David Goldberg

TV Real Weekly, June 16, 2008

President

Endemol USA

It features the world’s largest extreme TV obstacle course and contestants as human cannonballs and pinballs. It’s Wipeout, the new reality series from Endemol that premieres on the ABC Television Network on June 24. Along with a good amount of crashes and smashes, Wipeout is intent on offering viewers many funny moments.

“Wipeout is literally the world’s biggest TV obstacle course and it is designed to produce a spectacular and rapid-fire collection of wipeouts,” says David Goldberg, the president of Endemol USA. “While other stunt shows make viewers gasp and wince—Fear Factor is a show that is an example of that—Wipeout is intended to make you laugh out loud. It’s a stunt comedy competition show that we haven’t seen a lot of.”

During the series, 24 contestants compete in grueling and physically demanding but very funny obstacle courses to win the title of “Wipeout Champion” and the grand prize of $50,000.

While Wipeout will premiere first in the U.S., the format has already been sold to a number of other territories as well, including Australia, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Middle East. As the show calls for a huge tailor-made obstacle course, one was set up in Los Angeles for the U.S. version, and another one is being built in Argentina for use by all the other broadcasters that buy the format.

“We built an obstacle course for the pilot on the outskirts of Los Angeles,” explains Goldberg. “Fortunately ABC picked it up as a series and we made alterations to the existing obstacle course that we had. The scale of this thing is incredible. I would say it takes place on an area of land the size of five or six football fields. So it’s not something that you build, pick up, move and set up. It has to be done in a very big location and one where you can keep it up for an extended period of time.

“So the goal now is to replicate in Argentina what we’ve built in L.A with any alterations that various other countries may see appropriate,” continues Goldberg. “Of course, on a show-to-show basis there will be changes in various aspects of the course but there will be elements that will consistently be there. One element that is a signature to the show is what we call the Big Balls, in which contestants have to make their way over five or six massive red inflated balls. Very few people get across without taking a dive!”

Argentina was chosen as the venue for the mega obstacle course because the executives and crew at Endemol Argentina have experience putting together large-scale productions.

“We decided to move forward with [producing] in Argentina due to the considerable expense of shooting in the U.S. and their ability to gang shoot from multiple countries. It’s a model that we used back in the Fear Factor days to great results. The team in Argentina is top rate and has the experience to execute a show of this scale. So we have a lot of confidence in them.”

As Goldberg explains, the production model for Wipeout is different from other multiple-shoot shows Endemol has staged. “We’ve committed to building the set in Argentina and have numerous commissions from around the world in advance of Wipeout’s premiere in the U.S. I think that speaks volumes to Endemol’s belief in the format, to our ability to mobilize such an ambitious undertaking, and to how well Wipeout has been received by both broadcasters here and abroad.”

Wipeout has certainly presented a number of challenges to both the producers and the contestants. “Mounting a show as big and technical as Wipeout poses all types of challenges to our producers,” notes Goldberg. “The stunts need to be elaborate, visually impressive and represent a competitive event. But on top of that, what really poses the biggest challenge is that they need to deliver a comedic result. And that is no easy task. There is a real slapstick element to this show, but we really can’t throw down a banana peel and tell contestants to step on it. That’s the biggest challenge.

“And for the contestants the challenge is enduring [and they have to survive] the world’s biggest and longest obstacle course knowing that their failure is providing laughs to hopefully millions of viewers,” continues Goldberg. “With that said, I think the course is a lot of fun for the contestants. Unlike Fear Factor, which was intended to scare the daylights out of people, Wipeout is supposed to be fun. I’ve been out [on the set] and a lot of the stunt men and women who test the course can’t seem get enough of it! They want to do it over and over again.”

Since establishing Endemol in the U.S. in 2000, Goldberg has made it his mission to come up with “game-changing” formats—those that either usher in a new reality genre or reinvent an old one. And with Wipeout, which he and his team created, the intent was to add a strong comedic element to the traditional stunt show. “It’s a true competition with a cash prize for a deserving winner, but Wipeout’s distinguishing appeal is that at its core, it’s very much a comedy. If viewers aren’t laughing in their living rooms, we haven’t done our jobs as producers. And I think Americans could really use something to laugh about and I’m hoping that Wipeout can provide some comic relief and that is why we did this show, in a way, because we thought there was a need for a comedic element in reality.”

—By Anna Carugati