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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that although at first glance this show might appear to be a typical (if goofy) reality competition series, it's really an elaborate spoof of over-the-top Japanese game shows. All of the dialogue has been newly dubbed for the English series, and all of the characters (including the hosts) are fictional. Each episode has a "plot" of sorts in which two diametrically opposed teams duke it out for the championship, but, really, the series' main attraction is watching people compete in strange physical challenges and obstacle courses that usually result in them getting beaten up like human pinatas. It's exactly the kind of humor teen boys love, though parents may not get the appeal.

Families can discuss healthy competition. What is sportsmanship? How can you make sure you do their best to attain your goal while also playing fair? Why do you think people cheat in competitions? What do you like best about this show -- the silly dialogue or the face-plants? Why?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Lucy Maher

In MXC (aka Most Extreme Elimination Challenge), two teams go head-to-head in a series of screwball physical challenges.

The original footage comes from a Japanese game show called Takeshi's Castle -- one of the elaborate, over-the-top shows the country has become known for. For the English version, the dialogue has been totally redone, with actors supplying the voices of hosts Kenny Blankenship (Christopher Darga) and Vic Romano (Victor Wilson), as well as all of the contestants. Kenny and Vic's off-the-wall chatter fills the segments between the competition scenes -- which are the true heart of the series.

In each episode, two comically juxtaposed teams (Religious Right vs. Gay Rights, for example, or Stoners vs. Health Nuts) carry out crazy challenges that have them stumbling their way through an obstacle course-like setting. Some of the many bizarre feats include dodging giant foam balls while attempting to walk a narrow plank over a body of water ("Dash to Death"), balancing on a greased log ("Runaway Stump"), and running across a series of stepping stones that may or may not be moored to the bottom of a pond ("Sinkers and Floaters").

Very often, contestants participating in the challenges end up face-planting in muck, smacking into a hard object, or otherwise flailing about in painful situations. They all wear safety gear, so no one is seriously injured, but some of the hits look like they really hurt. Which, of course, is what makes them funny -- right?

Vic and Kenny's sarcastic narration can wander into iffy territory (for example, when one said to the other, "How many records does Lil Trim have?" and the other replied, "I dunno, but have you seen her Golden Globes?), and Asian stereotypes are sometimes played for laughs. But overall, MXC is basically just inane humor for the easily amused. Your inner 12-year-old will love it.

Fans might also like Celebrity Death Match or America's Funniest Home Videos.

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Content
		CS	adults	kids
Sexual Content Mild sexual innuendo.
Violence Some players sustain cuts and scrapes during their challenges; others take what look to be really nasty falls. It's all played for laughs, but it's hard not to wince sometimes. The competitors all wear safety gear.
Language "For god's sake" is as bad as it gets.
Message
	Social Behavior Contestants' (often painful) mistakes are played for laughs. The show gleefully skewers its contestants, assigning them to often-stereotypical groups and mocking their body language and behavior -- though all of the dialogue is dubbed, so none of the actual people shown are being mocked directly. Some Asian stereotyping -- though, again, it's all meant to be funny (and is really pretty tame, all things considered).
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco

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