Each of the major networks have at least one “big family” they follow in fly-on-the-wall fashion over a period of years to yield two specials per annum. With their reality-show ...
This week marks the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. On a practical level, TBS’s two-hour special, “Shinsai chokugo: Seishi wo wakeru 72-jikan ni subeki koto” (“Right After ...
It’s a big week for physicians on television. First there’s the two-hour special “Uman Dokuta, Mitchaku” (“Close Coverage of Women Doctors”; TV Tokyo, Mon., 7:54 p.m.), which reports on the ...
When it comes to crack TV, AMC’s massively addictive series “The Walking Dead” reigns supreme. The shorthand description would be ...
Until about 15 years ago, many children with developmental disabilities did not receive special attention, but now some 116,000 special ...
Well-known character actor Fumiyo Kohinata not only gets a rare opportunity to star in a two-hour drama, but stars twice — playing twin brothers in the mystery “Twins: Saotome Kyodai no Suiri Nisshi” (“Twins: The Saotome Brothers’ Deductive Diary”; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.) Kyosuke ...
An orphanage is the setting for the new Nippon TV drama series, “Ashita, Mama ga Inai” (“Tomorrow, Mama Will Be Gone”; Wed., 10 p.m.), which stars the two hottest child actors in Japan right now, Rio Suzuki and Mana Ashida. Maki (Suzuki) is sent ...
The global success of “Downton Abbey” is vivid proof that romance and drama are alive and well and thriving on the small screen, its executive producer said last week. In a telephone interview from London, two days after season four of the post-Edwardian soap ...
“Columbo” remains one of the most beloved American TV series in Japan and has generated dozens of local copies. One is police Lt. Fukuie, the creation of mystery writer Takahiro Okura. Fukuie is a woman whose persistence tries the patience of not only her ...
The five SMAP lads have saved their highest-profile guest of the year for last. This Monday, their weekly variety show “SMAP×SMAP” will feature not only Lady Gaga, but also her father, Joe Germanotta, who owns an Italian restaurant on Central Park in New York ...
In celebration of “Fujiko F. Fujio Seitan 80-shunenkan Kinen” (“The 80th Anniversary of the Birth of Fujiko F. Fujio”; Mon., 5:30 p.m.) TV Asahi is presenting a special program of three stories about the manga team’s most famous creation, the robot cat Doraemon. In ...
This week, NHK’s “Asian Voices” series (BS-1, Mon., 1 p.m.) will present a special discussion of whether or not the United States’ reputation as the world’s defender of freedom and justice has been compromised by recent revelations of widespread government surveillance of citizens and ...
NHK’s Sendai branch produced the drama “Katsuo” (NHK-G, Wed., 7:30 p.m.) as a tribute to the survivors of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. All of the actors are originally from the Tohoku area. The title character is played by Kohei Otomo, better known ...
Hideyoshi Aizawa, who died in May, is known as the “father of the Showa idol.” As the founder and president of Sun Music, one of the most powerful talent agencies in Japanese show business, he basically invented the idea of the idol singer in ...
Last week on comedian Sanma Akashiya’s Nippon TV talk show, TV personality Chiaki, whose family is rich, betrayed envy for her less fortunate colleagues when she complained, “Poor people always have lots of interesting stories.” That’s the premise of the series “Shiawase Bombi Garu” ...
It’s been six years since a hospital in Kumamoto Prefecture installed its “baby hatch,” a compartment where women could anonymously abandon babies with no questions asked. So far 92 infants have been placed in the compartment, which continues to be controversial. “Konotori no Yurikago” ...
On the problem-solving variety show “Kaiketsu! Nainai Answer” (“Solution! Ninety-nine Answers”; Nippon TV, Tues., 9 p.m.), comedy duo Ninety-nine and some celebrities offer advice to viewers who send in stories of personal tribulations. A studio audience of 50 women then ranks the solutions from ...
