Misery Loves Company

Not sure why this is, but it does seem to be true -- especially for network TV shows that parade endless contestants across the screen suffering all kinds of misfortune. This is the premise of the ABC show Wipeout. Like many similar shows over the years, they lure the contestants with promises of fortune if they win, but those winnings might just be needed to pay doctor bills -- physical or psychological -- after seeing what I've seen.

We all cringe seeing the crashes and "wipe outs" suffered by the foo..., er, um, contestants as they compete against each other and time to be the winner. It's not quite as bad or humiliating as the infamous Japanese game shows that we've seen clips of, although there's an American version of that coming this summer from ABS as well called I Survived a Japanese Game Show. That one is more likely to be funny in an embarrassing kinda way than challenging physically. I might catch an episode or two of that one as well. Not sure I could take more than a few episodes of either of these, but it keeps the kids laughing for a while after I lose all of my laughing gasses...