TV is the New Reading

As reality television goes, ‘Guinea Pig’ shows restraint

If you mix the endangerment drama of “Smash Lab” with the casual addiction to pain of “Jackass” and the curiosity of “Man vs. Wild” you begin to get a sense of Sci Fi’s latest creation: “Guinea Pig.”

The show centers on stuntman Ryan Stock, who describes his former life as that of an “extreme circus performer” who has always had an interest in exploring the limits of the human machine.

As such, he puts himself in situations from which other, more reasonable people would probably run screaming.

His partner, AmberLynn Walker, seems to be the voice of reason in his exploits. As he gleefully faces down chemical pummeling at the hands of law enforcement deterrent tactics and biting bugs and snakes and spiders and scorpions – even letting a scorpion hang out in his mouth for a while – AmberLynn follows along with the insurance waivers and the repeated inquiries as to whether he’s OK.

To be honest, the influence of the beautiful AmberLynn seems to be the element of sanity that separates this show from being “Crocodile Hunter” – or, perhaps more accurately, “Fear Factor” if host Joe Rogan were the one subjecting himself to all of the indignities.

Also elevating the show somewhat are the disclaimers at the end discussing the recovery time Stock required for his various exploits.

That being said, the guy does put himself out there as a human guinea pig. He talks about pushing through latent fears and instincts and experiencing the pain and recovery for himself, especially as regards snakes and bug bites. He talked about being a little freaked out waiting for the snakes to bite him but how it was ultimately a perfectly manageable amount of pain. He also discussed how much had to be done in order to get the snakes to attack him in the first place, including making his arm smell like a rat and how “in their face” he had to get.

When he let the law enforcement team unleash a barrage of “less lethal” force against him, the team members were as interested in his reactions as he was in exploring his limits, simply to get some baseline observation of the effects.

Stock got a faceful of pepper spray that took him out of commission for more than half an hour. He took several blunt pepperballs to the chest with enough force to transfer the texture of his cotton T-shirt into the bruises they made. He also took a taser to the leg which he was feeling for a good long time and a pepperbomb to the thigh that forced him to walk with a cane for four days afterward, according to one of the disclaimers at the end of the episode.

Stock is a sturdy guy in his 20s and is clearly up for these kinds of challenges. But part of the draw is that the stunts are reasonably limited in their scope and are performed under highly controlled circumstances. His encounter with a killer bee, for instance, was far enough away from the hive that the other bees weren’t likely to swarm. Other less responsible shows would’ve insisted on the host jamming his fist into the hive and laughing while every bee inside had a go.

This one seems interested enough in exploring actual limits of human endurance without serious risk of death or debilitating injury, which makes it enough of a departure to recommend it. As reality shows go, it seems less horrible than many others.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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