Japanese TV hits rock bottom

[John Lindsey]

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0401/040110tv.html

Critics are furious.

"We had one show where a group of male celebrities were stripped from the waist down and lined up facing away from a group of transsexuals who were asked to vote on which of the celebrities had the nicest !!!. Then we had another scene where the man chosen as the guy the transsexuals would 'most like to hump' was 'seduced' by one of them while they were bathing in a hot spring," Takashi Hirata, a writer and former Tokyo Broadcasting System producer, tells Shukan Bunshun. "I lived in the United States for 20 years and never once saw a terrestrial TV program as wretched as that one. I suppose the celebrities thought they were only messing around, but it couldn't have been possible that the network bosses or sponsors didn't check the show's contents."

Some shows literally went to the dogs, like "Asa Made Boso Takeshi Gundan (Takeshi's Army Goes Wild Until Daybreak)." In the program, two-bit comics Rusher Itamae and Rakkyo Ide, clad only in loincloth, pretend to be raped by a pair of Tosa fighting dogs, emitting fake groans and Itamae squealing, "I'm coming, I'm coming."

A later segment had five comedians lower their trousers and get down on all fours as another Tosa fighting dog sniffed their buttocks as the men competed to see which one the dog would choose to "mate."

It wasn't only the guys who were making a show of themselves, either. A group of scantily clad women appeared on TV Asahi's "Shichoritsu Gachinko Taiketsu (Gutsy Ratings War)" performing what they called "group masturbation." The girls rubbed violin bows between their legs as they let out groans as though they were in the throes of an orgasm - all to the tune of a classical masterpiece.

"Under standards regarding sexual expression drawn up by the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, TV Asahi should never have been allowed to broadcast these shows," a reporter on the TV beat tells Shukan Bunshun. "But there's no punishments set out for breaches of these standards, so all the networks just do what they like. TV Asahi makes a big deal out of how it focuses on childcare and news, but its late night shows show scant regard for the standards in place."

Writer Chiaki Aso was particularly scathing of the TBS coverage of the much ballyhooed K-1 fight on New Year's Eve between former Yokozuna Akebono and walking billboard Bob Sapp, won easily by the latter in a first round knockout.

"The show had been going for two hours before it got to the fight and when Akebono did finally show up, he couldn't even last three minutes. It was almost fraudulent. Cameras spent too long focused on Akebono's bloated body sprawled across the canvas and putting his kids at the ringside and making them a huge part of the show was almost child abuse," Aso says. "I was almost sick as the cameras showed the horrified look on the children's faces."

[Vapour]

Now, at least we know that God will strike Japan first, American next in the days of Armageddon.

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by Vapour
Now, at least we know that God will strike Japan first, American next in the days of Armageddon.

No, I won't.I'll designate Japanese television as "Hell" and banish the likes of you there.

[Jock Armstrong]

Japanese Television- there's an oxymoron for you!

Tahnk God for cable.............Good to see that some Japanese are starting to notice just how devoid of value it is..........

[El Guapo-san]

So I guess that we can see an update of the musical Guys and Dolls?

J. Vlach, Amsterdam

[jaxonbrown]

"The girls rubbed violin bows between their legs as they let out groans as though they were in the throes of an orgasm - all to the tune of a classical masterpiece. "

lo effing l
i GOTTA see that!