Game shows

[Hatake girl]

i love to watch japanese gameshows! they are soo much better than English ones. what are some of your favorites? mine is the silent library game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdgdBOTUSqg

[Taurus]

I think, in many ways, Japanese telly is miles ahead of British TV. Like, when I was growing up, Chris Tarrant and Clive James used to have shows where they poked fun at the crazy things that happened to members of the puclic on Japanese gameshows. Ten years later and British TV had embraced exactly the same sort of humiliation, with shows that consisted of celebrities eating insects, or members of the public forced to do silly tasks.

So I can't wait until British telly discovers how brilliantly funny it is to watch people trying not to laugh.

[Liz21]

Did anyone watch "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" on ABC-TV? I live in the U.S. and I watched last night's two-hour finale! It was hilarious to watch 4 Amercians, none of whom could speak Japanese, as they ran out into the streets of Tokyo, trying to find people who would cooperate with their crazy stunts. The Americans were so funny! One guy was waving his hand wildly and screaming, "Help! Help me! Can anyone help me? Can anyone speak English?" It was very touching to see how in love with Japanese culture the four Americans became during their visit to Japan. The Japanese audience was also hilarious, as they shouted, "Hai! Majide!"

[Hatake girl]

I love that show! they had to do some pretty stupid things(always worth a good laugh though! )

hey, another good game show is that Human Tetris thing. im pretty sure that most people already know about this show...man i wish they did this in the US!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2kajMH2u0

[Liz21]

Hatake girl:
Yes, they had to do stupid things. But, they showed their true grit and spirit! I was actually proud of their determination and strength. And the cool thing was the use of the Japanese language with subtitles. I enjoyed that a lot. Funny thing, though, they often used English subtitles when the people were speaking English!

[Hatake girl]

Liz21:
True, they all showed what they were made of. I missed the finale, and i was wondering if they said anything about another season...it would be great to have another crew of Americans try their luck with that show.

[paulp1988]

well, my main 2 favourites are both on a channel called Challenge in the UK and they are 'Takeshis Castle' and 'Ninja Warrior'. Takeshis castle is a bit more mad-cap because they have to get through really weird tasks (like having water pistol fights up a hill against 'guards' dressed as a boot, a submarine with 3 guards in, an aeroplane etc), whereas ninja warrior is more like 'Gladiators' where its a bit more serious but still having to beat certain tasks.

Japanese TV is the best though, used to see quite a bit of it on 'Tarrant on TV' where Chris Tarrant used to mock all the japanese adverts and gameshows haha

[Belton]

Is this Ninja Warrior?
Sasuke
It's like a real-life video game. What's more it's only ever been completed twice.
Doubt I learn any Japanese from the video clips but I sure am impressed at the contestants skills and grit.

There are loads of clips on You Tube if you search Japanese Game shows
The silent library game is hilarious.

These black cloth performancesare ingenious.

I can't find it on YouTube but when I was in Japan I was watching a show where they built giant versions of the pitakora suichi contraptions to cook ramen.
Japan is the home of the dedicated amateur I think.

The BBC has franchised the human Tetris game and seem to have missed the point or maybe it just doesn't translate because it's one of the worst shows I've seen on prime time TV. and I like the Japanese version.

@Taurus
I still remember Clive James' clips of "Endurance" in the 80's. It might have been one of my first images of Japan (that and Shogun). The image that still sticks in my mind is the finalists suspended upside down while having the suns rays concentrated on their nipples through magnifying glasses! ouch. Ant and Dec have yet to try that on I'm a celeb....