TVSquad

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.

"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?

Count 'em off. There's Deal or No Deal and Show Me the Money. Identity starts on NBC next week. CBS is developing a kiddie genius quiz show and a revamp of Name That Tune. Howie's outing was no fluke. Game shows are back on network TV in a big way. The latest game show-related announcement comes from ABC. The network has teamed up with the Weakest Leak production team to translate Germany's Wetten das...? (Wanna Bet?) to US television.

Wetten das...? has dominated German airwaves for two decades. The broadcast is part musical variety show and part game show. In the game show portion, a person says that they can do some wacky stunt. Celebrity guests than take bets on whether or not the person can actually accomplish the stunt. If the celebrity loses the bet, than he or she has do something equally wacky.

I never watched Jackass when it was on television (is it still on?), so I had no interest in seeing it when it hit the big screen a few years ago. Now Jackass 2 is out, and the boys hit the red carpet the other night for the premiere. And Steve-O decided to turn the red carpet a little yellow while he was there.

Click this link to see Steve-O urinating on the red carpet. That's right, actually urinating. Reuters had the story, but they took down the pic that went with it. Luckily, Gawker has it. (Note: NSFW or anyplace else.)

That's going to be the magician's next stunt on ABC. He's going to hang 135 feet above the water from the Brooklyn Bridge for a long period of time.

It was reported a few weeks ago that Blaine's next stunt would involve living with various dangerous animals in the jungle, but it looks like while that project is still in the works, it's going to be a documentary and not one of his stunts.

The NY Post piece above says that last week he was hanging from the bridge with suspension wires. But I'm still not sure what the stunt will be. Will he be hanging from suspension wires? If so, I'm not sure what the "stunt" aspect is. Or maybe he was just practicing and he'll be hanging from his hands or something?