Athletic competition shows featuring “celebrities” — or at least people producers think are celebrities — are nothing new. ABC’s wildly popular Dancing with the Stars is in its 16th season and FOX’s DWTS-inspired Skating with Celebrities premiered in 2006. This year, ABC revamped its own genre, taking celebrities off the stage and throwing them into the pool on Splash.
Hosted by Joey Lawrence (of ABC’s Melissa and Joey) and Charissa Thompson (of ESPN’s SportsNation), the show follows 10 celebrities as they attempt to master the art of diving and outdo one another in weekly dive-offs. And when I say master, I don’t necessarily mean it. With the way these actors, athletes and reality stars are performing, I’d say it’s a good thing they all have lucrative day jobs. Luckily, the contestants are mentored by four-time Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis and judged by Steve Foley, USA Diving’s high-performance director, and David Boudia, a 2012 Team USA Olympic gold-medalist.
Contestants include Drake Bell (Nickelodeon child star), Ndamukong Suh (NFL lineman), Brandi Chastain (former member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team), Katherine Webb (Miss Alabama 2012) and reality-TV star Kendra Wilkinson, among others. Chelsea Handler’s (Chelsea Lately) sidekick, Chuy Bravo was a contestant on the show, but withdrew in the second week of competition after suffering a heel injury in training. Despite this blip, the show had to go on!
But to be honest, I might not. Splash is one of those shows you could potentially mildly enjoy if there is nothing better to watch on TV. It’s one of those on-the-couch-sick-for-days shows, or something I can enjoy while doing homework.
Splash is more than a little bit cheesy. The contestants are introduced with jingles including lyrics such as “you should be scared as hell, cause he’s Drake Bell!” And the obviously manufactured drama is evidenced in scenes like one in which Wilkinson tearfully tells mentor Greg Louganis “This is my journey, not yours!” when he pushes her to overcome her fear of heights.
Though I suppose the show would be more entertaining to any of the featured celebrities’ dedicated fans, many of the people featured are not exactly household names. Overall, Splash, while entertaining for one or two episodes, is a belly flop, and absolutely not a perfect 10.
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