Japanese Game Show ‘Slippery Stairs’ Gives Us the Gift of Lubed-Up People Falling Down

The world at the moment is a godawful cesspool of disasters, violence, war, terrible people in positions of power, and impending environmental catastrophe. So for a moment, it would be nice if we could all sit and laugh at the same thing. What we need is some slapstick humor about people falling down. What we need is apparently already a TV show in Japan. What we need is “Slippery Stairs.”

Clips of contestants trying to climb these lubed-up vertical slip-n-slides have gone viral today, and you can see their appeal. The sight of six people in color-coded jumpsuits not unlike the Power Rangers, each on all fours trying to find any kind of grip to help them up the steps, all while two giant prop faucets drip buckets of lube onto the steps below … it’s wildly addictive. So many emotions at once: the schadenfruede of watching people fall (honestly, that’s a big one), the secret part of you that hopes they succeed, the even more secret part of you that hopes they get SO close to the prize before they fall again, the glee in watching one falling contestant take out the others like human-sized bowling pins.

Japanese game shows have always been fascinating to American audiences in short bursts: the bright colors, ludicrous premises, and fondness for slapstick and contestant humiliation at all times make for a guilty pleasure that is heavy on the pleasure.

Watch the full clip of Slippery Stairs above and try not to be a) riveted and b) delighted. You’re welcome.