Monta Mino, look out! Comedian Shinsuke Shimada is looking to overtake you as the most popular emcee on TV. Unlike you, Shimada can't be seen every single night of the week, but some nights he can be seen more than once.
This Tuesday, for instance, you can watch him continually from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on three different networks. At 7 on Fuji TV, he hosts a special two-hour edition of the makeover-variety show "Beauty Colosseum," and then at 8:54 he pops up on TV Asahi as the emcee for the antique appraisal program "Nandemo Kanteidan." And at 10, on TBS, he hosts "Sekai Baribari Value (World's Exciting Values)," a quiz show where teams of celebrities guess the monetary value of goods and services. "Baribari" is Shimada's most representative gig, since he is also a noted financial whiz and gets to show off his knowledge.
This week's topic is "gravure idols," meaning young women who pose for cheesecake photo collections. Such books are now the main ticket to stardom for young girls in Japan. In the past, it was usually singing contests or appearing in commercials.