Is Watabe the Real Reason for “Laughing is Not Allowed” Program Cancellation?

I think it will be difficult for “Laugh Out Loud” to be broadcasted again.

“This year’s “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukashiya Aahende!” series, which ran for 15 years as NTV’s New Year’s Eve special until 2020 and then went on hiatus last year, will be aired again. It has already been decided that “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukashiya Arahende!” However, the possibility of its revival after next year is slim,” he laments.

When “Never Laugh” was announced last year, Downtown’s Hitoshi Matsumoto (59) wrote on his Twitter account:

“Last year I strongly felt that it would be difficult to film “Do Not Laugh” in the COVID-19 crisis. It hurts me more if we continue the program by lowering its quality for the people who look forward to it.

What was behind this was the leak of information on the appearance of Anjush Watabe Ken (50) in “Laughing is Not Allowed” two years ago. This was said to have had a major impact on the strained relationship between Matsumoto and the staff. However, the actual situation is slightly different.

“The real reason has little to do with Mr. Watanabe. As Mr. Matsumoto said on Twitter last year, it has become difficult to maintain the same quality as before. The reason for this is that sponsors have started to shy away from such productions for fear of criticism for “painful” laughter. Nippon TV has also become very sensitive to the BPO (Broadcasting Policy and Program Improvement Organization).

Even if they decide to do so, there is a possibility that they will not be able to perform the usual “painful” laughs such as “ass-butts,” “slaps by Kosuke Tsukitei (54)” and professional wrestler Masahiro Chono (59),” and “tie-kicks by Naoki Tanaka (51)” of Cocorico. There is a possibility that we will not be able to have any of the usual “painful” laughs. In Matsumoto’s opinion, this would lower the quality of the laughs. Mr. Matsumoto is said to be distrustful of Nippon TV’s excessive attention to the BPO’s wishes,” said Mr. A.

There were signs. On March 20 of this year, the “Gakihatsu” program was broadcast as “The First Gaki no Tsukasa ya Aahende!”( Put your life on the line for this bite! Kiki Milk Tea!) aired a project in which participants had to guess the same milk tea they drank blindfolded from among 12 kinds of milk teas available on the market.

The “Kiki-○○” series is one of the popular projects, but in the past, if the contestant made a mistake, he or she was punished with a slap on the wrist or an “ass-whupping” with a huge wok. The punishment game, however, was dropped for the first time.

This became a big topic of conversation among Gakihitashi fans, with some writing on the Internet, “With this trend, we won’t be able to do Gakihitashi this year”.

One of the most popular regular programs of the Heisei era may disappear once again.