Downtown and the “Don” of Nittele Make Peace With Each Other! The Presence of the “Don of Nippon TV” Saved the Day!

Downtown is the MC for the special program “Downtown vs. Generation Z: Yabai Showa Ari? No? (NTV) will be broadcast on August 13. The program will focus on the “badness” of the Showa era, and will feature a talk battle between the Showa-born generation and the Heisei-born “Generation Z”.

The last time “Downtown” had a special program on Nippon TV was in the annual year-end special “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukasa ya Aarenden!　series, it has been six years since “Downtown” has held a special program on NTV. What was the reason for the timing of the special? In July of this year, this magazine published a detailed report on the major rift between the two groups and the presence of the “Don of the Nippon TV variety world” who has restored their relationship. The following is a recap of that report.

The relationship between the two parties has suddenly thawed out.

The year-end tradition of “Downtown’s Gaki no Tsukai ya Aahende!　series,” which used to be a popular end-of-year program, has been suspended for a year. Normally, the “Never Laugh” series would have started in July or August, and recording would have begun after the summer vacation, but it is still undecided whether it will resume this year.

The “Laughing New Year’s Eve” series aired at the end of 2021.　Laughing New Year’s Eve” had an average household rating of 7.2%. Considering that the previous year’s “Never Laugh at the Great Poor GoTo Las Vegas 24 Hour” had a 17.6%, this is an eye-popping figure. It had maintained the No. 1 position for 11 consecutive years as the back program of the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White singing contest), but that position was also taken away by TV Asahi.

Nippon TV would like to resume the “Laugh Out Loud” series, if at all possible. The only problem is the relationship between the two “Downtown” members, especially Matsumoto-san (Hitoshi, 58). The leak of information and scripts of Mr. Watanabe’s (Ken, 49) appearance in “Daibonin GoTo Las Vegas 24 Hour” has caused Mr. Matsumoto to have a strong distrust of Nippon TV. The relationship between the two has become completely strained, and this has become a major barrier to the resumption of the program” (entertainment industry executive).

Downtown” and Nippon TV have had a major rift since the announcement of the suspension of the “Never Laugh” series in September 2021. However, the two parties reached an electrifying reconciliation this spring.

Nippon TV is now making rapid preparations for a special program in mid-August with “Downtown” as the MC. In June, Nippon TV began working hard to coordinate schedules with the various agencies based on the concept of “Downtown and the Women of Reiwa. The person in charge of the entertainment agency was the one who mediated between the two.

(According to a source from an entertainment agency, “The person who helped arrange the schedule was an astute producer in charge of Nippon TV’s variety division.

Mr. T is said to have persuaded “Downtown” and is the general director of the “Laugh Out Loud” series and “Matrix Legal Counseling Center. He was the one who led Mr. Watanabe’s return to “Daibonin GoTo Las Vegas 24 Hours,” and may have been aware that he was the initiator of the current trouble. Nippon TV’s scenario is to make the special program a success first, and then revive the “Laugh Out Loud Series” …… next. It seems that they are preparing for the program at a rapid pace for that purpose” (source from an entertainment agency).

In order to confirm the facts, this magazine requested an interview with NTV, but received no response by the deadline.

In addition to viewer ratings, the “Laugh Out Loud” series had brought in profits in the hundreds of millions through sales of related DVDs and Nippon TV’s “Hulu” service. Failure is not an option for the revival of the series. The fate of this special program, which will be the company’s most important event, can be found at …….