Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen

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Country of origin
  
Japan

First episode date
  
11 January 1998

Genre
  
Reality television

Original network
  
Nihon TV

Final episode date
  
29 September 2002

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Original release
  
January 11, 1998 – September 29, 2002

Similar
  
Man vs Beast, All My Babies' Mamas, Star Tanjō!

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen (進ぬ！電波少年) is a Japanese reality TV show which aired from January 11, 1998 to September 29, 2002 on the Nihon TV network, and online from October 2009.

Contents

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen 5 certifiably insane reality TV competitions from around the world

Susunu denpa sh nen


Description

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen Susunu Denpa Shnen el reality show ms extrao Marcianos

The title is a pun. The predecessor of the show was called Susume Denpa Shōnen (lit. Forward! Signal Youth). To depict that the show indeed moved forward, one of the characters of the title was made longer by changing the "me" (め) to "nu" (ぬ), approximately meaning Do not advance! Signal Youth.

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen Die 10 extremsten TVShows aller Zeiten weekendat

The show is known for the extreme situations the participants were placed in. It gained high ratings, and spawned a sister show, Raiha Shōnen (雷波少年), and was controversial due to the sadistic challenges and rule changes made by the television producers if they felt the participants were doing too well. The show also received criticism for some of the show segments being staged

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen Susunu Denpa Shnen el reality show ms extrao Marcianos

The participants were usually unknown comedians who were ready to do anything to get famous. Upon application, they were chosen randomly, and were not told what the objective of their challenge was. Some of the challengers became more or less famous, while some remained relatively unknown.

Susunu! Denpa Shōnen Susunu Denpa Shonen Nasubi YouTube

The initial discontinuation of the program was due to governmental measures against shows with themes of "torture." However, it experienced a resurgence on the internet, beginning in October 2009, through its availability on the streaming platform Number Two Nihon Television (第2日本テレビ). The first new participant in the webcast version was comedian Yoshio Kojima.

Major challenges

In the four-year course of the original program, participants completed about 20 challenges.

Amongst the best known are

  • Denpa Shōnen teki Kenshō Seikatsu (電波少年的懸賞生活 lit. "a life out of prizes by Denpa Shōnen") is probably one of the most known challenges of the show. Nasubi, a young comedian was forced to live over a year naked in an apartment in both Japan and Korea by living only on commercial sweepstakes.
  • Denpa Shōnen teki Mujinto Dasshutsu (電波少年的無人島脱出 litt. "Escape from a desert island by Denpa Shōnen") and the Swam series. Two comedians were put on a desert island, with no food nor clue about where they were, and were only told that their ordeal would finish if they built a raft and reached Tokyo. After their escape from the desert island, which took them four months, they were given a swan looking pedalo and were told to reach Tokyo with it, and then go with the same pedalo from India to Indonesia.
  • Denpa Shōnen teki Africa Europa Tairiku Odan Hitchhike no tabi (電波少年的アフリカ・ヨーロッパ大陸縦断ヒッチハイクの旅, litt. "Hitchhiking across the continents of Europe and Africa with Denpa Shōnen"). A comedian and a Radio DJ from Hong Kong named Tse Chiu-yan hitchhiked from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to Nordkapp in Norway.
  • Denpa Shōnen teki Pennant Race (電波少年的ペナントレース) "The Denpa Shonen Pennant Race". This segment tested the loyalties of diehard fans of the Central League teams - the Yomiuri Giants, the Hanshin Tigers, and the Chunichi Dragons. The contestants would be confined to a single room with a TV that only showed their team's baseball games. Their faces would also be hidden from public view. If their team won, they got to eat dinner and a small portion of their face would be revealed to the audience. If their team lost, they would get no food and the lights would turn out, leaving them in darkness until the next day's game. If the contestant's favorite team went on a win streak, the quality of the food they could eat would increase as well as gain public exposure and popularity due to their entire face being shown on TV until their team finally lost. A losing streak would mean that a contestant could go days in the dark without food. At the end of the season, the contestant would win an overall prize depending on how their team placed.

    • References

    Susunu! Denpa Shōnen Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA