Entertainment: Wipeout

Show Summary

Jill Wagner, John Henson, and John Anderson host Wipeout, a show in which 24 contestants compete against each other and the clock in hopes of winning the $50,000 prize. In the Qualifier Round, all 24 contestants must complete a course consisting of four obstacles. The twelve contestants with the fastest times advance to the second round. In this round, the top 12 face the Sweeper.

The six who last the longest on the Sweeper, move to the third round and the last person standing receives a $1000 bonus. In the third round, the remaining six contestants face an obstacle, such as the Dreadmill or Dizzy Dummy. Two contestants are eliminated during this round and the remaining four contestants advance to the final round, The Wipeout Zone. The final four must complete four obstacles in the Zone. The contestant with the fastest time wins the $50,000 prize.

Wipeout is a game show series in which contestants compete in what was billed as the "world's largest obstacle course". Wipeout is hosted and commentated by John Henson and John Anderson, while Jill Wagner acts as the "on-location" presenter.

The show aired on ABC from June 24, 2008 to September 7, 2014. The interim presenter for one season was Vanessa Lachey. The creators and executive producers are Matt Kunitz and Scott Larsen. Distribution of the show is handled by Endemol USA. The show was taped at Sable Ranch in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, California, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles.

History

Wipeout is similar to Takeshi's Castle, 1986 to 1990, Tokyo Japan TV game show , a competition featuring obstacle courses. The series premiered on June 24, 2008, on ABC. After the pilot was shot, co-host Elon Gold was replaced.

Producers called in Michael Glazer to find a "comic host replacement" that eventually went to John Henson. The first season's success spawned a series of international versions of Wipeout, debuting in countries including the United Kingdom and Argentina in January 2009.

On December 8, 2008, ABC announced plans to counter-program NBC's Super Bowl game-day telecasts with a sports-star-studded episode of Wipeout, entitled "Wipeout Bowl". The episode was broadcast immediately following the game. The episode featured female cheerleaders competing against male "couch potato" sports fans.During the hour-long special, Monica Kauffman became the show's first female competitor to win. Following the episode, an announcement was made that a second season had been commissioned, and a promo for the season was subsequently broadcast.

The second season was broadcast during the summer of 2009. According to TV Week, in 2009 Wipeout became the third most popular game show in the world, based on ratings. On July 22, 2009, Wipeout was renewed for a third season, for which filming began in September 2009.

The third season of the show premiered on June 22, 2010, with a special two-hour "Blind Date" episode preluding the series on June 1.ABC subsequently announced that other themed episodes would appear in Season 3, including episodes featuring ladies only and families.The third-season finale aired on September 14, 2010, with a special "America's Finest Edition", featuring some of America's heroes, including firefighters and policemen.

On August 15, 2010, ABC announced that the show had been contracted for a fourth season.The announcement added: "Wipeout has the distinction of being the only broadcast reality series launched in recent years that has demonstrated proven staying power." On October 13, 2010, ABC announced plans that the fourth season would be split into three sections Winter, Spring, and Summer; with a total of 32 episodes: 8 Winter episodes, 7 Spring episodes and 17 Summer episodes.The fourth season premiered on January 6, 2011.

On June 16, 2011, ABC announced that the show had been renewed for a fifth season, and that Vanessa Lachey would replace co-host Jill Wagner on the show. New episodes of Winter Wipeout began on December 8, 2011, with a Christmas special episode, entitled Winter Wipeout: Deck the Balls.That same year, Syndicated reruns of Wipeout aired on truTV and TBS.

On August 29, 2012, Wipeout was picked up for a sixth season. In addition, it was announced that former co-host Jill Wagner would be returning to the series after a season-long absence. John Anderson and John Henson, also returning as hosts.

On August 30, 2012, Activision released the mobile App Wipeout game for iOS. It quickly became the top-selling app in the App Store.

On May 9, 2013, season six premiered. In its sixth season, Wipeout celebrated its 100th episode.

On January 22, 2014, Wipeout was renewed for a seventh season. For the first time, winners from each episode will be brought together for a "Tournament of Champions" at the end of the season to compete for the title of Ultimate Wipeout Champion.

On June 22, 2014, the seventh season began, with new episodes airing on Sundays. Season Seven ended on September 7, 2014.

Wipeout appeared to have been renewed for an eighth season in a new version named Wipeout Extreme however, by the summer of 2015, ABC had quietly canceled the show and removed it from the ABC website.