Downtown” Masanori Hamada announced his leave of absence… TV stations were “in a panic” over the response, saying that they learned of it at the same time as the release.

Hamada, who has a total of eight regular programs including those as a duo.

The TV stations are being hit hard by an earthquake.

On March 10, Masanori Hamada (61) of the comedy duo “Downtown” announced that he would be taking a leave of absence due to poor health.

According to the official website of Yoshimoto Kogyo Co,

Hamada has been feeling unwell since around the end of last year, and as a result of a visit to a medical institution, the doctor has advised him to take a rest for the time being, and he will be taking a rest from Monday, March 10.

He said, “I have decided to take a rest from Monday, March 10.

His wife, celebrity Natsumi Ogawa (62), updated her blog on the same day and wrote

My husband has been running for decades. Even though he has been tired, he has had little time to get in shape, so it is a great relief for me and our sons that he will be able to take a rest this time.

He wrote in a letter to his partner, Hitoshi Matsumoto (61).

His partner, Hitoshi Matsumoto (61), is also on a de facto hiatus. It is an unusual situation for a duo that represents the world of comedy to all disappear from the stage together.

The TV stations are flabbergasted.

Hamada is a successful comedian with a total of eight regular programs, including those as a duo, and the TBS stations “Wednesday’s Downtown” and “Hamada Song Festival★Wolf Boy” have already been recorded and will be broadcast, but the stations are “considering what to do” after that. NTV’s “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukasa ya Aahende! on NTV has already been recorded up to the April 20 broadcast and will be broadcast as usual.

In addition, Yomiuri TV, which produces “Downtown DX” and “Hama-chan! and “Gobugobu” produced by Yomiuri TV and MBS TV. and “Gobugobu,” which are produced by Yomiuri Television and MBS Television, will also broadcast their already-recorded programs, and the company is still considering what to do after that.

The TV stations were “sleep-walking”.

MBS Radio’s “Gobugobu Radio” will continue with other regulars such as Takashi Imoto of License, Shunsuke Hirai of Dorianzu, and Taiki Tsutsumi without a substitute, and there are no plans at this time to change the “Gobugobu Festival” scheduled for May 10 and 11 at Expo ’70 Memorial Park in Suita, Osaka.

What is of interest is when he informed the TV station that he was taking a leave of absence. Usually, in this kind of story, the TV stations begin “laying the groundwork” about a month in advance, taking into consideration the selection of a substitute actor and program sponsors.

However, in this case, as far as we were able to gather

“The media only found out about it on the 9th, the day before the event. It seems that the TV stations were almost completely unaware of it. The reactions of the program staff at the stations after the announcement were like they had not heard about it. They were in such a panic that it was as if they had just poked a hornet’s nest, including dealing with sponsors,” said a sports newspaper reporter in charge of entertainment.

In fact, Yomiuri TV President Yozo Matsuda referred to “Downtown DX” without Matsumoto at the regular press conference held on the 4th of this month,

There are reports that (Matsumoto) has resumed his activities on the Internet, but there has been no movement on TV. There is no change in the current situation where Hamada-san is the sole MC.

The answer was, “No.”. In other words, at this point, Yoshimoto had not heard about Hamada’s leave of absence. We first asked Yomiuri TV, the producer of “Downtown DX” and other programs, when Hamada was informed of his leave of absence,

They replied, “We were informed at 10:00 a.m. today (October 10). We were informed with the release at 10:00 a.m. today (10th).

Hamada was informed of his leave of absence at about the same time as the announcement. TBS, which broadcasts “Mizudau” and other programs, responded to the same question,

A person from Yoshimoto Kogyo came to our office in advance and explained that Mr. Hamada would be taking a leave of absence due to his poor health. I will refrain from giving you further details.

The TV station responded, “We will refrain from giving you further details.

This was indeed a sudden turn of events for the TV station. A reporter for a sports newspaper commented

It is rare for a TV station to make an announcement this late in the game. In other words, it may have been a matter of such urgency.

The confusion at the TV stations will continue for the time being.

The confusion at the TV station is likely to continue for the time being.