Two months ago I heard about a comedy sketch that appeared last May on the American show "Saturday Night Live." Actor Steve Carrell was the host and he and the cast of regulars did a parody of his own show, "The Office," an American version of the famous British sitcom about white-collar workers. SNL presented a Japanese version of "The Office" in correct, though heavily accented, Japanese.
It was said to be good and available on YouTube, but NBC Universal has blocked it in Japan. I keep looking for it, and in the meantime I've run across comments from people who recommend anyone who enjoyed the SNL "Office" parody to check out "Salaryman NEO," a Japanese comedy sketch show about Japanese office life.
I saw "Salaryman NEO" once about two years ago and didn't find it very funny. It is broadcast on NHK, and to me the terms "NHK" and "comedy" are mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, the show has garnered a substantial following since it first appeared in 2004, and it was nominated for an International Emmy in the Comedy category in 2007. So when NHK announced it would run an all-day marathon of season 3 on its BShi channel Nov. 23, I decided to put aside my prejudices and see how much I could endure.