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OK, it’s summertime - there’s a dearth of stuff to watch on televsion, so I slum a little with my Tivo, looking for anything that might be vaguely entertaining. From the TV commercials, it seemed like ABC’s new show Wipeout might be kind of entertaining.
Unfortunately that’s not the case.
At this point you may be wondering just what exactly Wipeout is. It’s basically a reality show that consists of regular people trying to make it through an elaborate obstacle course. Essentially it’s a rip-off of the most-excellent Ninja Warrior which airs on the cable network G4.
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My love of Ninja Warrior is actually what attracted me to ABC’s new series - “NW” is a Japanese TV show that has been airing for over 7 years and features people competing on, you guessed it: An elaborate obstacle course.
The Japanese series is aired on G4 with English subtitles and the damned thing is addictive. Although you can’t understand what the announcer is saying, the guy gets SO excited over the contestants’ performance that you can’t help but get caught up in their attempt to navigate the course.
On THAT show the obstacles are incredibly challenging, but they ARE capable of being conquered. If a contestant fails one obstacle, that’s the end of the line for them. In contrast the obstacles on the American version of the show are designed apparently only to embarrass the contestants and force them to fail spectacularly.
I don’t what the prize money amount is, if any, on Ninja Warrior - it’s obvious from watching the show that it’s primarily about the honor of completing the course (which only two people have done in seven years!). On Wipeout, it’s all about the money: $50,000.
What I find particularly galling about Wipeout are a number of things:
- The show is obviously taped, and then the crack team of oh-so-funny comedy writers have time to whip up witty quips for the hosts: Straight-man John Anderson of ESPN’s Sportcenter and oh-so-incredibly-smarmy John Henson of E! Entertainment’s Talk Soup.
- The hosts (mainly Henson) belittle the contestants to no end, reveling in their failures.
- As mentioned above, the obstacles seem designed specifically to humiliate the contestants.
- If contestants fail to complete an obstacle, they can just get up and move on to the next one.
As a counterpoint, on Ninja Warrior:
- The announcer is obviously being taped live and we hear what he has to say as the event is happening. And let me tell you he is FAR funnier than these guys, and WITHOUT a script.
- The host seems geniunely excited about the contestants advancing. Sure he pokes fun at some, but mainly at the ones who are obviously there just for the attention, and it comes across as funny but good-spirited.
- The obstacles are incredibly challenging, but are designed to only let those in peak physical condition get through instead of consisting of mainly big rubber balls and tubes covered in mud and water.
- If a contestant fails to make it past an obstacle, they’re done.
So I’ve hung in there through three episodes of Wipeout, but I’ve had enough… I’m disgusted by it and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for new episodes of Ninja Warrior on G4. Actually, there’s one thing that might get me to tune in again: To watch John Henson actually try to make it through the course in which he finds it so easy to make fun of others trying to make it through.
10 Comments
I find the Wipeout commentary to be along the lines of the sarcasm we used to see on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Or at least remind me of it.
Sadly, the humor in ABC’s Wipeout appeals to my warped sense of humor but alas, it is getting old. There’s only so many ways someone can fall of ‘The Big Balls’.
To me, NW’s subtitles were just to dang distracting and hence, my lure to Wipeout.
But you definitely have to wonder about the contestants. I wonder if they get paid to be there because some of them just seem way too overboard to be from our civilized world. Not to mention the need to be pretty flexible!
Well, youre right there is no prize money in Ninja warrior; you just compete for honor and the glory of being top ninja ( last I heard there are only two people so far who actually have done it) and mostly people just go there to either have fun (there have been some guys who dressed up as Superman and Bruce Lee) or to win
Didn’t they have the Japanese show on Spike TV with english dubbing with two guys that I thought were hilarious..I haven’t seen it for in 4 or 5 years but I found myself unable to not watch it…
Personally I’m a big fan of Takeshi’s Castle. Pretty much the same thing, a serious of mad and bad trials to get through, ending in a very weak shoot out in carts, although Takeshi Kitano sometimes takes part as well.
Has had me crying with laughter a number of times.
Nope you are wrong. Its much more like MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) on Spike TV.
greenknight333, you’re thinking of MXC, I think. I always thought it was pretty entertaining. I have yet to see Ninja Warrior cuz I don’t have G4 anymore, and it wasn’t on the station yet when I had it.
Thanks S.Matt and Sneaky Pete…MXC it is..Thought it was really funny!!
You guys are all wrong. There is a 4 million yen prize waiting for you if you win Ninja warrior (about US$34,361). Do you really think that people would quit their jobs and train full time just for the honor? It’s a great show but not the Olympics.
Well I think ABC tried to have it’s cake and eat it too with trying to walk the fine line between NW and MXC. The thing is, the shows from Japan actually have obstacles that can be cleared, whereas the US version is designed for maximum humiliation it seems, at least as the beginning stages show. As for MXC, the american dub of the show was meant to be risque and over the top while wipeout doesn’t go for that “adult” slant while it plays in primetime. NW is definately different in that it has many repeat contestants, some jokes and some real, as it appears to be a true test of skills versus an opportunity to get people muddy and make fun of them. There is a pride factor in place for NW as they’ve shown people who make mock ups of the course at home so they can practice and train for specificly difficult obstacles.
piratedan: The folks of ABC’s Wipeout did not walk the fine line fine enough and now Disney has dug into their back pockets and pulled out some lawyers!!
The co-creator of Spike’s MXC says that Wipeout has copied major elements of their own games and the editorial feel of the show.
ABC lawyers asked Youtube to pull a video that MXC’s creator put together to show the ’similarities’ of the two shows. dOh!
http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/07/follow-up-mxc-c.html
Here’s the contested video:
http://www.localsports.biz/MXC/MXC-Wipeout.htm
The creator themselves say: “MXC is a reality show spoof using footage we licensed from the 1980s Japanese show, Takeshi’s Castle.”
Even though I split a rib on the first show, and got some good humor from the second episode, (Because I do have a sick sense of humor) it does get old fast.
How many ways can you bounce off of big balls? Really!
Anyhow, judge for yourself. The video is well done, and the supporting text below is an insightful read.
Gotta love lawyers. You copy a show, you ride it’s coat tails, then you start badgering them legally to not point out that you’ve copied them. (head smack!)
What's your opinion? Leave a comment!