One of the NHK Saturday dramas this coming winter is titled "Full Swing." The story is based on the life of Michihiro Takabatake, who once played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (known as the Nankai Hawks at the time) but was best known as a batting coach who worked for seven teams over the course of his career and instructed famous players such as Hiroki Kokubo and Ichiro Suzuki. At the age of 58 he became a high school teacher, but he died of cancer about a year later.

Katsumi Takahashi will star in the six-episode series, which focuses mainly on his time as a teacher. The supporting cast includes Ran Ito, Kazue Fukiishi, Masato Hagiwara, Shinya Tsukamoto, Hirotaro Honda, Katsuya Kobayashi, and Kotaro Satomi. Rimi Natsukawa is in charge of the theme song.

The series airs on Saturdays at 9:00pm, starting on January 19.

With comedian Sanma Akashiya starring in a television drama this season, Oricon decided to survey one thousand people to see which comedian they feel has the most acting ability.

The #1 choice was Hitori Gekidan, who has appeared in many films and dramas in recent years. At #2 was Hiroyuki Miyasako of Ameagari Kesshitai.

Drunk Dragon's Muga Tsukaji ranked third, followed by Tomochika, Tomomitsu Yamaguchi (DonDokoDon), and Koji Kato (formerly of Gokuraku Tonbo). Akashiya came in at 7th. The last three in the top ten were Gori (Garage Sale), Beat Takeshi, and Junichi Komoto (Jicho Kacho).

A second survey asked, "Which comedian would you like to see in a drama or movie?" The top choice was the currently popular Yoshio Kojima. The rest of the top five were Yoshimi Tokui (Tutorial), Kanako Yanagihara, Moody Katsuyama, and Sumiko Nishioka.

Sports Nippon reports that "The Winds of God -Kamikaze-," starring and directed by Masayuki Imai, is scheduled for a preview screening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The film had a limited run at a Hollywood theater in April. A major promoter saw the movie there and liked it so much that she arranged for a screening at MoMA on November 1. In addition, she has reportedly invited several well-known actors to the event, including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino, and Nicole Kidman.

The movie is already scheduled to begin a limited run in New York on December 7.

AKB48 member Kayano Masuyama and fashion model Yukika Teramoto will release a CD together on November 28. The two currently co-star in TV Tokyo's "ChocoMimi" drama series. As a result, their unit name will be Choco & Mimi.

The upcoming single is the drama's opening theme, "Happy Happy!" It will be accompanied by a currently untitled tune that will appear in the drama as an insert song.

The first wave of the fall prime time dramas started this week, and so far the big ratings winner is Fuji TV's "Iryu 2." The sequel to last year's popular medical drama kicked off on Thursday night with ratings of 21.0%. This is the 8th highest start for a Fuji TV series in that time slot. It is also the network's first drama to premiere at higher than 20% since last fall's "Dr. Coto's Clinic 2006."

In a small Oricon survey asking high school girls which celebrity they would want as a boyfriend, actor Shun Oguri came out on top. His popularity has been boosted recently by roles in the television dramas "Hana Yori Dango" and "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e."

In #2 was Toma Ikuta, who also gained in popularity after appearing in "Hana Kimi" with Oguri. He was followed by Hiroshi Tamaki at #3.

Koichi Domoto and Junichi Okada tied for 4th. Teppei Koike and Yuta Hiraoka were 6th and 7th, respectively. Lastly, there was a three-way tie for 8th among Masaharu Fukuyama, Jin Akanishi, and Ryo Nishikido. Fukuyama was the only one in the top ten who is in his thirties.

It was reported in June that actress Junko Mihara and talento Happy Happy were in the process of getting a divorce. The two officially split on October 6, it was learned on Thursday.

The couple had been married since November 1999.

On Thursday, actress Juri Ueno participated in the first Japanese commercial filmed within the virtual world Second Life.

The ad, which is for Otsuka Pharmaceutical's health drink Fibe Mini, features an in-game avatar designed to resemble Ueno. Ten people were selected via the Internet to serve as "extras" for the commercial. The action took place on "Fibe Mini Island," which will be launched in-game at the end of this month. Ueno admitted that controlling the avatar was difficult, and the commercial had to be re-shot many times.

The finished commercial can be viewed on the product's official website starting on the 16th.

Two music groups have had to postpone concerts recently due to illness.

On the 7th, TRF's ETSU was suddenly hospitalized for bronchial asthma. He is expected to be discharged on the 14th, but has been ordered to recover at home for 1-2 weeks. Their concerts on the 19th at Zepp Fukuoka and the 21st at Zepp Osaka have been rescheduled for December 14 and 20, respectively.

Meanwhile, The Cro-Magnons pushed back several shows on their current tour after Hiroto Komoto was diagnosed with a respiratory illness (no details were revealed). He was ordered to recuperate for about three weeks. Six shows between the 3rd and the 16th of this month have been postponed until December and January.

Actor Kenji Haga has been handed his second indictment in four months. In July, he was arrested and prosecuted for blackmail. Then in September, he was arrested for fraud.

On Thursday, the Osaka prosecutor's office formally indicted Haga on charges that he swindled a total of 370 million yen from an acquaintance. Haga sold the man private equity at a price much higher than the shares' actual value.

Actor Yoshinori Okada has been given his first starring role on Fuji TV. On the 20th, the network will broadcast a drama special titled "Flight Panic." It will run in the Saturday 11:20pm time slot, which has been previously occupied by "LIAR GAME" and "LIFE."

Okada plays a co-pilot on a plane on which an infectious disease breaks out. The cast includes Megumi Seki, Ryo Kimura, Rieko Miura, Sei Hiraizumi, Shigeru Izumiya, Ai Takabe, and Kosuke Suzuki.

"Flight Panic" is the last drama to be filmed at the Shibuya Video Studio, which is closing after a 32-year history.