# Never Give Up (今日宜加油)
**Never Give Up** (今日宜加油) is a 2023 Chinese workplace sitcom produced by iQiyi and Straw Bear Film, adapted from the Korean webtoon *Gaus Electronics* (高斯电子公司) by Guo Bailuo, and set among the employees of a struggling planning department at the fictional Gaofa Electronics company.[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) It premiered on iQiyi on February 21, 2023, ran for 40 episodes, and became one of the better-rated Chinese sitcoms of recent years, with a Douban score of 8.2.[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) • [2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / English title | 今日宜加油 / Never Give Up[3](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Never_Give_Up) |
| Premiere | February 21, 2023, on iQiyi; 40 episodes, broadcast period February 21 to March 10, 2023[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) • [3](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Never_Give_Up) |
| Source material | Korean webtoon *Gaus Electronics* (高斯电子公司) by Guo Bailuo[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) |
| Directors and leads | Wu Qiang and Yu Zhongzhong; Zheng Kai, Chen Yuqi, Wang Hedi, Zhang Shaogang, Yuan Wenkang, Liang Chao[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) |
| Episode format | Workplace sitcom, average about 25 minutes per episode, unit-based storytelling[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107) |
| Reception | Douban 8.2; iQiyi heat value broke 7000 within 24 hours of launch, first-week peak 7408[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107) • [4](https://www.sohu.com/a/647881328_116162) |
| Award | 2022–2023 Jiangsu Province Excellent TV Series second prize, June 13, 2023[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
The story centers on Planning Department 3 of Gaofa Electronics (高发电子), once the most prestigious and mysterious department of the company, whose standing has collapsed over the previous three years after it repeatedly submitted unreliable proposals. The department's members live out the life of "ordinary strugglers" in their own ways: Li Tianran (李天然), the workplace "black hole" played by Zheng Kai; Fan Sisi (范思思), a woman seeking inner calm played by Chen Yuqi; the cold-faced but warm-hearted Wu Yimei (吴意美); and Bai Mashuai (白马帅), a rich heir who chooses to work rather than live off his family, played by Wang Hedi. Facing deliberate criticism from the deputy director and competition from Planning Department 1, they repeatedly defuse crises, return the department to its peak, and gain love and friendship along the way.[5](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_25nmb42lpgt.html)
The two leads form the show's central contrast. Li Tianran is a committed striver who wants to become department leader but often heads in the wrong direction, while Fan Sisi is an "anti-involution" (rejecting relentless over-competition in work life) office worker who keeps work and life strictly separate and aims to deliver the minimum with the least effort. Director Wu Qiang described the pair as representing two widely discussed attitudes toward work, arranged as a deliberate contrast so that viewers of either mindset could see themselves in the show.[6](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22260498) Bai Mashuai, a naive rich-kid intern who cannot grasp ordinary office culture, provides a running comic thread; in one early scene he is taught to buy drinks for his department as a social gesture and instead orders for nearly the whole company of more than 900 people.[7](https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/20230223ent016)
## Adaptation and structure
The series adapts a Korean webtoon, and the reviewers at *Sohu*'s Yingshi Dusu column described the adaptation challenges as: converting the webtoon's fragmented, one-strip-one-joke format into episodic television, and translating Korean workplace culture into a Chinese context. The show solved the first problem with a unit-drama structure, reshuffling the original's characters and events so that each episode focuses on one protagonist and expands the material into a 20-to-30-minute episode.[4](https://www.sohu.com/a/647881328_116162)
Each episode follows a fixed structure: a mini-theater segment before the opening titles, the episode proper, and an end-credits easter egg. The easter eggs often present absurd product proposals from Planning Department 3, such as a "memorial tablet phone" with eight screens or a treadmill that uses a virtual boss chasing the runner. Producer Feng Le said the jokes were kept out of the main episodes to avoid breaking their rhythm.[6](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22260498)
The topics the episodes tackle are drawn from real Chinese office life: the age-35 layoff risk, the 007 work schedule, refusing overtime dinners, office scapegoating, slacking at work, and layoff rules. Head writer Xu Pengpeng said the team consulted many office workers and tested each plot point against what could plausibly happen in real life, keeping only episodes grounded in actual workplace experience.[6](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22260498)
## Production choices
The project originated with creators who had worked together on the costume comedy *Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain* and wanted to carry its comic style into a modern setting; apartment and shared-office settings were considered before the workplace theme was fixed. The original working title was 《今天先俯卧，明天再撑》 (roughly "Do push-ups today, push on tomorrow"), which Wu Qiang explained as a mood of moving forward after feeling defeated.[6](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22260498)
Several choices distinguished the production from conventional Chinese sitcoms. Instead of studio sets, the crew shot in a real, minimally renovated office, furnishing it with props and company branding, and deliberately avoided making it look like a high-end tech office; viewers commented that it resembled their own workplaces. Post-production used a variety-show team applying comic, manga-style effects, and the pacing was cut in a short-video, fragmented style. Producer Feng Le described the result as an experimental fusion, combining idol-drama visual polish with fewer verbal gags and more situational comedy.[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107)
The release schedule was also unusual: two new episodes dropped at noon rather than in the evening. Producer Yu Fei explained the intent as giving office workers a low-pressure lunchtime watch, a kind of "electronic coffee" for the midday break.[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107)
## Reception
The show performed strongly for a sitcom. Its iQiyi heat value broke 7000 within 24 hours of launch, making it the second sitcom on the platform after *Love Apartment* to pass that mark, and it reached a first-week peak of 7408 on the third day.[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171) • [4](https://www.sohu.com/a/647881328_116162) Its Douban score of 8.2 placed it near the top of recent Chinese sitcoms.[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107) In June 2023 it received the 2022–2023 Jiangsu Province Excellent TV Series second prize.[1](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171)
In its producer Straw Bear Film's annual report, the series was described as the group's innovative sitcom entry, telling the ups and downs of ordinary office workers in a relaxed, humorous, and healing way, filling a vacancy in domestic office sitcoms at the time and achieving notable ratings across markets.[8](https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2023/0828/2023082800371.pdf)
Critics highlighted its treatment of workplace themes. The *Qilu Evening News* noted that the show examines topics such as workplace newcomers' etiquette, overtime pressure, scapegoating, and slacking, presenting an anti-involution workplace through comic exaggeration, and that it retained a manga feel in Bai Mashuai's styling, exaggerated facial acting, externalized inner monologues, and transition editing while localizing the Korean source's humor. The *Xinwanbao* praised the cast's absurd humor as stress relief for viewers.[9](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BB%8A%E6%97%A5%E5%AE%9C%E5%8A%A0%E6%B2%B9/58882359?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) The series later aired on Taiwan's TVBS channel from May 9, airing Saturdays at 10 p.m.[10](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/3198240?from=entertainment_extend)
## References
1. [今日宜加油, 快懂百科](https://www.baike.com/wikiid/7137644770164348171)
2. [豆瓣评分8.2！职场情景喜剧《今日宜加油》中传校友主创团队深访, 澎湃新闻](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22318107)
3. [Never Give Up, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Never_Give_Up)
4. [《今日宜加油》是不是好喜剧？这有一份无死角测评报告, 搜狐/影视独舌](https://www.sohu.com/a/647881328_116162)
5. [今日宜加油, 爱奇艺](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_25nmb42lpgt.html)
6. [职场喜剧，怎么让打工人大呼"在演我"？对话《今日宜加油》主创, 澎湃新闻](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22260498)
7. [王鶴棣變身職場小白, 鏡週刊](https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/20230223ent016)
8. [Straw Bear Film annual report, HKEXnews](https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2023/0828/2023082800371.pdf)
9. [今日宜加油, 百度百科](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BB%8A%E6%97%A5%E5%AE%9C%E5%8A%A0%E6%B2%B9/58882359?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma)
10. [不當霸總！王鶴棣化身職場小白, TVBS](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/3198240?from=entertainment_extend)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Chinese modern and contemporary drama › Premiered 1998 to 2023*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license