On October 8, the first episode of NTV’s Tuesday drama “ESCAPE: It was supposed to be a kidnapping” (10:00 pm – ), starring actors Yuto Sano (27) and Hiyori Sakurada (22), was broadcast. The drama is a popular variety show in the previous time slot, “The Night Ueda and Women Bark”, and the first episode was broadcast in a “tie-in” slot, which has been the subject of controversy. The drama was controversial for its method of “tying” the first broadcast slot with the popular variety show “The Night Ueda and Women Bark” in the previous time slot. Many drama fans complained that it was difficult to record the program, and after the broadcast, there was a flood of criticism about the “direction” in the main drama. –The following is an excerpt from the story. In “ESCAPE,” Yui Yagami (Sakurada), the daughter of the president of a major corporation, is kidnapped by Daisuke Hayashida (Sano), a young man with a criminal record, but Yui, who is supposed to be his hostage, says, “Run away with me! (Sano), a young man with a criminal record, and the two begin a strange escape that escalates into a fugitive drama that attracts the attention of the entire country. Viewers love the thrilling scenario and the performances of the actors, including Mr. Sano and Mr. Sakurada. However, what has become an even bigger topic of discussion is the “side ticker. In the terrestrial broadcast version, the name of the drama and a blurb are always displayed in the upper right corner of the screen, except for some scenes such as the ending, and this is very unpopular among viewers. It looks like a reenactment of a drama in a variety show such as “Sekai Ooten News,” a popular variety show on the same station. …… During the first broadcast of the drama series “ESCAPE,” a message on the upper right corner of the screen read, “Mystery after mystery! A hostage and a kidnapper on the run! ESCAPE: It was supposed to be a kidnapping. What is that? Isn’t it like a reenactment of “The World’s Greatest News” so that viewers can’t immerse themselves in the world of the drama? The message in the upper right corner has been on Nittele’s late-night dramas for a few cool years now, and now it’s on the GP band as well. It’s the same with the combination of recording with variety programs, what does Nittele want to do with this drama? Many viewers commented that the message in the upper right corner of the screen all the time made it look like a reenactment of the drama. As the viewers’ comments indicate, Nittele sometimes puts a message in the upper right corner of the screen even for late-night dramas, and the title and episode number are shown in the upper right corner of “From There to Hell” (Tuesdays at 0:24 am), which is currently airing. Many people have long called this type of message “annoying,” but why did NTV use this method for “ESCAPE,” a drama series in the GP zone? A source at a drama production company explains. First of all, “ESCAPE” is broadcast on Wednesdays at 10:00 pm, which is behind the variety show “Wednesday’s Downtown” (TBS), which is extremely popular among young viewers, and has been a broadcast slot where no matter what is done, no numbers are obtained. Therefore, it seems likely that they are taking on the challenge of trying something new. The NTV drama “Chihaya Furu-Meguri” broadcast in the last July season also did not get good numbers until the very end.
