You Know, I Seriously Doubt Japanese TV Is Really Like This

Astonishing.

Remember the old ABC show I Survived A Japanese Game Show? I seriously doubt anyone does. Still, it is the latest post-Who Wants To Be A Millionaire primetime show to gain a scaled down five-day-a-week version, now with one of the worst titles any television show has ever had: Japanizi Going Going Gong.

Japanizi Going Going Gong.

Mind you, the show is not the least bit Japanese; it's taped in Toronto for use on YTV in Canada and Disney XD in America.

Seriously, the name of the show is Japanizi Going Going Gong, and they always say the full title.

So yeah, we have our four teams of two kids who supposedly have no idea what kind of television show they will be participating in until they take off their blindfolds and see the faux-Japanese set. Our host is Yoshi Amao, who probably speaks perfect English but here is dressed like a stereotypical career game show host and speaks in a combination of broken English and probably just as broken Japanese.

Our teams compete in three stunts per episode. At the end of each of the first two stunts, the team that scores the lowest is eliminated, and at the end of the show the team that wins the final stunt holds up a goofy-looking trophy. The stunts are actually pretty creative and cool, and the set is suitably large and impressive, but the show goes way overboard with the faux-Japanese theming - assistants dressed like ninjas, vaguely Asian-looking characters flashing on the screen at different points, exactly the music you'd expect from a show titled Japanizi Going Going Gong...

So yeah, it's no better or worse then, say, Splatalot.

Too critical? Absolutely. I'm not this show's target audience anyway.

Aaron

I Don't Really Know If I Believe A Word Of It...

...but the current piece of news is that a new five-day-a-week syndicated show will premiere in September 2014: Celebrity Name Game, with host Craig Ferguson. Admittedly, the fact that a host is already attached means this one could actually happen, but still, new shows are announced all the time that end up never happening. There's a reason I never brought up the revival of Name That Tune...or the revival of Treasure Hunt...or the revival of Truth Or Consequences...or the American version of Bullseye (a British game show that has nothing to do with the show Jim Lange hosted)...

Moving to shows that are already on five days a week, The Price Is Right will be doing a week-long celebration of Bob Barker's ninetieth birthday from December 9-13, with Bob showing up at least once in the five shows. Should be worth a look.

Next week: Japanizi!

Aaron