TVSquad

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

What, no America's Got Talent in the top spot or Wipeout in the #2 spot this week? Nope, thanks to FOX's All-Star Game. Wipeout fell all the way to #7, beaten by repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI.

CBS' Flashpoint came in at #18, which explains why they moved Swingtown to Fridays at 10 and put Flashpoint on Thursdays at 10.

1. MLB All-Star Game (FOX)
2. America's Got Talent (NBC)
3. MLB All-Star Pre-Game Show (FOX)

• At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by new episodes of I Survived A Japanese Game Show and Primetime: Family Secrets.
• NBC has a new Celebrity Family Feud at 8, then a new America's Got Talent.
• ABC Family has a new Secret Life on an American Teenager at 8.
• ESPN has the premiere of the 2008 World Series of Poker at 8, followed by another new episode.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• There's a new Wide Angle on PBS at 9.
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9, followed by Deadliest Catch: Behind the Scenes.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 9, then a new Road Tested with the Neelys.
• At 10, A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner.
• FX has a new Rescue Me minisode at 10.
• History Channel has a new Mega Disasters at 10.
• Also at 10: HBO has a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
• At 11, SoapNet has the season premiere of General Hospital: Night Shift.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

Doing the ratings during the summer is rather boring. America's Got Talent and Wipeout are on top again, and the rest of it is the usual mix of other reality shows and game shows and the CBS lineup of crime crime crime, which even gets big ratings when they're repeated, for some reason. Even the newest crime drama Flashpoint grabbed the #15 slot with its premiere, and it's on Friday nights.

1. America's Got Talent (NBC)
2. Wipeout (ABC)

The makers of MXC are not happy with the "creative" minds behind ABC's summer hit Wipeout. Spike initially called out the Wipeout folks in a press release announcing the MXC marathon, "MXC, The Original, Not The Ripoff, Weekend." Now Larry Strawther, MXC's executive producer, is upset with ABC and YouTube for removing a video that Strawther released in order to establish Wipeout's ripoff status.

The video in question is after the jump. Strawther has also accused YouTube of "[altering] the search results algorithm to benefit ABC and punish MXC." He's right; a search using the terms "MXC" and "Wipeout" leads you to videos showing motocross wipeouts. Strange.

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

NBC must be really happy that it's summer. With their reality shows and reality competitions, it's the only way they can get the top spot in the ratings. ABC's Wipeout continues to be strong, though I Survived A Japanese Game Show must be losing a lot of viewers. I'm really surprised that repeats of shows like Criminal Minds, 60 Minutes, and all of the CSIs continue to do so well in the summer.

1. America's Got Talent (NBC)
2. Wipeout (ABC)

• Did you know that Fine Living has new episodes of Emeril Live every night at 7?
• At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by new episodes of I Survived A Japanese Game Show and Primetime: The Outsiders.
• FOX has a new Moment of Truth (I thought the summer finale already happened?) at 8, then the season finale of Hell's Kitchen.
• NBC has new episodes of Celebrity Family Feud and America's Got Talent.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch, then a new After The Catch.
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me minisode, followed by the season finale of 30 Days.
• Bravo has a new Flipping Out at 10.
• Lifetime Movie Network has the movie Nightmare at the End of the Hall at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Spike TV is calling this holiday weekend, "MXC, The Original, Not the Ripoff, Weekend." On July 5th and 6th the network will be paying homage to Spike's original series based on a Japanese game show. Wait, so doesn't that make Spike's show the ripoff of the Japanese show? Maybe not. MXC uses real footage from the reality game show Takeshi's Castle and creates a whole new comedic storyline.

Spike TV makes sure to point out that MXC is not dubbed or a literal translation of Takeshi's Castle. The show is written and voiced by the following actors: Victor Wilson, Christopher Ranga, Mary Scheer, and John Cervenka.

Here are the weekly ratings, by number of viewers.

Yes, NBC had four shows in the top 20 this week, but it took the summer and reality and/or reality game shows to get there, including America's Got Talent, The Baby Borrowers, and Celebrity Family Feud. ABC's new game shows, Wipeout and I Survived A Japanese Game Show, both made the top ten.

I'm surprised Hell's Kitchen isn't higher. #14 is great, I just thought it would do better during the summer (though it does well on its night). 60 Minutes' repackaged repeat segments continue to do well too.

1. America's Got Talent (NBC)
2. Wipeout (ABC)
3. 60 Minutes (CBS)

• At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by new episodes of I Survived A Japanese Game Show and Primetime: The Outsiders.
• FOX has the summer finale of Moment of Truth, then a new Hell's Kitchen.
• NBC has a new Celebrity Family Feud at 8, followed by a new America's Got Talent.
• ABC Family has the premiere of Secret Life of the American Teen at 8 (repeated at 9).
• USA has more U.S. Olympic Trials at 8.
• TCM has His Girl Friday at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has the ESPY's Nomination Special.
• At 9, PBS has a new Wide Angle.
• CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery at 9.
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9, then a new After the Catch.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me minisode, followed by a new 30 Days.
• History Channel has a new Mega Disasters at 10.
• There's a new ECW on Sci-Fi at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

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.

• At 8, ABC has the series premiere of Wipeout, followed by the series premiere of I Survived A Japanese Game Show and a new Primetime: The Outsiders.
• NBC has the series premiere of Celebrity Family Feud, then a new America's Got Talent.
• At 9, FOX has a new Hell's Kitchen.
• PBS has a new Frontline at 9.
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9.
• VH-1 has two new episodes of I Love The Millennium starting at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new minisode of Rescue Me, then a new 30 Days.
• There's a new Mega Disasters on History Channel at 10.
• Bravo has a new Flipping Out at 10.
• HBO has a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel at 10.
• Also at 10: Oxygen has a new Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.

Check your local TV listings for more.

"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?

Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week.

1. Wipeout and I Survived A Japanese Game Show: Next season the Japanese will come over here and star in I Survived The Jerry Springer Show. (Tuesday at 8pm on ABC.)
2. The strike: One more week to go before the deadline.
3. The Baby Borrowers: Stars Jamie Lynn Spears and these girls. (Wednesday at 9pm on NBC.)
4. Jimmy Kimmel on The View: He's dumped on them for years and now he's going to be on the show. Should be interesting. (This morning on ABC.)
5. Hey, it's Buffy/Angel Week!: Our retro summer continues with posts about Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel (and everything related to them).
6. Rescue Me minisodes: We really have to think of a better name for these things. (Starts Tuesday at 10pm.)

If you've had enough of shows being imported to the US from the UK, maybe some Japanese grown entertainment will work for you. On the heels of ABC's upcoming Wipeout, and Fox's Hole In The Wall, another popular Japanese game show could be crossing the Pacific.

Vin Di Bona Productions, of America's Funniest Home Videos fame, has acquired the rights to Masquerade (Kasou Taishou). The show, which the linked article calls Japan's longest running hit series, finds contestants using costumes, props, and sets to create performances that trick the eye. Sound confusing? I thought so too. There are a couple videos of just what that entails after the jump. Having now watched them, it is an interesting concept, but I don't see it being an idea that works as a weekly series. As far as I can tell, it's only done a couple of times a year in Japan. That sounds much more reasonable to me. Of course, I never would have guessed that dad getting hit in the nuts with a Wiffle ball bat would still be working after 19 years either.

[ via Reuters ]

ABC has started production on their new summer reality series Wipeout. The show features 24 thrill-seeking contestants who will race in the world's largest extreme obstacle course. According to the press release, the course was designed to create the "most spills, face plants and wipeouts ever seen on television." I can't help but wonder if anyone at ABC has seen MTV's Jackass. Just a thought.

The obstacles and contestants change every week. Some of the obstacles are "Dizzy Dummy," "Dirty Balls," (there's a bad joke in there somewhere), and the "Dreadmill" which gets contestants to jump hurdles on a 40-foot long treadmill moving at "warpspeed" (ABC's words, not mine).

Here's something of interest: John Henson (Talk Soup) will be co-hosting with John Anderson of SportsCenter. Henson is reason enough for me to give this show at least one go-round. What about you? Will you tune in to Wipeout?

Wipeout is slated to premiere on Tuesday June 24th at 8:00 p.m. ET / PT on ABC.