I’m pretty sure i heard one of the contestants yelling “help me!” at some point while they were in the water, also it wouldn’t surprise me of there being a risk of getting knocked out on some of those falls.
That’s not funny. That’s just mean.
They couldn’t get the rights to it, since Fox is doing a series based on it called Hole in the Wall.
I like Wipeout. It really helps if you put MXC completely out of your mind, because the humor they’re going for on this show isn’t the crazy silliness of MXC - it’s more wry. I like the female announcer on the course, because she gets a lot across by giving the camera the right kind of smile. Like the other night some contestant said something about how he was going to crush the course, and she turned to the camera and gave a huge grin, like “Oh, this is going to be funny.” Then when he took a most excellent header into the mud, she turned to the camera and gave the exact same smile - a little callback to her earlier smiley prediction. Very subtle. And when another contestant kept saying, “mommy!”, you could hear her voiceover say, “oh, that’s just sad.”
The two male announcers need work, but they’re mercifully not on the show very much. The obstacles are fun, and they’re adding new ones each week to keep it interesting.
Oh, and I also like the self-deprecating humor - like when they dropped all the tennis balls on the treadmill, and the announcers were all, “Oh, this is going to be tricky, those tennis balls are killer.” Then it turned out they were no problem at all, and the announcers worked with that. “Oh, here come the horrible tennis balls again! They… don’t seem to be doing much. They’re not really a problem at all. Nope.”
So a tentative thumbs up so far. It’s not crazy like MXC, but it’s got its own charm.
It looks to me like you could pass most of the punch-wall by just staying low and crawling past… Not sure if that would be quicker than swimming, though. Is there a time penalty for falling in?
My strategy would be to hit that thing at a full sprint and long jump as far into the pit as possible. I have a feeling that going against the spirit of the game like that is against the rules. You probably have to at least give the appearance of attempting to pass each obstacle.
ISAJGS looks so… fake. Like a parody of an Americanized Japanese game show. You can catch some audience members rolling their eyes at the kitsch of the judge and host. And the Hell’s Kitchen reference upthread fits perfectly, it’s like they have the same producer.
Wipeout pales in comparison to MXC, IMHO.
They do- both shows are produced by Arthur Smith at A. Smith and Co. Productions.
I gotta say…Judge Bob cracks me up. He looks like he’s about to burst an artery or two right before he announces a game score.
I think I Survived A Japanese Game Show is hysterically funny.
Plus I love the sets and the graphics of that show - is there a single color they DON’T use?
I do wonder how much free beer they give the audience before the show - they all look half-crocked.
I DVR’d the first few shows of each–finally got to watch them last night.
Wipeout is a complete waste of time. It’s basically MXC without the humor. Oh, they try to be funny–and fail miserably. I watched the first show and erased the rest.
ISAJGS , on the other hand, is a hoot! I love the host and especially Judge Bob. Their interaction with the contestants and the audience are a big part of what makes Japanese game shows so entertaining–and explains why *Wipeout * is so boring. *Wipeout * has no interaction–they just tape people making fools of themselves and add the comments later–which only works for MXC because the footage from the real show is skillfully edited and the voices of Kenny and Vic are actual comedians .
I finally saw Wipeout. (ISAJGS doesn’t appeal to me at all.)
It is exactly like MXC, only less funny, but I’m okay with that. A few beers, and it’s downright hilarious! My only beef is the casting process. For years my husband has lamented not being able to get on MXC or Ninja Warrior, due to the expense of going to Japan. Now that there’s an American approximation, we were all excited. Turns out, you have to live in California to even enter. scowl
The new wrinkles on the “Wipeout” events – dodgeballs on the sweeper and swim fins/inflatable obstacles on the treadmill – were terrific. If only some of the competitors had made better use of the dodgeballs… but perhaps in a future show others will. You could tell right off that those babies were best disposed of PDQ, but several tripped up because they tried jumping with both arms holding onto those stupid balls.
I wonder if the show’s producers phased out the mid-show spinner because a competitor threw up in last week’s show, or were they going to not include it this week anyway?
And what’s with the really wacked-out personalities and quitting? I swear, there are more flakes on this show (and perhaps in this particular week’s outing) than in a tray of baklavas, and more fruitcakes than in an Entenmann’s outlet store in January. It’s like the producers have a weekly quota for at least one contestant with an unsevered umbilical cord. WTF?!?
As for the ISAJGS, that Green team’s Donelle’s a major tool (can’t take him at his word for anything), and Mary’s not much better. Someday the others will realize she’s no prize asset when it comes to these events…
And the blonde who survived the elimination challenge on the green team should punch Donelle in the nose for the way he weasled out on their deal at the last minute. If he feels impunity in breaking agreements, then she should be released from the normal social contract to not take a big swing at his face when she returns from that challenge.
Watching Donelle not carry any milk through the course – twice – it occurs to me that I’ve consumed dairy products with *live cultures * that were smarter than this guy… 
I can’t stand Donelle. At least Mary was a good sport when she left.
Sayonara!
Week 2 didn’t have the spinner either - it had a treadmill challenge also, somewhat different than this one. So I’m guessing they’re alternating between spinner & treadmill.