was a Japanese television

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

aired on

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

around the mid-1980s. Starring

Ken Shimura (born , 20 February 1950 – 29 March 2020) was a Japanese comedian. He co-starred with Masashi Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano in the Japanese variety show '. Throughout his comedy career, Shimura was known for his "Bakatono-sama" character, w ...

and Cha Kato, former members of the group

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...

from ''Hachiji Dayo! Zen'in Shugo'', the irreverent and satirical program would poke fun at contemporary society in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and would feature comedy vignettes similar to those found on ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

'' or ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey ...

''.

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

once made a special appearance on the show as well. The duo also had a

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...

video game, '' Kato-chan and Ken-chan'', based on their antics, filled with

toilet humor Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees subs ...

, and featuring them as the game's playable characters. It was translated and censored for a Western

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC, NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth genera ...

release as ''J.J. & Jeff'' due to copyright issues and the toilet humor.

Home videos segment

As the home

camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...

became more popular in

, the show included a segment featuring viewer-submitted funny home videos (

home movies A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

), on which Ken and Kato would comment. In 1989, American producer

Vin Di Bona Vincent John "Vin" Di Bona (born April 10, 1944) is an American television producer of the television shows ''MacGyver'', ''Entertainment Tonight'', and ''America's Funniest Home Videos''. He runs an eponymous production company called Vin Di Bona ...

initiated a partnership with Tokyo Broadcasting System to develop a similar program in the west, which ultimately led to the successful ''

America's Funniest Home Videos ''America's Funniest Home Videos'', also called ''America's Funniest Videos'' (abbreviated as ''AFV''), is an American video clip television series on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, based on the Japanese variety show ''Kato-chan Ken-chan Gok ...

'' (which is still on the air as of 2022) and other similar shows worldwide. Some videos seen in the first season of ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' originally aired on ''Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan'', and the latter remains credited within all episodes of ''AFHV'' as the original inspiration for the former. ABC, which owns half of ''America's Funniest Home Videos'', pays a royalty fee to the Tokyo Broadcasting System for the use of the format (even though Kato-chan and Ken-chan left the air in 1992). The British show ''

You've Been Framed ''You've Been Framed!'' is a British television series where viewers can contribute to the programme with their humorous home movies for the entertainment of others. It is produced by ITV Studios and comedian Harry Hill has been providing narrat ...

'' (1990 debut) is similarly based on the same format.

References

External links

"Tokyo Broadcasting Co. information about show"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kato-Chan Ken-Chan Gokigen Tv Japanese variety television shows 1986 Japanese television series debuts 1992 Japanese television series endings TBS Television (Japan) original programming