Ninja Warrior is now an Olympic sport. Finally.
Japanese network TBS has reached a deal with the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne to bring Sasuke (better known around the world as Ninja Warrior) to the LA Olympics.
There has been talk of introducing Sasuke into the Olympics in LA for quite a few years now, so this isn’t surprising news. But the deal has now actually been done. This is happening.
The International Olympic Committee voted unanimously in 2023 to include the updated Modern Pentathlon — with obstacle racing — at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. So, after the 2024 Paris Olympics, UIPM replaced equestrian show jumping with obstacle racing at all levels.
Now, under their deal, UIPM – which already held its first Obstacle World Championships in Beijing in 2025 — licensed the right to use some “Sasuke”/”Ninja Warrior” intellectual property and program elements, such as the design of certain obstacles, from TBS for obstacle racing.
The introduction of Sasuke into the Olympics actually brings the TV format full circle as the origins of the show began with Olympics TV producer Ushio Higuchi.
Higuchi was part of the Olympics production team for TBS Sports in Japan and had an idea that would involve bringing athletes from different disciplines to compete against each other in a show that would become Pro Sportsman No 1.
A companion show, Kinniku Banzuke (known internationally as Unbeatable Banzuke) was later launched, opening the door for everyday people (ie not professional athletes) to compete.
An episode of Banzuke included a contest called the Hand Walk Tower, which inspired the idea for an obstacle course-based show. A special was filmed in 1997 and was hugely popular with audiences, leading to a second special, and then finally an ongoing series.
And now, in LA, the circle closes with the show format now integrated into the actual Olympics.
I’m very into this as an idea.
I’m not really much of a sports guy. I rarely watch it on TV and while I might occasionally say something like “I don’t mind watching a game IRL,” truthfully I haven’t been inside a stadium to see a game in well over a decade plus.
But, I’ve long been impressed with the feats of strength, agility, and sheer physical capability on display in the Ninja Warrior TV show. It’s a series I am pretty sure I started watching in the early 00s on SBS and I have followed it through (not every episode, but regularly enough) to the US version (which I have seen a lot of) and the Australian version (which I saw a bit of).
It has been some time since I have been able to see new episodes of Sasuke. Knowing that there was the strong likelihood that Sasuke would be integrated into the Olympics, TBS has produced multiple shows tied to Sasuke that have Olympics ties, like the Sasuke World Cup and a spin-off in March of this year, Hanzo, which apparently aligns the format more with the Modern Pentathalon with elements of swimming, shooting, fencing, and running.
News Desk
Prime Video reports that Off Campus has reached 36 million viewers worldwide over its first 12 days of release. That makes it the third-biggest release in Prime’s history. Of course, reaching 36 million viewers doesn’t mean the same thing as 36 million viewers completed an episode… Read: THR
Paramount+ are reporting 12.9 million viewers for Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch, with a further 2.9 million viewers on the cable Paramount Network. Read: thefutoncritic
Canadian cop drama Saint-Pierre has been renewed for a third season by CBC. Read: Deadline
The CBC has also announced new comedy The Ambassador, which will have Samantha Bee playing Canada’s ambassador to Bulgaria. Read: Deadline
Trailer Park
The Ribbon Hero debuts on Netflix August 8.
Inspired by Osamu Tezuka's classic "Princess Knight," THE RIBBON HERO follows Sapphire as she overcomes loss and trauma to protect those she holds dear.
The Killings at Parrish Station debuts on Stan June 24.
In 1987, detectives Georgia Cooke (Mia Wasikowska) and Michael Thorne (Xavier Samuel) are called to investigate the bizarre and brutal killings of four scientists at the remote Parrish Research Station. They uncover a complex case involving mania, ritual, and the occult, and Georgia's obsessive truth-seeking spirals, threatening her family, career, and sanity. Thirty seven years later, a chilling new spree of murders pull Georgia (Heather Mitchell) back into this nightmare as she confronts the possibility that the horrors at Parrish Station were never fully buried.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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