Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course (海筋肉王 ～バイキング～, Umi Kinniku Ō ~Baikingu~, literally Sea Muscle King VIKING), sometime abbreviated to Viking: TUOC, is a Japanese obstacle course endurance game show produced by Fuji TV and Monster9. The entire show is broadcast from Tokyo Bay.
Summary
Similar to SASUKE, competitors must complete a four-stage obstacle course. Competitors must first conquer the pirate-themed First Marine Stage. Survivors advance to an intermediate stage, the Brain Ship Stage, where competitors must recall a seven-digit number. This is done in groups of four and the least accurate is eliminated. Competitors then move on to the Second Adventure Stage, which consists of six timed obstacles and one untimed one, the Heartbreaker (which was moved in the final tournament). The Third Fantasy Stage consisted of three obstacles, but the competitor could choose to skip one of the first two. Anyone who makes it this far advances to Final VIKING, which at first was a 23 meter horizontal rope and a 10 meter vertical rope, but was changed in the final tournament to the obstacles from the Third Fantasy Stage plus the Heartbreaker.
In the original format, only Nagano Makoto was able to advance to the Third Fantasy Stage and made it all the way to Final VIKING. In the final tournament (with the changed rules), two competitors made it to Final VIKING. The show was cancelled without a winner.
Special Versions
Two celebrity and two family versions were held. These tournaments were designed to guarantee a winner by making Final VIKING a competition format, with the best time (or furthest progress) being crowned champion and winning a prize. These versions were not aired in America.
International Broadcasts
The American version of VIKING is produced by ESPN2 with two American commentators calling the action. In Europe it airs on Eurosport 2 with the American commentators in the first season and British commentator Colin Bryce in the second. In the Philippines, VIKING was aired in TV5 and hosted by Brod Pete, Richard del Rosario, and Gabe Mercardo. In Taiwan, VIKING is aired on JET TV in its original form with Chinese subtitles.
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