where he was nominated by the cast members to be one of the production team members to undergo the final "giant water bomb" punishment if the cast members were able to beat the production team,[6] and episode 8 of Season 10, where he was pulled on-camera by one of the teams to be their extra helper during one of the games.[7]
If more than one set of teams are used other than the Race Mission teams, they are divided and distinguished to the corresponding mission under Teams. Team members are listed in alphabetical order from Team Leader to Members, to Guests. As some episodes consisted of road missions and were not confined to a single landmark nor was a landmark officially recognized on-air, the landmark shown for those episodes is the final mission venue.
Running Man is a 2015 Chinese realitycomedy film directed by Hu Jia and Cen Junyi.[9] Deng Chao was unable to participate in the movie filming due to scheduling conflicts. The movie was released to theaters on 30 January 2015.[10]
Missions Li Chen Team (Li Chen, Angelababy, Sie Yi-lin, Wong Cho-lam, Chen He) Zhong Team (Kim Jong-kook, Zheng Kai, Guo Jingfei, Wang Baoqiang, Xiong Dailin) Tour Guide (Yi Yi)
Final Task Killer (Li Chen) Li Chen Team (Wang Baoqiang, Chen He, Sie Yi-lin, Wong Cho-lam, Yi Yi) Zhong Team (Kim Jong-kook, Angelababy, Zheng Kai, Guo Jingfei, Xiong Dailin)
Killer Defeat the two teams Teams Report the Killer
Li Chen Team and Zhong Team Win Receives a trophy and the two teams split the bonus ¥888,888.
Guests
Wei Daxun has taken part in the most episodes of any guest.
Many guests have taken part in Keep Running. The following is a compilation of guests and the number of times they have been on the show. With regards to guest-turned-members (Zhu Yawen, Sha Yi [zh], Bai Lu, Zhou Shen, Fan Chengcheng) or former members of the show (Wang Baoqiang, Guo Qilin), only the times they were a guest are counted. The guests are sorted based on the first episode that they took part in.
