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The story
During its September 9 broadcast, “Wednesday Downtown” announced near the end of the show that it would go on hiatus for three weeks starting next Wednesday the 16th, as TBS prioritizes coverage of the Asian Games, with the next episode airing October 7. On the thread, reactions focused less on the hiatus itself and more on debates over how to rank the Asian Games (comments like “it’s basically the Asian version of the Olympics” or “the competition level is low”), nostalgic looks back at the show’s classic segments, and pointed observations about the gap between broadcast ratings and streaming view counts.
September 10, 2026, 10:31 AM
The TBS variety show “Wednesday Downtown” (airing at 10 PM) broadcast its latest episode on the 9th. At the end of the show, it was announced that the next episode would air on October 7.
This episode featured two segments: “Theory: If you walk toward Shikoku picking up dropped receipts along the way, you could turn those receipts into a white pilgrim’s robe and complete the Shikoku pilgrimage circuit” and “Theory: There are actually quite a few things that instantly disappear the moment a single old man collapses.” At the end of the broadcast, the narrator announced, “Starting next Wednesday, TBS will be broadcasting the Asian Games for three weeks,” with an on-screen caption reading “Next episode: 10/7 (Wed).” The show will be on hiatus on September 16, 23, and 30. For the October 7 episode, two segments were previewed: “Instant Elimination If Your Identity Is Exposed! Masked Man Journey” and “Sneak the Answer to the Question Playing Behind Your Junior Coworker into a Scolding! Buzzer Scolding Quiz.”
Source: news.livedoor.com / Original article here
What people said
Yeah, well, it's Asia after all
No way, lol
Say what you want, but it's still the most popular variety show out there — it's been #1 on TVer and elsewhere forever
It's basically the Asian version of the Olympics — the one famous for having a notoriously low level of competition
They could just air that as a recorded broadcast in the middle of the night, or on BS
That's from Gaki no Tsukai (a long-running Japanese variety/comedy show), isn't it
Detective Tsuda
Oe Yutaka
The old man who chases you with a sickle
Obon Kobon
Hasshi Happy
The Ramen Marathon compilation
…I bet these still hold up if you watch them now.
As for Kurochan, he's just not funny anymore, and Hyoroku, who almost broke out but never did — I'm good on that one
Wow, you really remember all that
Since it aired yesterday, I want to watch the Akatsu series
The ratings have always been low
It's entertaining enough as a one-off. But the part where he can't use fire until he finds something, or him being ridiculously happy about McDonald's — that stuff felt like it was skating on thin ice (ethically gray)
Minamikawa & Shinichi vs. Tomoshige & Happy Happy — now that I'd watch. No idea about the ratings though
That receipt thing was a first, wasn't it lol
If you can't laugh at the smoking scene with Akatsu, this episode's probably not for you
Basically the same as the Olympics, just with Asian-specific sports like sepak takraw added in
Haha, that's actually pretty funny
North Korea's soccer team comes at it like their lives depend on it too
It's the same story with other sports too — just watching is boring on its own. It's the commentary, the analysis, and the fact that they're representing their country that actually makes it exciting
Background and Key Points
The Asian Games is a multi-sport event held once every four years, two years after each Olympics, and terrestrial primetime broadcast slots for it are limited. This time, TBS is bumping its flagship variety show for a full three weeks just to secure air time for the coverage, which shows how high a priority the network is placing on it. What actually sparked the most discussion on the thread wasn’t the coverage itself, but the observation that “ratings are low, yet it’s always near the top on TVer” — a comment that captures the broader recent trend of broadcast ratings and streaming view counts pulling apart. It’s also worth noting, for context on how hard some athletes compete, that in South Korea a gold medal at the Asian Games can earn athletes exemption from mandatory military service — a system not widely known in Japan, and one that shapes how fiercely certain competitors fight for the win. As for the show itself, opinions on this episode were split between “that was fun” and “this one was kind of a letdown,” with viewers seeming more concerned about the show’s segments feeling repetitive than about the hiatus announcement itself.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread ““Starting Next Wednesday, TBS Will Air the Asian Games for Three Weeks” — Wednesday Downtown’s Shock Announcement at the End of the Show Sparks Screams on X: “Are You Serious?” “No Way…”.”
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