Brain Wall (脳カベ, Nōkabe) is a component of the Japanese variety show The Tunnels' Thanks to Everyone. Video clips from the show proliferated on video-sharing websites and the concept was eventually adopted by several other countries. It became popularly known to non-Japanese speakers and YouTube fans as simply Human Tetris or Hole in the Wall, named for its involvement of the physical body and a supposed close resemblance to the rules of the video game Tetris.
Game rules
editThe rules of the game are the same, and how points are awarded varies from country to country.
- Contestants wearing helmets and elbow and knee pads and a silver (or gold in some countries) spandex unitard stand on the "Play Area". A Styrofoam wall, 4 metres (13 ft) wide by 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) tall, consisting of cut-outs resembling Tetris blocks, is revealed and moves towards the contestants in a 15 metres (49 ft) path. They have to make use of their wits in seconds to assume the position that will allow them to fit through the opening(s). Later episodes involve the use of more complicated shapes, such as words, gymnastic positions, shapes from popular culture, and even above-ground-level shapes. Contestants usually have to twist and bend their bodies with agility and dexterity to fit through the hole in the wall.
- If contestants fail to fit through the hole, they are pushed by the wall into a pool of water that is 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) deep behind them and no points are awarded.
- Contestants play in teams and only win points if they are able to fit though the wall. Points are awarded if the contestant(s) in the round are able to successfully cross the Styrofoam wall completely, except in the following situations :
- No points are awarded if any of the contestants fall into the water due to any reason, even if they successfully pass through the wall. (There have been instances where the wall is cleared but contestants find themselves trapped over the water)
- No points are awarded if the contestants crash through the styrofoam wall causing it to break apart.[1]
The first component of the game involves a solo contestant, while later components involve groups of two people or more.
International versions
editThe production rights to the show outside Japan is owned by Fremantle and the program has been produced in over 45 countries.
| Country | Name | Host | Network | First day aired |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albania
|
Sfida | Ilda Bejleri and Denard Xhillari | DigitAlb | 2016 |
 Arab world[2]
|
جدار جبار Jidar Jabbar |
Mansour El Ghassani (Season 1, 2010) | Abu Dhabi TV | September 20, 2010 |
| Said Al Memari (Season 2, 2011) | ||||
 Argentina[3]
|
El muro infernal | Alejandro Wiebe | Telefe | March 3, 2008 |
 Australia[4]
|
Hole in the Wall | Jules Lund | Nine Network | August 6, 2008 |
 Brazil[5]
|
De cara no muro | Fausto Silva | Rede Globo | May 2009 |
 Belgium (Flemish)[6]
|
Hole in the Wall | Roos van Acker | VT4 | September 2009 |
 Bulgaria[7]
|
Дупка в Стената Dupka v Stenata |
Rumen Lukanov | Nova TV | July 18, 2008 |
 Cambodia[8]
|
Hole in the Wall: ល្បែងជ្រែកជញ្ជាំង | Udom Vivath Sarita Reth⇄Sok Somavatey Andy Bishop (2011–2013) Tim Ratha (2013–2015) |
CTN (2011–2013) MyTV (2013–2015) |
September 10, 2011 |
 Canada (French)[9]
|
Le mur | Benoît Gagnon | V | September 3, 2009 |
 Chile[10]
|
La muralla infernal | Javiera Contador and José Miguel Viñuela | Megavisión | 2009 |
| Fernando Godoy and Lucila Vit | ||||
 Croatia[11]
|
Pazi, zid! | Mia Kovačić | Nova TV | 2008 |
 Colombia[12]
|
Duro contra el mundo | Carlos Calero | RCN TV | February 4, 2008 |
| Maleja Restrepo | August 20, 2022 | |||
 Costa Rica
|
Ojo con la pared | Nancy Dobles | Teletica | June 2, 2012 |
 China
|
动洞墙 | Zhu Zhen (朱楨) and Xue Zhi Qian (薛之謙) | SMG | |
| 正大综艺-墙来啦 | Qiang Zhi (人强子) and Xun Zhu (朱迅) | CCTV | September 19, 2010 | |
 Denmark
|
Hul i hovedet | Uffe Holm | TV3+ | |
 Estonia
|
Auk Seinas | Tõnis Milling | TV3 | Spring 2009 |
 Egypt
|
الجدار الكبير El-Giddar El-Kebir |
Ahmed Essam | DMC | 2020 |
 Finland
|
Reikä seinässä | Mari Kakko | Nelonen | March 15, 2009 |
 France
|
Le Mur Infernal | Laurence Boccolini | TMC | November 12, 2007 |
 Germany
|
Ab Durch die Wand | Sonja Zietlow and Dirk Bach | RTL | October 18, 2009 |
 Greece
|
Μια τρύπα στο νερό Mia trypa sto neró |
George Pyrpasopoulos | Mega TV | December 13, 2008 |
 Hong Kong
|
大咕窿 | Yishan Ng Calinda Yuen-wai Chan Dickson Wong |
TVB Jade | May 9, 2009 |
 Hungary
|
Kalandra Fal! | Balázs Sebestyén and János Vadon | RTL Klub | May 4, 2009 |
 India
|
Hole in the Wall | Cyrus Sahukar | POGO | July 28, 2008 |
 Indonesia
|
Hole in the Wall | Pandji Pragiwaksono | RCTI | December 17, 2007 |
| Steny Agustaf (Mom Edition) | 2008 | |||
| Indra Herlambang | June 26, 2023 | |||
| Yossi Mokalu Udjo Permato |
Global TV | February 27, 2009 | ||
 Israel
|
ראש בקיר Rosh Bakir |
Shai Goldstein and Daror Rafaeli | Channel 10 | 2008 |
 Japan
|
脳カベ Nōkabe |
Tunnels, Toshihiro Itō and Asami Miura (servant) |
Fuji TV | July 26, 2006 |
 Lithuania
|
Skylė sienoje | Aistė Paškevičiūtė and Džiugas Siaurusaitis | TV3 | 2008 |
 Malaysia
|
Bolos | Zizan Razak | Astro Ria | 2008 |
 Mexico
|
Aguas con el muro | Martín Altomaro and María Inés | TV Azteca | May 11, 2008 |
 Netherlands
|
Hole in the wall | Beau van Erven Dorens and Gerard Joling | SBS6 | October 10, 2009 |
 Norway
|
Ylvis møter veggen | Kjetil André Aamodt and Kjersti Idem along with Ylvis | TVNorge | September 15, 2008 |
 Paraguay
|
El muro | Roberto Willis | Canal 13 | November 2008 |
 Peru
|
Tecsuperate | George Slebi | Panamericana Televisión | June 2009 |
 Philippines
|
Hole in the Wall | Ogie Alcasid and Michael V. | GMA Network | April 20, 2009 |
 Poland
|
Hole in the Wall | Adam Małczyk, Adam Grzanka and Michał Pałubski | TV4 | March 7, 2009 |
 Portugal
|
Salve-se Quem Puder | Diana Chaves and Marco Horácio | SIC and SIC K | June 1, 2009 |
 Romania
|
Vedete-n Figuri | Dan Fintescu and Dina Marina | Prima TV | January 16, 2009 |
 Russia
|
Стенка на стенку Stenka na Stenku |
Vasily Utkin, Gennady Bachinsky and Sergey Stillavin (2007) Ivan Urgant and Alexander Tsekalo (2007–2008) |
Channel One | October 6, 2007 |
 South Korea
|
지화자 Jiwhaza |
Choi Gwi-hwan | SBS | April 14, 2007 |
 Spain[13]
|
El Muro Infernal | Julian Iantzi | La Sexta | July 4, 2008 |
 Sweden
|
Hål i väggen | Johan Petersson (Season 1, 2008) Erik Ekstrand, Mackan Edlund (Season 2, 2009-2010) |
TV6 | September 14, 2008 |
 Taiwan
|
齊天大勝 Who's the Winner Topic: Hole in the Wall 爆衝型人 |
Jacky Wu | TTV | June 16, 2007 – September 29, 2007 |
 Thailand
|
เกมกำแพงซ่า Game-Kampang-Zaa Crazy Wall Game |
Kanchai Kamnerdploy (September 3, 2011 – March 24, 2012) | Channel 7 | September 3, 2011 |
| 2012 | ||||
| Wattana Kumthorntip (March 25, 2012 – March 30, 2014) Somjit Jongjohor (October 13, 2012 – March 30, 2014) | ||||
| เกมกําแพงซ่า น็อกเอาท์ Game-Kampang-Zaa-Knockout Crazy Wall Knockout Game | ||||
| 2013 | ||||
| เกมกำแพงซ่า สไตรค์ Game-Kampang-Zaa-Strike Crazy Wall Strike Game | ||||
| 2014 | ||||
 Turkey
|
Bak Şu Duvara | Behzat Uygur | Star TV | 2009 |
 Ukraine
|
Море по коліно More po kolino |
Dmytro Perepelkin | ICTV | August 29, 2010 |
 United Kingdom
|
Hole in the Wall | Dale Winton | BBC One | September 20, 2008 |
| Anton du Beke | September 26, 2009 | |||
 United States
|
Hole in the Wall | Brooke Burns and Mark Thompson | FOX | September 7, 2008 |
| Teck Holmes | Cartoon Network | October 6, 2010 | ||
| Syndication | ||||
 Uruguay
|
El Muro | Roberto Larrañaga | Canal 10 | December 2008 |
 Vietnam
|
Người đi xuyên tường | Hoài Linh and Đại Nghĩa | VTV3 | December 26, 2014 |
| Ốc Thanh Vân and Đình Toàn | HTV7 | July 2017 |
References
edit- ^ Fox to remake "Hole in the Wall"
- ^ "Official website". Archived from the original on August 21, 2011.
- ^ "IMDB". IMDb.
- ^ "IMDB". IMDb.
- ^ "Official website".
- ^ "Official Facebook profile". Facebook.
- ^ "POTV.bg". 9 July 2008.
- ^ "Official Facebook profile". Facebook.[user-generated source]
- ^ "Official website". Archived from the original on 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
- ^ "Official Twitter profile".
- ^ "Official Facebook profile". Facebook.
- ^ "Teleset". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011.
- ^ "La Sexta estrena "El muro infernal" - La Opinión de Zamora". La Opinión de Zamora. July 4, 2008.