Last year, TBS cancelled ¡°Karakuri TV,¡± hosted by motor-mouthed comedian Sanma Akashiya. ¡°Karakuri¡± lasted 22 years and was considered the progenitor of the talk-based variety show. It was also the first Japanese series to popularize funny home videos.
¡°Karakuri¡± was dropped because it couldn¡¯t compete in its Sunday nighttime slot with Nippon TV¡¯s ¡°The Tetsuwan Dash¡± with the boy band Tokio, but this Sunday, Sanma will return to that time slot, now on Nippon TV with a special two-hour program, ¡°Shijo Saidai no Sanma Hayaoshi Talk.¡± (¡°Sanma: The Fastest Reaction Talk in History¡°; 7 p.m.)
The show is all about Sanma. In fact, he is quizzed on his own life by a panel of celebrities who ask him about his salad days, his many romances and his career. Some of his ¡°dates¡± even show up to talk about his qualifications as a lover.
On Tuesday, NHK presents the first episode in a four-part drama series called ¡°Watashi wo Mitsukete¡± (¡°Looking for Me¡°; NHK-G, 10 p.m.), which stars Miori Takimoto as a young, troubled nurse.
Yayoi works in a hospital. She is a hard worker and careful to follow all the rules, even when she feels as if she¡¯s being taken advantage of. Yayoi has a secret. Abandoned right after birth and raised in an orphanage, she is desperately afraid of ¡°losing her place in society,¡± and so goes out of her way to be a ¡°good girl,¡± which means often denying her real feelings.
A new head nurse, Fujido (Honami Suzuki), is assigned to the hospital, and her management style rubs Yayoi the wrong way, but she puts up with it. Then a patient dies, and Fujido suspects that the treatment was administered incorrectly.
CM of the week
Taisho Pharmaceutical: It¡¯s coming up to December once again, and salaryman Jun Oguri spies a poster about the office bonenkai (end-of-year party), which will feature anko (anglerfish). He rubs his stomach with a pained look on his face and says, ¡°Rich food again?¡±
Then he drops through the floor and finds himself at the bottom of the sea where he¡¯s confronted by a huge, ugly anko. ¡°That¡¯s a strong enemy,¡± he says, as he pulls out a packet of Taisho¡¯s stomach medicine, which is taken before a meal to counteract any bad reactions. He then walks out of the sea, which explodes behind him. Sometimes, eating is a battle.
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