By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
Takeshi’s Castle was an game show hosted by Beat Takeshi (the multi-talented Takeshi Kitano) and it ran on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from 1986 to 1990. The series was filmed at TBS’ Midoriyama Studios in Yokohama, Japan. The object of the game was to survive the various obstacles to storm the castle, owned by Count Takeshi, at the end. To the victor would go the spoils of 1 million Yen. But the castle was protected by Takeshi’s own private guard who tried to ensure no one would walk away with the Count’s money.
Years after its initial run, Takeshi’s Castle would be broadcast globally. In countries like the United Kingdom, it kept its namesake but was dubbed over with narration from Coronation Street and Red Dwarf actor Craig Charles. In the United States, characters in the series were dubbed over by actors. The series was spoofed using low brow humour under the name Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (later MXC). It would be broadcast and would become the flagship show for Spike TV.
Source(s): The Sukachan