Hello Baby (Korean헬로 베이비) is a South Korean reality show where celebrities experience parenthood by raising children ages 5 and under. The main purpose is to see whether or not the celebrities make "good" parents.

Hello Baby
GenreVariety, Reality
Created byKBS N
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes95
Production
Production locationSouth Korea
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running timeapprox. 50 minutes
Production companies
  • KBS N
  • De Chocolate E&TF (season 1)
  • Stasia (seasons 1 and 2)
  • Prime Media (season 3)
  • Good Face Company (seasons 4 to 7)
Original release
NetworkKBS Joy
ReleaseJune 23, 2009 (2009-06-23) –
June 4, 2013 (2013-06-04)
Related
We Got Married
Family Outing

The show aired for seven seasons, and has featured the groups Girls' Generation, SHINee, T-ara, Sistar, MBLAQ, B1A4 and Boyfriend. The first season, featuring Girls' Generation ran for 22 episodes, the seasons that followed all have 12 episodes each. It aired every Tuesday on KBS Joy.[1]

Format

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Each season, an idol group is given an infant or toddler to take care of, allowing them to experience parenthood to an extent.[2] In the first season, Girls' Generation became 'mothers' to a nine-month-old boy. This was also the case for the boy band, Shinee, in the second season, though the child is two years old. In the third season, the girl group T-ara had to take care of three toddlers.

During the show's first three seasons, each group had to take care of the babies on their own, with some male celebrities acting as guest 'dads' in the first season. In the fourth season, Sistar became mothers to a baby boy, with Super Junior's Leeteuk as the father.

While all of the show's seasons have different concepts, they are still similar in ways such as the 'parents' being given missions and activities to do for the day with the children.

Seasons

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Season 1: Girls' Generation's Hello Baby

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Hello Baby's first season premiered on June 23, 2009. With 9 members, Girls' Generation became mothers to a nine-month-old boy named Cho Kyungsan.[3] In the first episode, the members are given pointers about child care before they meet the baby. Each episode, guest fathers come on the show to help. At the end of the day, the dads pick 'best mom' who is given certain privileges and a 'worst mom' who is given some punishment, usually clean-up duties. They also occasionally play games and other activities. Girls' Generation's season was well-received, and its 5th episode ranked first among cable channels in its time slot.[4] The show won 'Best Picture for Variety' at the 4th Korean Cable TV Awards in 2009.[5] It ended with a total of 22 episodes on November 17, 2009.

Episodes
Episode Broadcast Date Guest Dad Best Mom Worst Mom
1 June 23, 2009 MC Mong Sunny Tiffany
2 June 30, 2009
3 July 7, 2009 Sunny Jessica
4 July 14, 2009
5 July 21, 2009 Eun Ji-won Yuri Tiffany
6 July 28, 2009
7 August 4, 2009 Lee Min-woo Sooyoung Yuri
8 August 11, 2009 Lee Min-woo
Shin Jung-hwan (guest)
9 August 18, 2009
10 August 25, 2009 Lee Hyuk-jae Tiffany Yuri
11 September 1, 2009
12 September 8, 2009
13 September 15, 2009 Han Min-kwan
Il Chool
Hyoyeon Yuri
14 September 22, 2009
15 September 29, 2009
16 October 6, 2009
17 October 13, 2009 Park Hyun-bin Yoona Tiffany
18 October 20, 2009 Moon Hee-jun Hyoyeon
Sooyoung
Yoona
Seohyun
19 October 27, 2009
20 November 3, 2009
21 November 10, 2009 Gil
22 November 17, 2009

Season 2: Shinee's Hello Baby

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The second season started on January 19, 2010, and it features the boy band, SHINee, who have to take care of a 2-year-old toddler named Jung Yoo-geun. Like its previous season, the members have to deal with daily problems with having a child, such as preparing his meals, calming him down when he cries and doing other activities such as playing with him or teaching him new words. Because the members are not always with the child, they frequently sent him videos when they are away. In the final episode, Yoo-geun is given a time capsule by his 'fathers' which he would open when he turns 21.[6] The season ended on April 6, 2010, with 12 episodes and a special episode.[7][8]

Episodes
Episode Broadcast Date Guests
1 January 19, 2010
2 January 26, 2010 K.Will, T-ara, IU
3 February 2, 2010
4 February 9, 2010
5 February 16, 2010 Girls' Generation (minus Yoona and Tiffany) Kim Jongmin, Super Junior's Eunhyuk and Leeteuk, Kang Hodong
6 February 23, 2010
7 March 2, 2010
8 March 9, 2010
9 March 16, 2010
10 March 23, 2010
11 March 30, 2010
12 April 6, 2010
13 April 12, 2010

Season 3: T-ara's Hello Baby

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The third season, featuring girl group T-ara, started on November 16, 2010. For several months, the group act as mothers to three young brothers named Moon Mason, Moon Mavin and Moon Maden.[9]

Season 4: Sistar and Leeteuk's Hello Baby

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The fourth season started on September 2, 2011. It portrays the four Sistar members (Hyolyn, Bora, Soyou and Dasom) acting as mothers and Super Junior's Leeteuk as a father taking care of a baby named Kim Kyumin (김규민). The season finished broadcasting on November 18, 2011.

This season is similar to that of Leeteuk's Find Mom project. It shows the process of finding the favorite mom amongst the four Sistar members. Unlike the past seasons, it was the baby who was leading the shows, not the parents.[10]

Season 5: MBLAQ's Hello Baby

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MBLAQ at the press conference for Hello Baby, on January 18, 2012

The fifth season stars boy band MBLAQ as fathers of three multi-cultural children: Dayoung (Vietnamese-Korean), Lauren (Korean-Canadian) and Leo (French-Korean).[11] The season began airing on January 19, 2012, and ended on April 5, 2012, with a total of 12 episodes. Like other seasons of Hello Baby, MBLAQ had to fulfill the task as parents to meet the needs of their kids.

Season 6: B1A4's Hello Baby

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The sixth season features boy band B1A4 as fathers to a couple of countryside kids, Eunsol and Hyunwoo. The concept of this season is getting to know Seoul, since all the members of the band came from the countryside as well.[12]

This season not only follows the established format of the care and growth of the children, but also unveils the members' journey into Seoul, since none of the members are from Seoul, as well as the children, who are not from Seoul either.

Season 7: Boyfriend's Hello Baby

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The seventh season, starring Boyfriend, started on January 4, 2013.[1] In this season, Boyfriend are fathers to two young toddlers.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b Ho, Stewart (3 January 2013). "Boyfriend's 'Hello Baby' Series to Premiere on January 4". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 7 January 2013.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "MBLAQ Confirmed for "Hello, Baby" Season 5". Soompi. January 5, 2012. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "[포토엔]소녀시대의 헬로베이비, 아기와 함께 비누방울 놀이". Newsen (in Korean). June 30, 2009. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  4. ^ "KBS JOY <소녀시대의 헬로 베이비>, 최고 시청률 기록". The Star (in Korean). July 23, 2009. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  5. ^ Kim Jung-bae (March 3, 2010). "케이블TV 방송대상에 '슈퍼스타K'". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  6. ^ "SHINee tears up on Hello Baby season finale". Allkpop. April 12, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  7. ^ "샤이니 육아리얼리티 '헬로베이비' 눈물 속 종영". Newsen (in Korean). April 5, 2010. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  8. ^ "'샤이니의 헬로베이비', 엉뚱발랄 촬영장 뒷이야기 공개". The Star (in Korean). April 12, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  9. ^ 강경록 (November 12, 2010). "걸그룹 티아라, 육아의 여왕 도전장 내민다". Asiae (in Korean). Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  10. ^ "SISTAR & Super Junior's Leeteuk cast for season 4 of 'Hello Baby'". Allkpop.
  11. ^ Ho, Stewart (29 March 2012). "MBLAQ's G.O. Becomes a Chef for Hello Baby". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 20 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Kim, Erika (24 July 2012). "B1A4 Members Become Fathers for Hello Baby". Mnet News. CJ E&M. Retrieved 20 November 2012.[permanent dead link]