Why “The Return of Superman” Makes Viewers Smile

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Who doesn’t love cute children? But did you know that research suggests that looking at your gorgeous little baby causes your body to release dopamine, which makes you feel happy?  (Look it up: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America!)

And looking at other people’s cute babies can make you feel happy, too.

This could be one reason why “The Return of Superman” is so popular with viewers in South Korea and overseas. Throw in a bunch of celebrity dads and you have a winning combination.

My all-time favorite “Superman” episodes were the ones with Epik High frontman Tablo and his daughter Haru.

Tablo is a hip-hop legend who continues to enjoy international success. Epik High was the first Korean group to perform at the famous U.S. music festival Coachella. (They paved the way for BLACKPINK to become the first K-Pop girl group to play there. Big Bang was going to make a comeback at the California festival, but the coronavirus pandemic ended those plans.) Tiny Haru has an eye for beauty and she had a not-so-secret crush on her dad’s friend, Big Bang’s G-Dragon.  But when they meet…she rejects him! But that was because she was shy. She eventually gave him a sweet peck on his cheek. When the family decided to stop filming the series, Tablo explained that the most important reason was that Haru said she no longer wanted her life filmed. And that was that. As it should be. 

Do you all remember the U.S. reality series “Jon & Kate Plus 8”? When they divorced, Jon alleged that Kate was forcing their children to continue doing the series even though they no longer wanted to. So kudos to Tablo, his wife Kang Hye-Jung (a talented actress known for her work in “Oldboy”) and Haru for doing what’s best for their family.

I’ll say it. Sometimes it feels like if you’re a white person who can speak Korean, you can get a job in the South Korean film and television industry even if you’re lacking in talent. I know. Perhaps that’s an unfair exaggeration. But, one of the international personalities whose work I do enjoy is Sam Hammington. Born in New Zealand, Hammington is an Australian national who studied Korean for 18 months in college, before heading to Korea University to finish his education. Now married to Jung Yu-Mi, he and his wife share two boys, William and Bentley, whose adorable antics make viewers happy. One of the sweetest episodes was baby William completely unimpressed by the star power in the room. Korean American actor Steven Yeun (“The Walking Dead,” “Burning”) carried him around while “Hannibal” actor Mads Mikkelsen cooed over the baby.

If you don’t love Kang Gary, I don’t want to know about it. He has been a favorite of mine since his “Running Man” days. He quit the variety show in 2016 to concentrate on his music and was preparing to get married to Kim Soo-Jin. Their baby, Ha-Oh, was born in 2017. Gary returned to television with Ha-Oh for “The Return of Superman.” The lookalike father and son are viewer favorites and Gary really seems to get Ha-Oh (who has a mad crush on one of the camerawomen). The baby had enough modesty to ask all the camerapeople to turn off their videos when he had to … poop. The child is ridiculously smart, but he’s still only 2-1/2 years old now. When his mom was away from home for a couple days and nights, he sobbed uncontrollably for her return. And when she did come back home, it was poignant and sweet.

Which leads me to the question… Why isn’t there a show called “The Return of Superwoman”? Sadly, I think we all know the answer. No matter how liberated women are in whatever country we may live, we are still the primary caregivers for our children, regardless of whether we work outside of our homes or not.

With that said, we at KOCOWA would like to salute all the Superwomen (and Supermen, too) who work so hard every single day to raise our children! 화이팅!

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