What's the U.S. equivalent of Japanese variety shows?
November 7, 2020 8:08 AM Subscribe
There are lots of Japanese variety shows on TV: usually, there's a famous(-ish) emcee, 5-15 panel guests (minor stars & starlets), and a parade of bits (trivia questions, man-on-the-street interviews, etc.)
Is there anything comparable on US TV? (Or other countries, for that matter?)
These seem like Seinfeld to me: shows about nothing, where the point is for all the stars and starlets to sit around (several usually wear outrageous clothes or over-the-top makeup) and chat about something innocuous. Sometimes there's a point or a particular trope (one show accosts foreigners at the airport to ask why they're visiting Japan, and another accosts drunk people after the last train and offers them a cab ride home in exchange for letting the reporter gawk at their rooms and possessions and chat about their life). Other times, it's just a bunch of people sitting around gossiping.
I don't watch much US TV, but the closest thing I can think of is the Sunday morning talking-head shows. They have those in Japan, too, but I'm wondering if there's anything more like celebrity gossip? Maybe daytime TV (Dr. Phil or Ellen Degeneres -- but I don't think they have the 10-15 person minor-celebrity panel thing going on). Anything else?
These seem like Seinfeld to me: shows about nothing, where the point is for all the stars and starlets to sit around (several usually wear outrageous clothes or over-the-top makeup) and chat about something innocuous. Sometimes there's a point or a particular trope (one show accosts foreigners at the airport to ask why they're visiting Japan, and another accosts drunk people after the last train and offers them a cab ride home in exchange for letting the reporter gawk at their rooms and possessions and chat about their life). Other times, it's just a bunch of people sitting around gossiping.
I don't watch much US TV, but the closest thing I can think of is the Sunday morning talking-head shows. They have those in Japan, too, but I'm wondering if there's anything more like celebrity gossip? Maybe daytime TV (Dr. Phil or Ellen Degeneres -- but I don't think they have the 10-15 person minor-celebrity panel thing going on). Anything else?
Overall, though, panel shows in general seem like more of a UK thing than a US thing in the Anglosphere.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:15 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:15 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's not US, but it's on US cable TV: The Graham Norton Show on BBC America. I've only seen commercials for it, but it has Graham, a group of guest celebrities and I have seen something to do with a guest person sitting in a chair and either Graham or a celeb guest pulls a lever and the person in the chair gets dumped.
posted by Fukiyama at 8:30 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Fukiyama at 8:30 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Another thought I had -- Fashion Police on E! was a panel show with a regular cast of C-list celebs sitting around talking specifically about celebrity fashion. Does that fit the bill?
posted by jacquilynne at 8:42 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 8:42 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks all. I'll take a look at afternoon TV, plus see if I can find Fashion Police -- I hadn't heard of that. This is mostly curiosity: my wife watches a lot of Japanese variety TV over the Internet, but I hadn't really seen that sort of show on US TV.
posted by spacewrench at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2020
posted by spacewrench at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2020
British TV has LOADS of shows like this and I love them. Especially Would I Lie To You, Taskmaster, Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and Eight Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown (a mashup of two other shows that became super popular in its own right)
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:19 AM on November 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:19 AM on November 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
There was a large wave of this in the mid 70's to 80's, when the US tv landscape was different. In many cases, performers were contracted to work for a studio, or a network, rather than for just one discrete show. You get hired by CBS, but your show gets cancelled, CBS keeps you in the talent pool and finds something else to put you in.
Sometimes that was guest starring as this week's murderer on a detective show.
Sometimes it meant being put on a classic panel game show such as Hollywood Squares, 10,000 Dollar Pyramid, or Match Game.
The idea being 'Hey, you're charming / funny / outrageous / think on your feet; we're going to give you all a few cocktails backstage, then ask a bunch of trivia questions. It's less about competing in the game, than a chance to make jokes.'
They recently revived Match Game, with Alec Baldwin as the question-asker.
As other have said above, the BBC still does these, and much better than the yanks did them.
For a couple years, it meant being pulled into something bizarre enough to possibly be japanese-tv-adjacent: Battle of the Network Stars. A sort of mini-olympics/obstacle course, where the competitors were stars and actors on the three TV networks. So you might have the cast of MASH play volleyball against Charlie's Angels, actors vs. actors IRL.
But for 'famous people just having a chat, or doing a skit', all the US has are the late night talk shows, where someone will play 'what's in the box' with Jimmy Fallon or whatever.
posted by bartleby at 12:32 PM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sometimes that was guest starring as this week's murderer on a detective show.
Sometimes it meant being put on a classic panel game show such as Hollywood Squares, 10,000 Dollar Pyramid, or Match Game.
The idea being 'Hey, you're charming / funny / outrageous / think on your feet; we're going to give you all a few cocktails backstage, then ask a bunch of trivia questions. It's less about competing in the game, than a chance to make jokes.'
They recently revived Match Game, with Alec Baldwin as the question-asker.
As other have said above, the BBC still does these, and much better than the yanks did them.
For a couple years, it meant being pulled into something bizarre enough to possibly be japanese-tv-adjacent: Battle of the Network Stars. A sort of mini-olympics/obstacle course, where the competitors were stars and actors on the three TV networks. So you might have the cast of MASH play volleyball against Charlie's Angels, actors vs. actors IRL.
But for 'famous people just having a chat, or doing a skit', all the US has are the late night talk shows, where someone will play 'what's in the box' with Jimmy Fallon or whatever.
posted by bartleby at 12:32 PM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
On radio, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me is sort of like this.
Also, Hollywood Squares had celebrities interacting in a game show format
When I was growing up, there were lots of variety shows - some my parents would knowingly let me watch. My recollection, in order of favorites to total snooze-fests are:
1. The Muppet Show
2. The Carol Burnett Show
3. Anything with Liberace - usually TV specials by the time I came along. His outfits were... out there for the time
4. Laugh-In - I was too young to get the jokes, but people seemed to be having fun
5. Love American Style
6. Hee Haw
7. The Lawrence Welk Show - tailored to a much older crowd
These really didn't have a Greek Chorus of standard celebreties, but they had often A-list or B-list stars as guests each week.
This format dropped away from the American psyche around the time cable TV came along in the early 1980s. HBO movies and M-TV music videos were too much of a draw.
posted by rw at 1:59 PM on November 7, 2020
Also, Hollywood Squares had celebrities interacting in a game show format
When I was growing up, there were lots of variety shows - some my parents would knowingly let me watch. My recollection, in order of favorites to total snooze-fests are:
1. The Muppet Show
2. The Carol Burnett Show
3. Anything with Liberace - usually TV specials by the time I came along. His outfits were... out there for the time
4. Laugh-In - I was too young to get the jokes, but people seemed to be having fun
5. Love American Style
6. Hee Haw
7. The Lawrence Welk Show - tailored to a much older crowd
These really didn't have a Greek Chorus of standard celebreties, but they had often A-list or B-list stars as guests each week.
This format dropped away from the American psyche around the time cable TV came along in the early 1980s. HBO movies and M-TV music videos were too much of a draw.
posted by rw at 1:59 PM on November 7, 2020
Look for episodes of "Taskmaster" or "Would I lie to You" on YouTube. Both excellent celebrity panel shows. Both British. They tried to make US versions of both, but they didn't do well.
Also, "25 Words or Less" is an American one that has a bit of a British panel show vibe, although each team has a non-celebrity as well as two celebrities.
posted by mmoncur at 4:54 AM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also, "25 Words or Less" is an American one that has a bit of a British panel show vibe, although each team has a non-celebrity as well as two celebrities.
posted by mmoncur at 4:54 AM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
I am in love with QI (Quite Interesting), a BBC panel trivia show. Rotating guests, hosted at first by Stephen Fry, and now by Sandi Toksvig. Great, entertaining television.
posted by xedrik at 7:46 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by xedrik at 7:46 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
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In terms of a regular panel of moderately famous people sitting around talking about things, I would look to the afternoon women's panel shows that grew out of imitating The View.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:13 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]