33
ACTIVITY 17: WIPEOUT
STUDENT NAME
"Wipeout"
"Wipeout"
is
an
American game show
series
in
which
contestants compete in
what is billed as the
"world's largest extreme obstacle course."
The show is taped at the Golden Oak Ranch
in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita,
California, 40 miles north of Los Angeles.
There are two ways that you can become
one of the 24 contestants competing in each
episode. For more details, visit the ABC
Web site and look up "Wipeout" for each
option.
Once all contestants are chosen, the
games begin. During an episode, contestants
compete through four rounds of competition
until a final winner is crowned "Wipeout
Champion." Some new qualifier stunts have
been added to the course--including the
"Double Cross," the "Pitch Fork," the
"Blob," the "Fence Flapper," and the
"Smack the Wall Sweeper" to name a few.
The 12 quickest finishers of the first
round move on to the second. These
challenges vary, but the challengers once
more face the likely possibility of ending up
taking a plunge into a muddy pit. Six
contestants survive this round and head on
to round three, which narrows the field
down to the top four survivors. The third
round resembles the first because the players
must traverse a huge and complicated
challenge course. As in the earlier courses,
getting soaked is extremely likely. The
challenger who completes the field in the
shortest amount of time claims the grand
treasure of $50,000.
The challenges change each week,
but always feature offbeat and comical
obstacles, such as the "Sucker Punch," the
"Sweeper," the "Dizzy Dummy," or the
"Dreadmill," and the "Wipeout Zone."
"Wipeout" has become an extremely
popular television show, with TV Week
recently naming it the third most viewed
reality program in the world. It is loved not
only for the exciting obstacles faced by the
contestants but also for the funny and ironic
slant mood of the commentary by John
Henson and John Anderson.
Jill Wagner offers additional
commentary and reactions, and also
provides interviews with the contestants
filmed before their turn begins. Generally
only those who pass the first round are
introduced, and each are assigned a
nickname that is used throughout the game.
However, during the "Wipeout Zone," the
show takes an epic and serious turn, with the
humor dialed down, and serious background
music instead of its lighthearted theme
music.
"Wipeout" first aired on January 3,
2009, grabbing mammoth amounts of
viewership. If you enjoy watching reality
shows and are looking for a good laugh,
then "Wipeout" is a must see show.
"Wipeout"
was
nominated
for
a
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award and was
voted by Entertainment Weekly's readers as
Reality TV's Guiltiest Pleasure.
FiGuRe
17-2
Wipeout
17
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ACTIVITY
For Evaluation Purposes Only