WIPEOUT!

We don't have cable in our home. We don't watch TV. I won't qualify our decision here. If you've seen the TV Guide lately, you know there is not much on that an entire family can watch without sullying their selves. But there are exceptions to every rule :)

This spring my parents asked us (cajoled, begged, bribed with banana splits) to stay late one Wednesday Family Night to watch a show that had been giving them stitches in their sides for months. We agreed. I'm not one to turn down free dessert.

The show is called WIPEOUT. You would think since I am so protective of the little eyes and ears in my charge that this show would be wholesome, edifying, family-friendly. You'd think wrong. WIPEOUT is brutal, heartless, violent, inappropriate, and...HILARIOUS. Shameless people compete against each other is these obstacle courses created by sadists. For Fifty Thousand Bucks. Or maybe it is for their 15 seconds of fame? I have no idea.

Each week I am shocked by who makes the cut at their casting calls. Very unlikely characters appear on the screen to face the Big Balls, the Punching Wall, the Raging Bucking Bull or the Final Obstacle course that includes thousands of gallons of ice cold Gatorade and human catapulting and other daring, tortuous hurdles to accomplish before they can cha-ching! their winnings. They don't ever show ambulances or stretchers but you just KNOW that people are getting hurt. What are these crazy contestants THINKING--subjecting their bodies to that agony?

My parents started watching it in honor of Bryan. The guy loved to laugh and I guess he had called my mom and told her to tune in one night. Or maybe it was the Japanese Game Show one? Who knows? But now my family makes the weekly trek to grandma and grandpa's house to watch humans being really foolish. This is NOT extreme sports, it is insanity! I would like to conclude that we have teachable moments and explain the finer points of protecting our health, caring for our bodies, respecting our reputations. But none of that is going on during these Wednesday nights. We are just laughing, switching channels during commercials, and eating bananas splits. Cheers Brother!