The appeal of "Wipeout," ABC's hit summer show, could not possibly be easier to explain. Vicki Dummer, a senior vice president for alternative specials, series and late night for ABC, puts it this way: "It's funny when people fall down."
Specifically, when they fall down in spectacular ways: after being doused with 1,000 gallons of cold water, or after taking painful-looking hits from a wall of boxing gloves, or after being spun in circles by a "dizzy dummy" machine.
In an otherwise bleak summer, ABC has managed to nurture "Wipeout," now in the middle of its second season, into a hit franchise. It's an obstacle-course competition, shown on Wednesday nights, that is a standout among the network's mostly low-rated shows.
"Wipeout" may be a mere example of disposable comedy, but it connects with an average of 8 million viewers each week. An executive producer of "Wipeout," Matt Kunitz, said it had "turned out to be a real family show," without sex or violence or many profanities, but with plenty of slapstick.
People are also reading…
"There are very few shows that fit that criteria," he said.
Dummer concurred and said, "What really tickles me about it is that my little 9-year-old nephew and my 74-year-old mother both laugh hysterically at the show." The wipeouts are a relief for ABC, which has operated without a go-to summer staple since its "Dancing With the Stars" moved to a twice-a-year, fall-and-spring schedule. "Wipeout" gives ABC a reality show to rely on in the summer, akin to "America's Got Talent" on NBC, "Big Brother" on CBS and "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox.
Mirroring last summer's results, it is ABC's top-rated show this month, and the network's only one besides "The Bachelorette" to rank on Nielsen's list of the top 20 broadcast TV shows. "Bachelorette" concludes next week, while "Wipeout" will continue through September, leading viewers to ABC's fall schedule.
Despite its success at ABC, "Wipeout" has "suffered noticeably" among key demographics this season, said Robert Seidman, an editor of TVbythe numbers.com, a ratings Web site.
ABC attributes the declines partly to the stiff competition from Fox's "Dance." Last year "Wipeout" ran on Tuesdays, opposite a less popular lie-detector game show on Fox.
Despite the ratings decline for "Wipeout," its producers said that they believed that they could keep the show going for years by creating more extravagant obstacles, leading to more dramatic belly-flops and falls.
"Wipeout," shot at a ranch near Santa Clarita, Calif., follows a four-round formula, beginning with a qualifying round that requires surviving a gantlet of obstacles such as collapsing bridges and slippery swings. There, viewers see what may be the trademark of the show: a set of four giant red balls that contestants must jump across. Most wipe out while trying.
After two subsequent rounds weed out contestants, four finalists try to complete a supersize course called the Wipeout Zone. There they may dodge barrels, walk across a narrow ledge, leap onto spinning platforms and avoid a "sweeper arm" designed to knock them into the water below. Each episode's winner — whoever completes the course the fastest — wins $50,000.
While the competitors' occasionally brutal wipeouts inspire shrieks of "Ouch" from some viewers, dislocated shoulders are the worst injuries the producers said they had seen.
"While it may look painful, we have designed a very safe course," Kunitz said, adding that the show spends about $100,000 on padding alone. "It's one of our biggest-budget items," he said.
ON TV
"Wipeout" airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on KGUN-TV, Channel 9.
