Attention 'Circus Of The Stars' Hopefuls: The Bar Has Been Set By William Katt

With a whole new generation of TV watchers transfixed by such bread-and-Circus Maximus entertainments as Dancing with the Bespangled D-Listers and U.S. Gladiators, it really seemed a matter of time before networks would be falling all over themselves to remount Circus of the Stars. As we mentioned in today's trade round-up, several iterations of the late-70s primetime mainstay are currently being rushed into production, incorporating the basic Circus premise of showcasing celebrities hungry enough for screen time to to take on death-defying big tent stunts, but not quite so beloved or famous that the showbiz world would stop spinning should they happen to perish in a tragic contorting accident.

Certainly, updating the concept for the 21st century will bring improvements--giving the home audience the opportunity to text in which of four lions they most suspect will take a swipe at a chair-and-whip-wielding Wilmer Valderrama could make for an exciting interactive element--but no amount of bells or whistles, we suspect, will ever equal the most astounding Circus stunt of all time:


We know we throw around the word "astonishing" a lot around here, but the above clip, unearthed by the folks at EW's PopWatch blog, is nothing short of that word. Behold William "Baadassss" Katt, aka The Greatest American Hero, doing stuff no mere mortal star of a beloved early-'80s superhero show should be capable of doing on a Wheel of Death. He's not even wearing the suit, for Heaven's sakes! Where's the net? Who insured him? Where did he learn how to do that? That's incredible! (Which, now that we mention it, is long overdue for its own update--though we suppose spending some time with the world's hairiest family on NBC's Guinness Book of World Records special will tide us over until then.)

10:03 AM on Sat Jan 19 2008
by Seth

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