Wipeout (2008 game show)

This article is about the 2008-2009 ABC game show. For the 1988 game show, see Wipeout (1988 game show). For the 2009 UK version, see Total Wipeout.

Wipeout
Created by	Matt Kunitz Scott Larsen
Directed by	J. Rupert Thompson
Presented by	John Anderson John Henson Jill Wagner
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	27
Production
Executive producers	Matt Kunitz Scott Larsen
Production location	Los Angeles (county), CA
Running time	approx. 43 minutes or an hour with commercials
Production companies	Endemol USA Pulse Creative
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	June 24, 2008 – present

Wipeout is an American game-show series that premiered on June 24, 2008 on ABC. Wipeout is hosted by John Henson (E! Entertainment's Talk Soup) and John Anderson (ESPN's SportsCenter). Jill Wagner co-hosts, and acts as the "on-location" presenter (Henson and Anderson presenting from a broadcast booth). The executive producers are Matt Kunitz (Fear Factor) and Scott Larsen, and the co-executive producers are Trice Barto, Shye Sutherland, J. Rupert Thompson and Kevin Wehrenberg. Distribution of the show is handled by Endemol USA.

The show is taped on a ranch just outside the city of Santa Clarita, California. The location is never mentioned in the show itself - by contrast, the British version makes a special point of talking about the show's Argentine connections.

In the show, contestants compete in what is billed as the "world's largest obstacle course" through four rounds of competition until a final winner is chosen. The first round features 24 contestants, while only the top four will make it to the final round called the Wipeout Zone, where the winner earns the title of Wipeout Champion and a $50,000 grand prize.

The challenges change each week, but always feature offbeat and comical obstacles, such as the "Sucker Punch", "Big Balls" (the show's trademark obstacle), the "Sweeper", the "Dizzy Dummy" or the "Dreadmill", and the "Wipeout Zone". In one of the show's trademarks, the commentators have a humorous running commentary, often mocking and gently insulting the contestants as they compete. The hosts make frequent use of puns. Jill Wagner offers addition commentary and reactions and also provides interviews with the contestants filmed before their turn begins. However, during the "Wipeout Zone", the show takes an epic and serious turn, with the humor dialed down, and serious background music instead of its lighthearted theme music.

The concept and style of the show has been compared to several Japanese game shows most notably Sasuke and Takeshi's Castle. Wipeout creator and executive producer Matt Kunitz, who also executive produced NBC's Fear Factor, states Wipeout is "90 percent Fear Factor- inspired, 10 percent Japanese game show." Kunitz claimed, in the Los Angeles Times, that Wipeout was born from a desire to do a funny stunt series. He wanted to sell the show as Fear Factor meets America's Funniest Home Videos.

On its premiere night, Wipeout scored the highest premiere rating of any new show in Summer 2008, beating competing veteran summer shows Hell's Kitchen and America's Got Talent. As the season progressed, Nielsen Media Research put it at the top of the 18-49 demographic, slightly outpaced by America's Got Talent. On August 6, 2008, Wipeout was officially renewed for a second season.

Leading Japanese broadcaster TBS has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against ABC, charging that Wipeout is "a blatant copycat" of several of its classic Japanese competition game shows. Among the charges are that ABC bought search terms such as MXC on Google to help drive traffic to the official Wipeout page, and that specific obstacles in Wipeout were knock-offs of challenges in the Japanese game shows.

On December 8, 2008, ABC announced plans to counter-program NBC's Super Bowl game-day telecasts with a sports-star-studded episode of the "Wipeout Bowl." ABC aired a 13 minute football-themed "Wipeout Bowl" special against NBC's official halftime show. Then, immediately following the game, ABC aired an hourlong "Wipeout Bowl" in which cheerleaders competed against male "couch potato" sports fans. During the hour long special, Monica Kaufman became the show's first female competitor to win and also the first and only (female) winner of the Wipeout Bowl.

In January 2009, several international versions of Wipeout debuted in countries including the UK (known as Total Wipeout) and Argentina. Also that month, ABC began running repeats from the first season over most affiliates, at 5:00 pm EST/2:00 pm (3:00 pm in May) PST.

The second season premiered on May 27, 2009, and with an audience of 9.69 million, Wipeout bested its first season average and gave ABC its best numbers in the Wednesdays-at-8 slot since November 2007.

Gameplay

Round One - "The Qualifier"

In the first round of the competition, 24 (32 in Episode 9 only) contestants attempt to qualify for the next round by passing a four-part obstacle course. Only the twelve (16 in Episode 9 only) with the fastest times move on. The course consists of four distinct parts, the second and third of which are constant. If the contestant fails to pass a particular obstacle, they only have to swim or crawl through mud or water to the next one.

Contestants are usually given labeles such as 'Party Girl', 'Army Man', 'Navy Seal', 'Cheap Date', or 'Mullet Man' by the announcers based on the appearance of the contestant, the contestant's occupation, and/or the contestants unusual habits or behaviors. These monikers persist throughout the show and help to make the various contestants more memorable and identifiable.

Contestants first go down a ramp to a line of floating platforms (not really an obstacle but many contestants fall into the water here). The first part of the course usually consists of two sections of stacked items which the contestants must cross, occasionally separated by an additional obstacle. Though the items vary (doughnuts, rectangles, etc.), they fall over easily, dumping contestants into mud or water. (In Episode 9, the ramp was replaced by a water slide with lots of pillars (The Human Pinball).) Starting in Season 2, the first part of the course is now a platform (or platforms) with unstable parts, leading to an easy wipeout (ex: Rug Pull).

The next obstacle is the "Sucker Punch", a wall covered in boxing gloves which punch out at random intervals to knock the contestants into a mud pit. This obstacle has only been successfully completed seven times in aired episodes so far (by Episode 4's Gwenisha Robinson, Episode 6's Jessica Bertoni and John Henson(seen crossing it in episode 11), Episode 9's Katie Mayfield and Eddie Shapiro, and Episode 10's Sam Mohan and Phil Somerville). For Episode 8, the boxing gloves are replaced by shoes and the obstacle is so named, "Butt Kicker".

The third part of the course features the show's trademark obstacle, the "Big Balls", four gigantic inflated red rubber balls placed in a line on steel supports over a pool of water, which the contestants must cross. In aired episodes so far, only eleven contestants have all passed the obstacle – Ariel Tweto, Jeremey Olson, Ben Kronberg, John Ames, Yolanda Ezeil, Nick Ballard, Katie Mayfield, Jessie Graff, Grace Matis, Devon Berry (not shown), Terry Smith and Shane Harris from the couples episode. In season two, a large padded pendulum (known as "The Motivator") was added on the platform that led to the Big Balls, which knocks off any contestant that hesitates to start. Only one person has survived the motivator who is Terry Smith from episode 7 on season 2, he also passed the big balls because of it.

The final part challenges the contestants to land on a distant platform, a giant ball, or huge, stacked inner tubes containing foam in them by pole vaulting or a rope swing (or one of their variants) from a raised, levelled platform. Failing to complete this correctly usually results in the contestant swimming to either the platform they were to land on in the first place, or another platform further away from the intended goal; often the latter is used when the goal involves landing on the rubber ball. Time stops once judges declare that the contestant is in the proper position (usually standing) on the goal.

Round Two - "The Sweeper"

In the second round, the twelve (16 in Episode 9 only) remaining contestants stand on ten-foot-high cushioned pedestals and try to jump over a rotating horizontal hurdle (the Sweeper bar) that increases in speed and height with each rotation. The precise details of the challenge vary slightly in each episode, usually adding an additional obstacle or handicap, such as making the contestants wear sacks, throw dodge balls, or attaching things to the sweeper arm (a ring, foam swimming pool noodles, smoking artificial crows). The first six contestants (8 in Episode 9 only) to be knocked off their pedestals and into the water are eliminated, while the rest compete for a $1,000 bonus, awarded to the last contestant standing. In the ninth episode, only the elimination occurred and there were therefore eight contestants remaining, hence no bonus awarded for the last one standing.

In Season 2, a 'gyro' function was added to the Sweeper. After one round of jumping over the Sweeper, it gyrates in a circular motion. Contestants were given the choice of jumping over it, or ducking under it, making them have to time their jumps and ducks just right. A $1000 bonus was given to the last person standing, like in Season 1.

In several of the second season's second rounds, a obstacle called 'King of the Mountain' was featured instead. It requires contestants to reach the center of a rotating platform while avoiding a sweeper arm moving in the opposite direction.

In the final obstacle course - the "Wipeout Zone" - a similar obstacle known as the "Crazy Sweeper" has been used. It features two sweeper arms with differing objects on each end. Contestants much race around a circular course jumping across platforms and pedestals while the sweeper arm chases them from behind, threatening to knock them into the water below.

Round Three - "Road to the Final 4"

The six (8 in Episode 9 only) remaining contestants participate in a unique stunt that varies with each show. The top four finalists then move on to the Wipeout Zone and compete for $50,000.

Typically the challenge begins with the Dizzy Dummy, where the contestants are strapped to a spinning cylinder for a short period then released to cross one of two sets of obstacles over a pool of water. The first contestant to cross the obstacle will advance, and the contestants are forced to go back to the beginning of the obstacle if they fall off. Once a contestant has crossed the obstacle, the remaining contestants must return to the Dizzy Dummy and "spin again." The Dizzy Dummy spins for a longer period each time until four contestants manage to pass. (On episode 5, the contestants had to eat a Mexican lunch before the challenge to make the challenge more difficult.) So far, there has been only one instance that a contestant, in this case third week contestant Jarran Joshu, had gotten so dizzy that he vomited. Joshu immediately withdrew as a result. There was only one episode (episode 8) where there were no quitters to this round. Every other episode featuring this challenge has one person quitting.

An alternative to the Dizzy Dummy is the Dreadmill. The Dreadmill is a large treadmill with various obstacles for the contestants to overcome: doors, tennis balls, inflatable fish, a giant wrecking ball, traffic pylons while wearing "goofy goggles", etc. If contestants fall off, they are either done with their turn or forced to start over, depending on the objective. Usually the contestants that stay on the Dreadmill the longest advance, though in some cases, the winners are those that complete a set objective in the least amount of time. The best time this season was Charles Zaucha's time of 2:34.

Episode 9 (the pilot show) featured the Cookie Cutter, where the contestants rode on the end of a spinning platform, attempting to navigate their way through 4 cut-out poses (in a method similar to Brain Wall) in the shortest amount of time possible. One of these human-shaped cut-outs (also known as the Cookie Cutter) was used as the final hurdle in the Qualifier round of the first (broadcast) episode.

In Season 2, the contestants faced different challenges including the The Slippery Course, in which the contestants face an obstacle course all at the same time. The first one to win would go through to The Wipeout Zone. They would repeat this three times and the last two would be eliminated. They also faced The Rocket, where contestants try to stay on a spinning and gyrating rocket while being hit by "planets" - large rubber balls suspended by strings and painted to look like planets in the earth's Solar System. Those that stay on the rocket for the longest time advance. Sometimes there are additional impediments such as being hit with a meteor shower or being sprayed with "rocket fuel" by a spaceman (played by John Henson).

Round Four - "The Wipeout Zone"

At night, and with a more serious tone than the previous rounds, the final four contestants play separately on a large obstacle course called the Wipeout Zone. Though slight variations are used in each episode, each contestant must slide down a long ramp (Killer Surf), swim to and then travel up an uphill ramp with large barrels rolling down it that are released at regular intervals (Barrel Run), cross a narrow climbing wall to the other side (Water Wall), leap onto a large spinning wheel with foam pillars and then leap off onto the opposite platform (Spinner), then finally cross a series of trampolines set at different heights and distances to the final platform (Launch Pads). In Episode 9, The Triple Threat replaced the Barrel Run and Water Wall. Contestants had to cross three triangles which acted like seesaws. If the triangles rotate, the contestants fall into the water. Also, the Water Beam replaced the Launch Pads. The objective is to cross a narrow beam while having seawater pour down on them. In Season 2, Killer Surf was sometimes replaced by a catapult (The Catapult) that shoots contestants into the water. The Barrel Run was replaced by three rotating gears (Gears of Doom). What makes Season 2's Wipeout Zone different is that you may skip the Gears of Doom and take a 2-minute time penalty. After that, the Spinner was replaced by an obstacle similar to the King of the Mountain from the Wipeout Bowl (Scary Go-Round), where contestants have to cross a rotating platform, avoid a Sweeper spinning above their head, and make it to the middle. They then climb up, and cross a high spinning platform bridge to the next obstacle. Usually, contestants had to cross the Launch Pads (Blast Off in Episode 9, The Tackle Dummy Turntables in the Wipeout Bowl) but those were replaced by a platform with 3 punching pistols (The Gauntlet) then a turntable filled with foam (Foam-Filled Turntable) and then onto a bridge that pulls up when contestants get close, forcing them to climb up (Drop Bridge). After climbing, the Drop Bridge drops, either knocking contestants into the water or stopping two feet below the finishing platform. Contestants must jump from the drop bridge to the finishing platform. Whoever completes the course in the fastest time is crowned "Wipeout Champion" and takes home $50,000. The winner might celebrate either with Jill Wagner or on the final platform by shouting usually "YES!". Jill Wagner will usually tell the winner who is standing on the final platform that he/she has won the game and won $50,000. On February 1, 2009 during the Wipeout Bowl I, Monica Kaufmann became the first female Wipeout Champion.

After the competition has finished, John Henson closes out the show with the phrase "Good night... and big balls," a spoof of Edward R. Murrow's catchphrase "Good night and good luck." Then, while the credits roll, highlights from that episode using showing the most spectacular or humorous wipeouts are replayed while theme music plays.

Season 1 Episode list

Key

Legend

Female

Male

Top 12

Top 6

Top 4

Eliminated

Episode 1

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dizzy Dummy	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Arthur Sevcik	02:02.4	6th	2nd	1st (02:40.70)
2	Jessi Duran	02:26.4	3rd	4th	2nd (05:36.77)
3	Nick Leland	01:59.2*	2nd	3rd	3rd (05:43.60)
4	Travis Mitchell	01:55.6	4th	1st	Out of time
5	Kevin Ashmuhs	(?)	5th	Eliminated
6	Andrew Ritter	(?)	1st	Quit
7	Jerry Huson	(?)	Eliminated
8	David Anderson	(?)	Eliminated
9	Ruben Sears	(?)	Eliminated
10	Glenn-Marie Endris	(?)	Eliminated
11	Amy Kline	(?)	Eliminated
12	Kim Beetlestone	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 2

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dreadmill	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Jim Wakefield	3rd (01:33.9)	1st	1st (01:00.79)	1st (07:34.55)
2	David Goryl	5th (01:59.1)	4th	4th (04:36.14)	2nd (08:50.79)
3	Darrin Miller	1st (01:19.3)	5th	3rd (04:35.10)	Out of time
4	Joey Byham	4th (01:34.6)	6th	2nd (01:07.13)	Quit
5	Ingel Catindig	2nd (01:32.5)	3rd	Out of time (04:36.20)
6	Kelly Duffy	02:30.4	2nd	Quit
7	Gayla Johnson	(?)	Eliminated
8	Alyssa Grube	(?)	Eliminated
9	Jessica Burd	(?)	Eliminated
10	Donald Pietranczyk	(?)	Eliminated
11	Ronni Peck	(?)	Eliminated
12	Carin Chea	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 3

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dizzy Dummy	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Kyle Adler	3rd (01:41.5)	1st	1st	1st(03:23.03)
2	Nick Louis	1st (01:36.2)	4th	3rd	2nd (09:33.99)
3	Ariel Tweto	5th (02:25.1)	6th	4th	3rd (15:57.93)
4	Neil Smith	4th (02:09.0)	3rd	2nd	Out of time (16:03.81)
5	Chris Lekawa	(?)	5th	Eliminated
6	Jarran Joshu	2nd (01:40.4)	2nd	Quit
7	Dalmar Montgomery	(?)	Eliminated
8	Will Rideau	(?)	Eliminated
9	Mike Pyszczynski	(?)	Eliminated
10	Jennifer Tapiero	(?)	Eliminated
11	Dena DePompa	(?)	Eliminated
12	Vanessa Berghorn	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 4

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dreadmill	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Marc Natividad	1st (01:41.7)	5th	2nd (01:39.11)	1st (08:23.10)
2	Robert Schweitzer	02:15.1	3rd	1st (01:42.15)	2nd (11:35.02)
3	Saye Yabandeh	03:26.6	4th	4th (01:10.71)	Out of time
4	Gabriel Lawrence	02:30.1	1st	3rd (01:27.81)	Quit
5	Keith Biondi	02:37.0	2nd	Eliminated (01:09.88)
6	Gwenisha Robinson	(?)	6th	Eliminated (01:00.52)
7	Grace Matias	02:49.5	Eliminated
8	Kat Negrete	(?)	Eliminated
9	Philip Ventimiglia	(?)	Eliminated
10	Cheryl Kazel	(?)	Eliminated
11	Rado Pagac	(?)	Eliminated
12	Taylor Johnson	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 5

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dizzy Dummy**	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Casey O'Farrell	3rd (01:38.7)	1st	4th	1st
2	Dana Jamison	5th (02:16.1)	3rd	3rd	2nd (06:26.28)
3	David Matz	4th (01:47.8)	2nd	1st	3rd (08:27.01)
4	Jeremy Olson	1st (01:14.5)	5th	2nd	Out of time
5	Ben Kronberg	2nd (01:36.0)	4th	Eliminated
6	Jacob Mann	(?)	6th	Quit**
7	John Ames	(?)	Eliminated
8	Shawn Kirby	(?)	Eliminated
9	Katie Graham	(?)	Eliminated
10	Richard Gale	(?)	Eliminated
11	Jessica Horton	(?)	Eliminated
12	Jodi Elliot	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 6

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dreadmill	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Charles Zaucha	1st (01:32.9)	3rd	1st (02:34.31)	1st (06:22.56)
2	Robert Duff	5th (02:09.2)	1st	3rd (01:33.23)	2nd (16:49.44)
3	Jessica Bertoni	4th (01:52.80)	6th	4th (01:23.78)	Out of time
4	John Curtis	6th (02:11.4)	4th	Out of time	Out of time
5	Timothy Ton	3rd (01:49.1)	5th	Eliminated (01:05.10)
6	Chris Kinyon	2nd (01:39.5)	2nd	Eliminated (00:21.35)
7	Tyler Jorgenson	(?)	Eliminated
8	Yolanda Ezeil	(?)	Eliminated
9	Christa Wiktorski	(?)	Eliminated
10	Toni Robinson	(?)	Eliminated
11	Lili Asvar	(?)	Eliminated
12	Matthew Thies	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 7: The Wipeys

Episode 7 featured the Wipey Awards, an awards show style presentation of past moments from the previous episodes.

Wipey Award	Winner	Runners-up
Best Sucker Punch	Jessica Trevethick (Week 4)	Dana Jamison (Week 5), James Simpton (Week 5), Jessica Bertoni (Week 6), Craig Johnson (Week 2)
Best Sweeper	Week 2 (everyone but Jim Wakefield)	Week 1 (3 sweeps), Week 3 (3 sweeps), Week 6 (2 sweeps)
Best Wipeout on a Non-obstacle	Natalie Murdock (Week 2)	Margie Stubbs (Week 1), Brandon Bermudez (Week 5), Carrie Wynes (Week 8), Andrew Pagana (Week 2)
Favorite Contestant	Ariel "Where's the pole?" Tweto (Week 3)	Sandy Bowls (Week 6), Travis Mitchell (Week 1), Keith Biondi (Week 4), Jessi Duran (Week 1)
Dizziest Dummy	Jarran Joshu (Week 3)	Chris Lekawa (Week 3), Jessi Duran (Week 1)
Best Guest Obstacle	Wrecking Ball (Dreadmill, Week 6)	The Crowbar (Sweeper, Week 6), Tennis Balls (Dreadmill), Sacks (Sweeper, Week 2)
Best Telestration	"The Cheerleader" (Week 2)	"Sweeper Dodgeball Instructions" (Week 4), "Tuesday Night in Jersey" (Week 1), "The Wrecking Ball" (Week 6), "Joey Byham" (Week 2), "The Hoop" (Week 5)
Best Big Balls Wipeout	Chris Lekawa (Week 3)	Chris Kinyon (Week 6), Gwenisha Robinson (Week 4), Gayla Johnson (Week 2), Christa Wiktorski (Week 6)
Best Romance	Ben Kronberg, the Big Balls, and the Ball Swing (Week 5)	Ariel Tweto and a Crazy Beam (Week 3), Jessica Bertoni and the Wrecking Ball (Week 6)
Best Dance	Jim Wakefield (Week 2)	Ingel Catandig (Week 2), Neil Smith (Week 3), Arthur Sevcik (Week 1)
Best Battle Cry	Nancy Novak (Week 1)	Saye Yabandeh (Week 4), Kyle Adler (Week 3), Victoria Redstall (Week 1), David Goryl (Week 2)
Lifetime Achievement	The Big Balls	The Sweeper, The Spinner, The Sucker Punch
Best Wipeout	Jacob Mann (Week 5)	Erwin Milan (Week 6), John Curtis (Week 6), Toni Robinson (Week 6)

Other Notable Awards:

Most Calm and Collected: Anita Lavi (Week 3)

Best Spaz-out: David Goryl (Week 2)

Most Unintelligible Comment: Nick Louis (Week 3)

Most Eligible Bachelor: Joey Byham (Week 2)

Best Skid Mark: Jen Svedja (Week 1)

Best Soap Opera Moment: David Goryl and Ingel Catandig (Week 2)

Best Sideline Reporter: Jill Wagner

Best Purple Tracksuit: Bryan Sayas (Week 4)

Best "Put a Fork in Me" Moment: Margie Stubbs (Week 1)

Episode 8

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dizzy Dummy	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Richard Mendoza	2nd (01:53.2)	2nd	1st	1st (10:55.56)
2	April Robles	1st (01:48.8)	1st*	3rd	2nd (16:46.53)
3	Carlos Moreno	(?)	6th	2nd	Out of time
4	Michael Bertrand	3rd (?)	3rd	4th	Quit
5	Shane Johnson	(?)	5th	Eliminated
6	Tory Mell	03:00.3	4th	Eliminated
7	Jenny Quam	(?)	Eliminated
8	Larry Hanes	(?)	Eliminated
9	Jessye Liebow	(?)	Eliminated
10	Gina Capelli	(?)	Eliminated
11	Brittany Gilman	4th	Eliminated
12	Calvin Bonds	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 9

Thirty-two contestants competed in this episode, eight more than normal. Thus, sixteen passed on to the second round, and eight onto the Sweeper. As the game was evolving, the Sweeper stopped after eliminating half the contestants; the remaining eight moved onto the next round, with nobody 'winning' the round.

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Cookie Cutter	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Christian Readyhoff	3rd (01:10.0)	--	2nd (04:13.68)	1st (00:55.88)
2	Scott Kessler	(?)	--	1st (04:04.00)	2nd (02:03.84)
4	Mich Rohner	(?)	--	3rd (04:30.37)	3rd (02:59.83)
4	Katie Mayfield	2nd (01:01.3)	--	4th (04:51.52)	Out of time
5	Andrew Long	(?)	--	Eliminated (05:13.74)
6	Paul Martin	(?)	--	Eliminated (05:52.19)
7	Daniel Drew	(?)	--	Eliminated (07:29.21)
8	Nick Ballard	1st (00:59.4)	--	Out of time
9	Mindy Fortune	(?)	Eliminated
10	Rick Wilson	(?)	Eliminated
11	Karen Helm	(?)	Eliminated
12	Angela Bruson	(?)	Eliminated
13	Steve Romero	(?)	Eliminated
14	Shelly Williams	(?)	Eliminated
15	Monte Cook	(?)	Eliminated
16	Eddie Shapiro	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 10

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Dreadmill	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Kyle Sullivan	3rd (01:42.2)	1st	1st (01:51.81)	1st (03:35.26)
2	Sam Mohan	4th (01:55.8)	6th	3rd (00:53.89)	2nd (06:01.21)
3	Brent Williams	02:36.0	4th	4th (00:52.08)	3rd (12:34.48)
4	Phil Somerville	1st (01:21.6)	3rd	2nd (01:49.81)	Shoulder Injury
5	Thomas Lynum	(?)	5th	Eliminated (00.51.53)
6	Jessie Graff	2nd (01:23.1)	2nd	Eliminated (00:42.08)
7	Johnny Pegues	(?)	Eliminated
8	Rolland Gerhardt	02:08.6	Eliminated
9	Meaghan McCall	(?)	Eliminated
10	Angeliquea Blackmon	03:02.9	Eliminated
11	Tiffany Latella	(?)	Eliminated
12	Ericka Klein	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 11: Top 25 Moments

Episode 11 featured the Top 25 Wipeout Moments as the season finale.

The top 25 moments are below.

Moment #	Winner
25	Chris Lekawa (Week 3)
24	Heather Lawrence (Week 5)
23	Jim Wakefield (Week 2)
22	Kameisha Thomas (Week 10)
21	Isaac Alvarez (Week 1)
20	The Toothbrush (Jarran Joshu & Kyle Adler-Week 3)
19	Travis Mitchell (Week 1)
18	Sam Mohan (Week 10)
17	Karla Guy (Week 9)
16	Jessica Bertoni (Week 6)
15	Paul Martin (Week 9)
14	David Goryl (Week 2)
13	Shane Johnson (Week 8)
12	Iris Kyle (Week 9)
11	Jessi Duran (Week 1)
10	John Curtis (Week 6)
9	Mexican Lunch Dizzy Dummy (Week 5)
8	Maria Castro & Gayla Johnson (Week 2)
7	Tamara Pickering (Week 9)
6	William Hill (Week 1)
5	Margie Stubbs (Week 1)
4	Sweeper Dodgeball (Week 4)
3	Jarran Joshu (Week 3)
2	Jacob Mann (Week 5)
1	Ariel Tweto (Week 3)

Wipeout Bowl I: Cheerleaders vs. Couch Potatoes

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	King of the Mountain	Dizzy Dummy 2.0	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Monica Kaufmann	(?)	1st	1st	1st (04:20.62)
2	Stuart Yasutake	03:26.2	6th	2nd	2nd
3	Ali Bundrant	04:46.4	5th	4th	3rd (08:13:86)
4	Robert Davis	?	4th	3rd	4th (Out of Time)
5	Scott Klase	04:12.6	2nd	Eliminated
6	Shawnee Achord	03:24.6	3rd	Quit
7	Jesse Jones	03:23.0	Eliminated
8	Chelsea Costa	02:56.5**	Eliminated
9	Brian Gutknecht	(?)	Eliminated
10	Keelee Bledsoe	?	Eliminated
11	Dustin Kieft	03:44.1	Eliminated
12	Shara O'Leary	(?)	Eliminated

Season 2

Episode 1

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	Sweeper	Slippery Course	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Tim Spratt	03:38.5	2nd	4th	1st (04:40.64)
2	Fernando Garcia	03:49.3	1st	1st	2nd (07:05.00)
3	Michelle Avedissian	(?)	5th	2nd	Out Of Time
4	Devon Berry	(?)	3rd	3rd	Quit
5	Vicky Kim	05:52.6	6th	Eliminated
6	Crystal Wilhite	(?)	4th	Eliminated
7	Kyle Rhoads	(?)	Eliminated
8	Jodi Schulman	05:44.1	Eliminated
9	Hali Hudson	(?)	Eliminated
10	Jasmine Sanchez	05:29.2	Eliminated
11	Julio Chavez	(?)	Eliminated
12	Lenka Jamrichova	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 2

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	King of the Mountain	Dizzy Dummy 2.0	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Michelle Hart	(?)	1st	3rd	1st (17:02:50)
2	Didi Wong	03:33.1	3rd	1st	Out of Time
3	Claudia Morel	03:31.7	5th	2nd	Quit
4	Theresa Rivera	(?)	4th	4th	Ankle Injury
5	Peter Weiman	03:10.3	2nd	Eliminated
6	Sam Griffth	(?)	6th	Quit
7	Debby Chop	(?)	Eliminated
8	Markus Lindlahr	(?)	Eliminated
9	Rasheed Lathief	(?)	Eliminated
10	Shannon Eagle	03:18.7	Eliminated
11	Angel Reed	(?)	Eliminated
12	Torrey Streed	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 3

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	The Classic Sweeper	The Rocket	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Chuck Trout	1st (?)	1st	1st (01:04.10)	1st (08:49.37)
2	Joe Dycus	(?)	3rd	2nd (00:59.82)	Out Of Time
3	Shane Hartgrave	03:29.3	2nd	4th (00:46.94)	Out Of Time
4	Andrew Nienu	(?)	4th	3rd (00:54.04)	Out Of Time
5	Matt Ordway	03:26.2	6th	Eliminated (00:37.35)
6	Donn Hallman	(?)	5th	Quit
7	Christine Jones	(?)	Eliminated
8	Rodney Hooten	04:04.8	Eliminated
9	Kassy Diaz	(?)	Eliminated
10	Nikki Hoard	(?)	Eliminated
11	Carrie Lewis	(?)	Eliminated
12	Ian Overson	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 4

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	King of the Mountain	Dizzy Dummy 2.0	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Scotty Granger	1st (01:47.4)	3rd	3rd	1st (05:55.47)
2	Adam Lohnes	(?)	4th	1st	2nd (15:18.41)
3	Gillian Gipe	5th (02:50.4)	1st	2nd	Out of Time
4	Gianna Gipe	4th (02:41.3)	6th	4th	Quit
5	Brittney Lawless	2nd (01:50.5)	2nd	Eliminated
6	Michael Abrahams	(?)	5th	Eliminated
7	Dean Osuch	(?)	Eliminated
8	Lauren Gipe	6th 02:54.2	Eliminated
9	Sean Leute	3rd (?)	Eliminated
10	Alyssa DePompa	(02:37.05)	Eliminated
11	Matthew Booher	(?)	Eliminated
12	Nicole Nicastro	02:56.4	Eliminated

• Patsy Chambers became the first contestant to quit the Qualifier before trying a single obstacle

Episode 5

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	King of the Mountain	Dizzy Dummy 2.0	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Forrest Vanderbilt	1st (01:06.9)	3rd	1st	1st (05:48.84)
2	Caroline Erickson	02:39.3	6th	4th	2nd (08:07.95)
3	Robert Caslava	(?)	2nd	3rd	3rd (12:29.54)
4	Mat Devlahovich	(?)	5th	2nd	Out of Time
5	Scott Howell	(?)	1st	Eliminated
6	Catherine Jansen	02:58.6	Eliminated	Eliminated
7	Jason Goldman	(?)	4th	Quit
8	Kristen Babiracki	(?)	Eliminated
9	Dennis Sanchez	(?)	Eliminated
10	Karen Pietsch	(?)	Eliminated
11	Gayle Luker	(?)	Eliminated
12	Dr. Nicolas Wieder	(?)	Eliminated

• Before the beginning of the Dizzy Dummy, Jason Goldman quit the competition. The 6 eliminated players from the King of the Mountain were then put into a random draw to take his place in which Catherine Jansen won the draw.

Episode 6

Competition:		Finals
Week		Movie Qualifier	Sweeper	The Rocket	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Jose Valdepeña	(?)	3rd	1st (01:04.76)	1st (17:00.31)
2	Janica Polmanteer	1st (03:26.1)	2nd	3rd (00:52.31)	2nd (17:26.16)
3	Jason Sandeman	(?)	1st	2nd (00:52.37)	3rd (17:26.23)
4	Steven Lara	(?)	4th	4th (00:52.06)	Quit
5	Jeff Sands	03:54.3	6th	Eliminated (00:44.69)
6	Kiley Speakman	(?)	5th	Eliminated (00:36.87)
7	Jessica Evers	(?)	Eliminated
8	Eli Houta	(?)	Eliminated
9	Ravyn Williams	(?)	Eliminated
10	Paul Woo Hoogenstyn	(?)	Eliminated
11	Kellie Auld	(?)	Eliminated
12	Cory Wilderom	(?)	Eliminated

Episode 7

Competition:		Finals
Week		Qualifier	Gyro Sweeper	Slippery Course	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Donovan Eberling	1st (2:51.4)	2nd	1st	1st (07:32.32)
2	Valerie Berrera	(?)	1st	4th	2nd (12:50.16)
3	Mark Saldana	3:38	4th	3rd	Out of Time
4	Shannon Stotz	4:38.7	3rd	2nd	Out of Time
5	Robert Martinez	(?)	6th	Eliminated
6	Teri Lathrop	(?)	5th	Injured
7	Mona Mahani	(?)	Eliminated
8	Michael Chao	(?)	Eliminated
9	Brittany Zubiate	(?)	Eliminated
10	Constantin Ciorgariu	(?)	Eliminated
11	Craig Glover	(?)	Eliminated
12	Terry Smith	3:51.7	Eliminated

• Terry Smith became the first contestant to survive getting hit by the Motivator, and actually was able to successfully cross the Big Balls because of it.

Wipeout Couples

Competition:		Finals
Week:		Qualifier	King of the Mountain	Dizzy Dummy 2.0	Wipeout Zone
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Shane & Sally Harris	1st (3:23.9)	2nd	2nd	1st
2	Brian & Lori Beth Schwab	(?)	3rd	1st	Out of Time
3	Tim & Jenni Johnson	(4:30.0)	1st	Eliminated
4	Paul Weinrich & Rachel Grim	(?)	Eliminated
5	Aron Ali & Ashana Wall	(?)	Eliminated
6	Travis Petties & Kasey Burton	(5:13.3)	Eliminated

• Shane Harris completed the Big Balls and the Fender Bender..

Ratings

Ratings for Season 1

Episode #	Air Date	18-49	Total Viewers	Weekly Rank
1	June 24, 2008	3.7/12 (#1)	9.98 (#1)	#2
2	July 1, 2008	3.6/13 (#1)	9.45 (#1)	#2
3	July 8, 2008	4.0/13 (#1)	10.59 (#1)	#2
4	July 15, 2008	3.2/11 (#2)	8.65 (#2)	#6
5	July 22, 2008	3.7/12 (#1)	9.98 (#1)	#2
6	July 29, 2008	3.6/11 (#1)	9.69 (#1)	#2
7 (The Wipeys)	August 5, 2008	2.8/9 (#1)	7.34 (#2)	#3
8	August 26, 2008	2.3/7 (#3)	6.45 (#3)	#2
9	September 9, 2008*	2.9/8 (#2)	7.26 (#3)	#1
10	September 9, 2008*	3.0/8 (#1)	7.00 (#1)	#3
11 (Top 25 Moments)	September 16, 2008	1.9/7 (#3)	5.96 (#2)	#2

*Two episodes broadcast back to back, dubbed "Two for Tuesday"

Ratings for Season 2 (Live plus 7 day DVR Usage)

Episode #	Air Date	18-49	Total Viewers
1	May 27, 2009	3.7/11 (#1)	9.69 (#1)
2	June 3, 2009	3.3/10 (#2)	9.19 (#1)
3 & 4 (2 hrs)	June 10, 2009	3.3/10 (#2)	9.22 (#2)
5	June 17, 2009	3.1/10 (#1)	8.95 (#1)
6	June 24, 2009	2.8/9 (#1)	7.87 (#1)
7	July 1, 2009	2.7/10 (#2)	8.00 (#1)
8 (Couples)	July 8, 2009	2.9/10 (#1)	8.19 (#1)
9	July 15, 2009
10	July 22, 2009
11 (All Stars)	August 5, 2009
12	August 12, 2009
13	August 19, 2009
14	August 26, 2009
15 (Finale)	September 2, 2009

International versions

Endemol USA has sold the "Wipeout" format to more than 20 territories and has created two obstacle courses in Argentina for those international editions. Current and upcoming versions include:

Country	Name	Host	Channel	Premiere	Language
Argentina	Hombre al agua	Brothers Weinbaum	Canal 13	January 5, 2009	Spanish
Australia	Wipeout Australia	Kelly Landry, James Brayshaw and Josh Lawson	Nine Network	February 3, 2009	English
Belgium	Wipeout	Walter Grootaers, Bob Peeters & Lynn Pelgroms (& Wytske Kenemans)	VTM	March 4, 2009	Dutch
Canada Template:Fr	Wipeout	Valérie Simard	TQS	Fall 2009	French
Chile	Hombre Al Agua	Martín Cárcamo and Álvaro Salas	TVN	March 6, 2009	Spanish
Croatia	Wipeout	Marina Jerkovic	RTL Televizija	April 12, 2009.	Croatian
Denmark	Wipeout	Thomas Mygind	Kanal 5	March 5, 2009	Danish
France	Total Wipeout	Stéphane Rotenberg, Alex Goude and Sandrine Corman	M6	July 17, 2009	French
Germany	WipeOut – Heul nicht, lauf!	Charlotte Engelhardt, Matthias Opdenhövel and Werner Hansch	ProSieben	March 10, 2009	German
Israel			Channel 10	April 2009	Hebrew
Lithuania	Jokiu kliuciu!		TV3	January 10, 2009	Lithuanian
Arab League	Wipeout	Mustafa Alagha,Tamer Abd EL Maniem,Caren der Calostian	MBC 1	May 2009	Arabic
Netherlands	Wipeout	Wytske Kenemans, Dennis Weening, Klaas van der Eerden (& Lynn Pelgroms)	RTL 5	February 15, 2009	Dutch
Norway	Wipeout	Anders Hoff and Øyvind Rafto of Raske Menn, and co-host Synnøve Skarbø	TVNorge	March 2, 2009	Norwegian
Portugal			SIC	Fall 2009	Portuguese
Philippines	Wipeout	TBA	ABS-CBN	June 2010	Tagalog, English
Serbia	Wipeout		FOX Televizija
Spain	¡Guaypaut!	Carmen Alcayde	Telecinco	December 24, 2008	Spanish
Sweden	Wipeout	Felix Herngren, Hans Wiklund and Sofia Wistam	Kanal 5	March 8, 2009	Swedish
Switzerland				May 2009
Turkey	Wipeout	Asuman Krause	Show TV	January 30, 2009	Turkish
United Kingdom	Total Wipeout	Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram	BBC One	January 3, 2009	English
United States	Wipeout	John Anderson, John Henson, Jill Wagner	ABC	June 24, 2008	English

• The Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden produce separate versions based on the same footage of contestants from the three countries competing against eachother.
• The original American series airs in Canada on the Global Television Network., in New Zealand on TV3., in Australia on Nine Network, and in the United Kingdom on Watch titled Total Wipeout USA, to match the title of the British version.
• The Dutch version is a collaboration between the Netherlands and Belgium.

See also

• American Gladiators (1989-1996)
• American Gladiators (2008)
• Dog Eat Dog (UK)
• Dog Eat Dog (US)
• Fear Factor
• I Survived a Japanese Game Show
• MXC
• Sasuke (AKA Ninja Warrior)
• Takeshi's Castle

External links

• Wipeout on Facebook
• Wipeout on Twitter
• Wipeout Club
• Wipeout Forums
• Wipeout Zone: A Wipeout Fan Site
• Wipeout Wikia
• Wipeout at IMDb
• AP Article: 'Wipeout' harder, much harder, than it looks on TV