SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A 15-year-old Washington state boy suffered serious burns when he set himself on fire trying to re-enact a stunt similar to those from MTV's controversial show "Jackass," though an MTV spokesperson noted the stunt the boy tried had never appeared on the show or in the recent movie based on the show.

The boy from the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington, soaked his shirt in rubbing alcohol late on Friday and ignited it while his friends stood by with a video camera shooting footage they planned to sell, police and local media reported.

After suffering first-degree burns over his face and upper body, the teen-ager initially told police that someone had set his clothes on fire while he walked on a trail after attending a high school football game in Issaquah, Washington, police said.

But police later recovered a backpack containing an alcohol-soaked T-shirt, lighter fluid and a video camera.

"The stunt obviously went very wrong," Issaquah police said in a statement, adding that the boy could face obstruction of justice charges for lying about the incident, requiring extra police work.

The "Jackass" show depicting outrageous and dangerous stunts by paid actors aired on Viacom Inc.'s youth-oriented MTV in 2000 and 2001 and then was canceled. However, a movie version opened in theaters three weeks ago and has raked in $53.3 million at the box office.

The movie includes the following disclaimer: "The stunts in this movie were performed by professionals, so, neither you nor your dumb buddies should attempt anything from this movie."

"We're sorry when anybody gets hurt; however, nothing like this incident described ever aired on the show or in the movie," said an MTV spokeswoman.

In 2001, "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville donned a fireproof suit covered in steaks and was set on fire to become a human barbecue. A teen-ager who tried to duplicate the stunt was hospitalized with severe burns.

Injuries allegedly tied to "Jackass" or young imitators have sparked several lawsuits against MTV and Viacom.

Last month, a California woman sued claiming she suffered spine and knee injuries when a "Jackass" cast member knocked her over after slamming himself into a lectern on a stage in a stunt filmed for a similar pilot program that never aired.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/S...index.html
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Regardless if this stunt was aired or not, i can't imagine a better way to weed out morons than by letting people 'imitate' these shows. Instead of trying to ban the programs or movies, we should be applauding them for helping us raise the general IQ of the population. Same thing goes for WWE wrestling, Evil Knievel-like bike jumps, and reality shows like Fear Factor that have people walking out on ledges and eating scorpions. In fact, they should have a disclaimer saying "You are a moron, please try this at home."

Fuck yeah, serves 'em right! :LOL:

They eat scorpions on that show Fear Factor? It is only a matter of time before a death becomes part of television programming. The Running Man type of era comes to mind.
[This message was edited Tue Nov 12 9:37:32 PST 2002 by rdhull]

Movies don't compel perfectly normal people to light themselves on fire. The kid obviously already had issues prior to the release of this film. Why don't they refocus the article on BAD PARENTING. The REAL problem?!

That just proves there are idoits out the by the ton.If someone jumps off a cliff believe me some idiot will be sure to follow.

this changes the admonition
"if everyone else was out
rollin their bodies in bkoken
glass, would you do it"
of course when we all heard it,
it was ' jumped off a cliff'
but that's concidered fun these days.

4LOVE said:

You've got that right!

Nothing tickles me more than to hear when people die doing stupid shit. Like mountain climbing, or sky diving, or bungee jumping, or imitating stunts on TV or in movies. LOVE IT! KEEP IT UP, BRAINSTEMS!

I've been watching too much CNN and I hurt myself trying to invade Iraq.

Damn CNN!

AaronForever said:

Me, too. Unless they're cute, then i'm like 'damn, that's a waste of good ass!' Otherwise, let them do themselves in. Here in the Minnesnowta, it's very popular to snowmobile on the frozen lakes, but the last few years(give or take a yr) have been very mild so the ice has been very thin, if not open water spots. People knowingly ride right over the melted spots, water and all. Most of them make it, but a few drop thru every year and drown. oops.

some even tried to copy that darn dangerous pretzels eating stunt. it was on cnn too some time ago.

AzureStar said:

There is nothing surer!