When I was there (2004), the standout was Beat Takeshi's TV Tackle.
Great to see a show where people discuss current issues with passion.
Some of the NHK 7:30 current affairs shows were quite informative, as
well occasional special presentations (later at night) about such
subjects as the development of the Japanese word processor.
Entertaining also was some of the higher quality manga/anime, despite
being unable to really follow the stories, the visuals were great.
I don't watch a lot of TV, but have always loved watching the shows
where an old, decrepit dark house is given a complete makeover on a
(usually) tight budget. Some of the reform ideas are a bit predictable,
as is the response of the householder where they see their new old
home, but sometimes there are great ideas, and sometimes good tear
jerker stuff.
It should be クローズアップ現代 (Close-up today). That's a great work
of effort for research and composition, keeping a keen eye to current
affairs for 10+ years.
プロフェッショナル-仕事の流儀- (Professional -the way of business-)
also deserves to watch on Thursday night. It explores and digs their
defeats and victories of various professionals at the front line, from
a lawyer to a beverage planner.
As for comedy, サラリーマンNEO (Salaryman NEO -
http://www.nhk.or.jp/neo/) is one of the most favorite shows for me,
shown every Tuesday 11:00PM. Detailed palodies of "salarymen" and
"salarywomen" always make me fun, and you adsolutely find yourself
inside the caricatured behaviors of acted characters. Well, it has
something common to the Monty Python, but in contrast, it's very, very
real. It also features palodies of other program by NHK itself, or
sometimes other commercial broadcasters, for example, its opening
scene is a quite well-made palody of "Weapon of Choice" PV.
--OTA Takashi
I like that show where the celebrities sit in a studio and watch a
video of some amazing or heartwarming event. They put an inset image of
the celebrities while the video is playing, so we can see their
reactions in real time. Great show.
- Kevin
the first thing I saw was a bare arse, then I saw a dart going into the
bare arse followed by the pitch of screaming. I was wondering what on
God's earth I was watching... the camera then zoomed out and it
transpired that what I was watching was a boat race...
picture this if you can: there were two teams of two. On each team one
person had a string tied around their head which was tied to a boat
placed on a "sea" (made by the programme - approx. four foot by four
foot and flat). This team member had to compete to pull their boat over
the finish line before the other team; the catch was they could only
move the boat when their head moved responsively to the other team
member throwing a dart into their bare arse (they were wearing those
thingamebobs like what the sumo wrestler wears!)
Other than that I used to be a fan of a programme that aired around
2004 called "Yankee bougakkou he kaerou" (or something like that), a
drama about a teacher who returns to teach in a school he used to go to
for juvenile delinquent/troubled children in Hokkaido (based on a true
story).
> Other than that I used to be a fan of a programme that aired around
> 2004 called "Yankee bougakkou he kaerou" (or something like that), a
> drama about a teacher who returns to teach in a school he used to go to
> for juvenile delinquent/troubled children in Hokkaido (based on a true
> story).
Sounds like a Japanese version of "Wecome Back, Kotter".
?????????????????????-?-??!?
--Collin