The BBC has bought the rights to air selected segments from Tunnels no minnasan no okage deshita, the Japanese TV show that includes funny challenges like the “human tetris” wall game:

The BBC has bought the rights to a lowbrow Japanese game show, which uses a moving wall to ditch contestants in a pool of water in the corporation’s latest effort to bring fresh ideas to its audiences.

The BBC will screen the pratfalls and celebrity humiliations of certain segments of Tunnels no minnasan no okage deshita in September. The show has prevailed spectacularly in a television environment where custard pies, eating contests and buckets of maggots remain essential props.

The Tunnels show, which features an ever-changing cavalcade of ridiculous games and gut-churning pranks, is the prime-time jewel in the crown of Tokyo’s largest television station.

Now in its eleventh year, watched by millions and decried by a noted Japanese television critic as “deeply compelling rubbish”, the Tunnels show lurches from feature to feature in an hour of variety.

Sounds like it will be a lot better than Fox’s complete America remake of the wall game.

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And on a somewhat related note, here’s a clip of an Israeli Tunnels remake I came across on YouTube today: