‘Old Enough!’: Netflix Acquires Second Season Of Japanese Reality Show Featuring Toddlers Left Alone To Run Errands

12.12.2022 - 18:27 / deadline.com

Netflix has bought another run of heart-warming and emotionally-charged Japanese reality doc series Old Enough!.

The Japanese-language show, from Nippon TV, will run for another 10 episodes after the 20-episode first season ran on the platform in March 2022.

Old Enough! cut through culturally in English-speaking countries following its Netflix debut and Selena Gomez even spoofed it back in May on Saturday Night Live, and it received 46M Tiktok views. The format follows toddlers aged two to four are left alone to undertake their first ever errand. Followed by a camera crew and with their families looking on from behind the scenes, the child’s journey is captured as it happens.

Netflix said the new episodes will debut globally on January 1, 2023, with some episodes receiving an ‘After Years’ special feature in which children who go on the errands will recall their journeys and reveal where they are today. These segments have been included in episodes of the Nippon show, which first aired in 1991, several times over the years. 

Japanese broadcaster Nippon holds the finished tape and format rights and has previously seen the show adapted in Italy, the UK, Vietnam, China and Singapore.

“Nippon TV has been airing Old Enough! for over 30 years and we have always received tremendously positive feedback and great ratings,” said Keisuke Miyata, Head of Finished Sales, International Business Development, Nippon. “Each episode is unique, and viewers are attracted and hooked to see how a child’s first errand turns out. While always ensuring the child’s safety and working closely with the family, Old Enough! records a precious child who goes on an errand for the family for the first time, alone.”

“When Netflix first streamed Old