Depending on how you feel about the New Year's holidays and Japanese TV programming in general, the first week of the year is either the best week for TV or the worst. Most New Year's specials mimic what the average Japanese family is doing at home. Celebrities sit around in their finest holiday duds drinking, eating, and, it is hoped, being funny. The main joke, however, is that most of these shows were taped at the end of November. The celebs usually spend their New Year in Hawaii.
"The Best Ten 2001," 7-10:54 p.m., TBS
Originally broadcast from 1973-89, "The Best Ten" was the king of all music programs, coinciding as it did with the rise and fall of the first idol era and featuring as hosts, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, the fastest mouth in the business, and the young Hiroshi Kume, who left the show in 1985 to start "News Station." This reprise special features Kuroyanagi but not Kume and is divided into two parts -- a quiz about music covering the show's golden years and a run-down of this year's top hits. Guests include once-and-future idols Seiko Matsuda and Akina Nakamori.