Susunu! Denpa Shōnen was a notoriously-shocking Japanese program that premiered in 1998. Blending the game show and reality show formats with shocking setups for its contestants involving nudity, humiliation, and near-physical harm, Susunu! Denpa Shōnen was like no other show that came after it, and for a reason. According to Stuart Lenigs' The Bizarre World of Reality Television, show was famous for its extreme stunts, like stranding contestants on an island and forcing them to build a raft to paddle back to Japan. The duration of that stunt? Four months! Many other "challenges" included extended, grueling travel, like a DJ who had to "hitchhike from South Africa to Norway."

The most enduring episode, however, took a contestant, nicknamed Nasubi (above), and required him to live alone in secret locations, with no food, clothes, or contact with the outside world, living only off the items he could win by entering sweepstakes in magazines. According to This American Life, while in isolation, Nasubi recorded videotapes that he was told would air on TV, but what he didn't know was that he was also being filmed 24/7, with the footage airing for Susunu! Denpa Shōnen viewers. Nasubi didn't win toilet paper until 10 months into his captivity, and at one point was so hungry that he ate dog food. When he finally emerged, he was a celebrity in Japan, but, according to Lening, the country soon outlawed what the government called "torture-themed programming." 

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