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The story
During the September 5 broadcast of Fuji TV’s “Celebrities Seriously Brainstormed! Dokkiri GP,” the show aired a “trick” segment that lured three celebrities in with the promise of a commercial appearance, only for just one of them to actually be cast. During the reveal, even Eiko Koike reportedly looked visibly flustered. Reactions on 5channel’s live-discussion thread were split — some viewers shrugged it off as the same kind of format already familiar from shows like “Suiyoubi no Downtown,” while others criticized Fuji TV’s budget and production quality by comparison with other networks.
2026.09.07 16:30
On September 5, the variety show “Celebrities Seriously Brainstormed! Dokkiri GP” (Fuji TV, hereafter “Dokkiri GP”) aired. The show pulled a commercial-related prank on three celebrities, and the content has since sparked controversy.
The segment in question was titled “We Thought It Was a Quick Commercial Shoot, Then Thought It Was a Pitfall Trap, Then…????”
Source: smart-flash.jp / Original article here
What people said
Gross.
Is this some lazy 'kotatsu article' (written from the couch with zero actual reporting) by someone who's never even watched a variety show?
Who cares.
Setting aside whether what Suiyoubi no Downtown does is good, bad, or funny, you can at least feel the staff's effort and ingenuity baked into the production.
But this Fuji thing? It's just not funny, the setup is a sloppy con job from the script stage, and it's painfully obvious no budget or brainpower went into it at all.
I get that Fuji is in seriously dire financial straits right now, but if that's the case, I'd at least like to see the kind of scrappy, budget-conscious ingenuity that poorer networks like TV Asahi or TV Tokyo manage to pull off.
No thought put in, no money, just unpleasant, and on top of that not even funny — what even is this network anymore (´･ω･`)
Buy now — the Harusame ('Spring Rain') Suit, from Imada Textiles.
they can't get laughs on their own, so it's a necessity.
Old-school pranks used to be seriously unhinged.
They probably got a crazy-generous appearance fee, like ¥1 million each.
Courtesy of Suntory.
I'd guess Zabungle got ¥2 million.
For a mid-tier comedian, the going rate starts at ¥10 million.
was kind of pitiful, but honestly hilarious.
The other two were just decoys from the get-go.
Yeah, I thought the same — given the history between them, it was clearly a Katō-first setup from the start.
It's even possible the other two were let in on it after the location shoot and then went into the studio recording already knowing the truth.
Isn't it way better than Suiyoubi no Downtown, which tricks people into thinking it's a commercial shoot and then drags them through some brutal location shoot?
Suiyoubi no Downtown does the opposite — it's a 'reverse commercial' real-prank format where they end up actually casting whoever took the obviously-fake commercial shoot the most seriously.
You never know what's actually going to happen with a pitfall trap like that.
Fuji doesn't have that kind of money.
And yet second-tier talents are still happy to show up anyway.
Sounds like someone who's spent their whole life blaming everyone else.
Doesn't matter if a few people get injured every year, right? Even if it's staged.
Oh really?
I wonder if you'd say the same about those overseas pranks with no reveal at the end —
the ones that are basically crimes lol
Not sure what counts as 'mid-tier' here, but a comedian at this level would get a few million yen.
You'd need to be way more famous to hit four digits [in man-yen, i.e. ¥10 million+].
And that's after Yoshimoto skims their cut, obviously.
You're talking like an industry insider, but Katō isn't even with Yoshimoto.
Even with real pranks, they make sure it doesn't come off as unpleasant.
That gap in directing skill and consideration is exactly why we ended up with this result.
Feels like Suiyoubi no Downtown gets called out for problems way more often lol
Background and Key Points
The format used in “Dokkiri GP” — gathering multiple people together when only one will actually be chosen — is nothing new; it’s a technique also used by shows like “Suiyoubi no Downtown.” What divided opinion in the thread wasn’t so much whether the premise itself was acceptable, but the quality of the execution in light of Fuji TV’s recent financial struggles, with many commenters pointing to a lack of budget and creative effort compared to other networks. On the other hand, some posts noted that the performers who weren’t chosen seemed satisfied with their compensation, leading to a more skeptical view of the harsher criticism, since none of the people directly involved had actually complained. Fuji TV has faced growing scrutiny over its management and program production in recent years, and this reaction appears to be part of that broader wave.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Fuji] ‘Dokkiri GP’ commercial ‘ambush’ segment sparks controversy — ‘In reality only 1 of 3 were picked,’ staff’s ‘overindulgence’ during the reveal leaves even Eiko Koike baffled [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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