Gassy Effect Influenced the Unusual Broadcast Schedule of Ayano’s Drama

“Old Rookie” (TBS), starring Tsuyoshi Ayano (40) in the popular commercial TV drama series “Sunday Gekijo,” will start on June 26. The story of the drama is about a former Japanese national team soccer player played by Ayano who, after retiring from the sport, works for a sports management company as an agent and manager for current athletes, while struggling for his daughters who made him proud.

The film is also known for its thorough pursuit of quality, including the supervision of Yoshito Okubo (40), a former member of Japan’s national team. However, there is another aspect of the film that has attracted attention in the TV industry as being special. That is the unusual broadcast schedule.

“Sunday Gekijo” begins broadcasting in January, April, July, and October, for a total of four episodes per year. Even super high-rated programs such as “Hanzawa Naoki” have never changed this broadcast schedule. However, the broadcast start date for “Old Rookie” is June 26. In the past 10 years, no “July season” drama has ever started in June. In the broadcasting industry, it is said that this may be due to the Gaassy-Ch Effect.

“In May of this year, Ayano was accused by Yoshikazu Higashitani(50), a.k.a. “Gaassy” of underage drinking with a former idol, who was 17 years old at the time, and of lewd acts. The truth is unknown, but neither the agency nor Ms. Ayano has made any comment on the matter. Rumors circulated that a major sponsor, concerned about the impact on their company, had asked TBS not to run their commercials in the current “Sunday Gekijo.” It is said that TBS wanted to mitigate the aftermath of the “Gaassy Effect” as much as possible, and decided to air the program in June before the sponsors’ starts to pull out their support.” (A source in the entertainment industry)

(A source close to the entertainment industry) In the midst of all this, confusion has arisen on the scene.

As of mid-June, three to four episodes of “Old Rookie” have been filmed, but the onsite staff is said to be working with doubt and uncertainty, wondering, “Will it really be broadcast as scheduled until the end?”

One mid-size entertainment agency was consulted about casting for a special program scheduled for this time slot in August, even though the Sunday theater is supposed to be airing, he said. Because of this, the field is said to be afraid that the number of episodes may be shortened as well.

When we sent a letter of inquiry to TBS asking what was behind the unusual broadcasting schedule, we received the following response.

The broadcast was postponed, but we had previously planned to start in June in anticipation of the broadcast of the Asian Games, which was scheduled to be held in September. It is not true that some sponsors may have requested not to air their commercials, or that they are considering shortening the number of broadcasts)

Because of the popularity of the “Sunday Gekijo” slot, it has many fans. Hopefully, their expectations will be exceeded!