The one hundred and eighty-first TV show: #629 Takeshi's Castle
It feels like Takeshi's Castle was the first of many extreme physical gameshows, followed far later by the likes of (Total) Wipeout. A lot of players start doing a bunch of challenges, often involving falling into water or mud, and the ones who reach the end have a chance to win the prize. Takeshi's Castle was the first, airing between 1986 and 1990 but made internationally famous by the episodes that aired in the UK in the late 90s with Craig Charles' voice over. It's clear that this version is the easier watch for us - it feels like it cuts out a lot of the comedy sketches and explanations, giving it a proper focus on the falls and action you're watching the show for.
It's a fun watch, the difficult challenges making for great TV when they succeed (although apparently the best failures went through each round as well). With that said, there are only so many ways you can fall off rolling logs and dealw ith teh other challenges, and so the 200+ episodes that are available are probably a bit too much to be worth watching, but it's a good show to put on every once in a while for some mindless simple entertainment.