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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