History Series / TakeshisCastle

* ArtEvolution: As the budget grew, so did the sets and the quality of them. The best example would be for the finale, which started off as a water fight in the castle itself, then added carts with paper rings, and finally FrickinLaserBeams with light sensitive targets on them, a cart for the general, an airplane, and a fake cart. They also gained a fixed campus with permanent obstacles and lakes before the show finished.

'''''Takeshi's Castle''''' is one of the maddest shows on the planet. It was originally broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1990, where it proved a hit. Then in the 2000s it was syndicated internationally and became [[GrowingTheBeard a massive hit everywhere else]]. It was to Japan what ''Series/TheCrystalMaze'' was to the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom, or what ''Series/FortBoyard'' was to France. Except this turned the wackiness [[SerialEscalation to a(n) (un)considerable degree]].

* GodzillaThreshold: In the Monster Special, Count Takeshi was so enraged he lost his castle, he summoned all manner monsters and ghouls from myth and legend (even Godzilla himself!) just to reclaim it.

The show was [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff wildly popular in Spain]], where was known as ''Humor Amarillo.''[[note]]Translates to ''Yellow Humor''[[/note]] It was broadcasted twice in ten years, with the second one becoming the most succesful thanks to its commentary, which reinvented the show by making up over-the-top characters and stories out of the original material. It was more of a reinterpretation of the old show than an exact retake, but nonetheless the audience loved it.

The show was [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff (and still is!)]] ''insanely'' popular in India (of all the places!) where the commentary for it was given by local comedian Javed Jaffery, who in a ''remarkably'' good case of {{Woolseyism}}, managed to preserve almost all the jokes and snarky commentary verbatim while translating it into Hindi. It was synidcated on POGO where almost all the episodes were shown. As of 2019, [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes it's still being aired]] - ever since it's introduction in 2008 (!!).

* SmallReferencePools: In the Spanish version, the character Junior (Higashi) often mistook the show's animations with ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', which was being broadcasted in the same TV channel in Spain at the time ''Humor Amarillo'' was released. Awesomely enough, the Spanish dub of ''Naruto'' returned the ShoutOut when they put Kankuro to utter some of the show's most famous insults.

'''''Takeshi's Castle''''' is one of the maddest shows on the planet. It was originaly broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1990, where it proved a hit. Then in the 2000s it was syndicated internationally and became [[GrowingTheBeard a massive hit everywhere else]]. It was to Japan what ''Series/TheCrystalMaze'' was to the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom, or what ''Series/FortBoyard'' was to France. Except this turned the wackiness [[SerialEscalation to a(n) (un)considerable degree]].

* UnusualEuphemism: Spanish commentators would refer to contestants' nether regions as their "nakasones" whenever they got hit on them during the challenges. This was used as well in the Spanish name of the Bridge Ball challenge, which was "Los Cañones de Nakasone" ("The Guns of Nakasone", a {{Pun}} on the Spanish title of ''Literature/TheGunsOfNavarone'').

* AdaptationDistillation: Several versions changed the original Japanese format of breaking up the challenges with comedic sequences by merely focusing on the challenges with gag dubbing over it, presumably to fit it better into timeslots. There has been demand for uncut versions of the show to be broadcast.

* AuthorAvatar: The Spanish announcers, Paco Bravo and Fernando Costilla, once "appeared" in the show by pretending that two random contestants were them. Both were unsurprisingly eliminated.
* AwesomeButImpractical: A special edition of the Uphill Garden had the contestants facing a big contingent of Emerald Guards in their usual costumes, but now joined by what was called their "secret weapon", a guy in a gigantic, [[Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep Ebirah]]-like lobster costume. The monster seemed to be a serious threat, as although he wasn't equipped with guns, he had no target neither and thus couldn't be eliminated by shooting at him. However, the entire thing fell out when the contestants managed to wipe out all the other guards and surrounded the lobster: the suit was so cumbersome that the mook tripped in its own effort to maneuver around and ended falling down the hill, getting incapacitated and thus losing the battle.

* BallCannon: The game [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bridge Ball]] features contestants trying to cross a very narrow, very wobbly bridge, while the guards fire balls at them.
* BarbarianLonghair: Kibaji Tankobo and his red wig, which was named "Paco Peluca" ("Frankie Wig") by Spaniards.

* BigBad: Takeshi in the Spanish version was upgraded into the villain of the show. He was portrayed as a scheming, self-centered feudal lord who tried to crush General Tani and the participants in order to rule the show.

* BitingTheHandHumor: During the 2006-07 run of ''Humor Amarillo'', a few episodes featured short interviews with an alleged network executive called Nikito Nipongo. This is a PunnyName roughly translatable as "I don't remove or put", as if to imply that Nipongo's role within the channel's board of directors was, in fact, [[KickedUpstairs irrelevant]]. His interviews often ended with him encouraging the viewers to watch ''Series/{{House}}'', which was airing in the same channel back then.
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: Takeshi and his advisor Ishikura would often partake in these and yes, Takeshi often smacks Ishikura a fan.

* ButtMonkey: In ''Humor Amarillo'', one of the most popular made up characters was the Chino Cudeiro, an usually anodyne but spirited contestant who always ended spectacularly failing and "dying" in some challenge (see TheyKilledKennyAgain below).
* CampGay: The Spanish version had a entire gang of this, starting with the Japanese comedy duo Pop-Corn (the two guys with bowler hats and rainbow ponchos) which were called "Dúo Pirata" and played as flamboyant gay characters. They were sometimes joined by fellow camp gay Pinky-Winky (in real life Michiru Jo, the singer guy in pink) and the AxCrazy Chupy (Yosichi Shimada) in order to make it a trio or a quartet. Also, Pinky would [[StartMyOwn Start His Own]] with two alien characters in a boy band-like unit called Los Piratas del Espacio ("The Space Pirates").

* WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire: Winning the final showdown and storming the castle earns the victor a million yen (a very difficult task but a rewarding payout).

** The newer German version is also a GagDub, but the narrator is considered so grating, the show is basicly unwatchable.

* LovableSexManiac: Pepe Livingston (see Intrepid Reporter) was a bordering creepy example in ''Humor Amarillo'', as he would always try to invite females to his roulotte without bothering to hide his lubricious intentions. In one occasion, he offered a couple to shoot homemade porn with it.

'''''Takeshi's Castle''''' is one of the maddest shows on the planet. It was originaly broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1990, where it proved a hit. Then in the 2000s it was syndicated internationally and became [[GrowingTheBeard a massive hit everywhere else]]. It was to Japan what ''Series/TheCrystalMaze'' was to the UnitedKingdom, or what ''Series/FortBoyard'' was to France. Except this turned the wackiness [[SerialEscalation to a(n) (un)considerable degree]].

* FinaleCredits: The UK Challenge version of ''Takeshi's Castle'' ends the final episode with one of these, with Craig Charles speaking [[TearJerker in a more poignant tone]] in contrast to his usual upbeat narration from the rest of the series, as [[spoiler:the eponymous castle catches fire and burns down]].

* BeardOfEvil: Animal

* BowledOver: Star Bowling

* ButtMonkey[=/=]TheChewToy[=/=]DesignatedMonkey: In ''Humor Amarillo'', one of the most popular made up characters was the Chino Cudeiro, an usually anodyne but spirited contestant who always ended spectacularly failing and "dying" in some challenge (see TheyKilledKennyAgain below).

* CartoonBomb

* GagDub (''MXC'')

* PlatformHell: And how!
** The only shows to equal and perhaps beat it in terms of difficulty would be ''Series/NinjaWarrior'' and ''Series/UnbeatableBanzuke''. Even then, those shows are designed for professional athletes, whereas ''Takeshi's Castle'' was meant for anyone (albeit mostly older teenagers and young adults) to take part in.

* WidgetSeries

In 2014, the show was given a Thai adaptation (''Takeshi's Castle Thailand''). In late 2017, it was announced that Creator/ComedyCentral ([[NoExportForYou with the exception of the American, Canadian and Japanese versions of the channel]]) had obtained the right to air the Thai version, with Creator/JonathanRoss acting as the UK version's commentator this time round.

It was adapted for Creator/{{CBS}} in 1993 as a one-shot special, ''[[http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0901515/ Storm the Castle.]]'' The U.S. version, ''MXC'' (formerly ''MostExtremeEliminationChallenge''), effectively [[GagDub completely alters the show]].

!!! This program provides examples of:

* OutOfOrder: The original Challenge version of the UK version.

* AshFace: The result of NonFatalExplosions featured in comedy skits.

** They subverted it in a special episode where EVERYONE who crashed was called "[Something] Cudeiro", and referred to as being a relative to the real Chino Cudeiro. When the episode ended and one contestant won, the commentators started wondering where the real Chino Cudeiro was and why they hadn't seen him die yet. At that point, the winner reveals himself to be the real Chino Cudeiro, having finally won after countless deaths.

The show was [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff wildly popular in Spain]], where was known as ''Humor Amarillo.''[[note]]Translates to ''Yellow Humor''[[/note]] It was broadcasted twice in ten years, with the second one becoming the most succesful thanks to its commentary, which reinvented the show making over-the-top characters and stories out of the original material. It was more of a reinterpretation of the old show than an exact retake, but nonetheless the audience loved it.

* AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles: Parodied in the Spanish version, in which the character Junior (Higashi) often mistakes the show's animations with those. In a similar SmallReferencePools case, he once mistook one of them with ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', which was being broadcasted in the same TV channel in Spain at the time (awesomely enough, the Spanish dub of ''Naruto'' returned the ShoutOut when they put Kankuro to utter some of the show's most famous insults).

* AwesomeButImpractical: A special edition of the Uphill Garden had the contestants facing a big contingent of mooks in their usual costumes, but also which was called the Emerald Guards's "secret weapon", a guy in a gigantic, [[Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep Ebirah]]-like lobster costume. The monster seemed to be a serious threat, as although he wasn't equipped with guns, he had no target neither and thus couldn't be eliminated. However, it all fell down when the contestants managed to wipe out all the other guards and surround the lobster: due to its size and lack of dexterity, it tumbled in its own effort to maneuver and ended falling down the hill, getting incapacitated and thus losing the battle.

* BigBad: Takeshi in the Spanish version was upgraded into the villain of the show. He was portrayed as a self-centered, scheming feudal lord who tried to crush General Tani and the participants in order to rule the show.
* BigBeautifulWoman: The sumo Shinoburyo was named as "La Señora" ("The Lady") in Spain and ''always'' refered as female, which turned a bit creepy every time he appeared in his mawashi.

* CampGay: The Spanish version had a entire gang of this, starting with the Japanese comedy duo Pop-Corn (the two guys with bowler hats and rainbow ponchos) which were called "Dúo Pirata" and played as weird gay characters. They were sometimes joined by fellow camp gay Pinky-Winky (in real life Michiru Jo, the singer guy in pink) and the AxCrazy Chupy (Yosichi Shimada) in order to make it a trio or a quartet. Also, Pinky would [[StartMyOwn Start His Own]] with two alien characters in a boy band-like unit called "Los Piratas del Espacio".

** In the Spanish version, General Tani always inflamed the participants with a hammy "¡Al turrón!" (translated roughly as a colourful "let's go!"), along with his IceCreamKoan shenanigans.

* DrunkenBoxing: The sumo matches often featured a bald, spasmodic wrestler (in real life Kunihiko Katsura, the show's producer) who tried to do monkey kung fu against the contestants.

* DumbMuscle: An exceptionally known one in Spain was the Maxi-Chino Cudeiro (also called the Chinazo Cudeiro), a hulking, large-sized contestant who brainlessly rammed its way through the challenges and even tackled Yoroi to the ground in the belief he was an obstacle door.
* DungeonBypass: One competitor, faced with the "Square Maze", decided that rather than go through the doors and potentially encounter one of the two goons waiting to throw him out, he simply climbed to the top and walked across the borders of the rooms straight to the goal.

** Funnily enough, the Spanish dubbers renamed Yoroi as "El Pequeño Samurai", which translates as The Little Samurai, and never referred to his large size, pretending he was as small as his name indicated.

* IceCreamKoan: General Tani was fond of those in the Spanish version, always referring to them as wisdom he received from an old Shaolin monk. They were mostly NonSequitur and silly sentences, however.

* IntrepidReporter: The show had a series of salacot-wearing "war-zone" reporters who would interviewers with the contestants. Although they were different people in the original (predominantly Junji Inagawa, but Akira Sakamoto and Shingo Yanagisawa worked as it as well), they are referred as the same character in most of the dubs.

* LovableSexManiac: Pepe Livingston (see Intrepid Reporter) was a bordering creepy example in ''Humor Amarillo'', who would always try to invite females to his roulotte. He also offered a couple to go to it in order to shoot home-made porn.

* PerversePuppet: Yosichi Shimada was called Chupy in the Spanish version in order to play with Chucky, the killer doll from ''Film/ChildsPlay'', due to Shimada's clothing resembling his. Unlike Chucky, this character was not literally a doll, but he was nicknamed such by the announcers.

* LaResistance: General Tani commanded one, composed by the participants.

* VerbalTic: In the Spanish version, General Lee would always call "piltrafilla" ("little sleazy", a disrespectful name) to any interlocutor, with complete independence of who was the latter, including Takeshi and his mooks.

* WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire: Winning the final showdown and storming the castle earns the victor a million yen (A very difficult task but a rewarding payout).