Talk show on fatherhood prompts discussion, sequel

The talk show The Father, which debuted on Fujian's satellite television channel SETV in the middle of August, concluded in November.

Hosted by Li Xiaomeng, a former China Central Television anchorwoman, the show invited 12 celebrities including boxing champ Zou Shiming, actor Xia Yu, comedian Pan Changjiang and scholar Qian Wenzhong to recall influences exerted by fatherhood on their growth.

Chinese singer Cai Guoqing, one of the interviewees, says the negative effects of his father's strict discipline makes him reflect on the way he treats his own son.

Li hopes the show will draw the public's attention to parent-child relationships in different generations, and the concerns and responsibility of a father in today's society where fathers' parenting role has been gradually transformed. A considerable debates and discussion on the role of father has thus been sparked by the show on Chinese social media, making the show's production group aware of the interest in a sequel.

But this time, it's motherhood that will be in the spotlight.

With social and economic development, the parenting role of mothers also has changed, Li said, and she will interview 12 celebrity mothers in the sequel.

The Mother will be shot next year.