The Real Truman Show

0:01 Hello, Bizarre story friends, if you are tuned in now, you are listening to The Bizarre AF, a place where we talk about the unusual, the strange, the unknown, and all things bizarre AF. I'm Alicia. I'm your Hostess for today's episode and as always, we ask that you keep an open mind. Keep a skeptical ear, but keep on listening to those facts as we take you on our newest journey, The real Truman Show. None.

0:58 Well hello Kevin, my Co host with the most. How are you, darling? I'm doing well. How is you today? I'm. I'm feeling good, I'm feeling good. It's cold today, girl. It's pretty chilly, but also we've been freaking me out. It's been, it's been a, it's been a series. I've it's been a series and I mean the last episode that we had. Mama need a break. Mama, need a break. I was like, I'm like Kevin. Like after the Project Blue Beam episode, I was like, Kevin, maybe we should just try something a little bit lighter. Like we ended that episode thinking, OK, we're gonna do something a little lighter, right? And then what do you come out with exactly? I gotta do my alien shit girl I love. It yeah, yeah, exactly.

1:43 I'm like, this is not light. I'm not gonna be able to sleep. What the? Hell, and now this one sounds super fun. It's gonna be really fun and it's definitely a kind of a little bit different than what we've been doing, which has. Been like super quirky, not super quirky serious. I mean, it is serious, but it's just a different serious, A serious so. Deep and scary. Yeah, it's it's not. So like we have no idea what's going on. And this is like the. Answers. Government, why are you fucking with us? Yeah, it's, it's a little bit different. So, you know, I did call this the real Truman Show. Now, do you remember that movie, The Truman Show?

2:24 Oh, 100%. Yeah, OK, So what do you remember about The Truman Show? That it was a large environment that was fictitious. That this baby was born who knew no different. And when he was born, he just thought he was being raised. And well, unbeknownst to him, that everybody in his world were actors. And while it was all improv, they had scripts to they had, you know, goals that they had to achieve. And he was being filmed 24/7 for his entire life until one day he realizes it's not real. Yes, He pulls the He pulls the what the He looks behind the curtain and he sees, Oh my God, this is not normal and someone's people have been actually trying. To I would shit myself like if tomorrow, like you said, Kevin, this whole time I've just been an actor and you're your whole life has been nothing but broadcast for the real world. Right.

3:30 And all of these like hardships that you've gone through, the beautiful things that you've gone through, the people that say that they love you and care for you, they actually are getting paid. They're paid actors. Oh my God. They're paid actors. So like, oh, you thought that granddad died, you know, 20 years ago? No, we just could not negotiate an adequate salary contract. Sag, sag, sag contract. Yeah, exactly. Right. And even just like knowing like like so, so that movie was like in the 90s, like late 90s, right, that it'd come out. Jim Carrey stars in it. And it is about that guy, the guy who like kind of lives in it. He lives on a set and he doesn't really leave, no.

4:14 And they give him reasons why he can't. Yes, to keep him contained. Yeah, yeah. And everything that he thinks is real really isn't. It's like, it's like backdrops and. And even the sun isn't real. The sun's not real. Oh my God, it's wild. It's wild. And I like, I think everyone who after you watch that movie, you're like, am I on the right? Right, right. Like you're even like Oh my God, if I found that out. It's kind of like the matrix, right? You go yes. Matrix. Am I in the Matrix? Exactly. It's one of those things where you're like, it kind of blows your mind on like what perception, what reality is. So in the late 90s, the late 1990s, a man found out that he was actually exactly that. Yeah.

4:59 So this is a really the golden age of television. More and more people are tuning in, like, like the late 90s, right? More and more people are tuning in to television shows like Seinfeld. And in 1998, there was the debut of, like, That 70s Show, Willing Grace. And we're really in the infancy of what is known as today, reality television. But there was one place that, well, OK, excuse me, Actually, you know, we did have some reality television here in the United States. MTVMTV was one of the. Yeah. There was the true Life show that came out that same year in 1998.

5:41 Real World. OK, That was a huge show. What was your favorite your favorite Real World? I remember the first one, the first cast. That's the only one I remember. Gotcha. But I I was so iconic. It was so iconic. That show is so iconic. Yeah, it had. What was it? It was like it was a bunch of people and. Yeah, yeah. You know, young people, Yeah. Living in a apartment. In a new city that they're not from. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Like if you were to show me a line up, I could probably point their faces out even. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy how I remember it. It was. It was a cultural phenomena. Yes. And now it's now Big Brother is like it's a Big Brother. It's Big Brother.

6:25 It's Big Brother. And because Real World was initially like a, it was a shoot for like, I don't know, maybe six months, maybe that amount of time is probably actually closer to three. But it's like these are all young people who, you know, either they wanted to be stars or they had something, they're artists or whatever. They had their entire life ahead of them and they're really trying to gain something, just be on television in some way. My favorite cast was actually the New Orleans cast. OK. That was my fave. And they did a like a call back. They did a reunion special. Really. Yeah. And I fucking watched all of it. There are some problematic folks in that one. But like, they're like, they're always are, right? Like we know often times, like in the beginning with the real world, they did not plan or there wasn't as much control over the shoreline.

7:17 It was just really documentary. Let it go. Yeah, let it go. Let's let's like film the conversations these people have. Let's, you know, let's create some some things for them to do. But really, it wasn't, it wasn't like the scripted reality stuff that we are used to today. Well, in the 19 late 1990s, there was a man who found out that, yeah, he was going to be a part of this Truman Show. And he, you know, while we're just starting to gain some steam here in the US there or in Japan, it was a very different ball game. OK? Japan always knows how to set trends, don't they? Well, they're. They're always, from a technology perspective, are always ahead of us.

8:01 Always ahead of the curve. Yes, absolutely. You know, they know how to set trends, they know how to read them. They're really like embracing this new idea of technology, whether it's, you know, different uses of technology or even like even new forms of entertainment, right, which a lot of technology does. So ultimately there the beginning of reality television, I think, and the way that we know of like Real Housewives, etcetera, started in Japan and it was Japanese game shows. Oh, OK, do. You have you heard of any Japanese game shows? Yeah, You know which one I really love is, I can't remember the name of it, but it's almost like, do you ever see Wipeout in the United States?

8:53 They have the one in Japan. That's where it started. Yeah, that's where it started exactly. I fucking loved watching those. And plus what they would do, which made it even funnier, is they would overdub it in English but with Japanese accents and say stuff that they really weren't saying, which made it amazing. So funny. So funny, yeah, but yes, that those I, I remember the kind of the wild wackadoo game shows, right, were kind of like their thing, right? Yeah, and it wasn't like a game show like like we're used to here, right? Jeopardy, it wasn't. It was like extreme sports. And people like doing these tests that are honestly, who the hell is going to win them?

9:39 It's it's really meant to make people kind of fail. Yes, because that's yes, exactly. Because it's funny. That's the funny part. And who? Like oftentimes, you know, who are the people who apply for these? It's not like you know a normal person who has to work for, you know, a living. Exactly. It's put somebody who needs money, who's willing to do whatever they want, need. Yes, yeah. And, and, and they're paid right, handsomely for it or, or handsomely to these people, right? So the show that I'm going to talk about today is Sunsu Denpa Sholen, which actually translates. And you know, I know it's not that great, but whatever it translates to, do not proceed. Crazy youth.

10:20 OK, that's the show. This was in 1998 and the show is actually known for extreme situations. So and did sorry so did this show in 1998? Was this the first episode or was this like it just getting it was now popular? It was starting, it was, it was really starting to become popular, so. It had been on before that it. Had been on, I believe it had been on a little bit before that, yeah. But this is we're, we're going to join it when it's really, really taking. Off, yeah. So the show's actually known for extreme situations that the participants were placed in, like we were just talking about, right? It gained really high ratings and actually even spawned a sister show.

11:00 But it was controversial because it was the challenges were sadistic. Ultimately, you know, they, the, the challenges were made by television producers, right? Which now we understand that they're really calling the shots and trying to make specific things happen. And, and they would change these challenges for the show's participants if the participants live were doing too well. So if it was an almost impossible task. And they were doing well. They're like, well, let's change it up. You know what?

11:41 I know you're trying to walk on a tightrope now you're going to walk on floss or whatever. You know, like it's like we're going to really make it. Oh my God, difficult for. You we really do want you to fail. We want you to fail. Like that's what why people are watching. They want to see people fail, right? And there's like this idea within within Japanese culture that it's like the Yomada Yomada or Japanese spirit. And so, you know, Japanese people are very determined to succeed. There's a lot of pride in, in succeeding. So it's like this is almost like the perfect group to to get to do that. Like now we have like Ninja Warrior or whatever. And it's like, OK, you have Americans, they know what they've been training for it or whatever. You know, you're not going to pull someone off, pluck them off their fucking couch and be like, OK, try to do this like, you know, ridiculous thing, but you have a captive audience in the Japanese people.

12:36 Makes perfect perfect sense because they're they, like you said, are so into perfection when they don't see someone not it's captive audience. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And yeah, the audience is like, oh, we never see the side of people, right. People have this like front and and that's like a very cultural thing. It's been that way for a while. And not only are we not used to seeing this as an audience, participants have this fighting spirit and this like determination within them. Because they do not want. To they don't want to fail, they don't want to fail. They they want to win in a way that I can't fucking understand. If that were me, I'd be like, fuck you, I'm competitive. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

13:20 Talk about competitive. Talk about like, you know, feeling so much shame and social pressure if you do lose right within the culture. So so this show, like I said, there was a lot of, you know, issues within it because these challenges were sadistic and these producers were really making them even harder. So the show received a lot of criticism for some of the segments just being staged. It was just straight up staged. Like I said, it was so in popular. It was actually the largest show in Japan at the time, and people watched it like us, Americans.

14:03 Well, maybe not US specifically, but like a lot of Americans watch the Super Bowl, right? It's like it's like this event, right? Can I? I'm embarrassed. Please tell me, are you a Super Bowl fan? No. I thought that was what you're embarrassed about. No, no, although we you know, we watch cause of the commercials. Sure. Oh of that's one reason to fucking watch it. No, what I'm embarrassed about, Oh my God. So I'm embarrassed about two things. Real Housewives of New Jersey. You love it. Fucking love it, love it, loved it like the original. Right.

14:46 Yeah, cast. Oh my God, couldn't wait to watch that nightmare. It's a train wreck. Train wreck awful people behaving terribly like why do I want to watch this? It's terrible. And then Big Brother. I love Big Brother. Yeah, I I saying I it's so entertaining. Why? Why? That's a really good question. It's a shameful. I think, I think there's some escapism going on, right? OK. That that, yeah, probably. So you might see like a housewife and you're like, Oh my God, they have like all of these things, all whatever they seem like it like everything's together and like you really see they're a fucking train wreck, right?

15:33 Also their train wreck is like your problems hurt nothing compared to their dumb ass right you. Look at them. You go, what are you? What are you complaining about, you cow? Exactly, exactly, exactly. It's it's ridiculous and it's like Big Brother, it's like these are people who are trying to win being cutthroat and being, you know, shady and shady as hell. But you know why they're being shady. We have to deal with shady people every day and you don't know why. So this I mean it makes sense why? You love it. They I love it well, and why they love it, why they were into this show, watching it so much. Well, yeah, yeah. Like these, you know, 1 yes, it was definitely like just kind of escaping into something, but this was also the beginning of something that had not this was there were it was brand new. There was nothing that was like a a reality show. Like I said, real world was kind of like that, but they didn't really stage anything at this point in time. It was mainly just watching conversations, more kind of documentary style and.

16:42 Japan wasn't doing any kind of real world stuff, were they? No. No, no, they weren't really. And so, so it's like this is really, we're at the precipice of something brand new. So, you know, we want to see just like a new episode of Friends. We didn't have a ton of television shows to watch. That was such a huge one. People queued up and would have watch parties at bars and stuff like that, right? It was just, it was just that was kind of the idea of this show. My God. OK, keep going. I cannot wait to understand more about this show. Yes. So the show was really unlike anything people had seen. It was exciting, and it was real young people who were often budding comics or artists or folks who just got out of college and were really looking to start their life.

17:33 And of course, these people are fun to watch because they're still like, kind of forming their ideas of the world and are often naive and willing to do anything for a little bit of cash, Right? Yep. Perfect. Group perfect. I kept on thinking of shows like The Real World, where a motley of people from different backgrounds come together and experience a new town. For a few months it just kept on coming in and I'm like, OK, that's kind of similar to what we're dealing with. But back to Japan. It's they were just interested in game shows. That was like super fucking popular. And reality TV, as I said, had not happened yet. It really hadn't hit hit. So we didn't have shows to compare what this show was. Sue, Sue Snow, Denpa Shoen.

18:19 Essentially each game, game, game had a monetary prize attached to it. OK, So it was within this show there were multiple players. So it wasn't everyone's competing for the same prize. It was multiple storylines competing for different cash prizes and they had different rules. Were they competing against each other? Sometimes there would be a competition against another person but mainly it was like a one-on-one. So you got like camera time with one person? Right. So they were kind of competing with themselves like it was their own competition. It wasn't like some group challenge. Yes, it wasn't as much of a group challenge. Yeah, OK, so, so like I said, it had a monetary prize. And because it was so popular, you had a ton of of young people who were trying to get their break and become famous, and they flocked the show Despite that sadistic nature. They knew that these games were rigged against them, but they still went of course and tried because they wanted of course. They wanted.

19:23 Yeah, exactly. They won the airtime, Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, the show, like I said, it was multiple segments and this, these were filmed over the span of months. It wasn't just like a weekly one in one out game show. It was like you saw these contestants from day one of the competition and then the footage would be edited through the end of the competition. So it would just be a segment within the show. So I'll give you a couple of examples and then we'll go into our actual episode that were segment. So there was one where two comedians. So this is two people who were put on a desert island. A deserted island with no food and no clue about where they were. In the middle of nowhere, they were told that their ordeal would finish if they built a raft and then reached Tokyo from where they were OK, which they don't know. Where the hell they?

20:16 Had no idea where Tokyo is. Right in relation to where they are, right. So after their escape from the the deserted island, it took them four months, by the way. To get off the island. Yes, and to build. They had no food. And they had no food, no nothing. They were they. The only thing that they were given was like a little, I think it was like a paddle, and we're told to reach Tokyo with it. Oh my God. And they did it, and then they. Yes. And then they reached India. They went from India to Indonesia with that same paddle. OK, So we're talking a game show that's like over four months in length for these people who are contestants.

20:59 Yeah, it's like Big Brother. It's like, it's like Big Brother. It's like a long duration strategy game. Yeah, only you don't know what the rules are going to be until you're there, right? Right, that's the that's the difference. Like a survivor. Yes, it's very similar to Survivor. Yeah, yeah. And this was. In this example. Exactly. This was before Survivor too, right? So there's another one where a comedian and radio DJ from Hong Kong, excuse me, from Hong Kong, hitchhiked from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to the North Cape in Norway. And it was actually two people who did this right. How did he get to Norway from South Africa? Well, that's the thing.

21:46 It's like they don't give 2 anythings about how you do it. They're going to have a camera crew and they're going to film how you do it. But and these these contestants were forbidden to use their travel money, so they couldn't use any money that they had. I'm lost, how did this happen? Well, you'll have to tune in to find out that's, that was, that's the hook, right? It's like that's the hook. So they, so these guys, they couldn't use any money to travel. They couldn't use any money to eat like. So they actually faced starvation and dehydration and harsh weather conditions. OK, so at one point, one of the guys actually collapsed in the Sahara Desert and was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment. Jesus Christ.

22:30 And this was in 1998, before all of the. Yeah. The Survivors and the rat, those other hardcore shows, yeah. Yeah. So those were two. Here's another one. There was actually, there was a segment that tested the loyalties of diehard fans of Central League teams, which I believe the Central League is baseball teams. So it's two different teams and the OR three different teams and the contestants would be confined to a single room with a TV. They only showed their teams baseball games, so their faces would also be hidden from public view, and if their team won, they got to eat dinner and a small portion of their face would be revealed to the audience. If their team lost, they would get no food and the lights would turn out, leaving them in darkness until the next day's game.

23:20 So if the contestant's favorite team went on a win streak, the quality of food they would eat would increase as the win streak gained, as well as public exposure and and popularity due to their entire face being shown. So like the whole public could see it? I know. So a losing shrink would mean that the contestant would go days in the dark without food. OK so at the end of the season the contestant would win an overall prize to spend depending on how their team placed. So it's pretty hardcore, right? This hardcore. Yeah, it's really kind of akin to the shock reality show that we know about. And I I'm going to actually place show in quotations because, you know, it really was kind of torturous, right? And we're going to talk about the most famous one the most not just famous, but infamous.

24:13 Infamous. Of this. Show. Show of of this show's seasons. Segment game yeah, that's a it's a good question. I don't know how you like this is like the most infamous one, the biggest one, the one that everyone was shocked by and by the way one person was fucking airlifted out of the Sahara Desert and this one, this one beat. It and so did this. So the one that we're going to be talking about is this, how long was it another like a three month or? We're gonna talk about the length. Great. Okay, great. Okay, great.

24:54 Yeah, yeah, yeah, like get on, get ready because Big Brother here we come. Big Brother has nothing on this one. Okay great, so we're so this one's actually called Denpa show Showen's prize life. OK so enter Tamaki Hamatsu who is a budding stand up comedian in his early 20s, which the perfect victim right it. Seems like all of these stand up comics are doing this show. They want some celebrities, some kind of fame. They're hungry, quite honestly hungry and they want to be contestant AKA victim really. So he actually answered the casting call from the show and played up his like funny and goofy side for the cameras. So really the idea behind this is, well, one, there was a huge culture around Japanese sweepstakes in magazines. Have you heard of like this at all? Of course not.

25:55 Like, because I hadn't even heard of it. So at this time, Japanese sweepstakes within magazines were massive. So you would buy a magazine and they'd have various sweepstakes that you could enter and they would give you legitimate prizes. Anything like you could actually win it Publishers Clearing House, but like nobody won Publishers Clearing House, right? This is like if it were actually something you could win. Excuse me, I was swallowing when you said that. So you could actually win something. And this could be anything from like, I don't know, gosh, a glass like glassware to shampoo to, you know, car tires or whatever.

26:36 OK. So yeah, OK, got it. So there were winner, there were many winners. Yes. And typically it was used as like a promotional within these magazines, but there were a ton of them. So within magazines you you could enter to win anything. So anything you want, there's a prize for it. So Tomaki Hamatsu was actually placed in a small apartment with running water, heat, etcetera. He was naked, by the way, with a stack of magazines, envelopes, stamps, pens, and was challenged to enter mail in sweepstakes until he won ¥1 million, which was about $8000.

27:19 OK in prices. Stop. Yes. So the beginning of this, this we'll call, we'll call it a series, for lack of a better term, yeah, was him being dropped into an apartment naked. This is how it all starts. Yes, Yep. And they say here are some magazines, envelopes, pins and stamps. You're going to go submit as many of these as you can until you win X amount of money and then then we're done. Yeah, then then you're done and you win a cash prize, which. So his whole lot in life at this point is entering sweepstakes and he has to stay naked the whole time. So the.

28:09 Whole idea is or the idea behind the game was let's see what will happen if someone has to win everything like they are given nothing. What can they get like from these magazine sweepstakes? So they put him in a room. The now the room, like I said, it does have. I'm not sure. I did say it. Yeah, no, I did. It has like running water. It has a toilet. It has like a sink. It has a stove. It's it's honestly like a tiny because you know how small it is in Japan, of course, tiny a room. It's it's a room. It's a tiny studio apartment. And he has like a maybe a table and like a something to sleep on.

28:55 OK, that's all he has. There's nothing, nothing else. There's not even, not even like a cup, there's no utensils, nothing like that. Got it. OK. And they say naked because. You get nothing. You get nothing. You get nothing. And what fucking interesting, what an interesting storyline for this new contestant, right? So, so like I said, he his idea is, or the idea is like you're going to enter these sweepstakes, like riding everything in to win ¥1 million, which was like about $8000. And he's cut off. Starts with nothing. Worth of stuff 'cause it's not necessarily. The monetary value, yeah. So he's he's naked and was starts with nothing was cut off from any outside communication, television broadcasting, no outside interaction, just the magazines that he was given. But the apartment I'm sure has full of cameras, 'cause they're going to walk, they're going to record this shit, yes, and he knows there's cameras in there.

30:00 He knows that there's cameras in there. Yeah, he knows that there are cameras in there. And there's also even like a personal camcorder that he would like set up and have like. OK, like a little diary. Kind of, yeah. So the show is 00 and another, another quick roll is that you're not locked in. He can leave whenever he wants. So the doors unlocked, he can choose to leave at any time. Oh, if he decides I'm done, just walk out the door. Yes, but if he walks out the door, he's done. Right, right. He wins nothing. The show's not going to be televised. All this BS, right? And this guy's trying to be famous, right? So this show was televised, right?

30:44 And because he was naked, they had to try to find a way to censor his nudity. And guess what they censored it with? The just the granular bars, the granular little pixelations. So they had new technology and they used an eggplant. So they covered his junk with an eggplant with an. Eggplant. OK, an animated eggplant. Hilarious. Does it remind you of anything? Emoji. Exactly, exactly. This is in the late 90s, right? And so it's where the eggplant emoji came.

31:25 From. This is where it came from, God. Yeah. That's holy. So when people use it as that, Yeah. What? Right. Cuz like at first I was like, kind of like like also. Where did this come from? Yeah, it's from this show. That's where it came from. So you learn something new every day, right? Anyways, Hamatsu actually lived in front of the cameras and there were multiple ones like you were saying, set up in the room with him as well as a camera that he could talk to. Nobody was on the receiving end of the cameras. It was just him talking to one, talking to a camera. So he wasn't communicating back and. Forth. Yeah, yeah, sure. It was the beginning, like you said, a diary or confessional in these later reality shows.

32:05 So this was really before that kind of thing happened. Yeah. So initially he was being told that it was going to be recorded for a future broadcast. OK. But once all the footage and once all the footage had been like compiled together, it would be released in like 4 months or whatever the case may be. Yeah. But in reality, the Experiment Experiment was being live streamed, with footage compiled and re aired each week. Like Big Brother. Like Big Brother. He didn't know that. He had no idea and this is even with sound effects which we will hear some of that today, which were present at frequent intervals. And that's where they use that new technology to have a 24/7 television to show him live using a joystick. So you could like tune into his Cam and see him live at any time from any.

33:01 He didn't even know this was. Happening. He had no clue, they never told him any of this stuff, and they used a joystick to move this animation of an eggplant around to follow him as he's moving around in this tiny apartment or sleeping or whatever. Sure, pretty messed up. So since he didn't have any food or like literally anything in the room but these magazines, the production staff and their infinite wisdom and kindness decided that it was OK to give him a few a few crackers every day. Oh, that's. So sweet, So. Sweet, so sweet because there is a lag time also between, you know, when he starts sending out.

33:45 All of these, the letters and letters, yes. And when he receives the prizes, so they just give him like crackers in order to kind of get through it that he's not having real meals. OK, so so we're talking about he was, we're talking about this like random. It's also a random selection of whether or not he even wins these fucking sweepstakes. Because he's like anybody, any other submitter. Right, he could be. He could be along with, like, I don't know, thousands of people and they, he has to be one of the lucky few who actually wins the sweepstakes. And these sweepstakes are selected at random, so you never know when it's going to happen. So eventually Hamatsu actually won some sugary drinks from his sweepstakes entries and those crackers that they and their infinite infinite wisdom give him were no longer given to him.

34:37 OK, so he's. Because he's winning something. Because he's starting to win things and we're actually like, like they were helping him and the idea was he had to be super self-sufficient and win everything himself. OK, OK, so he's starving. This guy's literally starving on live television and people are just tuning the fuck in. How entertaining. I know. And so so it's like as this is happening, you start seeing him from episode 1. Oh my God, do you see him withering away? Yes. You see him totally withering away. He's getting smaller and smaller. No. Yeah. And so, so like, they gave him some crackers, but like, what is that going to do for a 23 year old? You know, like they're burning so many damn calories.

35:20 So he's losing weight, losing weight. His hair's growing longer. He can't, can't shave, right, because he doesn't have a razor like he doesn't. So he's not in great shape, right? That seems so scary. It's so scary and it seems illegal. It different culture. Different culture but also like how is this not seen as torture? Different culture. Different time. Different time. Yeah, different, we'll say, different time, because something does come from it. OK, so he wins those sugary drinks and so he doesn't have the crackers anymore that he was given every day.

36:01 And once again, when people are giving him things or interacting, they are not talking to him. They are told to not talk to him. Just dropping him off at the door. 100% or putting in whatever the case may because they also had like he had sometimes where he needed to switch a tape in one of the cameras where it's like he was just like brought the, the, the tape, the tape and nothing said to him. There are very strict rules about not interacting with him. OK, so he won those sugary drinks. Then he wins a bag of rice, which was amazing because he wasn't, you know, he didn't have any. Food he can cook. The rice he has. Water he has. Water exactly, but he didn't quite literally have a pot to cook it in.

36:45 Oh fuck yeah, Yeah. So what did he do? He had to eat it raw initially. Shit, of course. Yeah, yeah. So. So initially he had to eat it raw. And once again, people are just tuning in. They love it. They're watching it. He he did discover he fashioned a makeshift heating container with a discarded bag that he got from, you know, the prizes that he was winning. So he was actually able to cook food, cook the rice in this bag by placing it next to a lit stove. Because he didn't have a pot, he couldn't just put the bag on top of the stove. Right, he had to slowly warm it. Slowly.

37:28 Slowly warm it with the water, yeah, until it just absorbed and he could eat it. Yeah, how long does that take? Oh my. God forever, yeah. Exactly. So I'm actually going to show you our first clip. OK, so like I said, he did not have any food and this is when he is starting to win some of the food prizes. But I'm going to show some of the some of his reactions to it. Like once again, he's not. He's in a room by himself. So here it is. He's opening up like a bag. Of something chips. Yeah, it looks like it. Oh, he's smelling it.

38:09 And he's really hamming it up, right? Yeah, it does, yeah. And he doesn't. Oh, he's so happy. He's eating the chips slowly and savoring it. Look at his eyes rolling back into the back of his head. Yeah, and it says I opened my mouth widely, put potato chips in my mouth, and something in my body broke and went away from my body. I felt. So good. Delicious blonde description. Oh, bless his heart. So he then wins something else. Oops, that's fine, it's fine.

38:51 It was just more food and it was just showing how, like, thankful he was kept. Getting food. Yeah, well, he didn't keep on getting it, but when he did get it, it was like, thank God. So appreciate it. So, so nice because it's something he could actually fucking eat because he wasn't getting any food, right? So he's literally starving. I mean, from that, and we'll have a longer clip within our show notes, but you can see him going through like receiving this food and like being so thankful. Was he hamming it up a little bit for the cameras? Sure, I'm sure he was. But. I can only imagine skidding stuff, food, like not having food and then getting fucking potato chips or I don't know, those look like little boxes of ramen that he was getting out. Who knows?

39:40 Oh my God, like that would be I I just equated to being starving on a desert island and then finally getting potato chips or food or something. And you it's orgasmic. It's orgasmic and he does like, like you said, his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. It was, thank God. If it were me, I'd be like, oh, I'm like scarfing. Yeah, I wouldn't have been like been all. He was all gentle and savoring. I've been like. Yeah, well, and, and also from the footage, it's like, you see, he's very skinny and he's still naked at that point in time. Yeah. So he doesn't, you know, he doesn't have any clothes on and he looks incredibly, you know, gaunt and his hair was getting longer because he doesn't have a way to cut it. So he's not cutting his hair and he's not shaving his face. He doesn't have a razor, right?

40:31 Sure. So he's looking kind of crazy, but he's still entering these contests right at. Least he's winning something. And this guy, like we were saying, he's literally starving before the cameras, which is disgusting. And when you're starving, you really eat anything you can get, of course, right? So having a preference for like specific food or dietary restrictions doesn't matter, goes out the window. So when he wins dog kibble and can. He wins dog kibble. What does he do? He eats it. Yeah, of course. He eats it. Of course. And at this point, he actually no longer had the bag of rice and it becomes his main source of food.

41:16 OK, what? Does. The dog. Food, the dog food. OK. Yeah, so the dog kibble, really, because he got a massive bag of dog food. OK. So after winning, he then wins. All these prizes are coming in for whatever he's winning, 'cause he's literally entering everything, everything, every single thing from day in, day out. All he's doing is filling out these things, mailing it out, filling them out, mailing them out. So these things are coming in. One of the things that he wins is a stuffed toy in this sweepstakes. Oh, hello clothes. Clothes would be. That's actually a great idea. But his brain's not working normally, right? And he's probably, he's been naked for a very long time at at this point.

41:59 I mean, clothes aren't as big of a need as maybe interaction, like some kind of human interaction. Oh my God, Wilson. One you, you went, you hit the nail on the head. Wilson, like Wilson the the volleyball, he wins a stuffed toy in the sweepstakes and he carried on conversations with it as his sensei as it was his only sort of interaction. So he has a stuffed animal that he like, talks to and oh. My God, how heartbreaking it's. Heartbreaking. Yeah, this guy's naked. Rather than cutting it up and using it for something useful, he wants to find some kind of comfort.

42:45 Yeah, terrible. It's so sad. So he actually never wins any kind of clothing. The only thing that's close to it that he could actually wear were ladies underwear and they were way too small for him to even use. He of course he probably tried, but he also didn't win anything to trim his facial hair and fingernails or beard. So he did win other prizes that he was unable to use, but still that monetary value. Oh sure, keeps getting up. So one of them he won was like movie tickets. And then he also won a bicycle, and he actually adapted the bicycle into a stationary bike he found a way to make. A stationary bike, yeah.

43:28 I mean, or just like something different to do right, I guess, yeah. It's not like you have the energy to do that. Right, he's like, he's like, I just want to do something different instead of like laying down cuz once again, he when he was not entering like these sweepstakes. Wow, he was sleeping off the room. Yeah, that's how he's doing. He's sleeping to do. And you don't have any energy because you are quite literally starving. So you're trying to conserve any energy you have for that. It's super inhumane. So he, like I said, he adapted the bike into a stationary bike. And then he won a television set. And at first he was unable to use it because there were no cables or antenna hookup in the apartment, which was actually intentional by the producers.

44:15 Sure, because they didn't want him to know. Him to know what was happening. That he was already on TV. Of course, right. Yeah. So later on he would actually win a PlayStation game and a copy of the train similar simulator game which also accompanied the controller needed to play it. So this show, like I said, the show was insanely popular to the point that every single Japanese household was tuning in. They we were fighting for him. They're like he has nothing. He's also. I bet the products he was winning oh probably was like, oh, I want one of those or let's get some that looks good or. It was like free advertisement.

44:59 I mean, in in retrospect, it would have been a great idea, right? But that's not what was going on. They were just trying in whatever capacity that they could to actually, he was just trying to win. So everyone's tuning in. It is like the hot thing to watch. And mainly they are tuning in to see him for his segment. Nobody's tuning in for the guys who are hitchhiking up to, you know, and getting medevac evac D up. They're falling in love with him as a person and they're rooting for him. They want him to win against all odds, right? Because that's exactly what he's facing. So with that, people were trying to find out where the hell he was based on his surroundings.

45:40 They know he's in an apartment somewhere, so producers were actually forced to find a new place for. Because people were drilling in on it How? That's crazy. Oh, they were like looking there saying, oh, this looks very similar to an apartment that, you know, I see I lived in or someone I knew lived in. They said it's in this area. So like people are zoning in on where he's at. Oh, and they had to move him. They had to move him because he was not done and this was like their number one show. They can't. He's the star of the show. He doesn't even know it because he doesn't think that it's being. Right. But he's the star. They have to try to keep him, you know, out in the dark, essentially, because if he knew how popular he was and he was already being televised, it could potentially change the way he's interacting with a. 100% the camera 100%.

46:29 Yeah, and you'd be like, Oh, well, I'm just gonna leave, I'm gonna step out because remember, that door's unlocked at all times, and he's chosen due to that Japanese, like, fighting spirit, right? He doesn't even think this is a thing at this point. He hasn't. He's like. I'm in a finish the show and then I'm gonna leave. He doesn't know that it's being live. Like they're live editing it and and there's a Cam at all times to watch him. So like people aren't just watching him from the television show. They're also watching like him from the actual cams that are set up in different areas. So they have to find a new space from the original location because people are zeroing in. And so Hamas was actually transported blindfolded and far away from the original location.

47:15 So they they uncover his eyes, they move him, uncover his eyes, and he's then in a very similar apartment, OK, along with all of his previously 1 possessions. So they moved everything that he had in that. So it's like it's just a new box. It's a new, essentially a new box. So when Hamatsu questioned if he had completed the challenge, he was told because he was like, I don't, he couldn't keep track of how much money it was, but he's like, surely I'm kind of close to it. And remember, nobody's told to interact with him. He's just being like blindfolded in these like vans.

47:58 He doesn't know where he's going. They said, you know what? They don't answer his question. He was actually told instead that there was a change of space to to this new address to, to give him better luck. That's like the reason that they said that they're moving him. OK. So once again, he's like sweepstakes writing day in, day out to keep going. Yeah. Talking to a stuffed animal because he had no interaction with the outside world. And he's lonely as hell and starting to go a little fucking crazy. Production moves him again after a long streak of misfortune in his entries, so he's like. Now he's not winning anything. He's.

48:39 Winning nothing. Nothing's coming in. Oh God. In reality, really, it's because they're trying to make this fucking show a little bit more interesting. Because he's not winning anything, so they don't. He doesn't have anything to be like. Oh, this is like, oh, right, So now it's getting boring. So now it's getting boring, so they're trying to change it up because it's the most popular thing to watch. Sure. So like, OK, we're going to bring him to a new, we're going to stick with the script as far as he has to win everything. We're going to move him to to a different location. So in this new space, his TV set actually becomes useful because he later won a VCR which could be used with the with the two previous tapes that he had won. So he'd want one like 2 movies at this point and he would later win that a PlayStation.

49:25 So he would actually end up playing this game for multiple days straight. So now they're people are watching him play a game. Right. Why is he doing that? Fucking comfort. I don't know, like, like he's been, he's not eating anything. He's eating dog food. For what else does? That fuck sake. Exactly, exactly. So ultimately, he actually has the fortitude within himself to say I need to stop playing this game, I need to continue my goal of trying to. Oh he now he's wasting his time playing a game when he should have been entering sweepstakes. Yeah, 'cause then that's the only way for him to get out. But remember, the doors unlocked, yeah?

50:05 He could just leave. At any time. But he doesn't leave. He. Doesn't do it. Yeah, fascinating. Super fascinating. So he stops himself and he just continues to enter the sweepstakes collecting donations and and he really just trying to achieve that ¥1 million like money. So after winning a set of four car tires around ¥84,000, which was about 614 or $41.00 in 2024, he actually closed upon his goal. He finally reached the ¥1 million.

50:45 Yes. And he that was actually like, at this point in time, it was 335 days after the start of the challenge. Fucking room for a year. Yeah, yeah. Holy shit, fire. I know, yeah. So a year he has been entering into things, not interacting with people. He doesn't really know what's going on in the outside world. He can't like, call his parents or like, you know, he doesn't. There is no interaction but this. But they. Are watching him.

51:25 Everyone's watching him, everyone's watching him. So after so he was eventually like given or told about his victory. He's like, OK, you won. Here's a here's your clothes back. We're going to blindfold you again and we're going to take you to a surprise location. So at that time, he's like, Oh my God, I finally won. You know, like he's been working towards this for a year and his brain's kind of fucking mush because he's not had a human interaction. So he's kind of thankful for any kind of interaction that he's going to have. So he was he happy, He happily went along and he was, he believed that he was going to be getting a special prize for his year of hard work.

52:15 OK. Well, he he was supposed to win something for accomplishing this goal anyway, right? Yeah, but it's like a it's, he doesn't really know what he's going to win. Oh. My God. OK. Right. And it's been a year. Wouldn't you be thinking like what the fuck? A girl a year. Right a year like I'd be like fuck this shit A. Year. A year is. Forever. Of not eating warm in a box in a box in a box good of. God Almighty. Where all you have to talk to is a stuffed animal. Insane. It's insane. That's insane. And they're like, I mean, even if he did decide to leave, like that was a concern with production, with the production staff, like, what are they going to do?

52:57 They were going to try to find a way to keep him there because once again, they are the top show in Japan. They want to keep him there as long as possible. Good God. So he was like, OK, I'm going to get the special prize. And the producers actually knew that he loved Korean barbecue. And so they decided that this would be a stunt to give him his favorite food. Also, he was so well known in Japan that if he were spotted anywhere, people would second recognize him. He has now at this point, he has long hair like, like we're talking close to like the length of my hair currently.

53:39 And he would have been spotted anywhere that he wants. They couldn't do anything in Japan. They couldn't like give him his prize in Japan or like or take him to another location within Japan because they would know who he was. And then where'd we get out where he was? So they actually took him to, to Korea and he was given a day at the Seoul Land amusement park where he was able to enjoy his Korean barbecue and ride on the parks multiple attractions, which he you could see footage of this. It's going to be in in the link that we're providing. There are multiple shots of him, you know, enjoying this and he's just happy and he's eating and it's, it's almost like everything's OK now.

54:24 Like he's like, oh, OK, finally. Now he doesn't think about like. Fuck you all I got. Food. Yeah, I'm just happy, right so. No. Where's this going? After he finishes this day, he's actually taken to another apartment. OK. OK. So 335 days later and Hamatsu was once again asked to take off his clothes and challenged to enter sweepstakes. Why didn't he tell them to go fucking fuck off?

55:06 You remember that Yamato spirit like later he is quoted as saying. Like that's the only thing I can say. I have some theories which I'll show later or I'll share later, but. Why did he? Why? Well OK, so you have your entire life at this point. He does not understand what it's like to be out in the world for a fucking year. OK. His whole reality is entering sweepstakes. So when they say hey, you should enter another sweepstakes, they didn't know he was going to be OK with it. But he ends up this time they say, OK, here there's. So he's now he's just being subservient and saying it's almost like he was. It's almost like Stockholm.

55:47 It's like, yes, right, I'll do what you yes. Yeah, anything, anything like then you start seeing your captors as, you know, as someone who has like your best interest at heart, right? When in reality, they don't. They don't have. This is sick. It's super sick. That's why I was saying like, this is not going to be like the the happiest of stories. But it's a bizarre thing that has happened. And we're not even at the finishing line just yet. So what? Once again, we're at 335. Days later, he's asked to take off his clothes and challenge to enter another script sweepstakes. But this time, the goal was to win enough money to afford a flight on Japan Airlines to return home.

56:32 OK, really, they wanted to keep him on this show. So they all right, So they took him right? They took him from Japan to Korea. To get Korean Barbara. To get his great day. Then they lock him in a box in Korea and go bitch, now you've got to get home when you're going to get home. Yeah. Fucking torturous kidnapping. Yes 100% it is and like but once again the doors unlocked he can leave at any time. This is fucking nuts dude. You didn't know it was going to go in this direction. Did you? No, I didn't. Yeah, I didn't. OK, so so they're telling him he has to win a. Money to get home, yes.

57:14 And they want to keep him on the show. They found another way to exploit it, right? And this time he was actually very quick to win, so they changed the rules. Oh my God, of course they did. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like all that. Well, we need to have continue to have these. What are we gonna do? And he's not there. So after several weeks of entering competitions, it was revised a few times. Actually. First they said OK, you have to be able to afford a business class ticket. Oh my God. Then it was first class Oh. My. God. And these goals were also met in a matter of weeks. So each time they're like, OK, here's the thing. He's meeting him. He's meeting them. Yeah. Yeah. So when Hamatsu had won enough to return to Japan, he was then again. In Ultra premium Platinum first class. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, with a Butler on the side and like, yes, all this shit.

58:05 Yeah, he finally he wins enough and he does it in record time and IA part of me is like, I wonder if they saw his name and we're like, this is cruel. We need to get if we see his name, we're going to give him yes, give him whatever this is. Maybe you're right. Maybe like these. Because it's been so long, so many people know who he is. Entire, probably the entirety of Japan knows who he is. Absolutely. And at this point, you're right. People are probably like, Oh my God, is that him? Fucking give it. Make him win. That's him. Like we're looking out, we're we have this sweepstakes, we know we're going to try to find his entry and we're going to give him the prize. Good God, that's, I mean, that's just a theory I have. It makes sense. I think so too.

58:47 So he makes it in a matter of weeks. And when he had won enough to return to Japan, he was then again blindfolded, clothed and taken to another apartment in Japan when he was he. So he was given clothes, right? He's moved to a different location. He goes into this location and when the blindfolds like another. OK. He sees that it's another apartment in Japan, another tiny place, so he instinctively takes his clothes off. And when the And then he was expecting that the challenge was actually continuing and he was never winning.

59:36 However, something very different happens. The walls of the apartment fall away to reveal that he was actually in ATV studio with a huge live audience. Oh my. God. Who began applauding him for succeeding at the challenge. And we're going to watch exactly that happen right now. Oh my God, this is sick. So they're telling him Congrats on hitting your goal. Basically, it's a it's a massive live studio audience and he just looks shocked.

1:00:23 Everyone's clapping for him. Once again, this is the biggest show. He's not had any kind of human interaction. Oh my God. OK, right. No human interaction. He thought that he was just going to be put into another. His face says it all. He he's it's stunned. He's he's stuck. He's like. Stunned. Stuck. Traumatized. Oh my God. They open, they put him in a box, a quite literal box, move the box onto a stage where there is, there are so many people, so I'm sure the whole studio audience we're told. Be quiet. Yeah, stay quiet.

1:01:05 As you're coming in, we're going to open up all of the walls and we're going to tell him congratulations. And in that, God, it looks it's like kind of like really fucked up how stoked everyone is in the audience. Oh, you finally won. We're so happy for you. Yay. Like, we get to be a part of this and it's like, you get to be a part of torturing a fucking man. OK, Wow. Oh my. God, that's crazy. So once again he is so confused by. This so confused and. One of the main things. Sitting there naked with a pillow on his lap. Yes, yeah. Well, and he wasn't, he initially did not have a pillow on his lap.

1:01:46 I think it was like right next to him or something, but he moved it as the walls were being opened up around him. Sure. Because he had no idea. Like he was totally naked once again. Remember he had clothes on before he entered into this space. He took them off. They had blindfolded him and brought him into a different room. They didn't say anything to him, he just took off. Instinctively. Clothes instinctively thinking that's exactly what was expected of him and so then that's so gross. He sees there are a ton of people, grabs the pillow and covers himself because remember, he did not realize that this show had been broadcast. Right. He's he doesn't know what's happening.

1:02:27 No idea, no idea, and the whole reaction of a studio audience in general, like rooting for you, would be shocking within itself. Yeah, you're like, why am I here? What are you cheering at? Exactly like what, like what is what is going on? How is this like, what is this reality? And so I'm actually going to show you his initial reaction now. Oh. Good Lord, yeah, now that he's seen the entire. Audience, the entire audience. So it says, you know, the the hosts are coming up to him and saying, you know, may I come in? This is not my home, he said. My house collapsed. And everyone's laughing about that, but he's really confused. This is your house.

1:03:16 Then I found many people. Why are they all laughing? And he's like staring at them, almost like a an animal being watched. Congratulations. So this is like. This is the beginning, yeah. It's the beginning. Oh my God, that's heartbreaking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So that was like, he had no idea. And like, all of this stuff is coming at him. Like, how do all these people know me? What is going on? And you know, one thing I kept on asking was like, why did he decide to just take his clothes off again after having that blindfold removed?

1:04:03 It's. Because he was conditioned. Duh. Exactly. I I don't think it's Stockholm syndrome. It's like he that was his norm, that's that was his comfortable place now. Yes, it was all he knew. It's. All he knew. He didn't doesn't remember who he was before. It's like, you know, just, you know, this is a man who has not been fed adequately. His brain's not really working. He only knows this and he hasn't interacted with anyone. And, you know, you had brought up Stockholm syndrome before. And I don't think it's that because he did later, even later on, he did not interact with anyone and he did not have any positive like interactions or relationship with the producers.

1:04:50 So he didn't, he didn't really have like this, like where he, you know, had. Like something I got some kind of a relationship with. There was nothing there that had been, I think actually just. Conditioning. It was conditioning, yeah. But but part of conditioning is like, you know, you talk about like Pavlov's, Pavlov's dogs and like, you know, conditioning like from even like mice and stuff like that. There is a term called learned helplessness, and I think that's a great way to explain it. And have you heard of learned helplessness? So essentially it's a mental state where someone feels that they can't control their situation and they stop trying to change it so it can occur after.

1:05:33 Someone's going to, I'm just going to concede. Yes. It's not worth it. It's easier to just continue the path that I've been given. Yeah, adapt to it. So. And it can occur after someone experiences repeated stressful situations. So what causes that? It It's caused by repeated exposure to stressors. So when someone's forced to endure painful or unpleasant stimuli or. And when they learn that they can't control it. This one this right here Hello. Absolutely. And when they have a lack of control, when someone feels like they can't control their situation, they may stop trying to change it. So at one point he's like, I can't, I can't win anything.

1:06:15 Nope, I'm not. He had no that was, he had no control over that. Yeah, even the winning. It didn't matter how hard he worked. It didn't matter how many, like, magazines he applied to, he still did not have any control over what he would win, which is fucked up. So you might be asking yourself, like, how long did this actually last, this whole ordeal, Right. We were at, like, 335 days when he had gone to Korea. Yeah. 15 months, from January 1988 to April 1999. And during this time, Hamatsu actually Diaries on his experience of being isolated from the outside world.

1:06:58 And this book that he releases, the Diaries that he releases actually becomes a best seller in Japan. OK, So when we were watching one of the clips about him like eating, there's like there's text about like him eating like the potato chips. And the reason that they have text is because they pulled that from his Diaries, so you can see his inner monologue and like what he was going through. And honestly, this television show really broke numerous viewing records during its run with 17,000,000 viewers tuning in each Sunday night. He actually received the title of from Guinness Book of World Records of the longest time survived on competition winnings.

1:07:41 What a title aren't you? Aren't you just so thankful that you that you're doing that So ultimately, like he reported being hot and sweaty once he had initially wore clothing again for the first six months after his ordeal. And he actually had difficulty carrying on conversations for a long period of time of. Course. Of course, that makes complete sense, yeah. Not shocking, I think it's clear that he it had like a mental strain on him. Did ya full on torture? Yeah, yes, Essentially he was tortured on live TV. So, you know, one of the things that comes up in this conversation is like, what are the ethics of reality TV?

1:08:27 You know, is it OK? Right when you sign your life away. Because, you know, they do. They absolutely. They have to sign their life away. Yeah, yeah. So you can't get sued. Right. Yeah, you can't get sued. I mean, you can potentially sue the company, but it's like, it would be really fucking hard to uphold it, right? And is it OK to put people in difficult situations on television if it provides entertainment? God, yeah, it's morals. It's totally morals. It's morals come into play here. And here's the thing. This cut, this is something we see in television shows today. You know, we see it in Survivor. People will starve on television.

1:09:08 We see it in Big Brother, right? People are given like either too much like their foods messed with or their comfort like sleepings messed with, or you even have naked and afraid where people are like dropped in an area naked and they're trying to get to another place. So Real Housewives, they feed these women so much liquor and no food. That's like a huge strategy of these producers to make them do things that are not OK. So they really manipulate people with the alcohol, the lack of food, it's all manipulated. And actually, so you might be wondering what happened to this guy? 1000%.

1:09:49 So he actually tried persuading people to cooperate with the self disciplined like stay at order or in April of 2020, the stay at home order during the beginning of COVID-19 outbreaks. And he actually like, brings up his own personal experience with it, basically. Saying you can do it, Yeah. Yeah, basically. So he, you know, after all of this was happening, his whole goal was to be famous, right? So then he has this fame and he's unable to succeed in. Keeping it. Going the variety TV world, he just can't handle it. Instead, he decides to become a local talent in the town he was from, which was Fukushima, as well as he he became a stage actor within that town.

1:10:38 He founded a stage troupe which was clock called Eggplant Way and he performed across Japan with that stage troupe. He appeared in some shows and and became an actor in some things. He also appeared in a game that was not at all similar to this. So it really does like this show, you know, kind of it does bring up the question of the of efficacy of reality television and ways people are manipulated for our own enjoyment. You know, clearly we know at this point in time that these shows are manipulated, but to what end? You know, what is it that we're that we're trying to gain by it like entertainment?

1:11:24 Is it worth it for? The producers it is. For the producers, yeah. I mean, one thing that, you know, continuously come up, came up was like this producer and the program was initially it was cancelled. Ultimately it was cancelled and it was related to a government crackdown to stop any torture themed shows. So the Japanese like government was like, yeah, this is actually torture and this is really wrong. Right. But there has been a revival on the on, you know, online, right, You see people who. Because people will say, look, I'm a producer.

1:12:05 I want to, I'm obviously I'm, I'm paraphrasing. I want to torture people. And then people are like, I'll sign the waiver to be tortured. And then people are like, OK, well, everyone agreed. Right. Yeah, yeah, They knew exactly what they were entering into. But do you fucking know what you're going to enter into? How do you know? How do you know? Yeah, how do you know that you're going to be on a fucking television show for over a year? It's like you have no idea. Anyway, it was cancelled and and there is a webcast that is similar to it, but it really hasn't taken off. And there's a lot of backlash on this, like on from this producer. He was, like, incredibly famous and was like the hot to trot. And now people are like, yeah, it's not worth it. And they actually made a documentary about this, which is how I found out about it.

1:12:53 Really. My God, I gotta watch it. You have to watch it and it goes into so much more detail than I was able to go into and it interviews him so he's basically the star of the documentary. This is coming from his perspective as well as people who worked with that producer. The producer is involved in it, but you get the behind the scenes like information and what happened to him. So it's called The Contestant and it was released on Netflix. So that's how I'd heard about this to begin with. And I was like, we need something. It's not necessarily lighter, but different from what we've been doing. Yeah. So. So I would honestly suggest anyone to watch it. It's really well done. On my list. Yeah. So I guess that's the. Great.

1:13:34 Oh my God that took a shitty turn. This is not what I expected. You're like, oh, this is gonna be pretty fun and. Interesting. Yeah. I forgot how dark it got until I was like, writing the episode, I'm like, fuck, is there any way that I can end this in a way that's positive? And then I was like, looking at the reality shows that we had today and I'm like, I don't think they're any better, man. I agree. I don't think they're any better. I agreed. And it's like, do we want? They don't change the rules midstream. At least there's that. Right. But who knows what these people sign up for and then what ends up happening on camera. Things I'm sure very well do get changed, so hopefully it's not as bad as torturing someone. But.

1:14:14 Who fucking knows. Crazy. Thanks for fun episode, it was great. Now I got something to watch. Yeah, seriously. Okay, we'll see you next week. All right, see you then. Bye.