A recent poll suggested that Japanese salarymen consider Mr Bean, who forms the first part of the Fantastic Friday (World, 9.30 pm) triple bill, the ideal boss. This staggering fact is connected to Japan's economic ills: the office workers of the country would prefer a nice, gentle, stupid man to tell them what to do than a fierce, competent one.
This is also evidence that, despite Rowan Atkinson's stated intention to create a character that has universal appeal, he has actually produced a more complex figure.
To most British audiences, Bean is funny, foolish, and unenviable in every way.
He is the last man one would want to bump into in the street, let alone work with.
The Japanese, apparently, see someone who can make the days pass more quickly, a pathetic, lonely figure, who deserves pity and would be entertaining to have around.
Or perhaps this is extrapolating too much from a silly poll. Last year, the same Japanese workers were asked the same question. Their preferred leader then was Ghengis Khan.
Al Pacino really owes his career to the role of Michael Corleone, which he first played in The Godfather, in 1972, and last played in The Godfather III (Pearl, 11.50 pm) which was made in 1990.