Network greenlights competition-show pilot

Take away the ingestion of disgusting animal parts from "Fear Factor" and what do you have? You have a pilot just greenlit by ABC.

The network has given the go-ahead to an unscripted show called "Wipeout," a competition show that requires contestants to work their way through what ABC describes as "the world's largest obstacle course." The show comes from "Fear Factor" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" producer Endemol USA, the showbiz trade papers report.

"Wipeout" will feature 50 contestants per episode, all trying to wend their way through the aforementioned obstacle course in pursuit of a $50,000 prize. A casting notice on ABC's web site describes the game as "all the fun of 'Fear Factor' with none of the gross."

There's no timeline for the development of "Wipeout," though if ABC likes the pilot and the writers' strike lasts into 2008, it wouldn't be a big surprise to see the show on the air by season's end.

ABC and the other broadcast networks are reasonably well-stocked with reality programming for at least the next few months, having loaded up on shows in anticipation of a strike. A second wave of orders began this week, with NBC picking up a trio of series from "Ice Road Truckers" creator Thom Beers and now ABC's pilot order for "Wipeout."