Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Exciting as watching a...hole in the wall?

I just read a Japan Times article about how a certain show has taken off and caught the interest of foreign TV execs. You know, I've seen the show before, and I did find it pretty amusing. But you gotta ask yourself if this is a good idea. Compared to other Japanese TV shows, yeah, maybe this thing is gold. But compared to British or American programming? I'm not so sure.




The idea is novel, but I'm not sure - how long could a show like this really go on? Could something like this really run for more than a season? A show about guys in spandex trying to fit themselves into holes in a wall? But then maybe I'm giving the average TV junkie too much credit.

5 comments:

  1. This show DID come to America last year, and it's pretty much exactly the same (right down to the sound effects and animated segments), though translated into English, of course. And so far, it's only been on for one season. Time will tell if they bring it back.

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  2. It's in America? Does it have wacky dubbing, like that one with all the people running the obstacle courses?

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  3. Unfortunately, the programme Hole in the Wall has been showing in the UK for some time (probably over a year now?) on a Saturday night, alongside a programme with people in spandex running around obstacle courses to silly sound effects. There was a bit of a fuss about it when they started, that apparently TV execs were 'adopting Japanese-style game shows to raise the morale of the plebs during the recession'. Of course, people watched out of curiosity and both programmes are now a staple of Sat night TV.

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  4. Ahhh, interesting. So this Japan Times article is a bit behind in its reporting!

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  5. No, no. Unlike MXC, Hole in the Wall is all-American, with an American host, contestants, and audience members cheering along. They've just adopted the style exactly.

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