Shingo Katori’s first Fuji drama in 11 years, “The Worst Man in Japan,” has raised expectations.
Starred in a Fuji drama series for the first time in 11 years
On November 5, it was announced that former “SMAP” member Shingo Katori (47) will star in the Fuji TV drama series “The Worst Man in Japan: My Family Was a Fake” in the January season next year.
The drama is an original work, in which Katori’s character, an unbelievably “lousy man” who hates his family and his children, is driven to the edge of his life and lives with his brother-in-law, a single father, and their children in order to become a politician and make a difference in society. The story is a bizarre tale of a man who becomes a politician and lives with his single father-in-law and their children in order to make a difference in society. This is Katori’s first starring role in a Fuji TV drama series in 11 years, since “SMOKING GUN ~Decisive Evidence~” aired in 2002.
Katori’s other Fuji TV program besides dramas was “SMAP x SMAP” (a.k.a. “SMASMA”), SMAP’s crown program, which reached its final episode in December of the same year following SMAP’s dissolution in 2004. After the program ended, his regular solo program “Ojamap! was broadcast after the program ended, but it ended in March 2006 after Katori left the former Johnny’s office (now STARTO ENTERTAINMENT) in September 2005.
At the time of Mr. Katori’s departure from the former Johnny’s office, it was unlikely that a talent who had left the office would return to terrestrial broadcasting. However, times have changed, and Mr. Katori appeared as the first guest on the variety show “Matsumo to Nakai” (later retitled “Dareka to Nakai”) on April 30, ’23, with MC Masahiro Nakai, 52, on the April 22, ’17 broadcast of “SmaSTATION (TV Asahi) on April 22, ’17. (TV Asahi), which aired on April 22, 2005, to the delight of SMAP fans. Their collaboration attracted a lot of attention, and the 10.5% viewer rating for the first episode is still the highest in the program’s history. And now, Fuji has taken the opportunity to cast them in the lead roles in a drama series.
The Thursday night 10:00 p.m. broadcast slot is Fuji’s signature slot along with Geki 9, which has produced numerous masterpieces. In recent years, the focus has been on adult-oriented dramas that focus on male-female relationships, such as romance and adultery. Although “silent” was a hit in the October 2010 season, viewer ratings have been sluggish in recent years. It is likely that they decided to introduce a drama starring Ms. Katori as a confluent agent for viewer rating recovery.
