How to Be Likable in a Crisis
This dark, satirical comedy follows Makoto, a TV news host turned PR specialist, as he tries to dodge disasters
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Christina Zeiders
How to Be Likable in a Crisis follows Kanzaki Makoto after he takes a job, at the recommendation of his former college professor, as a public relations specialist at his alma mater. His likability has always helped him coast through life, but his new job gets him uncomfortably tangled in a web of corruption.
The show from NHK World-Japan is one of the most popular TV dramas in Japan.
Watch How to Be Likable in a Crisis Sundays at 7pm starting July 10 on WITF TV or stream it on-demand through the free PBS Video app.
As soon as Makoto begins his job with the university, star researcher Dr. Kishitani is accused of data fraud and the whistleblower happens to be a postdoc named Kijima Minori, someone Makoto once dated. The school’s directors demand he convinces Minori to change her story.
The university’s directors constantly make his job harder, throwing him into crisis after crisis – from canceling an outspoken journalist’s appearance to mysterious insect bites traced to the university’s entomological lab and a full-fledged cover-up.
Throughout the series, Makoto must balance his drive to be likable with his responsibility to the university and his own moral values – and he usually ends up stumbling his way through.
Will Makoto stick to his old credo to “not say anything meaningful” to remain likable, or will he step outside of his comfort zone and stand for something?
Watch How to Be Likable in a Crisis Sundays at 7pm starting July 10 on WITF TV or stream it on-demand through the free PBS Video app.
Sometimes, your mornings are just too busy to catch the news beyond a headline or two. Don’t worry. The Morning Agenda has got your back. Each weekday morning, host Tim Lambert will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.
