Utaban

{{Short description|Japanese television series}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2010}} {{nihongo|'''''Utaban'''''|うたばん}} was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/|title=Broadcast information - Latest Utaban|publisher=TBS|access-date=2010-03-23|language=ja|archive-date=2008-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730053627/http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/|url-status=dead}}</ref> on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of {{nihongo|"'''uta ban'''gumi"|歌番組}}, meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally aired under the name {{nihongo|''Tokuban''|とくばん}}, an abbreviation of {{nihongo|"'''toku'''betsu '''ban'''gumi"|特別番組}}, meaning "special program".

The show's theme song, played during the opening sequence and closing credits, was "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra.

==History== {{Expand section|date=March 2010}} The show was first broadcast on October 16, 1996. Originally supposed to be called "J-Pop Hour",{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} it was hosted by Takaaki Ishibashi, of comedy duo Tunnels, and Masahiro Nakai, leader of boy band SMAP. Hello! Project idol group Morning Musume were frequent guests on the show, at one point appearing almost weekly.

Nakai was briefly replaced by TBS announcer Shin'ichirō Azumi in late June 2006, due to conjunctivitis.

After 13 and a half years on air, the show made its final broadcast on March 23, 2010. It was reformatted into a new show called {{Nihongo|''The Music Hour''|ザ・ミュージックアワー}}, also hosted by Ishibashi and Nakai, which aired on TBS from April 20 to September 14, 2010.

==Performers==

===Moderators (MC)=== *Takaaki Ishibashi *Masahiro Nakai

===Others=== *{{nihongo|Shinji Suzuki|鈴木慎治||Kagaku-kun (化学くん)}} *{{nihongo|Kō Chūbachi|中鉢功||Bachikō (鉢功), Chū-chan (中ちゃん)}} *{{nihongo|Ayu Yamanouchi|山内あゆ||a TBS announcer}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/ Official Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730053627/http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/ |date=2008-07-30 }} (Japanese)

Category:Japanese variety television shows Category:Japanese music television series Category:TBS Television (Japan) original programming Category:1990s Japanese television series Category:2000s Japanese television series Category:2010s Japanese television series Category:1996 Japanese television series debuts Category:2010 Japanese television series endings Category:Masahiro Nakai