catapult magazine

I just had the most fun I’ve had on TV since Sesame Street. Has anyone else seen the new show, Banzai, on Fox? It’s television as a toy. I nearly choked on my dinner laughing as I watched two blind ladies trying to hit eachother with bumper cars in less than 40 seconds. I also enjoyed the baby race and the Russian Roulet game played with de-springed umbrellas (the “Don’t Try This At Home” warning was funny in a different way than usual). And the commentary is hilarious. This show is a real joy.

I will definitely admit to laughing a lot at all the crazy stunts and obstacles they have these people do, but I’d rather turn the sound off. I don’t really find the commentary very funny. It’s incorrectly overdubbed English, which is probably a smart move because I doubt if many Americans would find the real Japanese very funny, but I thought it was mostly pretty low brow stuff. Could have been a lot better.

Is this the same show as the Extreme Challenge thing on TNT, where they have people doing the fly jumping thing over puddles, and running through a maze followed by giant boulders?

If it is, I agree with jasonvb. I thought the commentary was not funny, and also kind of offensive.

It’s the cross-cultural nature of it that makes it funny, though, like the fact that the restaurant Hooter’s is promoted as an “owl-themed restaurant” in Japan.

And I must admit that I could not understand 77% of what was being said during the commentary, but it really adds to the zaniness of the whole thing. Yelling “What are you waiting for, Mr. Alex!” at an infant that doesn’t even know he’s in a race and turning a typical Japanese interview with an American film star (Adam Sandler) into a contest to see how long they’ll shake hands has no explicit message, no postmodern sarcastic wit. But even if it is low brow, it’s refreshing and harmless fun. It’s the best parts of David Letterman (Stupid Human Tricks, Will It Float?) and Conan O’brian (Mt. Everest Staircase Climber, Weird Foreign Cable Shows) rolled into one half-hour show.

There is no way this show can maintain though. It can’t go anywhere new. I give it three months, tops.

Wow, that’s pretty generous. I’d be surprised if it’s still on next week! But I’m going to try to take it all in before it’s all over, just like with “Family Guy”. Banzai!

I must confess that I hadn’t seen even a whole episode, and the infant race and “Mr. Alex” line do sound like something I would enjoy. Maybe I’ll watch next week. Since it may be the last…

I haven’t seen the show, but from what i’m hearing, these seem to be pretty valid criticisms:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/hp/content/entertainment/features/0727banzai.html

From what i’ve heard, the ‘minstrel show’ metaphor seems pretty dead-on.

…does the fact that asian-americans are not represented wholly on primetime mean that i cannot enjoy a parody?….

….20 yrold white christian males aren’t represented appropriately in primetime either (at all? touched by an angel? 7th heaven?) i’m not picketing fox, yet ……..

i see this show as outrageous, funny, and entertaining.

i don’t find myself lumping all asian americans into this category…but maybe i’m in the minority.

jizzyjazzy banana frenzy.

First of all, the claim that young white christian males are not portrayed on tv exactly as they appear in real life may be true, but doesn’t seem to be a very good parallel in this situation. Sure tv-portrayed christian white males are not exactly true to life, but they aren’t portrayed in such a way as to prompt us to resond “Those wacky young white christian males — what will they do next?” That seems to me to be exactly the appeal of a show like banzai. It’s like watching monkeys at a zoo. Sure it’s entertaining, and I’m sure i’d laugh at a show like banzai, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable as well.

Furthermore, unless you’ve lived in a culture where you’re completely and obviously an outsider (a young white christian male in america is exactly the opposite of that), you likely can’t know what it feels like to be stereotyped or, as in this case, to become the object of a parody created by those people that view you as an outsider.

I’m not trying to say that cultural differences can’t be used to great comedic effect. I think there are plenty of times where poking fun at cultural differences is completely valid, but it should be done thoughtfully. As I haven’t seen Banzai, I guess I can’t really say whether this is the case or not. But from what I’m hearing, many of the people that are being parodied are not particularly happy about it. This seems to suggest to me that it is not done in a particularly thoughtful way.

I’d be interested to hear a response to the ‘minstrel show’ criticism from somebody who’s actually seen the show.

“jizzy jazzy banana frenzy?” raised eyebrow