A preview of ABC’s new stunt show WipeOut - VIDEO
“We wanted to show all of the fun of Fear Factor, but none of the gross,” says executive producer Matt Kunitz of WipeOut. ABC’s new summer reality series will feature 24 contestants who race on the world’s largest extreme obstacle course. Now, this isn’t like American Gladiators. WipeOut, hosted by John Henson (Talk Soup) and John Anderson (SportsCenter), wanted average people to compete on their show. Kunitz says that he specifically didn’t want any extreme athletes. Somewhere Bam Margera and Steve-O are crying.
Mahalo Daily took a trip to the gigantic set of ABC’s new summer show. That day, they were testing the storm simulator. It costs $100,000 just to turn on. Mahalo Daily also talked to the casting director (for those of you who are interested in trying out for season two). The video is after the jump.
WipeOut premieres tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET / PT on ABC. Will you be tuning in?
If you want to be on Wipeout, you have to sign a huge release
So I watched a repeat of the first episode of ABC’s new game show Wipeout, and I’m not sure what to think of it. Like most American males, I like seeing people* fall from high, wet places and get punched in the face, but I’m not sure how many weeks I can watch the thing. I’m also not happy with the plugged-in comments from the hosts (John Henson and John Anderson) we have to listen to. For every really funny comment there are seven that make you groan. And I wonder if the show will just grow tired after a few weeks.
But there’s no denying that there are some wild stunts here. Everytime someone goes sailing off that ramp in the dark or bounces on those giant balls and their body jackknifes and hits the water I’m thinking, these people could easily break their necks. Sure, Survivor has crazy challengs and Fear Factor had nutty stunts, but this stuff seems especially dangerous. And that’s why ABC has them sign a 50 page release.
The network is covering their butts on this one. Besides the release they have each player sign (”Player states that if he if is stupid enough to sign up for a dangerous game show and breaks his neck bouncing off a giant ball, ABC is cleared of all responsibility…”), they have each event/course tested by a team of experts called The Black and Blue Squad (which was going to be the name of this site until we changed our minds). They test the depth of the water, how consistent the mud is, and make sure everything is padded enough. Which is good, because you don’t want your death certificate to read “killed by giant balls.”
* By the way, is there some law now that says contestants on game shows have to act like dicks? I mean, really. Remember when we never found out the personal background/attitude/personality of a contestant on a game show, unless it was Jeopardy, where they’re interviewed by Alex Trebek? Now game shows can’t just have regular contestants, they have to be trash talkers and they have to brag and insult the other contestants. Wipeout has contestants like that. It’s an odd thing on this show, really, because even though we don’t find out much about the contestants (they just seem to show up, their names are splashed on the screen, and they hit the water), they still seem irritating and over the top.
A preview of ABC’s new stunt show WipeOut - VIDEO
“We wanted to show all of the fun of Fear Factor, but none of the gross,” says executive producer Matt Kunitz of WipeOut. ABC’s new summer reality series will feature 24 contestants who race on the world’s largest extreme obstacle course. Now, this isn’t like American Gladiators. WipeOut, hosted by John Henson (Talk Soup) and John Anderson (SportsCenter), wanted average people to compete on their show. Kunitz says that he specifically didn’t want any extreme athletes. Somewhere Bam Margera and Steve-O are crying.
Mahalo Daily took a trip to the gigantic set of ABC’s new summer show. That day, they were testing the storm simulator. It costs $100,000 just to turn on. Mahalo Daily also talked to the casting director (for those of you who are interested in trying out for season two). The video is after the jump.
WipeOut premieres tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET / PT on ABC. Will you be tuning in?
George and Sarah: “Rock” Solid
Did a little poison nudge George Clooney and Sarah Larson's relationship along?
Not quite. But in the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar, the Oscar winner's gal-pal does admit that while the two were recuperating from their motorcycle accident last fall, they did take in a marathon of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels.
"We caught ourselves rooting for someone or getting frustrated," reveals Larson. "And we were like, This is sad."
The 29-year-old former Fear Factor contestant also recalls how they met four years ago while he was celebrating his birthday at the Vegas resort where she was working"We were hanging out and dancing and being goofballs"before bumping into each other again at the Ocean's Thirteen premiere in 2007 and beginning a relationship.
“I got texts, and we just started talking," she says. "George is funny and sweet, and he’s good to be around. I see him as a normal person, like anyone else. He just happens to have a well-known face.”
A well-known face that provides him the opportunity to date a smokin'-hot chick 18 years his junior.