Entertainment : \'American Daredevils:\' Real people who love their country and their hobby

It was the moment of truth.

A kid on a bike. A ramp on the sidewalk along 6th Street SW, Independence.

It was my turn to jump.

Like just about every age 10-ishboy in the mid-70's, I loved Evel Knievel. My friends and I watched him on TV and later raced and jumped our toy motorcycles. Click HERE to see an extreme example of how to play with that toy.

And we tried to do with our bikes what we saw Evel do on his motorcycle. We set up ramps or formed piles of dirt in order to attempt a jump.

After my friends did this a few times on the makeshift wooden ramp, I lined up my bike. I sped along the sidewalk and as I my front wheel approached the ramp, I veered right.

Yep. Chicken.

"I wish I would have done what you did," said a friend the other day, a guy who grew up in the same era but a different town. He didn't chicken out. He ended up at the dentist's office; his mom forbade him watch to ever watch Evel Knievel on TV again.

Since the 2013 Benton County Fair, I have become friends with several people who didn't chicken out, not age 10, or age 50.

You may have seen three members of Team Danger at the fair, where they did a couple of fire stunts during the "Nights of Danger."

Or, perhaps, you were one of the estimated 1.16 million Americans who saw them on TV on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

"American Daredevils" premiered on the History Channel. While none of the TV show was filmed in Vinton, a major stunt that will be featured in 16th episode of the season took place a few days earlier in Maquoketa.

Greg Carpenter, the Dr Danger of Team Danger, ended up in the hospital after that stunt. I spoke to several of his team members during the Fair; I have also been in contact with more of his team via email and Facebook since then.

Naturally, they have been excited about the new TV show, and curious about how America will respond.

"After working on this project for the last five years, we kept thinking it was just right around the corner. Kind of like a waiting for Christmas, but for 5 years," said Dr Danger, who chose to leave out the '." in his stage name. "When the show finally aired, it was very surreal, especially watching it with all the people who showed up. That was humbling – friends from all walks of life. It would have sucked to have watched alone for the first time."

I spent a few hours with Dr Danger’s team during the Fair. His team includes his son, Chris Carpenter; a rookie named Kevin who joined the team this year and performed the “Wall of Fire” stunt for the very first time in Vinton; and a former Texas roller derby star named Nikki McBurnett.

The TV show features Team Danger, along with two other groups, Team Spangler and Team Dizzy. The daredevils perform a variety of stunts, most of which involve crashing some kind of vehicle into another.

But they do not use motorcycles. Carpenter’s father told him cycles are too dangerous. So he crashes cars, instead. Busses, too. Ambulances, even. But never motorcycles.

I do not have cable, so I had to find an alternative location to see the premier. I had it al planned out: Take Mrs. C. to the new restaurant, Café de Klos, and see it there. But as we sat outside the restaurant at 8:30 p.m.on Oct. 22, I remembered that the place is closed on Tuesdays. So I had to settle for watching it on the History Channel web site.

I have read a few reviews. A few of them, like me, loved the show; others liked it. A couple hated it.

So, I asked Dr Danger, “Why watch?”

He said: "I would encourage people to watch because we offer the viewer something real. This is real-life reality; people’s lives genuinely hang in the balance. It is guys like us who helped build this country. We’re the Pilgrims. I think there’s something to be learned from us about the human spirit. We’re scared, but we move forward! Our reality really IS real."

The first episode begins with a stunt by Spanky Spangler, age 65. The narrator asks: “Who is this guy who is upside down and on fire, and how did he get himself into this mess?”

“American Daredevils” will show us, over the next 14 episodes, who these daredevils are, how they get themselves into those messes, and why they love doing it.

Why do I think “American Daredevils is worth watching? First of all, there ain’t nothing else worth watching on TV Tuesday night. Even the World Series left Tuesday nights free. (Game 6 is Wednesday.)

Also, these guys are real. One writer criticized their use of the American flag in their shows (and on their outfits). But these guys were patriotic before 9/11 brought public displays of patriotism back in style. They use the flag because they love our country and believe that what they do represents the courage that has defined so many men and moment in American history.

And in an age of ridiculous disclaimers (even the commercial showing a woman receiving a postcard warning her of an impending heart attack includes the word “dramatization” on the screen), the History Channel has given us show that merits a “don’t try this at home” warning.

Dr Danger and his crew have been doing this stuff for years, all over the country. I read today about a wedding where he set the bride and groom on fire. They loved it.

The daredevils will say that they are not trying to inspire copy-cats. But they do hope that watching a guy do something unique and dangerous will help inspire the members of their audience to have courage in the challenges they face.

And now, three teams of daredevils who often perform for crowds numbering in the hundreds have an audience of more than a million. I have a feeling that number will increase as more and more American families become familiar with the Daredevils.