The inter-season "specials" period is in full swing, and this week there appears to be more than the usual number of variety programs dedicated to dysfunctional families. If you're into this type of thing, which usually involves cameras invading homes where husbands and wives fight, kids fight or in-laws fight, you'll have plenty to choose from.
Monday night at 7 p.m., TV Tokyo presents another "Joho Spirits (Information Spirits)" special about large families, hosted by Kazuo Tokumitsu. As usual, all the families have problems, and some, it would seem, are quite serious.
In one segment, a camera crew drops in on the reunion of a clan of nine whose problems became so intractable they had to split up into various smaller units. This will be the first time the whole family has been together in six months. All the family's problems stem from extreme penny-pinching, but the reunion is meant to be the beginning of a reconciliation.