Taiwanese children’s pop music program “Tiger Granny and Her Friends,” hosted by producer and host Tao Ching-Ying, introduces the character of Tiger Granny, clad in pink tiger print, who engages in chat sessions with children to help them face their fears. When introducing herself, Tiger Granny says, “I am a vegetarian tiger granny, very keen on losing weight.”
In the program, Tao Ching-Ying completely redefines the traditional image of a scary and dark Tiger Granny, hoping that the character she portrays can be a friend to children, listen to them, and speak to them. “I am a vegetarian tiger granny, very keen on losing weight. However, if I get too hungry in the middle of the night, I’ll get up to munch on some vegetables, and people might think I am nibbling on kids’ fingers.”
She jokingly mentioned that she initially worried about the children in the show being uncontrollable, “In that case, I might have to resign after the first episode!” However, because the kids are relatively older and can express their feelings clearly, she is grateful for their trust and their focused attention on her during the show.
“Tiger Granny and Her Friends” marks the first attempt to incorporate pop music into a children’s program, featuring 9 groups of Tiger Granny’s musical friends who have created 9 popular songs based on world folk tunes. In the first episode, addressing coping with nervousness, singer Victor Wong plays the role of the “Nervous King,” who always misses his basketball shots. He adapted the English oldie “Oh! Susanna” into a song titled “Hello, Nervous,” encouraging children to face and manage their nervous emotions.
The other 8 performers include the band Wonfu, Paiwan singer-songwriter Gixwa, Huang Yun-ling, Vivian Hsu, Xu Ruoxuan, Timothy Chao, Chen Chien-wei, and for the first time as an individual, Little Wei, who will appear one by one to accompany children every happy Saturday afternoon.
“Tiger Granny and Her Friends” consists of 9 episodes, each lasting 15 minutes, premiering every Saturday at 5 p.m. on MyVideo, MOMO Parent-Child Channel, and Momo Mini YouTube channel.