Takeshi's Castle
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ja:風雲!たけし城
Takeshi's Castle (風雲!たけし城) was a Japanese reality/game show that aired from 1986 to 1989. It featured the Japanese actor, Kitano (Beat) Takeshi as Count Takeshi. The show has become cult television in Japan, where the fans are referred to as "Keshi-heads." It aired on the Tokyo Broadcasting System in Japan.
In the United States, it airs as MXC (formerly Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) on Spike TV. The American version provides dubbing and commentary in English that effectively spoofs the original show. In England, a shortened version given a comedic voiceover by Craig Charles has been shown on cable TV channel Challenge since 2002, and Germany also had a dubbed version (DSF). It was aired also in Spain as Humor Amarillo in the early 90's.
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Original Takeshi's Castle
The show featured such challenges as crossing over a bridge while being fired at by cannons, jumping on a circling mushroom spinning over a lake, or running into/through doors as well as many other types of challenges. There have also been special competitions such as the couples challenge, the children's competiton and the international challenge (featuring all countries except Japan).
In the original show, it involved 100 - 150 contestants who General Tani (known as General Lee in the English version, and Captain Tenneal in the US) effectively tested and challenged, eliminating some and keeping others. Each show finished with the Final Showdown/Final Battle where Count Takeshi was faced by the remaining contestants. If they hit the paper ring on his cart with their water gun the castle was taken and the game "won".
Characters
- General Tani - Hayato Tani - Leads the teams in the competition.
- Count Takeshi - Beat Takeshi - the eventual goal target of the competition (hit his ring/censor with a water/laser gun). He makes commentary on the contestants.
- Takeshi's advisor - First, Saburo Ishikura; Second, Sonomanma Higashi - Discusses with Takeshi the competition.
- Emerald Guards/Defence Troops - the Count's guards that wear white or Emerald, seen in the "Show Down" and other challenges.
- Michiru Jo - One of the only guards to have been in from the very first episode. Normally wore a pink outfit. Was a famous Japanese pop singer in the 1970's.
- Oniji Tankobo - A guard that'd probably scare you off just by looking at him, which he normally does to contestants in the "Honey Comb Maze"! Oniji wears a long red wig and is one of Takeshi's finest henchmen. He usually teams up with Strong Kanegou to make an unbeatable team.
- Strong Kanegou - This guard pairs with Oniji Tankobo in the "Honey Comb Maze" to try and humiliate the contestants as much as possible. Strong Kanegou is 100% bald and is one of Takeshi's finest henchmen.
- Ajimaru "Animal" Resry - Brad Lesley - Famous Japanese/American baseball player who appeared in the later recorded episodes of Takeshi's Castle. His main job was to humiliate and frighten the contestants in any possible way. He usually wears a samurai outfit but has been seen in a green sumo suit, spider costume, "Fred Flinstone" style outfit and baseball gear.
- Popcorn - Shoji & Shoichi Kinoshita - Two well known twin actors in Japan. They usually are seen wearing rainbow robes and bowler hats. They have appeared in the game "Rice Bowl Down Hill" and "Bridge Ball" where they try and put the contestants off by singing annoying chants.
- Yoshihisa Shimada - A guard that is usually seen in the games "Blueberry Hill" and "Wipe Out" dressed up as a red indian; he pushes people into the water if they miss the surfboard.
Challenge/UK 'version'
Craig's Quotes ~ What a wazzock ~ He's a Happy Clappy Jappy Chappy ~ New ribs/teeth/spine/balls etc. please! ~ Protect your love spuds/gunnels/Ted Evans/happy sacks etc.! ~ I've never said this before - no winners this time on Takeshi's Castle ~ Don't let the guards penetrate the ring on your shiny red helmet! ~ Specially shipped in from a pig farm in Southern Japan
MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge)
In April, 2003, Spike TV (then called The New TNN) began airing a comedy-oriented dub of the series, called Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (or MXC).
In MXC, two random teams are pitted against each other (eg. Inventors vs. Former Child Actors) in events with names like "Sinkers & Floaters," "Rotating Surfboard of Death," and "Wall Bangers." "Vic Romano" and "Kenny Blankenship" provide commentary throughout, and at the end of each show, Kenny counts down ten "Most Painful Eliminations of the Day."
Many of the contestants have been nicknamed by the show's translators after famous celebrities. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see participants with names of famous athletes or Hollywood stars (e.g. Hugh Grunt) competing on the United States version. As well, nearly every episode features one contestant with the family name "Babaganoosh." Contestants of that name are said to have some connection with the Middle East.
On April 22, 2004, Spike TV aired a special edition of the show to start the second season, featuring Tony Hawk and snowboarder Tara Dakides. This was filmed at the Nickelodeon studios in Orlando, Florida using students from nearby colleges, and appropriately dubbed MXC: Almost Live. The special edition is not based on the original Takeshi's Castle footage, but only has some added in for Vic, Ken, the Captain and Guy LeDouche. Actors were hired to play those who would replace the roles of the latter two. With the second season, Spike TV officially changed the name of the US version to MXC.
The staff give no regard to what is really happening in the original footage, and instead resort to non-sequiturs, crude humor, and innuendo. This is done to facilitate the tastes of the intended audience as well as for the creative fun of it.
Characters
Many of the characters and contestants are played by producers of the show. Vic Romano, whose lines replace those of Count Takeshi, is played by Victor Wilson. Kenny Blankenship, the MXC counterpart of Takeshi's advisor, is played by Christopher Darga. While Romano is kind of level-headed, Blankenship is kind of stupid. John Cervenka plays "Captain Tenneal", who replaces General Tani. Tenneal's views are conservative and self-absorbed. Cervenka also acts as the voice of the field reporter, whose MXC name is "Guy LeDouche", a Frenchman who has strange fetishes. Cervenka is also the announcer for the opening and the breaks. The female voices are mostly done by Mary Scheer.
Quotes
- "And the cons have resorted to livestock!"
- "He's spontaneously donated his pancreas!"
- "I like the feel of cement in my pants, it's, uh... squishy."
- "If I were to hug you right now, would that be gay?"
- "Nose nuggets!"
- "I've enjoyed those freaks and silly clowns, I've also enjoyed the circus people."
- "CORN DOGS!"
- "And this one I call Roadkill. This was a great elimination game, until some idiot put a ramp there. We tried it again without the ramp, but we can't show that footage until the case is settled."
- "Josh showing some great vocal versatility, singing above the key and below it at the same time."
- "I miss Mister Sparkly the unicorn."
- "That's Dick Zibra who works for 'SpunkTV', the second network for men."
- "He's majoring in testicular studies at Ball State."
- "He shoots lasers out of his third nard."
- "He is a Pace Car driver for the Royal family Paparazzi motorcade"
- "Right you are, Ken!"
