ESCAPE, IF YOU CAN.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic RELEASED 2 1/2 YEARS AGO, Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht's ``The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook'' was a winning combination of arcane information, nihilistic how-to advice and deadpan wit. Its unexpected success, however, has resulted in a spate of knockoff sequels and other opportunistic marketing such as cards, calendars, board games and, now, a TV series. ``Worst-Case Scenario'' is a halaked reality series offering a mishmash of stunts, eco-challenge races and essentially useless, don't-try-this-at- home information such as how to jump from a three-story building into a dumpster filled with excelsior. Host Mike Rowe declares, ``I'm standing in the Worst-Case Institute,'' a random collection of beakers beaker /beak·er/ (bek´er) a glass cup, usually with a lip for pouring, used by chemists and pharmacists. and plasma screens that will never be mistaken for the Bureau for Homeland Security. In the background, a blond scientist in a miniskirt and black pumps (we know she's a scientist because she has smart glasses, a lab coat and a clipboard A reserved section of memory that is used as a temporary holding area for data that is copied or moved from one application to another using the copy and paste and cut and paste (move) menu options. Each time you transfer something into the clipboard, the previous contents are deleted. Although there are clipboard viewers that let you view the clipboard's current contents, they are seldom used.) pretends to collect data. Segments feature a scaredy-cat being coddled into high-diving into a river (not interesting), a skydiver trapped underneath his plane (sort of interesting but told in a rushed fashion) and a guy tumbling down a mountainside (semi-uninteresting (jargon) uninteresting - 1. Said of a problem that, although nontrivial, can be solved simply by throwing sufficient resources at it. 2. Also said of problems for which a solution would neither advance the state of the art nor be fun to design and code. Hackers regard uninteresting problems as intolerable wastes of time, to be solved (if at all) by lesser mortals.). There's also Gear Girl, who wears a protective hood as she saunters through a controlled fire, dispenses such useful advice as ``Look for an exit'' and, for an encore, removes her red jumper to reveal a tight black bodysuit. The educational value is minimal at best; it's also disappointingly low on adrenaline rushes. I encountered ads for ``Worst-Case Scenario'' at one of my bank's automatic tellers, a fairly dismaying experience given Wall Street's current atmosphere of rampant unease. But maybe it's just hinting at a future episode: How to defend yourself against marauding militia groups after total economic collapse. WORST-CASE SCENARIO - Two stars What: Stunt show dispensing advice for surviving tight scrapes. Where: TBS. When: 8 tonight. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: ``Worst Case Scenario' host Mike Rowe holds a graphic representation of his series. |
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