Hey everyone! I’m back… and now I live in Manhattan. Whoa!
And you know what I’ve discovered? Nothing helps me come down from a hectic day of moving like an hour of Wipeout, the messiest game show on TV. Andrew and I have been watching a lot of it recently, and it has gotten us through some exhausting encounters with cardboard boxes, window-unit air conditioners, and the zillion tiny nails that Ikea wants you to hammer into the back of your furniture.
In fact, I’d say I’m something of a Wiepout expert now, and as such, I’d like to share my thoughts on why the show is awesome and why, sometimes, it isn’t. Won’t you join me?
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In case you don’t know it, Wipeout is a game show in which contestants compete for $50,000 by running through a series of increasingly ludicrous obstacle courses. The courses are designed to make players “wipe out,” which can mean anything from falling off giant red “Big Balls” to getting knocked by a rubber hammer in an enormous vat of foam.
Obviously, this is funny. Without people falling down, there would be no comedy. I mean, just watch this clip, starting at 1:36:
Bwahahahaha! Come on! That’s hilarious, and the slow-mo makes it better.
But there’s more to this show than “lady fall down go boom.” I’d argue the best moments come when a contestant actually defeats the course. It’s like a small victory for humanity, and it’s the possibility of this success that makes the show so enjoyable. Because as much as we like to see people wipe out, we really like to see them succeed… especially when they’re facing such daunting adversaries. We might clap for Goliath, but we cheer for David, you know?
I worry, however, that Wipeout’s producers are losing sight of this fact. They seem to be slaves to the idea that their show has to get bigger and bigger and bigger, as though we’ll stop tuning in unless the obstacles start shooting fire, breeding tigers, and reciting the quadratic equation.
And yeah, this upgrading is flashy, but it makes some of the obstacles impossible to beat. The Big Balls, for instance, are now coupled with something called The Motivator, which knocks contestants into the mud if they hesitate before leaping onto the balls. Likewise, the final round—the Wipeout Zone—includes an obstacle that absolutely cannot be crossed on the first pass. No matter what players do to get around it, it will knock them into a pool of water.
And where’s the drama in that? Where’s the fun in knowing for certain that someone is going to fail? I mean, yeah… they might be funny a few times, but eventually, inevitable endings get stale. A show like Wipeout needs the thrill of uncertainty to remain truly entertaining.
Granted, most of the show is sticking with what works, but I want someone to stop this trend toward bigger, badder obstacles before it gets out of hand. At the end of the day, we watch the show for people, not the machines.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Lucy // Jul 26, 2010 at 5:23 pm
This is why I vastly prefer Ninja Warrior on G4. On Wipeout, you could fall off the course dozens of times and still win as long as you suck slightly less than everyone else. On NW, as soon as you hit the water, you’re out, so it’s actually impressive when you reach the end, and there are still some spectacular falls.
2 Steven // Jul 26, 2010 at 6:13 pm
I’ve been unabashedly watching this show from the 1st season. Here’s a few follow up thoughts:
Clearly this show’s obstacles are designed by either the top 10% or bottom 10% of the staff that used to design for “Double Dare.” Which is awesome.
The announcers are John Anderson (of ESPN fame) and John Henson (comedian and former talking head of E!’s “Talk Soup,”) which sends the message that this is not a game show. It’s a sport, or at the very least, a competition. It just happens to be a sport of such hilarity that they had to bring in a professional comedian to announce it properly. Also awesome.
Unlike “Ninja Warrior,” the casting guys seem to go out of their way to find EXCLUSIVELY “regular joes” which roughly translates into “no actual athletic ability.” There’s something very inspiring about watching an athlete sculpted from God’s own marble defeat a course on “Ninja Warrior.” There’s something absolutely sublime about watching Jane, mother of 3, wings eating champion of Stokes County epically fail repeatedly, and then to everyone’s surprise, epically fail in just the right way to defeat an obstacle sans wipeout despite herself.
This show is not filmed in a studio. It’s filmed over the course of a day in what looks like a field in Iowa. Like maybe these people are actually picking apples in the neighboring orchard and someone said, “Hey, wanna risk severe spine injuries in a hilarious fashion for a pittance of what your inevtiable medical bills will cost?” AND PEOPLE SAY YES. Either that, or there’s some sort epic road trip to get to the site of this thing…like tourists driving to Mount Rushmore, except it’s half submurged in water and Abe Lincoln is gonna smack You with a giant novelty hammer while everyone else laughs.
On a personal note, this is the only show on tv that routinely makes me giggle. Like a girl. And that feels nice, too.
3 Holly F. // Jul 26, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Mark, this could not have come at a better time. I have been fighting Wipeout negativity in my immediate social circle all summer. Though tue main arguments against it seem to be that it’s vacuous and Man’s inhumanity toward Man, I contest that most reality shows that are wildly popular (The Hills, Real Housewives of…, etc.) display those qualities in far greater amounts.
I enjoy a good pratfall, and I know that the courses are padded and completely safe. One can’t say as much for the Jersey Shore.
4 AmyKB // Jul 26, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I completely agree. I love the show as a whole (although now that it’s been on two nights a week recently, it’s losing a tiny bit of charm). But I can’t stand watching every single person get knocked down with that first spike-wall in the final obstacle… they need to change that.
5 Mark Blankenship // Jul 26, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Steven… thanks for this! I cracked up at the bit about the cornfield because it’s so true. I love that they never even try to tell you where they are, and you get the sense that maybe the producers don’t know either.
Also… I love how John and John have clearly filmed all their scenes in one day, six months after the actual competitions were taped. I like to imagine that they both are afraid of getting dirty, the way Marc Somers apparently was on Double Dare.
6 Emily // Jul 27, 2010 at 11:32 am
I recently had as my Facebook status, “It’s nothing that a little Wipeout won’t cure.” My husband and I could be in the midst of a seething battle over some minutia or other, but it’s impossible to hold a grudge through an episode of Wipeout.
Although, I have to agree: that spike wall makes me crazy.
7 mlp // Jul 27, 2010 at 1:57 pm
A similar show has been on in France for years (sadly not this one, sniff!), and pits town against town on the challenges – some of which involve being chased and/or stampeded by a vachette, a small, mean, cow with horns. How I miss that show! We don’t get Wipeout here…..
8 John // Nov 3, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Hey guys, I was a contestant for this show a few weeks ago. Worst experience ever!! I was giving 10 whopping bucks and a pad on the back. two hours later I ended up in the ER for 4 days, and in debt of hospital bills. I went on thinking it was a family oriented show but came out feeling like If I had been on America Gladiator. Don’t sign up guys, they need laughs at your expense. Worst Experience in my life!!
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