Human Tetris

[Mulboyne]

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This seems to be all over the web

[james]

it's here too you know, i think it would have been more interesting if most of the shapes weren't so damn impossible to fit through.

[kurohinge1]

. . . This seems to be all over the web

Hillarious !

Doumo, Mulboyne-san.

[Naniwan Kid]

That's from one of the Tunnels shows. The difficulty or ease of some of those is all over the place.

[Mulboyne]

The Fox network has recently struck a deal with American Idol producer FremantleMedia North America for a U.S. version of the popular game show Hole in the Wall. According to Variety, Stuart Krasnow will join Cecile Frot-Coutaz as executive producer for the Fox version of the show. Hole in the Wall is a twisted human version of the videogame Tetris. Players, dressed in spandex and hard hats, face down a moving barrier that features ever-changing cut-out shapes. They have to contort their bodies every which way in order to fit through the wall or else end up being swept into a pool of water. Fox network has not announced when they plan to air Hole in the Wall.

(Movieweb)

[sillygirl]

Ooh, clicked on and said 'this video is no longer available'

[Mulboyne]

Ooh, clicked on and said 'this video is no longer available'

Changed it to one that is still up. Most of the Japanese YouTube clips originated from videos on Japan Probe. More on the Fox version here:

Reuters: Fox game for Youtube smash "Hole in the Wall"

Fox is getting bent out of shape for its next competition series. The network has given a series order to "Hole in the Wall," the "human Tetris" game show whose foreign incarnations have become a YouTube hit. In the show, participants contort their bodies to fit precut walls flying toward them on a track. If they don't fit through shapes, they're pushed off the track into a pit of water below. "I think its success is going to be instantaneous," said Fox entertainment president Mike Darnell, who has picked up 13 hours...Originally launched in Japan in 2006, it now screens in 16 territories, including Australia, Russia and Denmark. Clips of the show have been popular on YouTube, with its videos registering millions of user views each... Overseas versions were often played by contestants for fun, but American audiences respond stronger to unscripted shows when there's money involved, Fox said. "Wall" is one of a few Japanese-inspired shows coming soon to network television. ABC will air "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" in the summer [details tucked away in this thread], where contestants compete in challenges overseas. ABC also will air the obstacle course series "Wipeout," which takes a cue from the 1980s Japanese hit "Takeshi's Castle."

[Mulboyne]

Charles said here: "I don't know how they're going to make a whole season of shows out of it"

This seems to be their plan:

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Fox Casting Call

Seeking teams of 3 males and 3 females with unique and dynamic themes (including, but not limited to, families, triplets, bridesmaids, sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, nurses, doctors, fire fighters, police officers, pilots, flight attendants, ballerinas, construction workers, etc).

• Teams must be of the same gender of ALL SHAPES and SIZES!!!!!!!
• Open to all US citizens and permanent legal US residents 18 years of age and older.
• All applicants must be able to engage in some strenuous physical activity in order to be considered.

[Charles]

Charles said here: "I don't know how they're going to make a whole season of shows out of it"

This seems to be their plan:

I should have posted in this thread, thanks for digging up that clip. But that looks like an early pre-production call using clips from other shows, you can even see the FujiTV logo one guy jumps through.
I think they've already got some of the shows ready, as the promo I saw had a guy flying 15 feet through the air towards the wall with the hole in it. Alas it was a soft wall, nothing anyone would hit and go splat. That would be awesome.

[Mulboyne]

Telegraph: BBC denies dumbing down after buying lowbrow Japanese game show

The BBC has denied it is dumbing down after buying the format for a Japanese game show where contestants are humiliated through a string of tasks. The programme, Tunnels no minnasan no okage deshita, excels in delivering eating contests, custard-pie throwing, and maggot baths. BBC executives are said to have been particularly excited by a segment of the show known as "human tetris". A celebrity contestant is required to contort himself to fit through a shape cut out of a moving wall while dressed in a tight silver jumpsuit. If he fails to pass through it, he is knocked into a pool of water. Tunnels is the jewel in the crown of Fuji Television. Described by one Japanese television critic as "deeply compelling rubbish", it is now in its eleventh year and is watched by millions.

The concept of the show has already been sold to the Russians and South Koreans last year and is due to be screened in Britain in mid September. Executives are understood to have produced 11 episodes of the show. But the corporation has not bought the rights to the more revolting segments on Tunnels. A BBC spokeswoman defended the corporation against suggestions that it might be dumbing down, adding that the BBC screened everything from talent shows to musicals. "We are obliged to have something for everyone. Some people accuse us of being too highbrow," she said.

Last year the corporation was forced to deny reports that it planned to dumb down its shows, after discovering that lower-income families were not tuning in. BBC research allegedly showed that high earners were more likely to watch its channels, while its staff felt that programmes such as Panorama were "too serious". Japan is famous for producing television shows that require contestants to go through painful and sickening experiences. The Endurance was one of the first shows to test out the format in the 1980s. University students were put through various unpleasant ordeals such as being buried up to the neck in sand or licked by reptiles. The winner was the person who held out the longest.

[Mulboyne]

Highlights of the BBC version:

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