User Reviews

I too saw this show as a kid and have some interesting, vague recollections... It was hosted by Telly Savalas and was a cavalcade of disasters. Some guy jumped a snowmobile and I believe he overshot the landing; another guy blew himself up with dynamite, and it took them a bit to locate him after the explosion; and the Wallenda fell to his death on live television...crazy stuff! I'm not sure if my memory is accurate and I've been scouring the internet and eBay trying to locate a copy of it, but to no avail. The closest i've found is the poster. Maybe i'll post it on here for fun. ...and did I mention the co-host was Jill St. John, and her malfunctioning wardrobe?

As of this writing (6/2006), there are no user comments on the IMDb for this production. Based on that fact, I assume it may never have aired again after its initial 1977 broadcast. If this is the special I remember having seen on live television back in 1977, its lack of re-broadcast does not surprise me. I'll add my memories of it here from a distance of nearly thirty years.

My recollection is that this was an hour-long, primetime network television special. I seem to remember it airing from 9 pm to 10 pm on the East Coast. The hosted portions of the show were live. As I recall, the special was to feature three or four different daredevils each performing an individual stunt. The headliner – and final stunt on the show – was to be Evel Knievel's live attempt to jump a motorcycle over a pool filled with sharks.

Being a young boy at the time, I have vivid memories of the commercial that ran advertising this special in the weeks before it aired. The advert showed live sharks circling (presumably in this pool Knievel was planning to jump over), while a breathless announcer said in part: "…and if he doesn't make it, water wings won't help!"

The live broadcast itself was a let down. Although the IMDb lists Evel Knievel as the host of the show…it didn't happen that way. He was in fact lying in a hospital when the television special aired. Earlier in the day, Evel had made a practice jump over the shark tank and had crashed. I remember the hosts of the show appeared really shook up about it. Throughout the hour that the special aired, they kept passing on to viewers live updates from the hospital regarding Evel's condition.

Wide World of Sports did a follow-up story, not too many days after this special aired, that included an interview with Evel in the hospital. I believe it was mentioned that the indoor arena where the shark jump was being staged did not have sufficient space for Evel's bike to build up enough speed before it took to air – which is why he crashed.

I also recall one other sad note concerning this special. One of the other daredevils that was to perform during the hour died. I can't remember if his death occurred just before this show aired, or just afterwards, but he was not killed performing for this particular production – although he was killed attempting the same kind of stunt. He was an elderly gentleman who was famous as a tightrope walker. He fell while attempting to walk a rope strung between two high buildings, as I recall.

Overall, this TV special was kind of a let-down for the audience. It had been hyped as a live attempt by Evel Knievel to jump a tank full of sharks. But as soon as the show opened, they revealed Knievel had already made the attempt earlier in the day (albeit in a practice run). He had been so badly injured that the show's intended climax was cancelled…before it even began.

I remember that there was a series of stunts and, pretty much like everyone else, the only one that I really remember was the guy strapped to the chair with dynamite.

I remember actually being at a neighbors' house to watch this, and the adults in the room were just howling at the guy blowing himself up, and Telly Salavas yelling into the microphone over and over again afterwards to the guy in the chair, "CAN YOU HEAR ME??!! CAN YOU HEAR ME??!!". They just thought that Telly Savalas was making such an ass out of himself hosting this special.

I think that it's been kind of forgotten how being a daredevil was a minor fad in the 1970s, and it was a fad that Evel Knievel started.

The other user comments have got it right. The dare-devil TV special that was to be bombed (no pun intended).

I recall Evel not being on the show as promised, and I have extremely vague memories of some of the stunts, save one. Said one stunt involved a man strapping himself to a chair that was laden with dynamite. I'll never forget that.

As a kid watching westerns Hollywood usually used dynamite as a cinematic grenade. Some cowboy would light up a stick, and huck it at the "black hats". Imagine my shock, horror, and utter kid-like fascination when a man intentionally announced that he was going to strap himself into a chair with TNT all around it, and detonate it! Wow! I mean, how cool is that?! I think after that stunt I went to bed or something. I seem to recall the guy who blew himself up got his bell severely rung, and had lost his hearing (I can only assume temporarily).

Yeah, I don't think this one's ever going to see the light of day again. If the network that owns this thing is smart they'll keep it locked up in an underground media vault in Utah.

OK, Joe Gerlach was the only one to perform. Both Evil and Walinda hurt themselves during practice. Joe refused to do a practice plunge unless they paid double. That's why Joe's performance is not available. There is great jealousy of Joe!! Joe defected to America in 1956 while Competing at the Olympics when Joe's native country of Hungary. Won a national championship at Michigan was first World professional diving championship. Joe's Sponge Plunge came about after being spokesman for "Port a pit" The foam landing pad for Track and field, High Jump and pole vault. About 10 stories from a hot air balloon. Early on he went face first after a jaw injury. Joe said his birthday was the day he arrived in America.