TVSquad

As I've mentioned here before a few times, I'm a fan of Wipeout. It's silly and pretty much boils down to people getting hit by something and falling down into water or mud, but I'm a guy and sometimes I want to watch a show where somebody gets hit by something and falls into water or mud.

A lot of other people like the summer show too, and now ABC has announced that the show has been renewed for a third season.

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.

If you love America's Funniest Home Videos -- and I know a lot of you do because the show's been running since 1989 -- you're the likely target audience for something new from the network. ABC plans to produce Wipe Out, a new reality competition from producer Matt Kunitz (Fear Factor).

The idea for the show is to create -- rather than collect a la AFHV -- spills, splats, crashes and wipe outs ever seen on TV. Endemol USA (Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, 1 vs. 100) is producing the show for ABC.