The show portrays a local family which, in keeping with a Chinese traditional preference for boys, showers praise on their selfish sons and neglects their only daughter, treating familial relations like "business deals.”

Makes you furious, right? You’re not the only one: The online groups gained sudden popularity this week with about a dozen Taobao vendors offering so-called “scolding groups.”

The WeChat group which I joined quickly filled up with strangers spilling abuse towards the trio, commenting on the plot and sharing memes.

“You old fart!” said one group member, scolding the father of the Su family.

“If you spend any more of your daughter's money, I’ll break your arms!” said another.

“You're not really here to scold them, just to find someone to listen to you carefully,” says the invite. “It seems that everyone is busy and cold and they pretend to be indifferent to the people they like. This platform belongs to you. Come on in.”

That’s seen in some of the conversations I witnessed. While one user changed his profile picture to the TV show’s old man Su and used quotes to try and stoke the anger of the crowd, others wanted to switch to more personal topics.

“I want to scold my workplace, OK?” said a woman working in a logistics company for the last 10 years. She says the company denied her a bonus when she gave birth to her second child. Another man started complaining about his mother in law.

“People just want to vent their emotions. Or [they join] because it’s fun,” the Taobao seller that hosts the group explained to me.

It's a fascinating phenomenon. But perhaps it's less of a novelty to the people involved. One of the sellers asked if I was a reporter, and laughed that I was late to the story -- because he'd already spoken to many other journalists.