Ninja Warrior

There is a show on G4 called Ninja Warrior that has captivated my household, most notably the testosterone set. Ninja Warrior reminds me a lot of Iron Chef: a crazy, campy, competitive show has come out of Japan and completely changed the face of television. My television, anyway. One hundred competitors--athletes, garbage collectors, firefighters, comedians--begin the first stage of a bizarre obstacle course in hopes of reaching the final, fourth stage. The courses are physically grueling and insanely hard. Sometimes no one makes it past the third stage. The Warped Wall and Spider Walk can be real killers, and the Pipe Slider has shattered many dreams. In fact, there is only one Ninja Warrior.

We watch it every weeknight, and Paolo lives it every day. He creates Ninja Warrior courses at the playground, but he also puts himself through his ninja paces at the grocery store, library, and restaurants. Anywhere there is a wall, door or ledge, Paolo is bouncing, jumping, hanging and creeping in complete earnestness. Sam is, of course, Paolo-sahn's Mr. Miyagi. I'm left to be the responsible parent, which is a shame because I'm much better at frowning than enforcing. Besides, with more upper-body work, I think Paolo could be a contender. I can hear the cheesy dubbed announcer now, "Our next competitor has been training for this from the tender age of four. Don't let his cherub smile fool you. The face of an angel disguises the soul of a WARRIOR!"