# The most sadistic show on televison **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 17, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248 "2004-12-17T01:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/41 "2004-12-17T18:14:46Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > No, the public televised executions come first. Yeah, but they only do crucifixions during sweeps. ---
**Author:** ![finette6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@finette6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finette6)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/42 "2004-12-17T18:15:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > No, the public televised executions come first. AWWWW! How come they only do crucifixions during sweeps?? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/43 "2004-12-17T18:22:33Z")
> [@finette6](#): > > AWWWW! How come they only do crucifixions during sweeps?? Because crucifixions take three or four days (if the legs are unbroken) for the contestent to die. They really can’t afford to spend that time on such a stunt during non-sweeps months, you know. ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/44 "2004-12-17T18:24:46Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Because crucifixions take three or four days (if the legs are unbroken) for the contestent to die. They really can’t afford to spend that time on such a stunt during non-sweeps months, you know. Not if you stab the crucifixee in the side with a spear. It seemed to work in that bible book. Only problem is they tend to come back as zombies in three days. ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/45 "2004-12-17T18:43:10Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > Dammit, I shouldn’t have met my father for the first time last year ☹ 1. Sign up, lie. 2. ??? 3. Profit! ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/46 "2004-12-17T18:44:43Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Fox already has Celebrity Boxing. Next step should be Celebrity Ultimate Fighting, then Celebrity Slaughter. Then Emirl Live or Iron Chef - can’t let all that good beef go to waste. I wonder if it would become an art to prepare Celebrity - much like Fugu Chefs need to avoid poison, you have go to around the implants … ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/47 "2004-12-17T18:46:04Z")
> [@Mynn](#): > > can’t let all that good beef go to waste. err … long pork ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/48 "2004-12-17T18:58:05Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > I say it in every one of these threads: Let’s just skip to the gladiatorial combat. We all know it’s coming. I object to this, on the grounds that I don’t want to see sentient humans killing each other. Politicians and network execs get a pass on this, of course. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/49 "2004-12-17T19:14:08Z")
> [@Mynn](#): > > Then Emirl Live or Iron Chef - can’t let all that good beef go to waste. > > I wonder if it would become an art to prepare Celebrity - much like Fugu Chefs need to avoid poison, you have go to around the implants … A friend of mine was saying that the trick isn’t actually avoiding all the poison, but putting a precisely controlled dose in the dish to give the diner a buzz without killing him. ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/50 "2004-12-17T19:31:32Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > A friend of mine was saying that the trick isn’t actually avoiding all the poison, but putting a precisely controlled dose in the dish to give the diner a buzz without killing him. Huh, I thought it was all mental macho brain stuff that gave the ‘buzz’. Your location scared the crap out of me, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/51 "2004-12-17T20:08:42Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > How did everyone feel about _Superstar!_ on WB? That’s the one where the contestents thought they were trying out for an American Idol -type show, but the big laugh ( :rolleyes: ) was that the producers were trying to find the worst of the worst. > Then, funny ha–ha (again, :rolleyes: ) they told the audience the contestents were cancer survivors so they wouldn’t be booed off the stage. Oh, I’d forgotten about that trainwreck. I felt the same way about that show that I feel about most practical jokes - that’s just plain mean. (As for the Strom Thurmond idea, I know there’s a “stiff” joke in there somewhere, I just can’t find it right now.) ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/52 "2004-12-17T20:25:00Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > (As for the Strom Thurmond idea, I know there’s a “stiff” joke in there somewhere, I just can’t find it right now.) Without a doubt, the would call the show **Lucky Stiff**. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/53 "2004-12-19T20:14:20Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > I say it in every one of these threads: Let’s just skip to the gladiatorial combat. We all know it’s coming. I happened to see this ludicrous _Fear Factor_ take off (_Facteur de risques_ or something) in which one of the stunts was to have needles of increasing size inserted into your arm. You know, I knew televising torture for entertainment was coming; I just wasn’t aware that people would volunteer. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/54 "2004-12-20T04:04:59Z")
The American reality TV shows are relatively benign compared to what Nippon Television has been up to. Google on Nasubi and Denpa Shonen. Denpa Shonen producers in Japan put contestant Nasubi naked in an empty room with water, a couple of pens and a pile of magazines, and left him to survive on his magazine contest winnings until his winnings totaled over $10,000.00 in prizes. They did not tell him that he was on TV, and later on the Internet 24/7. The ordeal lasted over a year. It took him a hungry couple of weeks to win some food. For the most part he won and ate rice. When the producers moved him to another empty room, they did not move his rice with him. At one point he subsisted on dog food. By the time he eventually won enough to be released, he was curled up into a ball, and had difficulty communicating. For his prize, he was taken to an amusement park in Korea, after which he was put naked into a Korean room and told to win his way back to Japan through winning more mail-in contests. Once he won enough, the producers raised the bar and made him win even more contests before bringing him back to Japan. Back in Japan, he was put naked into yet another room. The walls fell away, and he faced a television audience, where for the first time he was told that his ordeal had been on TV and the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/55 "2004-12-20T04:48:22Z")
> [@iggy popov](#): > > Hey I’m all up for a murder reality show. It would be a lot more realistic than all these other shows. You mean you missed out on [Series 7](http://www.series7movie.com/)? (make sure to turn your speakers down a notch first). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/56 "2004-12-20T07:29:43Z")
It’s a good thing **Luke Skywalker** didn’t sign up for this show… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/57 "2004-12-20T14:21:51Z")
> [@iggy popov](#): > > Making someone try and guess who their father is has got to be the most cruel idea for a show ever. Nah. Showing someone begging for their life before getting their head sawn off is more cruel. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/58 "2004-12-20T14:24:17Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Nah. Showing someone begging for their life before getting their head sawn off is more cruel. Yeah, because Al-Jazeera is just clamoring for the rights to air those as daily half-hour sitcoms… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248/59 "2004-12-20T14:51:08Z")
Well I sure hope they don’t get that right in Canada ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-sadistic-show-on-televison/280248.md?page=2)