Absolutely, without a moment's hesitation, the
funniest thing I've ever seen on
TV.
Takeshi's Castle is a
game show of
endurance, exported from
Japan. It is extremely popular in
Germany.
I've only seen about 20-30 minutes of one episode, but it began a
quest I have yet to fufill: Find Takeshi's Castle on
videotape somewhere in the
United States.
In the brief bit that I saw, I was treated to a contest where about a dozen
contestants were wearing huge
white glove costumes, about 10 ft (3 meters) tall. As the camera pulled back, it revealed a playing field littered with
huge playing cards. The contestants received the go signal, and they charged forward toward the cards.
Just to keep you updated, the current
mental image is 12 giant white hands running towards a bunch of
giant playing cards.
As if it couldn't get any better, the giant running hands then flung themselves down onto the cards. Face first, and without the use of any arms to break the fall. And they piled up, hands piling up on hands, like that
old game about who can
get a hand on top.
Assistants then came out and helped the poor hands to stand up. Those with cards got to continue, those without were sent away.
As if that wasn't enough, the same show also featured people being chased through a
maze of doors, with only a single actual exit that didn't open into a pit of mud. Lots of shots of people running through doors and flying, full speed down into a
mudpit.
There was a
mechanical bull dressed up like a
horned iguana. Contestants had to stay on, but also had to use a
water pistol to try and shoot a
rubber bat tied to a
balloon. If they held on too long, assistants would come forward and attack them with
fire extinguishers.
With ten contestants left, they drew cards, the number corresponding to a
bowling pin. Yep, they were dressed up as giant bowling pins. Everyone could see the
giant bowling ball coming
except the first pin, who was turned around backwards. I'm not sure how someone could win, but it was darn funny
watching people get knocked over by a giant bowling ball.
These are
memories I will
cherish.