[aphrodite]

Together Again After All These Years

Can one studio really hold these two egos? For the 1,000th edition of his "Sanma No Manma" talk show, comedian Akashiya Sanma (51) has chosen fellow comedy veteran Kitano "Beat" Takeshi (60) as his special guest. The show was recorded in Tokyo yesterday, with the pair sharing a bottle of ¥1.9-million Romanee Conti wine and reminiscing about old times. They both achieved huge fame and notoriety on the "Ore-tachi Hyokinzoku" show in the early 1980s, building on that success to become two of the biggest names in Japanese showbiz. While Takeshi has fitted work as an actor and movie director in between his frequent talk and variety show appearances, Sanma has stuck almost entirely to the variety circuit and remains Japan's most high-voltage talk show host. One of his several regular shows, "Sanma No Manma" has been on the air for 22 years. For some reason the special will air in Tokyo on Fuji TV at the late hour of 2:05am on April 6, though in the Kansai area it will be on March 23 at 7pm.