I Survived A ‘Japanese’ Game Show
June 23rd, 2008 by James
Look at the crap America’s ABC network is going to air this week:
Apparently just copying segments from Japanese game shows isn’t “zany” enough to entertain audiences, so ABC flew contestants to Japan to participate in a “Japanese” game show. Unable or unwilling to work with an actual Japanese game show host, ABC even had an America-based Japanese actor flown to Japan to host the program!
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WTF IS SHIS?
Idiot americans o god…
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I watched about 15 minutes of this show. I couldn’t stand any more (Charlie Rose was interviewing the producer and director of the new Hunter Thompson biopic – now that’s good television) It’s obvious that the participants are actors, working off a script, or at least have their “characters” managed. The Audience is a “managed” audience and the show in question is not a real show, it was created specifically for this Americanm made show, based on the concept of a Japanese game show. Knowing that the entire show is “fake”, takes any spontenaeity out of the action , and therefore any possible enjoyment of the show. The producers really missed the point on this one, going the safe route, rather than letting the action unfold in a genuine manner. Great concept, but screwed up by the exuctives. Hopefully the life of this one will be mercifully short.
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MK – I agree with you %100 and had the same ideas about everything fake. However, you, I, and everyone on this board knows this because we have some background with actual Japan but most of the general audience doesn’t. ABC wants ratings and probally feel that “playing safe” gets more people watching than real. They are trying to blend the two cultures together and they are doing a good job. Those games they are playing would feel comfortable is a real j-gameshow. They mama-san is pretty funny and she would feel at home in one of those dramas. Who knows, maybe they will get to be on a BATSU-GAMU show with Down Town. And that brings me to another point – the Japanese producers are playing it safe. I bet that if this show is a hit and there is another season, you will probally see more famous Japanese actors be part of it.
Even though the show seems fake to us, at least they didn’t get Koran/Chinese actors and try to pass it off as Japan like in some movies and shows.
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The show may have been a Fake Japanese game show. I would hope that the Japanese culture has not changed that much. I think that the show will fail. What American wants to watch Americans being humiliated on a Japanese game show? Not this American! What would happen if we invited the Japanese to an American game show and made fun and humiliated them for entertainment.
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Holy sushi? wtf?
Holy pizza! Holy hamburger! Holy Cocacola! hmm doesn’t work
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I know.. At least they didn’t say, “Holy Chopsticks!” or something a bit more racist.. They’re getting better.
It’s 2008, and it’s amazing how obliviously racist the U.S. mainstream media is against Asians in general — still. Several years ago they had a show called “Banzai TV” blatantly making fun of the chop-saki Asian image. It was canceled almost immediately when it was picked up by Fox when a prominent Asian group made a fuss, and rightly so.
I guess these shows aren’t any different than the Japanese comedians with their prosthetic noses making fun of Americans though. But an isolated country like Japan is one thing — a country so diversely colonized like the U.S. should definitely know better.
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But wasn’t it also originally Japanese made? I don’t remember clearly to be honest. The voice-over was definitely very thick.
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Banzai was created in the UK, IIRC.
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LOL
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I dunno man, could be fun… Let’s see what they make out of it first, ‘mkay?
At least I’ll finally be able to understand what the wisecracking host is saying.
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Uh, I’ve seen enough. Once again Hollywood’s creativity pool has run dry and now its time to cash in on what the figure is another culture’s brand of comedy. We all know this will fail miserably. No need to watch the show.
All your optimism can’t erase the fact that this shit stinks.
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yes, america should know better. the tripe now gets exported. or is it imported? oh what the heck – it`s all BAD!!!! stupid tricks, bad taste, bad jokes……..another one i won`t be watching.
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I remember when I was a kid, I sea a foreigner special on the immensely popular Takeshi’s Castle. I really enjoyed the special because it is refreshing to see foreign competitors trying out the crazy challenges. Since this is still an American production, don’t expect it to feel similiar to the Japanese.
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I don’t get it…they invented their own “wacky Japanese game show” and then put Americans into it to show how “wacky” they think Japanese TV is? Or is this all some kind of fake-out, like Joe Schmoe or Invasion Iowa?
Unless there’s another angle to this, it sounds worse than stupid. It sounds pointless.
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The contestants on the show had no idea they were even going to Japan, from what I can gather. They also truly believe they are on a real game show.
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Well, all I can say is, that’s very naive of you.
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From what I have seen so far, I only wish this show a swift and quiet death.
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why don`t they learn from `bokeh` and `tsukkomi` first
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One of the people in the video said at about 0:19 something something “on TV in Japan”
WTF, this will not be on TV in Japan. Or will telling people that it will be get you better ratings ABC?
Way to go trumping any genuine cultural exchange with ignorance and revolt towards a stereotypical Japan. They make their own game shows. You don’t have to do it for them.
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Um, that was one of the contestants saying she is going to die (not literally) on tv (meaning on ABC in America) in Japan(the location it is filmed). ABC is not trying to make anyone think the Japanese are going to watch it too. lol. This is not going to be on tv in Japan, at least not yet. Not until some Japanese network picks it up, they quite possibly could because they do it with other shows.
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HOLY SUSHI, lol this looks great
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ok guys, I think we all need to take a step back. One of the most popular things among the youtube/digg/online crowd are segments from Japanese game shows (Human Tetris, anyone?). Simply put, ABC is trying to see if that popularity will translate to the real world or not.
I think that it’s actually rather interesting that they are flying them out to Japan, rather than simply building a Japanese game show-style set (which they are doing in Wipeout, the other one of these coming out that looks kinda like Sasuke — Ninja Warrior).
And TBH, I’m glad that they’re using an American host. I speak and understand Japanese just fine, but the subs on shows like this are usually not so great.
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I’ll wait till I see it to pass judgement. I always loved TV while in Japan. I think this show and ‘Wipeout’ could be a refreshing change from all the BS reality shows that plague the airwaves these days.
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By the way they phrased what they said, they made it sound like Tokyo was an island ._.
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Welcome to the sixth stage. Best wishes for your recovery.
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Oh man this looks painfully bad…
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I think it’s more the case that ABC would be “unable” to hire an extablished Japanese announcer, considering the death-grip Japanese talent agencies have on their clients, and probably wouldn’t be too hot on renting out their stars to a big American company.
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As an aside, can anyone name me any currently running Japanese game shows?
By that I mean game shows in the Western sense, where common folk have the chance to win big cash moneys and prizes—not a variety show where pseudo-celebrities are forced into amusing sidegames.
I don’t watch TV much, but I get the impression they don‘t exist, at least on free-to-air TV. Are they all on cable?
Is Quiz Millionaire still going? Is there anything remotely like Takeshi’s castle?
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I haven’t seen shows recently that are anything like the traditional Western game show – average Joes trying to win cash.
東京フレンドパークII airs on Monday nights on TBS – it’s a genuine game show with people playing wacky games to win prizes, but the only contestants are celebrities.
Yeah, the term “game show” is thrown around a lot in describing the “wacky” Japanese TV programs, but they almost never feature regular people competing for money. 9 times out of 10, it’s “celebrities” or at least “established TV personalities.” And there’s often no money at all, like on Haneru no tobira
Million kazoku comes close, airing every Tuesday at 7PM. It features a variety of games/situations where families can earn 1 million Yen. My favorite is the Hide and Seek Battle, where the family hides in their own home and the hosts have 30 minutes to find them. People will get pretty creative in hiding when money is on the line!
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The closest I have seen to a Western style Japanese game show are: “Nounai este IQ Supri” and “Nep League”. I have seen them on my local station called KTSF that is dedicated mostly for the asian audience, and I think those 2 game shows still exist even though the episodes I watch are about 2 years behind.
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@feitclub
THANKYOU!!! I’ve seen Million kazoku and was trying to figure out its name. THANKYOU!! It is the best game shwo ever!
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90% of American TV sucks. Look at reality shows, sheesh! If I want to watch a wacky, truly funny pseudo-game show I will watch it on Japanese TV from satellite or the interwebs. Enough of this copycat crap from the US networks. Why is pay TV so popular here? Because the network “free” stuff is much too painful to watch.
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“Holy Sushi”. God, I hate this place. I like G4’s approach a bit better. ABC should just try to air imported Japanese TV instead of making up this stupid show.
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I hope the wipe out the game that came out from Hiroshi Castle will air for a long time.
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I just watched “I Survived a Japanese Game show” and I found it pretty good. I liked how they showed the contestants and the American audience a lot of tourist attractions and the games were I believe typical of most Japanese game shows that I have watched on Youtube and other online sites. Sure there’s still the typical western style of game where “one has to be eliminated” and they say there is “going to be a surprise guest”, which is most likely the person that was eliminated first. But overall I think its the best I’ve seen a major network present Japanese style game shows.
(braces for all the flames about to be thrown)
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I watched this show!
Well, I checked several different websites like YouTube and ABC’s official website, but I guess the opinion was totally devided. I think Japanese comedy is like a reaction comedy.
The so called Japanese game shows on YouTube are the extensions of the reaction comedy. Producers of those shows never expect challengers to beat it, they rather expect the failures and funny reactions. Japanese comedians also know that’s their job to make funny reactions. That’s why most of the real Japanese game shows are designed to be really tough to clear. In addition, it’s funnier to see the failures than beautiful success.
But as far as I saw the show last night, the US producers didn’t understand that concept. Well, I might have to say they are making their original game show, but if it is the case, they should have not used the name of Japan or Japanese. It was their images of Japanese game shows. But still, there’s a great possibility of improvement in the future!
Actually, there were several scenes that I was kinda wondering.
The show called “Majide” appeared in the program, which is of course fake, but there were Japanese hosts in there. I heared they are from like Hollywood? I think I remember they were casted in some movies too. They spoke Japanese well, but they spoke typical stereo-type Japanese-English. I’m pretty sure that they can speak English much better than that. So if they were told by ABC to speak typical stereo-type Japanese-English like that, I felt kinda racism as some people criticized this show on YouTube. Because it’s not natural. No one would act in that way as well as the audiences of Majide.
I was pretty dissapointed since I was expecting they are more focusing on challengers’ funny reactions than beating the game.
Editing was also bad! But I liked how they showed the daily life of people in Asakusa. Haha! I hope it’ll be much improved!
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Maybe the producers know the concept of a Japanese game show? You and everyone here understands it but not the full American demographic.
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seems like the comments are “oh no, americans in my japanese! why cant they leave my secrete hobby alone!”
its amusing, and there are no racial attacks. its just a game show with a lot of bright colors and fun humility.
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i liked this show ..it’s funny!
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“I Survived…” is just more of the same reality show crap, like Big Brother, where the cast is made up of people from casting agencies, and the humor is painfully forced.
I commend tv executives for noticing how popular some Japanese imports are right now (Sasuke/Ninja Warrior in particular), but at the same time, they’re ignoring the intelligence of the viewers who have been downloading these youtube clips.
Personally, I think they’d do much better if they just translated some of Downtown’s stuff and ran it as specials here in the US. If those are successful, then hire some comedians and such from Japan to create shows for America, adapt them a little for the different culture, and go from there.
Anything’s better than the reality crap we’ve had lately, but “I Survived” and “Wipeout” are more likely to turn people off than start a trend.
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(If you received this for moderation twice… I’m sorry.)
A little late to the game. I forgot that all the new shows started this week.
I’ve now seen Wipeout and “Japanese” Game Show.
Initial reaction? Wipeout was ok, some funny moments, the obstacles are absolutely outrageous.
My girlfriend pointed out that it was disappointing that they could get back up from failure and keep going, noting the different between this and SASUKE. I pointed out that SASUKE is hard, but not impossible. Much of Wipeout is absolutely impossible, by design. SASUKE is meant to challenge you, but it’s not meant to be “all 100 of you will fail on the first obstacle”.
If anybody says “But Sasuke is impossible”, then your method of distinction is quite odd.
I personally don’t see Wipeout lasting this whole season, and if it does, it probably won’t go for a second.
The revelation that “Japanese” Game Show, is a fake Game Show, was rather disappointing. If you’re in the WORLD FAMOUS Toho Studios, and you make something up to take place inside… something is seriously wrong. I understand the need for someone to comedically bridge the Japanese-English gap, but… to do it in this manner? In a FAKE manner?
My initial reaction was not “oh those wacky Japanese TV shows”, because I know better. All the constant noise in the crowd (Taiko Drums, Tambourines, and Hand Drums) was entirely out of place, not to mention the manner of crowd control employed by Mr. “Ramu”. I certainly didn’t know while watching it that it was ALL fake, but something stuck out as being out of place from the little bit I know.
Granted, I don’t understand a lick of Japanese, and I don’t exactly camp in front of my computer scouring the web for Japanese TV/Game Shows. But I have seen some (thanks in due part to this wonderful site, among others), so I have at least some semblance of an idea of how different things are.
The bottom line is, I’m going to continue to watch both shows, and see what becomes of them. Wipeout looks like it’s going to keep the same equation, and make subtle variations on them. “Japanese” Game Show might grow old on me, it’s the same reality trash I don’t care for (Survivor Japan, anyone?), layered with some over-the-top-forced-”humor”. I admit that I already began to dislike the show as soon as they were on the bus, and watched their reaction to the “We’re going to Japan” statement.
It reminds me of something said on the behind the scenes interviews on Hell’s Kitchen… but that’s a topic for a different post/comment.
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It’s not THAT bad… I don’t like reality TV, but I watch it because I miss Japanese TV.
…and youtube doesn’t satisfy my craving.
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Marie, it’s not the American’s who are being humiliated. You speak of the Japanese culture changing as if you knew anything about it. Japanese culture is being grossly misrepresented on the show. This is a fake show made by American producers. You asked “What would happen if we invited the Japanese to an American game show and made fun and humiliated them for entertainment”, the answer is people like you would laugh their ignorant A’s off. Not this American!
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One of my students in Japan walked out when we discussed the show in Japan. Thing is:
“Never would this air in Japan as they lead you to believe.”
There ARE shows like this that openly make fun of foreigners, such as “Koko Ga Henna Nihonjin” (“Oh! Japanese People are Strange!” – Google it to decipher why that title is racist against non-Japanese people. Its a long story, perhaps). However, when I told my students “if you watch this, then you can then question your OWN media”, this was still mixed with outright hostility by at least one (admittedly, weird) student of mine, a middle aged housewife.
Thing is, in Japan, Japanese culture, society, etc are often regarded as taboo subjects and rarely, if any, does the mainstream press or media ever offer criticism of the Japanese government, or culture etc. If it does exist, it is usually far removed from the outspokeness or investigative journalism styles that are in the west (and Im not saying that the west is best in that department either).
Merely offering this as a “have a look for yourselves” discussion point actually made some student/s upset, which, if I remember rightly, might also be due to the “victim mentality” of some Japanese, expecially as I think right now, the nationalists, conservatives etc are hawking on about “poor Japan” in WW2 on TV at the moment (although Im not 100% sure if they are right now. A student mentioned it briefly).
All too often Japanese revert to “poor us” and “non Japanese dont understand us”, which isnt helped by the fact that Japanese schools don’t promote and/or actively discourage debate about political or social issues. Thus, there is little or noone to discuss problems and so when something else, usually a “selfish” young Japanese with “crazy” ideas, or foreign media lambast something about Japan, it is suddenly “defense stations” by some, more conservative members when “under attack from the outside”.
Im not saying the show was great. Mama san seems to be able to speak good English (listen to her intonation. Her Japanese voice seems forced). The host too is good at English and is hamming it up. The audience are obviously media students (where are the housewives and Japanese grannies saying “ehhhhhhhh?!!! that so frequent Japanese TV shows?) and the Japanese things even the losing team has to do are not really bad (in fact, HIS Travel offers similar things for foreigners to do on special tours of Japan).
Some of my students (the non-crazy kind) have commented “but we dont drink homemade green tea in the morning!”,and I agreed.
However, some think its ok to depict foreigners as “silly” etc on Japanese TV and express amazement when foreigners like “natto” or can “use chopsticks” or even speak Japanese, and yet think nothing of this while saying “that TV show is bad and foreigners shouldn’t be so ignorant about we Japanese”.
I think the irony isnt lost here, is it?
PS: Its interesting tomention “Banzai” TV. THe show was created in the UK and wasnt shown for very long as it wasnt designed to be shown for more than one or two seasons in the UK. Not once, if I remember rightly, did UK Oriental groups complain. However in the USA, they did. However, when it was “removed” from Fox, was also at the same time that the show ended anyway, making me smell a rat somewhere.
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