First a confession. I’ve never been one for Wipeout.
Ten minutes of the first episode and I felt like I’d seen it all. It was much the same with Hole in the Wall. I know Wipeout was a tad more self-ironic with its commentary than Hole, but if it’s not tubby lifesavers on It’s a Knockout (or even its predecessor Almost Anything Goes) then in my book it’s a genre best left to those crazy Japanese.
So I did the only fair thing. I watched the preview with a group of friends who adore Wipeout. I’d be able to judge how well this Australian version worked based on their reactions…
So what’s different in the Aussie version? Aside from the talent, nothing really. James Brayshaw and Josh Lawson commentate the show via the same distant green-screen as the American version. Similarly, Kelly Landry is on the ground to gain reactions from contestants. Naturally, they are all Aussies, sent to the international course in Argentina. It would take a lot to build this thing here, especially when there are no guarantees the show will succeed.
The contestants are all completely bonkers. They are collectively mental, vain, deluded, and, um, bogan. I guess you have to be to put your hand up for this gig. Expect to see them declaring to conquer the world before falling flat on their face in a pool of mud. Wipeout is that kinda show.
There’s also a lot of contestants. A LOT. Thankfully it’s edited at breakneck speed to cut to the humiliating chase. And they’re very Anglo-Saxon. For an Aussie Wipeout it’s very White Australian Wipeout.
But it’s also right on the money as a carbon copy of the US version. Brayshaw and Lawson cynically narrate the events, deriding all who foolishly tackle the course. They fit this bill rather well. Landry, in another role with little opportunity, doesn’t add much aside from adding the ‘cute factor’ plus several cases of stating the obvious.
As with the US edition, there are lots of replays, slow-mos, and scrawls across the screen that look like they have been graffitied by the texta of Perez Hilton.
My pals loved it.
Yet again, I felt like ten minutes was enough to experience the full extent of what the show has to offer, but that’s immaterial. The real point here is that Nine has come up with a faithful version of the show for its fans.
If you loved the US version, chances are you’ll love this one too.
Wipeout: Australia airs in a “Sneak Peek” 7:30pm Tuesday February 3rd on Nine.
“it’s a knockout” is better. I love Australia favourite game. “it’s a knockout” (1985-1987) Fiona McDonald and Billy J.Smith. “It’s a knockout” is number one.
# It’s a knockout — that’s the name#
#It’s a knockout — that’s the game#
#It’s a knockout — that’s the name of the game#
Please ooh please channel nine and GO just put this show down so we the viewing public don’t have to suffer anymore.
Somethings recycled for the australian audience just don’t work.
Leave this show for the americans it just proves that they are number one at somethings
i think its pretty funny how all these people reckon they can smash the course and all they do is fall off i wanna know how to get on the show and show them how its done.
Filming is complete. If there is a second series I will post a story.
Hi,
I’m very interested to know how can I get my partnar get into the ‘Wipeout’? And how much does it cost?
Hear from you soon,
Thankyou,
Elise
I think kids should be aloud to go on the show. so do all my friends.
I personally hate Wipeout Australia,
This program is transmitted to some of the main countries in the world, such as america and england. This ruins Australia’s Reputation, sure there are other versions of the show but i personally find our’s the most embarassing, with the horrible comments on every part of the show, pictures of everything and i evrn admit the first time i watched it, i laughed when someone fell over, once, now it’s just embarrising.
Sorry all filmed and completed by Nine.
Hey, does anyone know how i can audition to get on the show
markus sheet ^….
dont know what you on about with the set mate… it was filmed in argentina on an international set – where many other international versions of the show are also filmed.. identical setup to the US set in california… perhaps you mean film and production..
i enjoyed the show last night…they’ve done well
suprising how many people here unlike it really…alot of haters…its funny cos all those hating on it still seem to check it out…or at least show some interest by searching it
Ok, 5 minutes of Australian Wipe Out is enough for me.
Exactly what i thought it would be – a cheap, nasty, unfunny version of an international hit – pretty much what happened with Australian Top Gear.
Hosts are not funny, contestants look like have been told to ‘act just like the Americans”, jokes are bad, sets look cheap..why don’t they just not bother – do they think Australian audiences are stupid and will accept a sub par product.
It reminds me of Australian Survivor with it’s $5 sets compared to the Americans million dollar sets.
Pathetic – just bring back the US version.
whatever jb you posted a heap of them….so obviously u had seen them, someone from channel 9 perhapssssss>>>>
My friend has been informed they are in the first episode. they didnt do to well but i was wondering if they show them as they quit at the big balls.
and i lke bogans they are the funniest when the get wiped out
I just saw some clips from the first episode on youtube – just type in ‘australian wipeout’
These things often go gangbusters. For about five minutes.
When you say docos counting in the quotas, David, how do they differ exactly from factuals?
Maybe channel Nine aren’t planning on keeping this for the whole year. They may air it for a couple of months, then take it off air, and then bring it back later on in the year. This way viewers won’t get bored of the concept. If they did this, it would be a smart move.
And how many new shows do channel nine want in February?
- Aussie Ladette to lady
- The Farmer wants a wife
- Wipeout: australia
- Today on Sunday
- The Mentalist
- Domestic Blitz
- And I think The Singing Bee is back in Feb as well
I hope channel Nine keep delivering throughout the year, and not just show all the new shows in the first month of ratings.
No…this wouldn’t fall under drama, comedy or doco quotas.. apart from which there would be Argentinian crew too.
Just a cheap way for Nine to meet their Australian content quota requirment (Nothing requires it to be “quality” content).
Prize is $20,000.
I hate it and I cant believe it rated well when it was on. May I also add, Channel 9 had the worst shows and the worst promos for TV Shows out of all Networks.
I dont think this will make it past week 2. It is a crappy show and channel 9 are idiots for doing it. This is why Seven is #1. Nine make stupid decisions.
Wow there’s a lot of Naysayers on here.
To all the people deriding the show’s ratings – ‘Pass the Remote’ is on the money – the last two Tuesday installments were ‘Best of’ specials and the subsequent Friday airing were repacked reruns (shortened to a half hour in tandem with Hole in the Wall)
To all those deriding the content – noone is forcing you to watch it – however I’ll echo the comments of others here – I have a 5yo son and this and Funniest Vids are the only shows we watch together that aren’t kids cartoons, everything else on Prime Time is either boring or unsuitable – so this is a great family show and I can imagine Lawson and Brayshaw doing it justice.
Geez, lots of negative comments here. I thought it was great family show, and I look forward to the Australian version. As has been said, it’s the commentators that make the show so funny, without them it would get boring quickly. I downloaded the first ep of the UK version just to check it out, and it was terrible. There was only one commentator instead of two (The Hamster), and it was just a boring dry commentary. It doesn’t work without them being able to bounce their comments off each other. I’m sure Brawshaw and Lawson will do it well.
David, how much money did the winner receive? In each episode of the US version the winner received $50,000. Now I know it won’t be high, so my guess is $5,000 to $10,000?
wait a minute.. a crap show to provide content during the writers strike, is actually being made into an aussie prime time show. WTF is wrong with this country! or at least those that commissioned this!
well even if this is a success it’s hardly something to be proud of.
Will appeal to some – not for me though.
Might rate thru roof first week, then will tank especially if other networks smart and programme against it.
More brain rot. Definitely not watching, I give it 3 eps to lose its audience, 6 and it will probably get canned, although a new timeslot is likely after 2 eps.
MXC was/is/and always will be better than Wiepout.
Loved the US version…but only for the commentary. If the script and the hosts are as strong, then I’ll be happy to let them have my eyeballs.
It should be State VS State! like It’s a knockout! it would get more viewers in as we would be rooting for our state and rivalries would happen and so at the end of the series we are all tuned in hoping our State wins!
To give them credit, if there was one reality show i had to watch, it would probably be this one. But with lots of quality shows out there, i’ll pass.
Anyone know when A-PAC is coming to digital 44?
This is going to be another disaster for Nine – the US format didn’t appeal to viewers so why does anyone think aussie contestants doing exactly the same thing will appeal – and traditionally Nine viewers are from the above 45 age demogrpahic – why else would Nine still insist on showing Antiques Roadshow – why anyone in that age bracket would find this show appealing is beyond me. I don’t know who is working in the programming department at Nine but they need their head examined!
I did not see the long term appeal of the show.
I got tired of seeing people go through the same obstacle course each week.
I suppose it is a similiar humour to funniest home videos with the endless replays and voiceovers. That has an audience but I am not sure it would be a primetime hit.
Lee123 from memory the last 2 eps on tuesday were “best of” specials and the Friday night eps were repackaged rpts. So it finished on 1.23 having starting at 1.3, not that big a drop.
billy, don’t know what your sources are but it started at 1.3 not 1.6 the highest it ever reached was 1.49 and settled well less than 1.2-1.3.
the ratings went 1.33, 1.4, 1.49, 1.48, 1.29, 1.08, 1.13 1.26, 1.23, 1.09, 920k, (then moved to friday) 620k, 660k (then stopped for harry potter). it only won the timeslot twice.
my point is, for an important Tues 7:30 the ratings were not that great after people got sick of it. now there isn’t even the curiosity factor to pull people in, they’ve seen it.
Um Wipeout US actually started around 1.45m, before falling to 800-900k on Tuesday’s. Then it moved to Friday where it was getting 600-700k.
I actually quite liked the show, but it was same old after a while. I’m expecting nothing stellar, probably sit around 1mill I guess.
I agree Wipeout will start out extremely well, around the 1.5mill mark, before eventually settling to less than 900k after around 2 or 3 months
I think that Wipeout will premier to about 1.6 mill and will eventually settle at about 1.2 – 1.3mill. And for all of those that are saying that the US version was a flop it sure wasnt. It started off at around 1.6 mill and settled at around 1.3 mill. The Fri night eps were only a shortened repeat and were only used as a filler, but they still got about 1 million. Does anyone know how long this series is expected to go for.
Jay it was The Eternity Man on the ABC, check Review archives.
i guess this isnt the show that david k had given his foirst 5 star rating, do we know what that is yet?
Partizan, it started out as a hit but then quickly fell from grace, it was pushed around the timetable and was eventually axed along with hole in the wall and motorway patrol and replaced with movies.
which is why i am surprised the oz series kept the green light especially as they canceled plans for australian moment of truth after the US version failed.
@Partizan
if it was doing well why did 9 bump it to a low rating position on friday and then cut it completely.
lee123, I dont think US Wipeout was a huge flop, I think demographically it did quiet well against younger viewers otherwise 9 wouldn’t have comissioned an Aussie version. Josh Lawson is an interesting element, he was always good on TGYH.
Not for me. Prefer more substance in my TV.
It’ll rate, but no more than 1 mil meaning it will move around timeslots. Probably best suited to Sat 7.30pm or afternoon weekends. Its a shame to see this sort of show being put forward as a 7.30pm weeknight idea. People will like it, but it’ll be last resort TV.
Maybe the ch9 promotion should be “It’s the same, but now in HD!”
Surely everyone who watches this, simply does so because they don’t know what a Torrent is?
The US show was a hit from what I remember…David?
Agree with Chris a great show that I can sit down and watch with my kids.
What was the prize money?
Still $50,000, or did they skimp out?
The shit just keeps piling up.
It will last three episodes – the third one being shown at a ‘new time’ of 4am Sunday.
lee’s prediction: it will flop just as embarrassingly as hole in the wall did. however i think it will capture the 2.5men crowd, people only watch it if there is nothing else on.
i really think ch9 are beating a dead horse with all this trash tv. the flop of hole in the wall, gladiators, and US wipeout should have been indication enough that there is no market for these shows and aussies don’t like them. so why keep pushing it?
I can’t believe Josh Lawson lowered himself to this level, to co-host this show.
I must admit i quite like this show. I dont watch every ep but i watch ill watch it every few weeks. Good compo on the hosts as well. I was wondering David do you know how many eps they intent to make / have made. Thanks
One of the few shows I can watch with my 6 year-old son and we both cack ourselves.
This show is brilliant, I just hope the comedy writing is up to scratch with the states. It will definately rate.
well every show that is similar to this like gladiators, and fear factor have a huge level of interest at the beginning that quickly fades once people have seen one episode and think they have seen it all. it even happened with the US version of wipeout on australian TV.
it stuns me why they still went ahead with it after the ratings of the original.
Jerome’s predictions: episode1 – 1.6mil, ep2 -1.45mil, ep6 – 900k
Place your bets folks on how long wipeout will last before it is wiped out I will be generous and say 5 episodes
I’ll definitely be tuning in. Many of my friends said that the U.S. version was only good because of the commentators, so if James and Josh do a good job of making jokes (and those sketch things), i’ll be watching the whole season.
The ads were also quite funny.
Andrew, ep 1 was same as US: individual v individual.
This show looks horrible like stated above. i doubt ill be watching this one either. The ads alone were enough of a turnoff for me.
Is it like “It’s A Knockout” in regards to states versus state?
I saw the ad and it made out it was like that, which would be good but confusing too I think??
Ch9 know originality, 1st with the Cricket Theme which is a direct ripoff of last years SuperBowl theme..
Now with Wipeout, a direct ripoff of MXC..
When the ratings comes in, you can bet.. this show will be Wiped Out before too long. Any one remember when ch9 axed a show called Clever?,
I guess people watch this for the same reason home video shows rate well, they like to see people falling flat on their ass!
From the previews I’ve seen, I don’t think I’ll be tuning in. The people they’ve picked are the sort of people I absolutely hate watching.