Sasuke (TV series)

Sasuke (stylized in Japan as SASUKE) is a Japanese sports entertainment television special in which 100 competitors attempt to complete a four-stage obstacle course. An edited version, named Ninja Warrior, is screened in at least 18 other countries. To date, Sasuke content has been aired in 157 countries.

Shot on location at Midoriyama studio in Yokohama, it airs on TBS between Japanese television drama seasons. Each 3-hour special covers an entire competition; there are normally 100 participants. There have been 31 specials produced, approximately one new special per season (twice per year). The show is produced by TBS and is one of the spin-offs of Muscle Ranking (筋肉番付, Kinniku Banzuke), another sports entertainment competition, which aired on G4 under the name Unbeatable Banzuke. Until the 10th competition, Sasuke was broadcast as a special part of Muscle Ranking, but it became an independent program when Muscle Ranking was discontinued. The first competition was held indoors, marking the only time Sasuke did not take place outside. Competitions generally start in the daytime and continue until completed regardless of weather or darkness. After Monster9's bankruptcy on November 2011, all rights to the show fell completely into the hands of its broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System. Following their acquisition of all rights to Sasuke, TBS renamed the show Sasuke Rising for the 28th, 29th and 30th editions, but have since reverted to the original Sasuke title.

Team Ninja

Team Ninja (Japanese: チームニンジャ) is a Japanese video game development studio of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1995. It was formerly led by Tomonobu Itagaki and is best known for the Ninja Gaiden action-adventure game series and the Dead or Alive fighting game series.

History

Team Ninja was originally formed by Itagaki from game designers working at Tecmo, specifically for the purpose of creating the home versions of the fighting game Dead or Alive and its sequel, Dead or Alive 2. In 2008, the action-adventure game Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 was published by Microsoft Game Studios, making it the first game created by Team Ninja to not be published by Tecmo; Tecmo Koei later released an enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II on the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

On June 3, 2008, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki announced that he would be leaving Tecmo and Team Ninja on July 1, 2008, citing difficulties with the company. In the same statement announcing his resignation, he also announced that he was filing a lawsuit against Tecmo over unpaid bonuses for his work on Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. It was later reported that he was fired from Tecmo on June 18, 2008 in retaliation for his lawsuit. Many of his colleagues at Team Ninja quit as well to join him at his new game development team, Valhalla Game Studios. Some ex-Team Ninja members also helped with Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up.

American Ninja Warrior

American Ninja Warrior is a sports entertainment competition spin-off of the Japanese television series Sasuke, in which competitors try to complete a series of obstacle courses of increasing difficulty called "stages". The series began on December 12, 2009, in Los Angeles, with the top 10 competitors moving on to compete at "Mount Midoriyama" in Japan. Beginning with season 4, competitors travel to the Las Vegas strip to compete on a nearly identical "Mount Midoriyama" course.

During season 7, for the first time in American Ninja Warrior history, a competitor achieved "Total Victory". Two competitors completed stage three, and thus, a Man vs. Man face off took place during stage 4 for the title. Both Isaac Caldiero and Geoff Britten completed the final stage, however, Caldiero had a faster time, resulting in the $1,000,000 grand prize and the official title of "First American Ninja Warrior".

American Ninja Warrior has been renewed for an 8th season, which is set to premiere in summer 2016.

Esquire Network

Esquire Network (also abbreviated EsqTV) is an American digital cable and satellite television network that is owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and Hearst Corporation (both owning 50%). The network airs programs aimed at a metrosexual audience centering on travel, cooking and fashion as well as non-sports related male programming.

Originating as Style Network until its relaunch on September 23, 2013, the channel is available to approximately 70.3 million pay television households (60.4% of households with television) in the United States as of February 2015. At its relaunch as Esquire Network, it was estimated that the network was available in 75 million homes, but Nielsen ratings "[were] unable to provide estimates for the number of actual viewers for those weeks because ratings were too low to meet its "minimum-reporting standard".

History

Style Network

The channel was originally launched as the Style Network (although on-air promotions typically referred to it as simply "Style") on October 1, 1998, serving as a spin-off of E!. It was intended to leverage E!'s coverage of fashion and to provide an expanded venue for shows such as Fashion Emergency. The network focused on fashion, design, interior decoration and urban lifestyle-related programming. Style provided coverage of events like Fashion Week in New York City and showcased various designers. Early programming included: The Look For Less, Shabby Chic with Rachel Ashwell, Glow: The Beauty Show, Vogue Takes..., Stylemaker, Model, Runway, Dining With Style, and Homes With Style. Around 2003, the channel began airing a variety of "makeover" shows. The home makeover show Clean House lasted for ten seasons on the network; How Do I Look? lasted eight seasons.

American Ninja

American Ninja is a 1985 American ninja action film produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus's Cannon Films. Directed by Sam Firstenberg, who specialized in this genre in the 1980s, the film stars Michael Dudikoff in the title role, with Steve James as his side-kick.

Plot

Private Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) is conscripted into the U.S. Army by a judge, as an alternative to prison. Joe ends up fighting off the Black Star Order of ninjas while stationed in the Philippines. He saves Patricia Hickock (Judie Aronson) — daughter of Colonel William Hickock, Joe's commanding officer — from a kidnapping attempt. Although the rest of Joe's platoon is wiped out by the Black Star ninjas, Joe's popularity with his fellow GIs takes a nosedive, even as he is targeted for revenge by the Black Star Master ninja (Tadashi Yamashita).