And _that_ is how it's done.

[kjpepper]

For a weekend I was expecting to be cranky tired and sad through, it was actually not. Which I suppose is a blessing.

• Can I get a rousing chorus of WTF is wrong with Japanese game shows??? We all spent way too much, and by way too much I mean the better part of the entire marathon on G4, time watching Unbeatable Banzuke, which none of us had seen before. The basic premise is that they set up these physical challenges that are meant to be completely impossible for anyone to do (and in some cases, WTF level ridiculous). Mostly involving obstacle courses. Which people then have to complete either a) on a unicycle b) on stilts c) on mountain bikes d) walking on your hands e) while pushing your usually female partner in a cat-shaped wheelbarrow e) on pogo sticks f) flying model helicopters or g) on skateboards. ...yeah. Four times out of five you'll watch an entire show and EVERY CONTESTANT HAS FAILED. That said, when people DO win (and people do!!) it's AWESOME... and then they have to retire the course and make it more insanely hard because it's not unbeatable banzuke if someone's beaten it.
  
  One interesting cultural note though the thing that fascinated me the most was the range of ages of the contestants willing to attempt these things. I think the youngest we got was 9 (and he and his mom won their challenge) a lot were 11-17, and some would be firmly in the AARP set over on this side of the pond... I just find it interesting... you know you'd never catch a show letting American kids try any of the stunts we saw, just cause of insurance liabilities. And the older people? not a chance either, for whatever reason. Just interesting is all.
  
  
• It's always fun re-experiencing the city with a person who has never been there. Even little things like using a Metrocard take on a whole level of fascinating that they usually don't hold. It was fun watching booboo_berr experience things for the first time - riding on the subway, Chinatown, crossing various bridges in various conveyances... Even standing in the middle of Times Square goggling like a tourist (which, when you get down to it, does feel very like standing in the huge, brightly lit breathing heart of the city), which is something I'd normally never do, but... I guess when you're there with someone who has never done it before, you get to re-experience the coolness of it. Anyway, it was fun tooling around with her and the blue fox and the CuteBoy even for a bit of it.
  
  
• Lets talk a little bit about Papa John's barbecue chicken pizza, home baked pumpkin bread and Virgil's root beer for a minute. No, actually lets not. Lets drool all over ourselves instead.

I guess there's a little more, but I'm being called to dinner. American Gladiators on in 45. And surprisingly enough... it's good to be home.

Comments

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I dunno--there was Legend of the Hidden Temple. That game was pretty impossible. Nobody could ever figure out how to put that stupid monkey statue together.

[11th-letter.livejournal.com]

Ninja Warrior is my very best favorite. Only 2 people in the entire history of the show have ever completed the whole course (all 4 sections), and after the second person did they redesigned the whole thing so that even folks who had been doing it for years couldn't get past the first stage. One season, no one made it past the second stage, and they just ended the season right there. Oh, and no prizes. If you win, you get to...say you won.
On American Gladiator, *someone* is going to win at the end.

[kjpepper.livejournal.com]

yeah, Unbeatable Banzuke is the same folks who produce Ninja Warrior. Pretty fabulous.

[piper-lee.livejournal.com]

I saw one of the Unbeatable Banzuke shows where they had to walk on their hands the whole course... most people just toppled over at the very beginning. xD

Now I desire Papa John's hawaiian barbecue chicken pizza.... yummmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Unbeatable Banzuke is pretty crazy, but it wasn't the craziest game show I saw while I was there--I mean, it wasn't on the air anymore, but countless imitators were, and there were a couple that really pushed the buttons of all things reasonable.

The semi-X-rated game shows were pretty crazy, too, although I only watched those a couple of times.