WIPEOUT – My New Summer Guilty Pleasure

It’s not normal to watch three game shows back-to-back-to-back, but that’s just what I did last night…and I vow never to do it again.

Between them, ABC and NBC unveiled three new shows last night: WIPEOUT and I SURVIVED A JAPANESE GAME SHOW on ABC and CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD on NBC. Of all three, only WIPEOUT is worthy of your eyeballs (and your precious TiVo space).

I first saw a glimpse of WIPEOUT during the ABC Upfront presentation in May. It’s certainly got the best crowd reaction of any show previewed (which I’m not sure says as much about WIPEOUT as it does ABC’s Fall offering, but anyway…). I’ve been anticipating the premiere since then and was so excited to see if the full episode held up to the buzz worthy clip from the Upfronts. And I think it did.

WIPEOUT forced contestants through various, physically trying obstacles on their quest for the grand prize of $50,000. There are four stages: The Qualifier, The Sweeper, The Dizzy Dummy and The Wipeout Zone. Each stage contains various smaller obstacles all of which is (a) guaranteed to throw the contestants into an unpleasant substance (water or mud in last night’s game) or (b) inflict some kind of physical pain. And that’s where the fun comes in.

Seeing people in physical pain makes people laugh (although we do want to know they were not seriously injured…then it’s not as funny). Our sick obsession with watching others in pain is the sole reason America’s Funniest Videos has been on the air for decades (try to tell me there is another reason…just try). And WIPEOUT is a great forum to see our fellow man flounder in physical jeopardy for the sake of a few bucks. I really couldn’t get over how dangerous some of these obstacles appeared to be. I saw some heavy duty face smacking last night as well as people falling onto wooden planks and crashing down into a fairly small amount of mud on top of a hard surface. I can’t believe the only injury of the night was a broken nail (and a fake one at that). But it was all funny…cringeworthy funny, but funny.

But the real amusement from WIPEOUT comes from it’s hosts John Anderson and John Henson. Their voice over commentary on the tasks and even more so the contestants was witty and laugh out loud funny. They have no problem in making fun of the players…which is usually well deserved. Their barbs and ongoing commentary really make the show. If you were a fan of John Henson back from his TALK SOUP days then you’ll probably dig the vibe from WIPEOUT.

The production quality is a little lacking – the guys standing in front of the green screen in the opening scenes of the show was really unacceptable in 2008 – but I quickly forgot all about it when I got into the show.

If you haven’t checked out WIPEOUT, why not give it a shot next Tuesday at 8/7 It’s mindless summer entertainment, and unlike most other summer reality shows, I think it’s intentional.

So perhaps a little too much time talking about a summer game show but after the other crap I watched last night, I was glad to have something positive to write about.