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The story
Nippon TV has announced that its October 2 special, “Quiz Festival Autumn 2026 — Star-Studded Celebrities Take On Iconic Heisei-Era Quiz Shows SP,” will bring back a slew of quiz formats that were huge hits during the Heisei era, including “Magical Brain Power!!,” “Puzzle-Solving Battle TORE!,” and “Quiz World is SHOW by Shobai!!” Kiyotaka Nanbara will serve as tournament chairman, with Kazunari Ninomiya as MC. The announcement sparked a mix of reactions on 5ch — some nostalgic for the legendary hosts of yesteryear, others pointing out that the TV industry has become dependent on recycling old content.
Oricon
2026-09-18 05:00
Kiyotaka Nanbara of the comedy duo Ucchan Nanchan will serve as tournament chairman, and Kazunari Ninomiya of Arashi will be MC, for the Nippon TV special “Quiz Festival Autumn 2026 — Star-Studded Celebrities Take On Iconic Heisei-Era Quiz Shows SP” (7:56 PM–10:54 PM), airing October 2.
Source: oricon.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Unlike dramas though, I think a quiz show special still has decent demand
It's one of the oldest, most prestigious networks, right up there with NHK
Don't lump it in with Fuji
It'll probably drag NHK down with it when it sinks…
He's got Hirunandesu, doesn't he
Nah, I don't think that's it
Then in October '91 it got revamped into a multi-show format like Marugoto Daishuugou, and started pulling questions from Magical Brain Power, Waratte Yoroshiku, and others too
Back then NTV didn't have a quiz show that could pull off inter-show tournament specials like Fuji or TBS did,
so they put together an in-house project to build one — and that's how SHOW by Shobai came about
So Shobai's success was a really big deal for NTV.
Fuji hasn't revived it in the "Naruhodo the ◯ Festival" format, so it's not really the same
If it were Fuji, it'd have to be like the Naruhodo the ◯ Festival:
Block A — questions from various shows via the Naruhodo the World seating system
Block B — Neptune League format
Block C — Naruhodo the World format
Loser's bracket
Final — a revival of various Naruhodo the World quizzes
Grand prize — something like the "Quiz Age Gap" format
Otherwise it doesn't count
Throw in Do Re Mi Fa Don and Heisei Educational Committee too while you're at it
I used to watch them so excited
Everyone who isn't old is already too busy watching YouTubers
It's the old channel-number pecking order, really —
1 (NHK) → 4 (NTV) → 6 (TBS) → 8 (Fuji), with 10 and 12 positioned as specialty channels
And the ratings actually flowed in that exact order.
Even the Ice Age Generation won't go near this anymore though
While we're at it, let's call up Masataka Itsumi too
Wasn't SHOW by Shobai actually before Quiz Atatte 25%?
I'm not talking about Atatte 25%, I mean Marugoto Daishuugou
I feel like Story Land would actually do well if it streamed
I'd sign up for Hulu in a heartbeat if it were on there
Rights issues probably make it a pain, but honestly I'd rather stream old Magical episodes than dramas
I never watch dramas, so I can't bring myself to subscribe to anything
Whether Gomi-san's "extreme remodeling" format still works today is the real question.
They've revived this format so many times already, there must be steady demand for it
TV might really be finished
I mean, sure, but
Netflix makes bank off Showa-era content full of money, sex, and violence,
and Abema basically runs Ai no Ri and Gachinko on a loop
Honestly, most stuff online is just crude, old-fashioned Showa-style content anyway
Shobai Shobai had Itsumi, Shingo Yamashiro, and Baba
Those shows were fun precisely because those guys were on them
In Magical's early days it was Eiji Bando vs. George Tokoro, I think
Tokoro kept answering off just one hint, so Bando started having them "take questions submitted by viewers,"
and it turned into a Viewers vs. Tokoro setup
Because Nagai-san's judging was brutal
Because if regular people took part, there's a risk the behind-the-scenes stuff would get exposed
If anything, isn't this content aimed squarely at little kids?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
“Magical Brain Power!!” and “Quiz World is SHOW by Shobai!!” were flagship quiz shows Nippon TV ran during the Heisei era, with the latter having started as an in-house project built specifically to compete with the inter-show tournament specials aired by Fuji and TBS. In the thread, viewers who remembered the era filled in details like the 1991 shift from a standalone show to the multi-show crossover format “Super Quiz Special.” Opinions split over whether to view these revivals of old content as “a format with steady demand among longtime fans” or as “a life-support measure by old media that can no longer produce new content.” Some also pointed out that nostalgia-driven content is thriving on streaming platforms too, suggesting this isn’t unique to TV networks. The special in question is scheduled to air October 2, with Kiyotaka Nanbara as tournament chairman and Kazunari Ninomiya as MC.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuhou+) thread “[NTV] Nippon TV’s Iconic Quiz Shows Return All at Once — “Magical Brain Power!!,” “Puzzle-Solving Battle TORE!,” “Quiz World is SHOW by Shobai!!,” and More.”
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