Am I the only one who thinks that there are far too many reality shows on television this summer?
I mean, just look at ABC. The Alphabet Network is Reality Central these days. What with “The Bachelorette,” “Dance Machine,” “High School Musical: Get in the Picture,” “Hopkins,” “I Survived a Japanese Game Show,” “The Mole,” “Supernanny,” “Wanna Bet?,” “Wifeswap” and “Wipeout,” ABC is just hour after hour of kids screaming, people scheming, mud and blood. Unpleasant people performing ridiculous stunts. Who’d wanna stay inside and watch something like that?
It’s at times like this that you just want to unplug your television and then run off & join the circus.
Sadly, the Ringling Brothers aren’t recruiting these days. Which is why — rather than run off and join a real circus — last week, I did the next best thing. Which was attend a dress rehearsal of NBC‘s “Celebrity Circus.”
Okay. I know. “Celebrity Circus” is a reality show too. But a reality show with a difference. At least on this program, you get to watch actual performers performing. Risking life & limb each week as they attempt to master some classic circus acts.
Rachel Hunter (center) and her partners form a
Pyramid on the highwire. Photo by Trae Patton.
Copyright 2008 NBC Universal. All Rights Reserved
Take — for example — Rachel Hunter. The afternoon that I was on the set, this supermodel was practicing the Pyramid. The very same highwire act that killed several members of the Flying Wallendas troupe back in 1962 in one of the most horrifying tragedies in circus history.
Mind you, Rachel was wearing a harness and a single line as she practiced. But if she fell, Ms. Hunter would almost certainly be hurt. After all, she was working without a net … Funicello (Sorry about that. But this is JHM after all. And Jim insists that every single story contain some sort of tie-back to the Walt Disney Company … No matter how ham-handed and/or lame it may be … Anyway …)
Getting back to “Celebrity Circus” now … You may think that — just for the sake of publicity — that NBC Universal is playing up all of the risks that these performers potentially face while taking part in this reality show. But that really isn’t the case. Just ask Stacey Dash, who fractured three ribs while practicing for the premiere. Or — better yet — Christopher Knight. Who — to date — has broken a wrist as well as burning his arm while rehearsing for this series.
The day that I got to chat with this “Brady Bunch” vet, Knight had ice Saran Wrapped around his waist for some mysterious back injury. Which lead to some teasing from “Celebrity Circus” ‘s host, Joey Fantone. Pointing to Christopher’s clear plastic bandage, the former *NSYNC star cracked, “What’s that around your waist? A colostomy bag?”
The cast of “Celebrity Circus.” (L to R) Antonio Sabato Jr., Rachel
Hunter, Wee Man, Joey Fatone, Stacey Dash, Blu Cantrell,
Christopher Knight & Janet Evans. Photo by Trae Patton.
Copyright 2008 NBC Universal. All Rights Reserved
“I don’t know how it happened,” Knight said in reference to his latest injury. But in spite of the intense pain that this actor obviously felt, the bungee act that Christopher rehearsed for that week’s show was extremely graceful.
Time and time again, as I talked with the performers who’d agreed to take part in this program, the intensity of the training for “Celebrity Circus” kept coming up. As Antonio Sabato, Jr. said:
“People don’t understand how hard (this) really is. We trained six days a week, eight hours a day for weeks before the first filming … I was in shape. But this was the hardest (thing that) I’ve ever had to do.“
And even then — no matter how hard that you’ve trained, no matter how many injuries you’ve suffered along the way — your fate is still in the hands of the judges & the folks at home.
The day that I attended “Celebrity Circus” ‘s dress rehearsal, Jason “Wee Man” Acuna admitted that he had been lucky to hang on past last week’s episode. The week previous, the judges — Aurelia Cats, Mitch Gaylord and Louie Spence — had all hated Acuna’s act. But lucky for Wee Man, those who called in to vote for these performers had elected to save him. For one more week, anyway.
(L to R) Aurelia Cats, Mitch Gaylord and Louie
Spence behind the judge’s table. Photo by Trae Patton
Copyright 2008 NBC Universal. All Rights Reserved
Knowing how close he had come to being voted off the show, Jason admitted that ” … I didn’t behave seriously the last few weeks.” But he vowed to do better on future episodes of “Celebrity Circus.” “Now I’m very focused, very serious,” Acuna continued.
After seeing how hard these performers are working to stay on this NBC-Universal reality series, I’m beginning to rethink my earlier plan. Maybe running away to join the circus this summer isn’t such a hot idea after all. Maybe the smarter thing to do would be to just sack out on the couch in front of the air conditioner and then watch the stars sweat & strain on “Celebrity Circus” instead.
“Celebrity Circus” airs tonight on NBC at 10 p.m. EST. Consult your local listings for exact times and channels. For further information on this program, go to NBC.com.
For more of Shelly Smith’s stories, be sure & check out FabRocks.com.