Welcome again to the weekly Pop Culture Club, where each week I make an assignment, and we meet back here on Thursdays to discuss, compare notes, argue, stew, and, time permitting, write a song cycle. This week we take on a topic that I feel very strongly about: People getting hurt. And what better way to address this hot button issue than through ABC's Wipeout?
I should clarify: I don't have an issue with people getting hurt on TV. On the contrary, I encourage it. My issue is the importance of people getting hurt in a funny way. For over 25 years,I have honed my appreciation for all things bloopered. You know how some film directors talk about the first time they saw a Truffaut film and had their eyes opened to a whole new world? I had the same thing one cold day in high school while sitting in a cafeteria, watching through the window as fellow student after fellow student pinwheeled their arms wildly as they tried — and then failed — to cross the school's icy courtyard. This is art, I whispered to myself as yet another classmate picked himself off and dusted the snow off of his snorkel jacket.
Staged pratfalls by the likes of Jim Carrey or Buster Keaton aren't the same thing. I'm talking about that magical moment when someone is captured on tape accidentally tripping, slipping, or getting clocked, bonked, or generally ker-slammed. I love America's Funniest Home Videos(the current, less grating, Tom Bergeron years) and Jackass. But I don't just laugh at anything: I am an ass-over-teakettle purist with very specific tastes. My fellow injuryphile, EW's Dan Snierson, and I will spend hours outlining our rankings and preferences: I like people getting hurt on treadmills and trampolines. I am largely jaded to the faceplant genre, except in those instances when a victim lands on his nose and his spine curls backwards, his feet landing just beyond his head in an inverted somersault. And my veryfavorite genre of home video is when someone gets hurt alone while taping himself showing off (lifting weights, swinging nunchuks, doing a flip, etc.) and then — and this is key — has to make the slow, post-accident walk of shame back to the video camera to turn it off. It's the ultimate degradation, and I love it. (And yes, when watching AFHV, I fast-forward through the cutesy dogs and cats. Save it for Animal Planet, boys – I want to see old people fall down hills!)
In any of these videos, there is one constant: The subjects don't see the injury coming. And that's the fatal flaw of Wipeout. The contestants begin the obstacle course knowing they're going to be clocked by giant Styrofoam wands and tossed into water and/or mud. It's like watching someone hit himself in the face with a pie. It's not funny, it's just desperate.
And then there's the repetition. Person after person rebounds off the same big red balls. We get it! They're hard to land on! In a good injury show, wipeouts should be like snowflakes, no two alike. But here, it's the same thing over and over again, just with different-shaped contestants. And the patter between John Henson and John Anderson is overdone. Have they not learned the lessons of Saget? Less is more, people! Let the faceplants do the talking…and the fact that your faceplants aren't talking loudly enough is your problem, not mine.
So what do you think of Wipeout? Is it wipey-outty enough for you, or does it leave you craving a good golf ball in the nuts? Am I being too picky about a show that doesn't want to be anything more than fall-down-go-boom? (The answer to that question, by the way, is NO NO NO.)
Before you answer those questions, here's next week's assignment: Dark Blue, the new undercover cop drama with Dylan McDermott. It premieres next Wednesday at 10 p.m. on TNT. If you're wondering why I didn't pick Big Brother, which premieres tonight, it's because I'll be writing a weekly TV Watch on that show every Friday morning as well. See you tomorrow, slop lovers!
All right, let's talk Wipeout! And remember: Typos do not count as literary pratfalls.
Comments (1-30) of 76 Add your comment
Pssst, Josh: There’s a typo in your headline (“Are pratfalls are funny if they’re premeditated?”
Oh, and I think I can watch one Wipeout ep per year and be sated. The Moose couple at least entertained me, so I was glad they won.
I’m sure I will eventually get bored with Wipeout unless the drastically change the format somewhere down the line. But right now, since they’re not running the show into the ground, I’m still enjoying the heck out of it.
I don’t really believe that the contestants on Wipeout are getting injured when they wipe out. If they did, they would not be able the finish the course and would lead to a whole lot of money having to be paid out by the producers, which they are not willing to do, so at most it would just hurt a bit.
Sometimes an engineered Wipeout is better than one that can just happen randomly. Sure you may get tired of all the wipeouts on the big balls but there’s at least one every show that out does all the rest. Another thing about Wipeout is that even though the show focuses on the contestant failing, I’m actually looking for success, I want them to get across and I always curse people when they don’t go fast enough.
The only constant on the show is the Big Balls. Everything else is inter-changeable and the contenstants don’t seem to know what the next obstacle is. They even change the Big Balls with different ways to push hesitant contestants off the platform. View the show for what it is – mindless summer fun, where delusional “Reality TV” wannabees who will never make it on Survivor get beaten on for an hour. If only they would do a Celebrity Version…I can think of several “Celebrities” I’d like to see dropped in mud or punched in the nads.
We love Wipeout. It doesn’t really seem to bother us if it’s the same stuff happening over and over or the fact that you know someone’s going to fall down…we might not laugh nonstop for the entire hour, but aren’t one or two really good belly laughs worth it? It’s more than I can say for 99% of the scripted comedies out there!
Could not be more excited if I tried for your TV Watch of Big Brother. Seriously people it is a must read. Worth watching the show for the recap. Hope thats not too much pressure, Josh!
Once again, I guess I’m probably too easily pleased. I’ve seen every episode this summer after not having watched it at all during the first season. Now I regret skipping it last year. I love me some puns, no matter how terrible or clever they are. Josh, like you said, this show isn’t America’s Funniest Home Videos, which is why they do need the extra commentary. If it wasn’t there, or if they didn’t add silly sound effects, or if they didn’t draw erotic moose on the screen, then I probably wouldn’t watch it at all. It would be too empty and not nearly as funny as the candid footage you covet so dearly. As for people getting hurt, I don’t know how that one woman last night kept going after bending her neck on the platform that holds the big balls. That was the most painful-looking fall that I can recall seeing on the show so far.
Love Wipeout but I wish they would replace the announcers with the guys who did the jokes on MXC. Now THAT was hilarious. Maybe they should adopt some of the obstacles too.
LOVE WIPEOUT… it doesn’t need to be anything fancy, it’s just freakin’ hilarious. And I really enjoy the back and forth between Anderson and Henson… it adds to the funny.
Mocoloco, the MXC commentary is too edgy and vulgar for network TV. It would be nice to see Guy LaDouche accompany Jill Wagner in an interview every once in a while though.
I know they know they’re going to encounter big red balls but it’s the sheer enjoyment of how each individual attempts to tackle the obstacle that gets me. Some hesitate immediately; some run then… hesitate;Some keep running;some jump. I loves it. mm mm mm. And yes, I love an epic faceplant(which definitely happens)but I also like it when someone makes it across.
I like wipeout. It is better than the so called hidden camera shows that are not so hidden because the camera is right there.
Wipeout is the cushy American version of Ninja Warrior–without the lifelong preparation and the shame of defeat. I like Wipeout. Those big balls never get old.
Two words…Jill Wagner…that is all.
I heartily dislike this show – it’s repetitive, the courses are unimaginative, the commentary is painfully bad, and the contestants are annoying. Much prefer the gonzo insanity of I Survived a Japanese Game Show.
Wipeout is awesome for about ten minutes – some of those falls are very spectacular. And I second whoever said that half of the fun is watching people approach the big red balls – as if they’d found out a way to master it. good times. And after ten minutes I have to go read a book (or get sucked into the 467th season of Real World)
Also Josh’s veryfavorite genre make me laugh so hard I snorted. at work. I really have no shame.
I find myself liking this show less this year – I start out enthused, but by the end of the hour I’ve usually lost interest. I’m not sure if this is because A) I agree with Josh that the lack of spontaneity ruins the fun B) my attention span is getting even shorter, or C) (I’m hoping a watcher from last year can clarify this for me) the game rules changed this season.
Mark, I didn’t watch last year, but even though I love the show, I agree that I’m bored by the end. I may root for some people over others, but ultimately I don’t really care who wins. When they do the final round, the show becomes strictly a competition. The jokes get toned down. They stop drawing funny things on the screen. They show some replays, but they don’t fast forward them and rewind them repeatedly or stylize them in any way to achieve a comedic effect. It becomes a different show entirely. I personally think the 3rd round is transcendent, as long as they do the course where everyone is competing at the same time (i.e. not the rocket ship rodeo challenge). It’s just so much fun to watch everyone tackle the obstacles all at once. It’s like the old computer game, “Lemmings,” minus the dying.
I think you’re being pretty hard on a show that’s very honest about its intentions – if you’re not entertained by people wiping out on an obstacle course then obviously the show is not going to entertain you. Agree that the banter is overkill, but not that all the wipeouts are the same. This obviously isn’t an Emmy-worthy show just mindless background entertainment and way better than AFHV (at least there are zero pet follies on Wipeout)
does anyone remember that show similar to wipeout that was on Spike TV? it had the two badly dubbed korean hosts. that was WAY better than wipeout.
I’m sorry but the Moose thing had me in tears laughing. Like someone else said, the hesitation followed by the wipeout is what makes the hilarious, even if it’s predisposed.
hbd, that’s the show that mocoloco referenced earlier in the comments. It used to be called “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge,” and then they started calling it “MXC.” I guess they didn’t call it “MEEC” because they’d rather not inherit the Earth. Sherman Hemsley, can I get an “Amen” for that Bible pun?
Couldn’t agree more Josh. I used to sit on a bench in the frozen university courtyard during cold Pittsburgh winters just to see my fellow students wipeout on the icy conrete. Had me in stitches! I also love watching people try to perform advanced dance moves only to trip over their own feet. Pratfalls are only funny when unexpected and that’s why Wipeout sucks (helmets and safety gear are NOT FUNNY).
I laugh out loud through that whole show every time it’s on. I know what’s going to happen and I love it that much more. I also love the banter.
I have to disagree; I love “Wipeout.” It seems to me that while we, the audience, understand that there is no way the contestant is going to make it through the obstacles unscathed, the contestant seems truly surprised every time they fail. Also, it’s great to cheer for those that actually succeed where so many before have failed.
John — I don’t think I’m being too hard on the show, because I’m 100% behind its intentions. I’m not looking down on it: this show SHOULD be exactly what I’m looking for. When I first read the description before it launched last year, I thought ABC had been reading my dream diary. I’m just disappointed that it doesn’t do what it claims to well enough. Just the fact that they’re all wearing helmets sanitizes it. Mind you, I don’t like watching people get seriously hurt: MTV had a show called “Scarred” all about people’s ridiculously messed-up skateboard and biking accidents, and it turned my stomach. But the sweet spot lies in between. Oh, and add some variety: at least throw a guy off a trampoline in the middle as a palate cleanser.
I enjoy Wipeout mainly because of Jill “Jillybean” Wagner. They need to give her more air time. They should have never canceled the Blade TV series!
You are being too hard on the show. It is what it is….a hysterical masterpiece of fun-packed wipeout entertainment.
I wonder if “Wipeout” would work better as a half hour show: start with less contestants, keep the commentary to a minimum (I’m on the anti-host side here: I don’t find that John and John “bounce” off each other well) and reduce the competitive final round. Then as per PJ’s suggestion, take “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” – another series that would benefit from more hijinks and less back story – and we’ve got ABC’s Summer Slapstick Hour!
I think that Wipeout is popular just as American Funniest Home Videos is losing luster after 20 years. This is a new type of blooper show that is so funny. It reminds me of the popular Double Dare show in the ’80s but without the slime. And they change the obstacle course on each show; it’s not the same thing every time. They still keep the big red balls on the first half of the show. And yes they land hard on those balls. I hope they don’t have blood or cuts on their skin, or are seriously injured after those hits and later landing in the water. And yes, it is a competition–I look forward to each of them beating the other contestant’s finish time, even on the final course. Especially the one who finished at 4:40 beating the previous person’s 7:05 time on the July 1st show.