Tony Sano Survives a Japanese Game Show and Lives to Tell About it!

I Survived a Japanese Game Show is more like American Gladiators than Jeopardy, a show in which ten contestants are picked to live in a house and put their necks on the line with a multitude of obstacle courses. We talked to the host of this new show, Tony Sano, who clued us in about the premise of this hilarious new series as well as what Japanese audiences are watching on TV (hint: they love some Shannon Dougherty!)
Watch preview of I Survived on Fancast.

What’s the show about?
We take ten Americans who had no idea they’re going to a foreign country or what they’re competing in. You have me and I tell them, ‘Guess what, guys, you’re going to Japan!’ We follow them as they go to Japan, they live in a house and they compete in a ridiculous Japanese game show. They start off in two teams, the winning team is safe, the loosing team participates in the elimination game. The loser goes home. So you lose one player each week. The winner takes home a quarter of a million dollars.

What’s a unique part of the show?
You see them living their life in Tokyo, they get rewards and punishments based on how they do with the show. They interact with the Japanese people and they get a firsthand experience with the culture there. It’s new and unique.

Most of these contestants have never been outside of the US. How did they feel about entering into a new culture?
Generally they were enthusiastic, willing to learn and wanted to learn about the culture and language. But of course they’ll have some culture shock, beginning with the time difference; it’s 16 hours ahead there. They’re jetlagged. And of course there is the food issue. Some of them don’t like better than others. They would ask me, ‘Tony, what is this I’m eating? is this meat? Tastes kind of like meat, but I don’t think it’s meat!’ Of course the language barrier is a shock. On the whole it was great and a lot of them plan to go back to Japan.

What is it about the Japanese game show?
The Japanese game show is wild and fun. You know, it’s maybe a little more fun than a traditional fun. Our show has the extra elements of them being in a foreign country and the whole ‘Lost in Translation’ element.

Tell me a little about Japanese TV.
Japanese audiences watch a lot of American TV. More than I even assumed. They all know Beverly Hills 90210. They love all those shows.

More on These Topics: I Survived A Japanese Game Show | Tony Sano