What's on the Idiot Box..

On the low, G4 might have the best "nothing to watch" game shows on air.
Ninja Warrior(SASUKE) and the Unbeatable Banzuke are shows you can easily watch for 2 hours. Not saying do so but if it's late and nothing on turn to G4.

SASUKE is a Japanese sports entertainment game show where 100 competitors attempt to complete four obstacle course stages. The show test physical and mental strength as well as agility.

(A sample of some of the course)

The edited version, Ninja Warrior, is screened in the United States by G4.. Most of the competitors are Japanese but some of the later broadcast featured American athletes including Olympians Paul Ham and Morgan Hamm and American decathlete Paul Terek. Some of the more enthusiastic competitors dress up in costumes, bring props to the starting stage, or show off some of their talents.


The name SASUKE is probably borrowed from famous ninja Sarutobi Sasuke. Sarutobi Sasuke was a famous ninja featured in many Japanese children's stories from 1911 to 1925. The character was immortalized in contemporary Japanese culture by the 1962 Sampei Shirato comic of the same name. Soon after the name, Sasuke, became something of a default ninja moniker.


My favorite competitor on SASUKE(NINJA WARRIOR):


Makoto Nagano, SASUKE All-Star, is a 36-year-old fisherman living near Kagoshima and the second man to complete the course. He spends 300 days a year at sea captaining his ship, the 28th Konpira Maru. Where he works as a commercial fisherman as well as trains for the competition. He is one of the few competitors who have actually beat the SASUKE.

SASUKE had a number of spin off. Kunoichi, perhaps the most well-known spinoff, is a version of Sasuke restricted to female competitors only and consisting of obstacles focused more on balance and speed.
I'm not sure if the Unbeatable Banzuke is one but I found this show a year after I had been watching SASUKE.

Kinniku Banzuke aka the Unbeatable Banzuke was a weekly-airing Japanese television program and the premiere sports entertainment variety show of the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). The Unbeatable Banzuke was originally a weekend game show airing on Friday nights. Think, original airing of American Gladiators steez.
Unfortunately, a competetior on the Unbeatable Banzuke had an accident in the middle of a recording so as a safety measure the broadcast was paused, then cancelled shortly after.

The Unbeatable Banzuke has some of the hardest yet creative stages to date. They have events in pretty much every field. Here are some of my favorites.

Skeboarder:


Super Rider: