<figure id="attachment_309401" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 672px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-309401"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="74a8b535"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/36a0110ea86ca44b645382e86de02857.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-309401" class="wp-caption-text">A new program hosted by Masahiro Nakai (left) and Hitoshi Matsumoto (right) started on April 30. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 It&#8217;s off to a good start.
 No, it&#8217;s not good enough. &#8230;&#8230;
The TV industry is divided in its assessment of the show.
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A new variety show &#8220;Matsutonakai&#8221; (Fuji Television Network) featuring Masahiro Nakai and &#8220;Downtown&#8221; Hitoshi Matsumoto started on April 30.
The first guest was former SMAP member Shingo Katori. Nakai and Katori&#8217;s &#8220;ex-SMAP collaboration&#8221; had not been seen since the April 2005 broadcast of TV Asahi&#8217;s &#8220;SmaSTATION! broadcast on TV Asahi in April 2005. It was the first time the two had met since both left Johnny&#8217;s.
Naturally, there were a lot of comments on the Internet.
 I can&#8217;t believe I get to see these two&#8230;it brings tears to my eyes.
 SMAP is the best!
 It&#8217;s like we&#8217;re back to those days.
It&#8217;s like we&#8217;re back to those days. The show also showed Nakai and Katori&#8217;s unchanged kizuna.
Last November, when Nakai fell ill and took two leaves of absence. Katori asked him
 &#8220;Can we meet?
Nakai said.
 After that day, he contacted me every day for two months.
Nakai said, &#8220;After that day, he contacted me every day for two months. At the beginning of the year, Nakai asked
 How are you doing today?
Katori replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m free.
 I&#8217;m free.
He invited Nakai to his atelier and they met alone.
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The media had discussed the theory that he was seriously ill, but Nakai did not reveal his true condition. Katori and Matsumoto were the only two who told the whole story.
Katori explained the reason for his appearance on the program.
 I was indebted to Mr. Matsumoto.
Katori cited her own appearance on Matsumoto&#8217;s Internet program, which was broadcast last August, as the reason for her appearance on the program.
 I heard from the staff that Matsumoto-san had asked me to appear on the show, so I thought I couldn&#8217;t refuse,&#8221; she said.
He said he accepted the offer. &#8230;&#8230;
 Katori-san was standing up to Matsumoto-san, but this program is made with Nakai-san in mind. The two people who told Mr. Nakai about his true condition in the first broadcast were lined up together, so that&#8217;s how it was. The time from planning to production was also more rapid than for other variety shows,&#8221; said a Fuji Television source.
The word &#8220;Fuji TV&#8217;s obsession&#8221; was trending on the Internet, and it is reminiscent of Fuji when it used to be a booming company, including the casting.
 The word &#8220;discovery&#8221; was thrown around on social networking sites when former SMAP member Takuya Kimura&#8217;s name was not mentioned, but the co-starring of Nakai and Katori itself would have been unthinkable for a TV station that values its relationship with Johnny&#8217;s. &#8220;It is not that there was a change in Johnny&#8217;s influence, but rather that the influence of the Johnny&#8217;s was changing. Rather than a change in the influence of Johnny&#8217;s, it seems that Fuji pushed through.
However, it is difficult to judge the first-run ratings.
The average household rating was 10.5%, and the individual rating was 7.0%. The average household rating for &#8220;Last Man &#8211; The Blind Investigator&#8221; on TBS, which airs on Sundays, was 13.1%, while the individual rating was 7.8% (both according to Video Research, Kanto area). It is not surprising that the viewers voiced their opinions as shown at the beginning of this article.
 The &#8220;core ratings,&#8221; which Matsumoto emphasizes, were not bad, but these numbers may be a bit harsh to start off with. The gap is likely to widen once &#8220;The Last Man&#8221; enters the climax, and above all, &#8220;VIVANT,&#8221; starring Masato Sakai and other superb cast members, will begin in July in the Sunday theater. From Fuji&#8217;s point of view, they must have wanted the first episode to surpass &#8220;Last Man&#8221;.
It is not clear how long &#8220;Matsumo to Nakai&#8221; will last. In the industry
 It doesn&#8217;t look like it will last long.
(A TV station official mentioned above.) It is also said that &#8220;Matsumo to Nakai&#8221; will not last long. &#8230;&#8230; We hope that the casting will surprise the public and &#8220;eclipse&#8221; the back-up programs.

 Yasuko Sakaguchi (Matsumoto)

 Matsumo to Nakai," a new program hosted by Downtown's Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masahiro Nakai, started on April 30. The first guest was Nakai and former SMAP member Shingo Katori, their first collaboration since the breakup of the group. ......

Masahiro Nakai and Hitoshi Matsumoto&#8217;s new Fuji show &#8220;Matsumo to Nakai&#8221; gets off to a &#8220;slow start&#8221; with Masaharu Fukuyama and Masato Sakai standing in the way.

Masahiro Nakai and Hitoshi Matsumoto’s new Fuji show “Matsumo to Nakai” gets off to a “slow start” with Masaharu Fukuyama and Masato Sakai standing in the way.

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