was a long running Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS

Tokyo Broadcasting System

, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally aired under the name , an abbreviation of , meaning "special program".

The show's theme song, played during the opening sequence and closing credits, was "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

Jessica Simpson recorded her own version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" for the soundtrack to the film The Dukes of Hazzard . Simpson's cover was co-produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and was released as the soundtrack's first single in 2005)...

" by Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....

.

History

The show was first broadcast on October 16, 1996. Originally supposed to be called "J-Pop Hour", it was hosted by Takaaki Ishibashi

Takaaki Ishibashi

is a Japanese owarai artist, singer and actor.Born in Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan, Ishibashi moved to Narimasu, Itabashi after his father's bankruptcy in his first grade at an elementary school. He attended Teikyo Junior & Senor High School and is best known as a member of Tunnels with his partner...

, of comedy duo Tunnels

Tunnels (owarai)

The are an owarai duo with a long history composed of Tokyo born and . Both of them attended where Ishibashi, the taller of the two, participated in baseball, and Kinashi participated in soccer....

, and Masahiro Nakai

Masahiro Nakai

is a singer, actor and host for music events and variety shows such as the long-running music show Utaban. He is the leader of the Japanese idol group SMAP.-Early life:...

, leader of boy band SMAP

SMAP

SMAP is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. While originally consisting of six members, the current group members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori...

. Hello! Project

Hello! Project

is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...

 idol group Morning Musume

Morning Musume

, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...

 were frequent guests on the show, at one point appearing almost weekly.

Nakai was briefly replaced by TBS announcer Shin'ichirō Azumi in late June 2006, due to conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva...

.

After 13 and a half years on air, the show made its final broadcast on March 23, 2010. It was reformatted into a new show called , also hosted by Ishibashi and Nakai, which aired on TBS from April 20 to September 14, 2010.