Written By Rick Ellis, Friday, July 11th, 2003

Every so often, a show comes along which is so peculiar that it defies an accurate description. Try and explain The Gong Show or Iron Chef to an unsuspecting TV fan and you'll soon understand the challenge. Add to that list Fox's new summer series Banzai, a show that is either a politically incorrect work of genius or a big, dumb waste of time.

Banzai is a British parody of a Japanese game show, complete with a Japanese announcer who speaks broken English. "From land where anything is possible comes new gaming opportunity!" he shouts, before encouraging viewers to gamble on various silly stunts.

The betting aspect is mostly a spoof, and a surreal way to introduce the increasingly odd contests and interview segments. The first several episodes include a soccer penalty shootout between the one-legged kicker and the one-armed goalie, a contest where three Michael Jackson impersonators moonwalk across an ice rink and a regular feature in which a psychic Princess Diana doll with a parachute is thrown out of a hot air balloon and lands on a field marked "yes" or "no."

Viewers will be able to "bet" on the contests thanks to a tie-in with a text messaging service, but the real fun is just enjoying the peculiar sense of humor that thinks of challenges such as a game of "chicken" between two women in wheelchairs or a stationary bike contest which pits actor Lou Ferrigano against a rabbi and a priest.

Even before it airs, the show has caught the imagination of several of the sicker members of the Fox viewing audience. After the network aired a promo featuring a challenge involving a chicken and a bunch of helium balloons, a couple of SF-area fans attempted to recreate the segment.

The experiment ended with a hapless chicken and 150 balloons lodged in some electrical wires, resulting in the temporary loss of power to about 1,500 customers.

Banzai has a couple of features you'll see in most episodes, and both of them are surreal takes on traditional celebrity entertainment interviews. "Mr. Shake Hands Man" grabs the hand of unsuspecting celebrities and refuses to let go, while "Lady One Question" asks celebrities one question, then leaves the microphone in the stars faces until they decide they've had enough and walk away.

In a summer that's filled with endless variations of dating programs, it's refreshing to see a show that's fresh and unusual and just big, dumb fun. I'm not sure just how to describe it , but Banzai may be the breakout hit of the off-season. Or at the very least, a show you won't quickly forget.