Shawn (00:00):

Hey everybody. And welcome back to English All Over the Place as always. I am Shawn De Haven and...

Barney (00:08):

You guys can just go ahead and call me Barney.

Shawn (00:10):

You have a call, you have a, like a trademark line down there. I wish I had like some sort of, I don't know, a signature phrase or something like that, you know, "Where's the beef?" I know that could be my, look it up folks. Yeah. It's really old. Um, as always, uh, we are, eh, two English teachers from IUHW making fun English learning materials for you guys, the IUHW students and whoever else we might, um, (attract?) force into listening. Um, yes. Uh, there are learning materials on the website and transcripts. So, uh, stretch your learning, uh, have some fun and hopefully enjoy this episode. So I thought today we would talk about something that we have many thoughts about (yes), Japanese TV. (Yeah.) So are you for or against Japanese TV?

Barney (01:07):

It's, it's different. It's really different. Right? Um, from, from the way they do things in America. The types of shows are different. Yeah. And, um, the one thing that I am against and, um, I even saw a show, a Japanese show where a visiting TV production crew from Denmark was watching, they were against, they politely indicated that it's not their style. Um, the picture in picture.

Shawn (01:38):

Oh, yes, yes, yes. Where, where they show, where they show the, the geinoujin in the studio watching something.

Barney (01:46):

I don't need to know. I actually, I don't care how they react, but I realize it is a cultural thing. Right. We, we want you to be part of the group here is how you should react if you are cool like us, you'll laugh here. You'll cry here. You'll be shocked here. Um, so, but it, um, thankfully, I mean, I don't notice it anymore.

Shawn (02:13):

Right. I know if I was a talento, I would find that really boring to do. (I know.) And especially if I wasn't, didn't think what they were showing me was especially funny or tear-jerking (or, or interesting). Yes. So that's something they don't do in the United States or in probably in many other countries. Um, I, when I first got here, I loved Japanese TV and I still do love some shows, but now that there's Netflix and Amazon Prime and iTunes and other things, it's a lot easier to get foreign entertainment. So I watch it less, but there are shows that I like, uh, some variety shows I like, and a variety show is not something that really exists in United States now. It did about 40, 50 years ago. (Right.)

Um, but in the United States, mainly the, uh, kinds of shows are, uh, quiz shows, news. Um, they don't really have music shows that much. (No, not at all.) Um, not like a "Music Station" or anything like that. (Right.) Um, they have dramas, of course. Uh, and then they have sitcoms, right. Situation comedies 30 minute, less than 30 minute, uh, funny shows, comedies about some situations, some family or working in a hospital or police station or whatever. I love those. That's my favorite format in America, but, uh, they just don't have them here in Japan. And there are some shows that I do, like in Japan, uh, uh, "Warrate Koraete" (Yes.) As, um, um, they have some corners in there, they have some segments that I really don't like in their show, like when they guess who the new, the next guest is, and they ask people in the streets and they give the stupidest clues that make no sense, but they have some shows, where some segments where they'll introduce somebody who was not well-known, but did something great in the past.

Shawn (04:05):

(Yeah.) And they'll give them a trophy or when they go to "Dai Ichi Murabito Hakken," they go to some nowhere place and visit people on the, in a village somewhere. (Yeah.) I liked those segments. They have some great segments, especially the ones where you learn about, they make some sort of documentary, miniature documentary about somebody's great thing. You know, like I remember one time, a long time ago they had, uh, um, a story about the man or was it, was it a woman? I can't remember. It was a man or a woman. I think it was a man who invented a way to make the gunte, the glove. (Yeah.) Really fast with machines (Cool) to save time for his mother. And so that became a great invention and things like that. Um, other shows that I have liked, um, "Itte Q," occasionally on Sundays, very funny. Um, sometimes, "Tetsuwan Dash." (Okay.) It depends on what they're doing. (Yeah.) But, uh, I used to love "Dash Mura," where they would do the agriculture or making some, a bell or farming or something like that. (Right.) As long as I don't have to do it. Um, it's interesting to watch. (Yeah.) Um, what other shows have you, what other shows that have you enjoyed?

Barney (05:19):

Yeah. Um, um, right. I used to, I think I said, I used to really like Tunnels.

Shawn (05:27):

Really? Tunnels?

Barney (05:27):

I really liked it. Um, (I hated them.) I, I liked the, um, monomane taikai that they would have, uh, the, uh, and right where the, where they all dress up. It's kind of a weird, you know, uh, weird scientists or something like that.

Shawn (05:43):

Well, I mean, they do do, they did have, uh, um, what was it? "Komakaisugiru Monomane Taikai," or something like that every year. And they have people do really, really specific impersonations. And I do like that, but in general, I didn't like the Tunnels because I, I got here before, after they were famous for comedy and I didn't really see them do much comedy.

Barney (06:04):

I see. I, I liked the, uh, occasionally depending on the guests, when they're eating and they tried to guess the food that the other person doesn't like, I saw the one with Hugh Jackman. That was a lot of fun. Um, I didn't like, um, "Otokogi Janken."

Shawn (06:23):

What was that?

Barney (06:23):

That was awful where, um, the, the, the winner (has to pay for everything?) has to buy these terrible things. Like one guy won and had to buy a car.

Shawn (06:35):

Yeah. There's a lot of, um, bullying. (Exactly.) in some kinds of comedy on Japanese TV.

Barney (06:43):

For that reason, I'm, I'm glad that they're off, but, uh, "Matsuko no Shiranai Sekai..."

Shawn (06:49):

Yes! Uh, it depends on what she's talking about, but I love certain topics and I, I record each episode and then I'll watch it if it's something I'm interested in. Um, I also used to like her, "Getsuyou Kara Youfukashi." (Oh yeah.) I made a very small appearance on that show. I was very happy 'cause I liked that show for a long time. (Yeah.) A lot of interesting characters. Um, we always try and catch "Sazae-san" on, on Sundays. Yeah. Yeah. I love those kinds of shows. Um, what else is there? Hmm.

Barney (07:22):

Yeah. Um, I occasionally will watch, uh, "Kenmin no Show."

Shawn (07:26):

Oh, yes. But how many -- they must be out of topics by now.

Barney (07:31):

I was gonna say, yeah, sometimes it's just, meh.

Shawn (07:35):

Uh, I did like the show "Before After," (Oh! The one with the construction.) The one where they redid a house or something like that, you know, "Nan to iu koto deshou ka!"

Barney (07:42):

That's because the narrator is the woman who does Sazae-san's voice.

Shawn (07:46):

Really. Okay. I didn't, I didn't know. Oh, you, yes, yes, I can see that now. But, uh, you know, the music, it's always funny, you know, just turn you in tune in for the final 30 minutes (Exactly, yeah) where you see the family amazed by the new place. (Yeah.) But, uh, they, they don't do that regularly anymore because they probably-- it's hard to organize...

Barney (08:04):

Find places? Oh yeah. Right. And the person does have to pay.

Shawn (08:06):

I have-- really? Okay. (Yeah.) Well, I, I really have a lot of respect for Japanese TV professionals because they have to find so much, so much stuff for, to fill these airwaves here. Um, I have one, I have many pet peeves with Japanese TV, but one that I used to have, especially was how they cover baseball games.

Barney (08:30):

Quote, unquote, cover.

Shawn (08:31):

Yes. In America, if you're watching a baseball game, it starts in the first inning on TV; and it goes until it's over. (Yes.) Even if it goes to 10, 11, 12 innings. (Yep.) In Japan -- and they don't broadcast baseball games as much as they used to, it's not as popular. (Right.) And they have cable stations for it now, but they would start covering it on TV in like the third inning. And then, and then the coverage would go until 9:30 and they'd say like, "[boop]" and then like, "In about two minutes, we will be going to such-'n'-such drama." Uh, you can catch this results at 11:30 on "Sportsmax" and (Yeah!) And the, uh, the pitcher is on the mound and there's two people on base. And he's like, looking around, looking around (full count) taking forever, "Throw the ball, we're going to commercial! I want to see if my team's going to score! Hurry up!"

Barney (09:29):

Yeah. That's so strange that, that they don't show the whole...

Barney and Shawn (09:33):

game!

Shawn (09:33):

Yes, yes. (Right.) I remember one time, um, I was watching a Dodgers game and, and back home and it went to 14 or 15 innings (Yeah?) and I actually fell asleep before the game ended. (I see...I see.) And my dad woke me up a few minutes later and said, "The game's over." I was like "What, what, how, how, what happened?" "Well, the strangest thing, there was a runner on third and the catcher, uh, tried to catch a pop-up with his mask and that's not allowed. So the runner came home and scored and the game was over." (Whoa!) Yeah. So it's (Wow!) Something like, something like that that you rarely see, (You're not allowed to use your mask to catch a pop-up.) I can't remember the exact details, but, uh, um, yeah, the way they cover that. Um, but I find myself watching Japanese TV less and less, but there are some great stations, like NHK's E-tele. (Yeah.) The children's programs that they have (Those are good) for little kids, like "Pitagora Suichi" (That's the best!) Um, some other shows... "Design A," uh, um, Nijusan -- "Nijusan go go" and "Zero roku go go" these are all great shows that I watch with my kids. And I think they're more interested in design now, 'cause we watched the "Design A" - it's like a five minute show. (That's cool.) Um, really great television there. (Yeah.) And I do like how oftentimes when, um, they show foreign movies or TV shows. (Yes!) You can switch the language to the original language (That's so good!) and it's usually English. (Yeah.) So it's so nice to be able to watch, you know, Indiana Jones on TV with the original voices.

Barney (11:14):

Yeah, yeah. Um, you, I kind of remembered one other thing I wish that I could change about Japanese TV is the, the type of TV show where it's like, you're watching someone's Facebook basically. Like what is the show where like you push forward, if it's interesting and you pull back, if it's not interesting and it's always about someone's life ("Fukai hanashi?") Yeah. And like (Fukai, fukai, fukai), Oh, this person has a house in Hawaii and look at this amazing life that they

Shawn (11:43):

Do usually not push on those people.

Barney (11:46):

Yeah, um, but yeah. It's and those kinds of shows, travel shows, eating shows where they're in this expensive food. It's all kind of meant to you feel bad.

Shawn (11:54):

I don't -- really? I don't know. I don't know if it's made to make them. I dunno. (Or to say "ii naaaa" - right?) I just don't (I wish...) I'm not interested in cooking shows or, or well, eating shows. 'cause I don't know what it tastes like. And I doubt that everything is delicious. I know that drives me crazy. One thing I love about Matsko Deluxe is that she, I think she tells the truth (Calls it like it is.) 'cause she doesn't like something, she will tell the guest, "I don't like this," and I don't know anybody else on TV. (Nope.) That wouldn't do that. Everybody else is "oishii!"

Barney (12:27):

Yeah. No matter what, yes. They - they're like, they've just been shocked from the best flavor they've ever had in their entire life.

Shawn (12:35):

Yeah. And, and there was a time when I wanted to be on Japanese TV, but I'm glad I didn't try harder to do that because I don't want to do a gourmet report. I don't want to look fake. (Yeah.) Do have a fake reaction to something.

Barney (12:50):

Feeling. Yeah. The feeling of, uh, the feeling of kind of faking it. You're lying. Yeah.

Shawn (12:56):

I want to be genuine. And uh, um, and I certainly don't want to eat a lot of food, different foods, but that's just my personality. Um, but I think Matsko can be very genuine.

Barney (13:07):

Yeah - And she can eat a lot of different foods!

Shawn (13:09):

Yeah. But sometimes she'll say, "I don't really like this" and then, but she'll give it a try. (Yeah!) Um, but I like that. Uh, she's, she's somebody I can watch on most shows. (Yeah.) Um, she's had several different shows. (Yeah.) And, uh, um, and always interesting; always funny!

Barney (13:28):

Yeah. I love her laugh.

Shawn (13:32):

Um, I, I would love to meet her and have a talk with her (Oh yeah! Yeah). Um, what other shows...? I mean, I don't watch any dramas. (Nope.) Um, there might be a few good ones out there, but I don't think so - in general.

Barney (13:48):

Yeah. The one, the only one I can think of that I liked is, um, um, shoot, it's the one about, uh, um, the doctor who, um, also it's a gynecologist, right? He and his crew are delivering babies and then in his off time he wears a wig and plays piano. Um, yeah. (Whaaat??) It's, it's based on a manga, it's a famous, there's something about a stork, but (Huh, I do not know that one), that one I really liked. Um, but yeah. Otherwise aside from what we've talked about already, I just watch sumo. (Sumo?) Yeah.

Shawn (14:24):

You mean that, that green character for the real estate commercials, Sumo Sumo Sumo Sumo Sumo. Yeah.

Barney (14:31):

Yeah. The matches last as - shorter than the commercial. Yeah.

Shawn (14:35):

Uh, why do you watch sumo?

Barney (14:37):

It's so different from what we have in the U.S.

Shawn (14:40):

But have you been to Walmart at a sale?

Barney (14:43):

Yeah! I - I can imagine like if there were some kind of form of sumo in the U.S. It would, it would be like two out of three, right?

Shawn (14:52):

Best two out of three. (Yeah.) Yes. I don't know if they'd have the energy to get two - not with those guys.

Barney (14:56):

Yeah. Yeah. It's just so different. Um, you kind of feel like anything could happen each time.

Shawn (15:03):

It's interesting, but with individual sports, I find it very hard to get behind somebody. I don't know who they are. Um, with team sports, it's easy because they are representing an area like, you know, the Chiba Lotte Marines - go Chiba, or (that's a good point) the Los Angeles Dodgers. I'm from LA. I love them. You know, you're from Cleveland. So you like the Indians. (Yeah.) You know, it's easy to latch on to a region. (Good point.) But I don't know if Michael Schumacher is a nice guy or whatever, you know, it's not representing any... (Yeah, that's a good point) thing. So it's harder, but I - uh - I might watch it for an interesting, rare match, you know, and there used to be this, um, "Ikari Shinto" - Ariyoshi, and, uh, Ariyoshi, and Matsko Deluxe used to do this show: "Ikari Shinto," I believe it was called. And they would have these - talk about these different topics. And then there's one segment where they like, nantoka nantoka "dai san" the best three of these matches really obscure things. And sometimes they did like the best, the weirdest, uh, the best three weird sumo matches or something like that (That's cool.) and it was always interesting - always funny show.

Ariyoshi is another guy that is very funny. Um, uh, he has, um, Ariyoshi... "Ariyoshi no Kabe," I think is right now really a show where he, he walks around a certain area, like an amusement park and all these different comedians are in different places in the amusement park trying to amuse him (Yes!) and his female announcer - (Yeah.) female co-host and it is, some of them are pretty damn funny. (Yeah.) You know? 'cause I love comedy, but uh, it's, it's silly. (Yeah.) But, uh, yes. But other than that, let's see here. Um, yeah. Uh, and also I like, um, "Sekai Fushigi Hakken" (Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.) On Saturday nights. Um, depending on where they go. (Tetsuko!) Yes. Yes. If, if, if she, if she has the same answer that you have you're in good shape (You're in good shape!) If you have the same answer as Nonomura - ut oh, (Watch out!) 'cause he's pretty dumb. Um, that show, I like, uh, especially when they go to some place like Iceland or someplace... Recently, they have uh, for some reason they haven't been going outside of Japan very much. Um, (Strange) but more than you'd think.

And another show was that, um, "Adomachiku Tengoku" where they go to a certain area and they do the top 20 up, like, um, Takadanobaba or, um, Ikebukuro Higashiguchi (Yeah.) And it's always fun. And in that vein, there was a show that I used to watch more called "Moya Moya Summers 2." And there was "Summers", the comedians and they just, they would go to a certain minor area (That's cool.) And walk around with their announcer - co-host - and just like walk around and find out about the area. And it was always what I liked was it wasn't like, you know, Shinjuku or Ginza. (Yeah.) It was like, uh, Higashi Akabane or Shita Akabane or, you know, Koiwa or something. Some really minor place. (Yeah.) I mean, just a couple weeks ago they went to Kisarazu. (Oh!) And I recorded that episode because my wife is from Kisarazu and we watched it and they would just walk around the streets and they would try to avoid the major tourist spots. (That's cool.) And they would find some interesting shops, some interesting people. (Yeah.) I stopped watching so much as you know, as this has been on for so long. (Yeah.) But, uh, I remember when they went to Hawaii, they went to Hawaii. They didn't go to any of the famous places that he went to these minor places. And when I went to Hawaii, I found out those places too, and it was fun. (Yeah. That's really cool.)

You know, so those, you know, when you find out something new, but I mean, going back to dramas, the only drama that I ever really liked - and I really did like it - was a drama called "Torikku" - "Trick." It was about a, uh, a university professor and a failed magician. And they would go around to these - and solve these weird mysteries and the combination of Nakama... Nakama Mikie [Yukie] or I can't remember her name, and... Um, very famous actor and actress now. Uh, she was on "Gokusen" (Hmm.) Um, I can, I can say anything right now and I bet you don't know what I'm talking about. (Yeah.) But it was a very, very funny their, their combination, they, the back and forth between the two of them, their chemistry was funny; it was - there was mystery involved. And even to this day, they use the music from that show whenever the, on any variety show, when there's something mysterious, (That's cool!) They will play the music, you know, [imitates the theme song] You know, and you know, and we - the different music from that show because it immediately shows the show, uh, shows the viewer that this is a mysterious thing, you know, it's a cute, (That's cool.) Yes. But, uh, nowadays my TV viewing is dominated by kids' shows as I'm sure yours is as well.

Barney (20:13):

It is. Yes. A lot of YouTube.

Shawn (20:16):

Yeah. Well, I mean, but also on Japanese TV, well, I record, um, like "Hana Kappa," which is a cartoon in the morning. It's actually a very funny, uh, I can enjoy it with the kids, very creative about a kappa, who has like a flower that grows out of his head. Um, other things like that. Um, Oh, and "Oshiri Tantei" - very funny, uh, cartoon for kids based on a series of books and, uh, also from NHK E-tele. (Yeah.) So some good programs about a detective whose face is up butt.

Barney (20:53):

I know! Yeah. Um, yeah, Yuma, um, maybe just some final thoughts. Um, we have a smart TV, so he watches lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of YouTube. And I'm tempted to just lock it down sometimes

Shawn (21:05):

To stop him from watching that. Yeah.

Barney (21:07):

Yeah. Um, but yeah, some of the shows he watches like "Peppa Pig" are good, but, um, and I like to watch those too. I like to watch "Thomas." I wish he'd watch more "Thomas." He kind of goes in phases. Um,

Shawn (21:21):

Yes, yes...I think our boys are drifting away from "Thomas."

Barney (21:23):

Yeah. It's sad. But, um, yeah, so there's a lot of good out there. There's a lot of things that you can skip

Shawn (21:31):

Of course. Yeah, of course. Um, about 90% of it. (Yeah.) But, uh, you know, that's the same with any entertainment. (Yeah. Good point.) So, uh, and there are, um, a lot of good, um, uh, documentaries, like, uh, nature, documentaries on TV too. And sometimes you can switch to English, uh, and see - hear David Attenborough or whoever or (Morgan Freeman) Morgan Freeman?

Barney (21:55):

The, uh, the one about the cosmos.

Shawn (21:57):

And Shawshank Redemption. Yes. No, that's a movie. All right. So I, uh, we'd love to hear your thoughts about Japanese TV or if you ever got a chance to see American TV or British TV or whatever, what you thought about that, or if you have any questions or suggestions for future shows, uh, just put them in the Google Form and, uh, we hope you enjoyed this episode.

Barney (22:19):

Yes; expand your horizons, try a different genre. (Yes - yes!) Let us know what you think.

Shawn (22:23):

All right. Until then stay tuned listeners.