Volume 1　テレビ番組事情あれこれ


TV across Cultures

Michael Rhys: Hello everyone and welcome to Cultural Crossroads. I'm Michael Rhys . . .

Ann Slater: And I'm Ann Slater.

Michael: Ann, we're gonna be talking about different cultures, not just in Japan, but of course, our own individual cultures. I'm from the UK and . . .

Ann: And I'm from the States. And we are very excited about being able to bring you this new show, which has the broader focus of our countries, you know, of course.

Michael: That's right.

Ann: And also, other countries that we may talk about.

Michael: That's right. Now today, for our opening subject, we're gonna talk about TV. How do you find the TV in Japan compared to television in the States?

Ann: One of the interesting things I've noticed is the phenomenon of game shows.

Michael: Right.

Ann: Which are huge here.

Michael: Yes.

Ann: And we don't really have that sort of show so much in the States. Of course, we have like funny shows and that kind of thing. But game shows, I think, in the States tend to be perhaps more focused around, like, knowledge. The big shows in the States these days, I think, are reality TV shows.

Michael: Ah, yes.

Ann: Which perhaps are not really such a big thing here, right?

Michael: Right, it's something I haven't really seen develop here but it's become a worldwide phenomenon elsewhere. Can we give an example here? There's one reality show, which was very big in the UK and it's been exported around the world, in which the contestants, there are a bunch of ordinary people and they're put together into a house. And they have to live together in this one house for several weeks, quite a long time. And they're not allowed to leave the house. What happens is there are cameras in every room and wit's watching them 24 hours a day.

Ann: That sounds horrible. So, it's interesting. What you're saying then is, it sounds like there's a real similarity between the UK and the States in terms of the appetite for these sorts of shows, the reality TV shows. Whereas that appeal has not caught on here.

Michael: Well, one thing that I, I noticed when I came to Japan about the quiz shows here was, if we go back to England for a second, the contestants on the quiz shows are always ordinary people, people off the street. Whereas in Japan, the contestants on the quiz shows are already personalities, they're "talents."

Ann: That's interesting. Yeah, and it would go back to what we were saying that the Japanese game shows are kind of, you know, joking around and, you know, doing silly things and having a good time with that because you're seeing people who you know, whereas maybe it would be less funny if it was just your average person off the street.

Michael: Definitely the Japanese shows are, entertainment is the focus. They're big, they're loud and they're bright and colorful in a way that you wouldn't see in England and maybe in the States.