Who Wants to be a Superhero?

[on:]

Anyone else been watching this show? It's on Sci-fi channel thursday nights. I happened to catch the first episode and in spite of my general policy against watching reality shows, I'm hooked. It's one of those most rare of television moments, a show that is simultaneously one of the coolest and lamest things on.

Half the challenges are pretty generic, the past two weeks the big stunt has been right out of Fear Factor, particularly the 100-yard-dash through the back yard with vicious guard dogs from last week. The only saving grace on that one was Monkey Woman's epic 10-minute struggle.

To be honest the whole show is quite hokey, and it often has a very staged feel to it. Even at it's lamest moments, though, I find myself laughing out loud.

I can't entirely fault Stan for sending Monkey Woman home after it was discovered she had lied and was actually an aspiring actress, but I was very disapointed, as she was my favorite. I thought she deserved another chance, though, after the tenacity she displayed with the dogs.

The coolest thing about the show: Most of the people who seemed likely to win in a typical reality show have been eliminated already. It's a show you have to be a loser to win. Awesome. Awesome to the max.

Check it out. They've been eliminating two people a week so they're already down to 5 now, dunno how much longer it will be on but it can't be more than 4 eps.

[Reply #1 on:]

I'm hooked on this show as well. I hope they have a second season, because I'll throw my hat into the ring.

[Reply #2 on:]

Not certain how much replay value the show would have; certainly most of the tricks they did this season wouldn't work again. I'm just hoping this season isn't too short - if they keep booting two a week it could be over in 2 more eps, I'm hoping they'll start dropping one a week so there can be 4 more.

Apparently it's fairly popular, this week they've started rerunning the previous two eps immediately before the new one. That suggests the buzz has been good and new people are startin' to watch.

If they do another season, how many people do you think would show up hoping to be made into the supervillian?

So if you go try out next season, Wooter, what's gonna be yer superhero angle?

[Reply #3 on:]

Man, I didn't see that coming...

Show spoiler

Fat Momma makes the final 2? No f'n way. Ok, so Major Victory was a walking parody of superheros. That's what made him so freaking entertaining to watch! It's not like Scifi is going to make a quality, high-budget movie out of the winner, if that movie is going to be entertaining at all it sure as hell can't be about Fat Momma!

When I look at it objectively, this show feels really contrived and I wonder just how much of it was scripted or otherwise directed by the producers. Bottom line, though, I just don't care. It's not even that it's so great, it's just fascinating watching a lot of other dorks compete in such a pointless contest.

And come on, how many reality shows have the final three hugging, crying, and playing the "You should win! No, you should win!" game? Contrived or not, it's just so... strange, and therefore fascinating.

[Reply #4 on:]

Apparently nobody gives a shit but me. Oh well.

Final ep tonight, watching it on my tivo now, and I just had to say: if the final sci-fi channel original picture based on the winner is as supremely lame as their intro videos from the final presentation, I might have to buy it on DVD. If could be the worst movie of the millenia, and that'd be a hell of an acheivement only 6 years in.