25 Dec 2003 Smapsters brandish swords, hockey sticks Wm. Penn / Special to The Daily Yomiuri Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for a very Smappy New Year! Yes, the famed fivesome will be monopolizing our TV screens in 2004, too. They are always a TV staple during the first week of the new year. All of them have nonstop appearances lined up except Takuya Kimura, who has a family of his own now. His holiday schedule--at least the public portion of it--is conspicuously empty. But the real reason the New Year will be full of Smappiness is that four of the five members will be starring in their own prime time drama series next quarter. They all have plenty of drama experience, but four series at one time has to be a new record even for them. NHK has been heralding Shingo Katori's Jan. 11 historical drama debut in Shinsengumi for months. Obviously, they hold great hope that he will be able to enliven the flagging taiga drama genre, which seldom broke the 20 percent ratings barrier in 2003. He will have a great supporting cast to help him, including Jo Odagiri, Yuka, Yasuko Sawaguchi and Yosuke Eguchi. SMAP's Kimura, the drama king, looks likely to get the best winter quarter ratings with another romantic comedy. This time he will be paired with Yuko Takeuchi in Pride starting Jan. 12 at 9 p.m. on the Fuji network. Haru (Kimura) and his high school pal (Kenji Sakaguchi) are members of the Blue Scorpions hockey team. Quite the ladies' man, Haru does not want to get seriously involved with any woman during his playing career. But then, of course, he is going to meet Aki (Takeuchi), who is patiently waiting for her boyfriend, who has gone off to New York for two years. SMAP's Masahiro Nakai has got himself into a much more sinister plot line in the remake of Suna no Utsuwa, which starts Jan. 18 at 9 p.m. on TBS. It looks like he is going to murder Miki (Hidekazu Akai) in the first episode and we will spend the rest of the quarter learning why. There is a great supporting cast for this one too, including Ken Watanabe of The Last Samurai fame, Shinji Takeda and Yasuko Matsuyuki. SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, who will play Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the year-end historical saga Taikoki, scheduled for Dec. 27 from 9 p.m. to 11:24 p.m. on Fuji, will also return next year to costar with Koyuki in a drama about a workaholic whose wife leaves him. It is the next morning before he discovers she has left behind their 7-year-old daughter. Koyuki plays the little girl's home tutor. Monday, Dec. 15 was an unusual night on Japanese TV--so much the same yet so strangely different. Began the night by trying to watch the three-hour Mito Komon 1,000th episode special. It started out well enough but lost me when all the old stars of the series began reappearing in new cameo roles. What, was that a former Kaku-san now playing a daimyo and a previous Mito Komon in the role of a strange old man? As the lineup grew more convoluted and confusing, the nostalgia trip soured and I happened to zap past SMAP X SMAP (Mondays at 10 p.m. on Fuji). Instead of the usual skits and shenanigans, the guys were paired off for serious chats with each other, something they evidently seldom do. The first segment I caught had Kusanagi attempting to seriously convey to Nakai some of the communication difficulties he feels within the group. Next, Kusanagi chatted amiably with Goro Inagaki, with whom he seemed to feel most comfortable. Then, Kimura and Katori shared some observations and seemed to really enjoy their chat. Next, Katori moved on to talk to Nakai, who immediately felt it necessary to point out that sitting at such close proximity he could see one of Katori's nasal hairs sticking out. Coming off a very mature chat with Kimura, Katori was obviously annoyed and said as much. It was a half hour of what almost felt like SMAP--the real thing--and it was more satisfying than three months of skits. The guys definitely should do this more often. It might be good for them and is certainly enlightening for the audience. === Holiday programming notes You can start the New Year off right on Jan. 1 with Kin-chan and Katori Shingo's 71st Costume Grand Prix on NTV from 6 p.m. to 8:54 p.m. |
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