The freak show called reality TV has always pushed its clowns to fall apart, whether they’re would-be models pining for the affections of a washed-up rocker, hot-tempered roommates battling for the last dab of toothpaste or cold-hearted contestants willing to emotionally scar their loved ones for a shot at a bag of cash.
That’s no longer enough. Now we want blood.
In ABC’s new hit “Wipeout” (7 p.m. Tuesdays), borderline athletes get punched, ricocheted and knocked into muddy waters on obstacle courses. That’s followed by “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” (8 p.m. Tuesdays), in which 10 Americans compete in humiliating, bruising games you’d expect to be played at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
CBS has turned over prime time to mixed martial arts, a sport for fans who think boxing is nothing more than a slap fest, and NBC has revived “American Gladiators,” the national pastime that gives mere mortals the chance to get the stuffing knocked out of them by Hercules-sized gods. At CMT, the network that proudly brought you “Ty Murray’s Celebrity Bull Riding,” producers are hard at work on “Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling,” which promises the long-awaited sight of Dustin (Screech) Diamond in tights.
Toss in the primitive punishments on “Man vs. Wild,” the thrills and spills of “Celebrity Circus,” the brutal nature of “Ultimate Fighting Championships” and the leg-splitting, body-tossing, tendon-pulling moves on a half-dozen dance shows, and you have what can kindly be tagged the Summer of Shove.
“It’s not ballet,” said Wolf, the aptly named regular on “Gladiators.” By his account, the first season of the revamped series resulted in at least one broken leg, a couple of torn ligaments, a separated shoulder, a separated ligament and countless bumps and bruises.
The new ABC shows aren’t quite as dangerous, although you wouldn’t know it by the way the mostly hapless competitors on “Wipeout” get bounced around the course like Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff.
Creator Matt Kunitz said the show spends $100,000 on padding obstacles with names like “Dirty Balls” and “Dreadmill.”
Kunitz previously served as executive producer for “Fear Factor,” another stunt-heavy series, and he claims that during the show’s six-year run, you could count the number of serious injuries on one hand.
That’s one of the reasons Kunitz believes his shows make great family-friendly TV. The “Wipeout” premiere was first among the networks among ages 2-11 in its time slot, behind only Nickelodeon and Disney Channel in programming overall. According to NBC research, 22 percent of viewers between ages 25 and 54 watch “American Gladiators” with their children.
“Sometimes what’s intended to be family viewing has to be carefully monitored,” said Common Sense founder Jim Steyer. “Kids need to be told that stunts that look silly and harmless can be dangerous in real life and cause real injury.”
