I watch Wipe Out. Mostly out of background fodder while eating, ya know something not to pay attention to. But recently- I watched Wipe Out- as a Fan.
There was never a full commitment to Wipe Out. Sure I like watching people fall down in a way that is designed for them to be humiliated, but that always seemed hollow and empty (not to mention juvenile and boring). I would watch the first round, have my fill of people getting hurt, then watch something more substantial. Well, I was enjoying myself watching the people fall so much I decided to throw better judgement aside and watch the entire episode of Wipe Out. And wow- getting into a TV show so arcane and redundant is realizing that the arcane and redundancy of it are what make it... beautiful.
Wipe Out has and will always be the American version of MXC. MXC was a Japanese game show with American comic over-dubbing. Funny enough, but I get it. We get the same thing every week, and, really- we're just making fun of foreigners. With Wipe Out we are making fun of Americans. Wipe Out is a different beast than MXC because where MXC (which was on Spike TV, one of the more sweaty balls networks going) reveled in the comedy of it, Wipe Out lets a story pan out. MXC couldn't do that because of the restriction of being a foreign show being mocked. Wipe Out lets us get to know the most comical of human beings and then see them compete. It's the appeal of sports on the most basic (basic=stupidest) level. Sure, people are smacking into walls and falling into mud, but they are doing so out of the human spirit to compete. MXC lost that in translation. MXC was closer to the Laff-a-lympics.
Now, Wipe Out has ringers too. They have the people who are clearly good and you can place your bets on. When the fail, you feel let down. They have the emotional stories. People doing it for their kids, or who really need the money. They have likable characters. The guy who refers to himself in third person nickname, or the opera singer who hams it up with opera singing. And they have loser ringers! The really fat people who it is mean to even make them think they can accomplish anything on the show. Wipe Out is held down by the yuk yuk yuk commentary of the guy who put Talk Soup on the map John Henson, and Sportscenter merryman John Anderson, but whatever. Anderson plays the straight man and only loses minimal credibility, while Henson serves only to remind me that he was funny when I was in 6th grade. So I understand they are not making this show for me, it is for families with a son in 6th grade who loves sports and has nowhere to go on Tuesday nights in the summer.
So I say to you, jilted reader who decided to read about Wipe Out from someone who calls their website Dumb Reviews, if you are going to watch this show, watch it with the same fervent applause you watch the Olympics or World Cup. Bring yourself down to the show's level. People are falling down in hilarious manners. It's great. Smoke weed while doing so, it helps.
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