Brain Wall
Brain Wall (脳カベ, Nōkabe) is a component of the Japanese game show Tonneruzu no Minasan no Okage deshita (とんねるずのみなさんのおかげで した, lit. "Thanks to the people of Tunnels. [A comedy pair.]") Video clips from the show proliferated on video-sharing websites and the concept was eventually adopted by several countries. It became popularly known to non-Japanese speakers as simply Human Tetris, or Hole in the Wall, named for its involvement of the physical body and a supposed close resemblance to the rules of the video game Tetris.
Game rules
The rules of the game are the same, and how points are awarded vary from country to country.
- Contestants wearing helmets and elbow and knee pads and a silver (or gold in some countries) spandex unitard stand on the "Play Area". A Styrofoam wall, 4 metres (13 ft) wide by 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) tall, consisting of cut-outs resembling Tetris blocks, is revealed and moves towards the contestants in a 15 metres (49 ft) path. They have to make use of their wits in seconds to assume the position that will allow them to fit through the opening(s). Later episodes involve the use of more complicated shapes, such as words, gymnastic positions, shapes from popular culture, and even above-ground-level shapes. Contestants usually have to twist and bend their bodies with agility and dexterity to fit through the hole in the wall.
- If contestants fail to fit through the hole, they are pushed by the wall into a pool of water that is 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) deep behind them and no points are awarded.
- Contestants play in teams and only win points if they are able to fit though the wall. Points are awarded if the contestant(s) in the round are able to successfully cross the Styrofoam wall completely, except in the following situations :
- No points are awarded if any of the contestants fall into the water due to any reason, even if they successfully pass through the wall. (There have been instances where the wall is cleared but contestants find themselves trapped over the water)
- No points are awarded if the contestants crash through the styrofoam wall causing it to break apart.[1]
The first component of the game involves a solo contestant, while later components involve groups of two people or more.
International versions
The production rights to the show outside of Japan is owned by FremantleMedia and the program has been produced in 45 countries.
| Country | Name | Host | Network | First day aired |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Arab world[2]
|
جدار جبار Jidar Jabbar |
Mansour El Ghassani (Season 1, 2010) Said Al Memari (Season 2, 2011) |
 Abu Dhabi TV MBC 1 (Middle East) (2010) and FOX (2011)
|
September 20, 2010 |
 Argentina[3]
|
El muro infernal | Alejandro Wiebe | Telefe | March 3, 2008 |
 Australia[4]
|
Hole in the Wall | Jules Lund | Nine Network | August 6, 2008 |
 Brazil[5]
|
De cara no muro | Fausto Silva | Rede Globo | May 2009 |
 Belgium Flemish[6]
|
Hole in the Wall | Roos van Acker | VT4 | September 2009 |
 Bulgaria[7]
|
Дупка в Стената | Rumen Lukanov | Nova TV | July 18, 2008 |
 Cambodia[8]
|
Hole in the Wall: ល្បែងជ្រែកជញ្ជាំង | TVK (2011-2012) CTN (2012-present) |
September 10, 2011 | |
 Canada French[9]
|
Le mur | Benoît Gagnon | V | September 3, 2009 |
 Chile[10]
|
La muralla infernal | Javiera Contador and José Miguel Viñuela Fernando Godoy and Lucila Vit |
Megavisión | March 16, 2009 - May 2009 July 2009 - November 2009 |
 Croatia[11]
|
Pazi, zid! | Mia Kovačić | Nova TV | September and October 2008 |
 Colombia[12]
|
Duro contra el muro | Carlos Calero | RCN TV | February 4, 2008 |
 China
|
动洞墙 | SMG | ||
| China
|
正大综艺-墙来啦 | CCTV | ||
 Denmark
|
Hul i hovedet | Uffe Holm | TV3+ | |
 Estonia
|
Auk Seinas | Tõnis Milling | TV3 | Spring 2009 |
 Finland
|
Reikä seinässä | Mari Kakko | Nelonen | March 15, 2009 |
 France
|
Le Mur Infernal | Laurence Boccolini | TMC | |
 Germany
|
Ab Durch die Wand | Sonja Zietlow and Dirk Bach | RTL | October 18, 2009 |
 Greece
|
Μια τρύπα στο νερό Mia trypa sto neró |
Mega TV | 2008 | |
 Hong Kong
|
大咕窿 | Yishan Ng and Calinda Yuen-wai Chan and Dickson Wong | TVB | May 9, 2009 |
 Hungary
|
Kalandra Fal! | Sebestyén Balázs and János Vadon | RTL Klub | May 4, 2009 |
 India
|
Hole in the Wall | Cyrus Sahukar | POGO | |
 Indonesia
|
Hole in the Wall | RCTI Global TV MNCTV Indosiar Trans TV |
||
 Israel
|
ראש בקיר Rosh Bakir |
Shai Goldstein and Daror Rafaeli | channel 10 | 2009 |
 Japan
|
脳カベ Nōkabe |
Tunnels | Fuji TV | July 26, 2006 |
 Lithuania
|
Skylė sienoje | Aistė Paškevičiūtė and Džiugas Siaurusaitis | TV3 | 2009 |
 Malaysia
|
Bolos | Zizan Razak | Astro Ria | 2009 |
 Mexico
|
Aguas Con El Muro | Martín Altomaro and María Inés | TV Azteca | 2009, 2010–present |
 Netherlands
|
Hole in the wall | Beau van Erven Dorens and Gerard Joling | SBS6 | October 10, 2009 |
 Norway
|
Ylvis møter veggen | Kjetil André Aamodt and Kjersti Idem along with Ylvis | TVNorge | |
 Paraguay
|
El muro | Roberto Willis | Canal 13 | November 2008 |
 Peru
|
Tecsuperate | June 2009 | ||
 Philippines
|
Hole in the Wall | Ogie Alcasid and Michael V. | GMA Network | April 20, 2009 |
 Poland
|
Hole in the Wall | Adam Małczyk and Adam Grzanka | TV4 | March 7, 2009 |
 Portugal
|
Salve-se Quem Puder | Diana Chaves and Marco Horácio | SIC and SIC K | June 1, 2009 |
 Romania
|
Vedete-n Figuri | Dan Fintescu and Dina Marina | Prima TV | January 16, 2009 |
 Russia
|
Стенка на стенку Stenka na Stenku |
Ivan Urgant and Alexander Tsekalo | ORT | |
 South Korea
|
Jiwhaza | Choi Gwi-hwan | SBS | April 14, 2007 |
 Spain
|
El Muro Infernal | Julian Iantzi | La Sexta | Summer 2008 |
 Sweden
|
Hål i väggen | Johan Petersson (Season 1, 2008) Erik Ekstrand, Mackan Edlund (Season 2, 2009-2010) |
TV6 | September 14, 2008 |
 Turkey
|
Bak Su Duvara | Behzat Uygur | Star TV | 2009 |
 Ukraine
|
Море по колено More po Koleno |
Dmitry Perepelkin | ICTV | August 29, 2010 |
 United Kingdom
|
Hole in the Wall | Dale Winton Anton du Beke |
BBC One | September 20, 2008 |
 USA
|
Hole in the Wall | Brooke Burns and Mark Thompson (2008–2009) Teck Holmes(2010) |
Fox (2008–2009) Cartoon Network (2010 - present) |
September 7, 2008 TBA |
 Vietnam
|
Lỗ hổng trên tường | VTC9 | April 2010 |