The show that pushes celebs to their limits

TOKYO — The Japanese are known for producing the wackiest, the most bizarre and the most hilarious shows in the world.

One of them is the award-winning unique variety series called The Quest — airing every Friday in the Philippines at 10:10 p.m. on GEM TV’s SkyCable Ch. 116 — which features Japanese celebrity hosts traveling around the globe to uncover the Earth’s great mysteries and seek out new adventures by taking on nail-biting stunts and physical and emotional challenges that keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Created in 2007 by Nippon TV, the wildly popular The Quest is similar to GMA’s highly successful Extra Challenge that was born in the late ‘90s, and which was inspired by American reality shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race and Fear Factor.

However, unlike Extra Challenge, The Quest is not a competition and participating celebrities are not pitted against each other; they simply push themselves to the limit with their hilarious antics that leave the viewers in stitches.

“There is no requirement to succeed in the challenge and if the celebrities failed, there is no punishment,” said The Quest producer Takashi Yokota, during a media chat at Nippon TV to promote the show across Asia, including the Philippines. “The charm of the show lies on the passion and seriousness of the contestants when they tackle the challenge.”

Of the more than 250 episodes aired, the most favorite and talked about are those that feature popular comedienne Imoto Ayako, who courageously (and suspensefully) took on the incredible task of climbing some of the world’s highest mountains for the last seven years. These are Kilimanjaro (2009), Mont Blanc (2010), Aconcagua (2011), Matterhorn (2012), Manaslu (2013), Kinabalu (2014), McKinley (2015) and Eiger (2016).

When Imoto, now 31, scaled the Matterhorn, Europe’s most famous summit and said to be an extremely deadly peak in the Swiss Alps, she was criticized on social media after she took a helicopter down the mountain. Her fans argued that the death rate upon descent was much higher than on ascent and that fans only wanted to see her reach the summit.

Imoto’s climb to Mt. Everest in 2014 was highly anticipated, although it was opposed by professional mountaineers who insisted that if Imoto managed to reach the peak of the world’s highest mountain and climb back down, she would make Everest look too easy. Imoto was determined to finish what she started. However, after she reached base camp and began to prepare for the ascent, an unforeseen avalanche took the lives of at least 13 sherpas (local Everest guides) from another mountaineering group in Nepal on April 18, 2014. Imoto tearfully gave up the climb after her sherpas abandoned the attempt.

“This is a very serious challenge because mountaineering for some people is a very serious sport so this is not just a wacky challenge but a very serious one,” Yokota said. “It’s not something that you normally do for primetime entertainment show in Japan. And Imoto is an entertainer and not a professional mountaineer. So the fact that she reached the peak of those mountains is really quite special.”

Another unforgettable episode, according to Yokota, involved actor-comedian Teruyoshi Uchimura, who, at age 52, took on the challenge of doing a metal bar routine like a gymnast. He managed to do it successfully after a number of attempts.

“The fact that he’s over 50 and non-athletic made the episode special,” Yokota noted.

Yokota stressed that safety of the cast and crew is of utmost importance that all precautionary measures are always in place, from conducting thorough research and trial simulation with the staff, to having medical doctors on standby.

He said celebrities are free to refuse the challenge and are not forced to do something against their will.

“With regards to convincing the challengers, thankfully we have a 10-year track record of exceptional success,” said Yokota, “so at this point, there’s really no need to convince anyone. The track record up until now does its own work to bring the people on board.”

Yokota lauded the passion of all the teams connected to the research and implementation of the challenges.

“There’s a healthy competition that they want their challenge or task to be the most entertaining and talked about,” Yokota proudly revealed. “They pour their heart and soul into it. Honestly, the internal competition within the program is pretty fierce.”