Betting contests on the show included grannies playing chicken with motorized wheelchairs, amputee football, egg eating, blindfolded gas pumping, and the length of time it would take an object to hit the ground after being dropped from a roof.

The show also sometimes intentionally skirted the bounds of what some would consider appropriate television content; as in contests to guess which person in a lineup has the longest penis, or the biggest breast implants, or how long it takes a madagascar hissing cockroach to microwave.

Mr Banzai acts as referee for many of the contests, directing participants to begin by solemnly clapping his hands and emitting a kiai.

Other regular contributors include Mr Shake-Hands Man played by Ryozo Kohira who tries to maintain a handshake with people for as long as possible.

He was later replaced when he became too well known with Mr Shake-Hands Man 2 (played by Japanese-American actor Tadao Tomomatsu), who did the same thing, although his role was mainly with celebrities.

It was broadcast in the United States on USA Network for a short time only, and in a different format where the segments were cut up and interspersed with a movie.

Re-runs moved once again on March 6, 2006, to G4 as part of its late-night prime programming block, Midnight Spank (formerly known as G4 Late Nights and Barbed Wire Biscuit).

The recently opened Philippine cable channel Jack TV also runs Banzai in a primetime weekend slot.

Group co-founder Guy Aoki told BBC News, "It's just all the backward images of Asian American people.

Board Game creators Gary McGrew and Nick Saad can be seen as animated figures in the "How to Play" section of the DVD.

Players must use chopsticks to transfer four types of wacky sushi characters (King Fu Carl – the world's last starfish assassin, Lois – the Louisiana Squirrel Roll, Chum and Tako's Tentacle) into the main community betting bowl.

Whoever transfers the most for that round gets to put down a numbered or lettered betting card in conjunction with the "Banzai" clip in the hopes of getting it right and winning all the sushi in the community bowl.

Players are then asked to guess which letter is the Super-Banzai DVD button, A, B or C. If viewers select C, they see about 30 seconds of Tony Hart standing staring at them without saying anything.