"HeY?" on Spike TV

[Taro Toporific]

Spike Puts on Game Face with Japanese Import
Thu Nov 4, 2004 02:37 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -Spike TV is getting its game on with "Hey: Spring of Trivia." The male-targeted cable network has acquired 26 half-hour episodes of hit Japanese game show "Hey," which will debut as a weekly series on Nov. 11 at 9 p.m.
.....Spike already has had success with another Japanese import, "MXC." But unlike "MXC," which is not literally translated from the original but is rewritten and revoiced to create a new comedic story line, "Hey" will be translated directly into English for dubbing in the Spike version.
"Hey," which debuted in Japan in primetime in July 2003, is hosted by Japanese actors Katsumi Takahashi and Norito Yashima [[and Tamori, damn it]].
See Spike TV for more info. Also the English real name of the program is "The Fountain of Trivia"

[American Oyaji]

What is the Japanese title?

Tribia no Takara?

[/quote]

[Taro Toporific]

[Ptyx]

[Watcher]

Awesome! Loved the show in Japan and watched it with the GF every week.... when I wasn'tout. Now in Canada she's the FG and we'll getto watch it in English... what's the translation of extended "heyyyyyyyyyy"s?

[gomichild]

Well I can understand why - I got totally addicted to that show.

[Taro Toporific]

TV Review: 'Hey: Spring of Trivia'
Nov 10 / Reuters.com
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
....It's not about guessing right, it's how much the judges like the wacky facts.
The judges' panel goes wild when presented with true-or-false statements such as "A crayfish pees out of its face." The "heys" come fast and furiously, and the judges crack risque jokes as a scientist shows off a urinating crayfish.
A trivia master known only as the Chairman is allowed to comment on the proceedings, even criticizing one of the judges who excitedly punches in too many "heys."
"You are too easily impressed," the Chairman observes. "You should save your 'heys' for a trivia that is more deserving." ...

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: U.S. version of Fuji TV's 'Toribia' to start

Did you know there was once an official soccer game in which 149 own goals were scored? Have you ever heard that milk turns transparent when it is run through a water purifier? Or that a rubber eraser will explode when it is frozen in liquid nitrogen? Such useless information is the key to the success of Toribia no Izumi: Subarashiki Muda Chishiki (Trivia Fountain: Wonderful Useless Knowledge, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on the Fuji TV network), an Americanized version of which will start in the United States next spring.
The original Japanese program started in October 2002 in a late-night slot, and moved to prime time in July last year. Its ratings average more than 20 percent in the competitive slot. The program features trivial knowledge sent in by viewers. Five celebrity panelists pound buzzers to tally up how many exclamations of "heh," an expression of surprise, each piece of trivia deserves.
According to Fuji TV's international sales promotion department, the dubbed version of a 26-episode series of Toribia started in November on Spike TV, a New York-based cable TV network known for deliberately silly and irreverent programming. According to Spike TV's Web site, the show airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. under the English title Hey! Fountain of Trivia. Spike TV purchased the right to reproduce the program and will start its own series in April, using "useless" but interesting information to be sent in by viewers in the United States.
The producers write online: "The good news is that our Japanese counterparts at Fuji had already produced the essence, the brilliance that you will see week in and week out. It was our job to make sense of it--for us and for you (American viewers)! You see, like most executives who might license and produce an American version of the show, we neither spoke nor read Japanese. But we loved the food."
The planned series is required to follow the original style, which Fuji TV has compiled in a standardized production manual covering everything from set design to the flow of the proceedings.
As for the five panelists, it requires the seating order be 1: a big-name TV personality; 2: a younger TV personality; 3: a guest; 4: a young female celebrity; and 5: a "person of culture." No exceptions allowed.
Program buyers are able to produce programs on their own by following the complete manual. In Spike's case, however, one of Fuji TV's affiliated companies will be involved in the production, a Fuji official said. Tsukasa Matsuzaki, the head of the department, said: "Selling TV programs will expand our market. This is a good chance to make the 'Fuji TV brand' known worldwide. We will continue to promote the sale of our programs overseas."