Celebrity couples are very popular among variety-show producers, but in recent years they have shown more interest in another two-for-one bargain: the parent-child pairing. This week a special two-hour edition of the consumer challenge show, "Otameshi Ka!" ("Give It a Try!"; TV Asahi, Mon. 7 p.m.) will feature three such duos.
The job of the contestants is to show their knowledge of steak-oriented family restaurants, but the reason most people will tune in is to catch some intra-family sparks flying from former sumo grand champion Masaru Hanada and his glamorous mother Noriko Fujita; 1970s teen pinup girl Ryoko Sakaguchi and her daughter Anri; and former boy idol Toshikazu Fukawa and his son Shunta, who made his name as a variety-show star by bad-mouthing his dad.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the passing of mystery writer Seicho Matsumoto, TV Asahi is presenting new adaptations of his works over the course of two Saturdays. The first is "Jumanbun no Ichi no Gunzen" ("A 1/1,000,000th Chance Coincidence"; Dec. 15, 9 p.m.), which stars Masakazu Tamura as a nonfiction writer.