[caption id="attachment_167236" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="'Marumo no Okite' (Fuji TV)"][/caption]

On February 12th, Fuji TV announced that a new variety show titled 'TV Shakai Jikken Variety Asunaro Lab' (tentative title)�- featuring comedian Kato Koji and freelance announcer Takashima Aya as the hosts - will be aired every Sunday at 9:00 pm starting in April.

Fuji TV has been using this time frame for weekly dramas since the drama 'Perfect Report' in fall 2010. They dubbed it as their "Dramatic Sunday" frame and were hoping to become a tough competition for TBS and their well-established "Sunday Theater" at the same time, which boasts long track record of many popular dramas.

The most popular 'Dramatic Sunday' on Fuji TV had been 'Marumo no Okite' starring the two child actors Ashida Mana and Suzuki Fuku in spring 2011. Other dramas in the same time frame did miserable enough to get cut down by two or three episodes while the rest did mediocre at best. Therefore, Fuji TV has decided to give up competing with dramas after the end of the current drama 'dinner' and to change the said time frame back to variety shows again.

Source: Sanspo