1000 Ways to Die

#629: A man is having an x-ray of his head taken when the doctor and nurse begin having sex in the control room. They accidentally hit the exposure button repeatedly while having sex, eventually giving the patient a lethal dose of radiation. This is one of the brutal and odd deaths explored in this episode. The way it plays out on the show, however, is hilarious.

One of the networks that I try to avoid is Spike TV. They never seem to have anything that's worth watching. Wrestling and obstacle courses aren't my idea of entertainment. I gave this show a chance while I was channel surfing, watched one death and much to my surprise I was hooked.

This show is immensely entertaining and have since changed my opinion about Spike. They did what would seem impossible by taking a real life horrific situation and gave it the feel of an old school slasher flick.

1000 Ways to Die recreates these stories with an abundance of gore and prosthetics giving it the feel of a horror film. It really makes the show a lot of fun, and almost makes you forget that this actually happened.

What I love most about the show is the intentionally bad acting on display here. Everyone's reactions and line delivery are just so bad that they're hilarious.

In short, horror fans will love this show.

The show is very unique, entertaining, and additive. It takes crazy deaths that possibly happened in real life and builds a story around it typically showing a bad person receiving what they deserve. It is not the absolute best show on TV, but myself along with a lot of people I know from different age ranges and backgrounds enjoy it. Only the type of death is based on true events, the story that is built around it is 100% made-up for entertainment value. Ron Pearlman (Sons of Anarchy, Hellboy, Beauty and the Beast) is a perfect narrator for the show.

My main reason for posting was to respond to some of the negative reviews...

1) Trashy and Tasteless, 14 October 2010, Author: Lloyd Bowman

The show is not meant to be tasteful, it is there for entertainment purposes. If the show was bland simply going over these odd deaths, then it most likely not be on the air due to a lack of audience. It has a targeted audience and does a great job reaching them. Lastly, the show is on SPIKE TV...if you are looking for something tasteful, then you are on the wrong channel.

2) Terrible exploitation of people, no lessons learned!, 9 March 2011 Author: Kristinartist79

The show allows viewers to see possible ways that they could die that they would never dream of. In that aspect, it does serve a purpose. One example was "Water-Logged". I have personally jumped off rocks into the water along with thousands, maybe millions of other people. Did any of us think that water might actually shoot up your rectum? Now, I would think about it twice prior to doing it again. Who knows, it might of saved my life or another viewers. Also, how does it not get into how to prevent it? Simple, DO NOT DO IT! Each episode shows you exactly how the death occurs along with experts explaining it to you. So how do you not see how to prevent it? Lastly, you state it is not for kids...WOW, really? It is a show about people being killed in strange ways...why would I show that to my kids? On top of that, it is on SPIKE TV, not PBS. The fact that you even brought that up along with Sesame Street and religion shows that you are a complete idiot and you should not be allowed to watch TV.

3) Unconventional, 13 November 2011, Author: Megan Ross

When you watch a movie, do you want to see good people being killed? When you read or watch the news, do you want to hear about an innocent grandmother being shot? Not at all. On the other hand, you do want to see the enemy or bad guy being killed in the movie along with the robber, rapist, murderer getting killed in real life instead of their victims. With that being said, for the show to gain an audience and have that audience enjoy what they are watching, they have to show situations where a bad guy or someone that deserves to die. This allows us to enjoy it. I wouldn't watch it if innocent people were being killed, nor would anyone else.

This show is not for the faint of heart. It re-enacts some really gruesome deaths and these are deaths that have happened to real people. I can't believe some of them actually happened because they are so crazy, like one about a purse snatcher who ran into a car wash to get away from the police, slipped on water, fell back on a pressure hose that turned on and shot high pressure water into his skull until his head blew up. Some are a one in a million chance to happen, like a guy who gets killed by a stray bullet shot into the air from a mile away. It comes down dead on into his heart. Some make me think, I hope to God I don't die like that, like the guy who presented the brazen bull to an emperor who put the presenter into it to test it. If you've got a fascination for death and the macabre, you will enjoy this, the narrator makes some rye jokes to keep the mood a little lighter. It's not really meant to be a grim depressing show, just a show that makes you go, whoa that is messed up.

Facts, explanations, scientific details for stupid deadly events. And a lot of irony who, episode by episode, becomes uncomfortable. Because the serie explores the fascination of public for not the most decent details . And the dark humor. Sure, each case could work as warning. But it is just a show. With morbid details and bizarre guys, with crazy choices and terrible deaths. With a moral who not change to much. Because the accidents happens.

1000 Ways to Die is a gruesome little guilty pleasure focusing on all the grotesque ways people can be killed. The show largely does a good job of making it fun and not too offensive, but at times it stumbles.

The writers took a few episodes to find the right formula. The first episode poked fun at people who died, often at work, for things that weren't really their fault. One sketch made a pun about the death of a laundry worker who died because his idiot co-worker didn't bother to unplug the dryer he was cleaning. Another cracked jokes about a girl who only died because she took her high heels off and then stepped in a puddle which unbeknownst to her had a wire in it. These early episodes were just cringe inducing.

Later episodes dealt with this issue by making certain the victims were too stupid or mean to be sympathetic. Even so, a certain feeling remains that it's wrong to be enjoying this show, especially when you hear that many of the stories actually did happen in real life, but to little children rather than the jerks you're watching.

1000 Ways to Die...the show your conscience will hate you for loving.