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Not unexpected but incredibly sad nonetheless.
I wouldn’t mind not having it if only they just replaced it with something else that’s good with Downtown as the host, instead of the crap we’ve been getting…
Sad. Imagine if they would continue it with new people with the old cast’s blessings. :(
“they ask you how you are, and you just have to say that you’re fine, when you’re not really fine, but you just can’t get into it because they would never understand.”
Lmao
Is it still about the physical punishment being NG in JP TV thing? Or Downtown+Cocorico+Hosei don’t want to do it anymore?
Personally, the guys are getting older now and I can’t imagime they want to do the batsu games for much longer anyway. What should’ve been done is adding in other, younger members to take the torch beforehand so that we could get to know other personalities and form a connection so that when everyone “retired” it wouldn’t be so abrupt. They could still sit in the game master chairs tho.
I was watching part of American Police last night and started to get the feeling like they were just showing up for the paycheck. Still funny, but the enthusiasm definitely wasn’t the same.
Would be nice if the show continued but kept them all in a ‘Tag-Matsumoto style’ box, or their main room while a team that each member handpicks does all the heavy batsu lifting. Keep things like Pie Hell or the Scary batsu for them while the younger generation begins to take the reigns.
I’d rather watch them try to make each other laugh anyway.
My personal guess, based on nothing, is that the network sees COVID as the perfect cover to get rid of the boys as they are starting to really age and replace them on New Years with something that would attract younger audiences.
So they’re willing to take a ratings hit now so that they don’t have a problem in 5-10 years.
We’ll see how that works out, but I am certain we’ve seen our last No Laughing Batsu special.
NTV moved on to Ninety-Nine pretty much with the shows done the past 2 years. Unfortunately as said before, that’s gonna run dry quicker than No Laughing Batsu. Pretty much it’s a bunch of bits with maybe a couple NTV program bits like ItteQ or a drama. It doesn’t matter if there’s a format or not. The Ratings are gonna go underground in time.
If it does come back, I’d really appreciate a change in formula somehow. The last few years before Covid, basically the format was all the same, with the same events happening in the same order over and over.
It could be a 24 hour let’s play games from around the world and I’d watch it, or have them go through the no laughing gig but in the last hour have them do a Yamada’s Hot Blooded School on everyone as payback.
The worst part it didn’t used to be this way, the batsu folks that delivered punishment were dressed up differently, each comedian had a different “story” written about them, hell even the batsu format was based on a bet (can hamada score better at bowling than the rest? Who won the baseball tourney? etc.).
I just binged them all a couple of months ago…and yeah. Very repetitive.
I mean to be fair, these were annual specials that weren’t intended to be binged like a Netflix show. I do agree they were formulaic but I’m not sure if I were watching them just once a year, as intended, I’d even notice or care too much. Fans who religiously watch the specials multiple times throughout a year are of course going to nitpick the layout of the specials. I’d rather the specials come back and stick to the formula than not have them at all.
I binged them because I hadn’t seen them in about ten years. That being said, the guys are getting older and can’t get their asses slapped forever.
the best part of the earlier batsu games were the interactions amongst the comedians and unscripted moments. it got increasingly more scripted and skit based as time went on.
It eventually got to the point of being an overglorified marketing device for actors and actresses to promote their new shows. I still enjoy the old ones for the reasons you stated though.
Dunno i’d totally be fine with anything else, too. Silent library, cooking, anything…even a few hours of those guys would be fun enough…
24 hour silent library now that would be absolutely brutal lol
Aw, I get it. But still.
I think that’s to be expected, I would like a proper send off though, I feel like if there even is a next one it would be the last, considering the reason it’s postponed appears to be internal disagreements (according to DeepL) so it seems like they’re not able to do what they want anymore, and I don’t think they’ll be able to do so in the future (whatever it’s because of age or regulation.)
Las Vegas kind of felt like an attempt at one, it featured a lot of past clips with the betting essentially being a clip show, but it really wasn’t up to a “final” episode. I remember the betting made up most of the show was really boring to be honest, maybe a Batsu with some callback gags could be better, maybe not as a straight up 1:1 of those gags, but adapted somehow?
I really wish they would just have a slew of younger performers taking the task as participants in the No Laughing challenge, and have the original group react, and appear as guests for a skit or two. Could theme the whole thing as them “training” to take over the new challenge or something.
I’ll take anything other than what we’ve been getting these past new year eves.
Well there goes my chance of happiness
Not surprising. Their relationship with Nippon TV seems to be recovering, but they would still have to deal with the increased scrutiny from the broadcasting ethics organisation.
The best I’m hoping for is that they feature in whatever new comedy show Nippon TV runs this new year.
a show where they get five of the Documental/Wednesday regulars together as participants and have the Gaki team be the puppet masters if you will would be fun. like how the really old batsu games had one of the members in the control room orchestrating.
Isn’t this due to that censorship rule where tv stations must censor anything that is considered bullying, humiliation or violent punishment?
Some recent Gaki episodes have shown that Downtown can still skate close to the line when they want to like Matsumoto’s early morning punishment for losing the Choro-Q challenge, TANAKER and their Contest series. Like others have said earlier, it’s a probably a combination of NTV execs wanting to find a new gem and Downtown/Cocorico/Hosei deciding they don’t wanna take the hits anymore as they enter old age.
wonder if they just do it one last time before they retire in some way but only then