TV and Pop Culture

So I stopped by my parents house today & that obstacle course show was on tv.  I honestly was kind of disappointed for a minute.  I mean, I remember being in my dorm room years ago laughing at the super late night Japanese TV shows, but I never thought it would ever make it to prime time because of the fact that those shows were so ridiculous.  On another note, it's a pretty wierd role reversal to me.  For years there were parts of Japanese culture that has in one way or another imitated the culture of the United States.  I mean, if you're going to imitate, at least make it something worth imitating, like their super cool cell phones, or the Bullet Train to help with my morning commute when I'm running late.