Characters
The show's MC, Mr Banzai, played by opera singer Masashi Fujimoto, did not speak except for saying and singing the word "Banzai" in different ways. Mr Banzai acted as referee for many of the contests, directing participants to begin by solemnly clapping his hands and emitting a kiai.
Other regular contributors included Mr. Shake-Hands Man who tried to maintain a handshake with people for as long as possible. He was later replaced when he became too well-known with Mr. Shake-Hands Man 2 (played by Japanese-American actor Tadao Tomomatsu), who did the same thing, although his role was mainly with celebrities. There was also Lady One Question played by non-professional Shizuka Hata, who posed as a celebrity reporter, asked a single interview question and then stared silently at the interviewee. In both of these segments, viewers were invited to bet on how long it took the celebrity to put a stop to the ruse. Often appearing between segments was Mr Cheeky Chappie (Jit Loi Chong), wiggling his spectacles and grinning.
Voiceovers were provided by Burt Kwouk and Eiji Kusuhara.
Read more about this topic: Banzai (TV series)
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“Of all the characters I have known, perhaps Walden wears best, and best preserves its purity. Many men have been likened to it, but few deserve that honor. Though the woodchoppers have laid bare first this shore and then that, and the Irish have built their sties by it, and the railroad has infringed on its border, and the ice-men have skimmed it once, it is itself unchanged, the same water which my youthful eyes fell on; all the change is in me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I make it a kind of pious rule to go to every funeral to which I am invited, both as I wish to pay a proper respect to the dead, unless their characters have been bad, and as I would wish to have the funeral of my own near relations or of myself well attended.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“My characters never die screaming in rage. They attempt to pull themselves back together and go on. And that’s basically a conservative view of life.”
—Jane Smiley (b. 1949)