Part of comedian Beat Takeshi's appeal is his down-to-earth image, which was boosted in the '80s by a famous NHK drama series about his childhood -- growing up in the shitamachi area of Tokyo in the '50s. The series epitomized the sentimental memory of postwar domesticity: an artisan father who's an irresponsible drunken lout and a strong-willed mother who sacrifices everything for her children.
This week, Asahi TV launches "Kikujiro and Saki" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), a new 10-part version of the drama series, with Takenori Jinnai as Takeshi's house-painter father, Kikujiro, and Shigeru Muroi as the mother, Saki.
In the opening episode, eldest son Shigekazu (Toshiki Kashu) wants to bring his new girlfriend home, but doesn't want his father to be there when he does. Saki tells him to do it while Kikujiro is at work, but the girlfriend insists on meeting the man of the house.