★★★★★ 0/5

Wipeout: Australia

Expect to see the vain, deluded, and, um, bogan, declaring to conquer the world before falling flat on their face in a pool of mud. Wipeout is that kinda show.

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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.

67 Responses

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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?

  9. 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!

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  15. 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!

  16. 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.

  18. 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!

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  21. 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.

  22. 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.

  24. 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.

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