Nitro Circus (MTV)

The show stars with a standard disclaimer: The performers are trained athletes, and viewers shouldn't try to imitate them. Pastrana and his friends crash more often than they succeed, but for all the painful-looking spills, there are surprisingly few injuries, and there's plenty of laughter all around. The result is that Nitro Circus makes practicing difficult, dangerous stunts look like a Saturday afternoon party at Pastrana's house ... which seems like exactly the mood that could make young people want to spend their own free time copying them, with potentially disastrous results.

Plus, with little narration or discussion, Nitro Circus seems less like a program and more like a highlight reel. Sure, some of these feats are truly impressive, but they'd have more impact if there was some explanation about why they're so difficult. And many of the tricks are just plain goofy -- rolling off a huge ramp in a wheeled office chair, for example, or doing flips on tricycles. Pastrana and his posse are clearly having plenty of fun filming themselves, but watching Nitro Circus isn't nearly as entertaining as creating it seems to be.