‘The most stressful TV experience ever’: Alex Honnold and the potential rise of death as live entertainment | television

WWell, have your balls left your body yet? Skyscraper Live has disappeared from Netflix, and it may qualify as the most stressful viewing experience ever. Alex Honnold’s unassisted ascent of 508 meters at Taipei 101 was an absolutely extraordinary achievement. But whether or not it represents the future of television is a different matter entirely.

Honnold’s work is already well known. As the star of Free Solo — a feature-length, again nerve-racking documentary that the only way to enjoy comfortably was under the influence of artificial sphincter relaxants — he has long been the poster boy for people climbing things without ropes.

But the difference between Free Solo and Skyscraper Live is huge. The first was a carefully structured account of his attempt to climb El Capitan unaided, edited for the maximum possible level of drama. The last was just footage of him climbing a building for an hour and a half. Obviously, the risk factor for the viewer was greatly magnified, because – unlike Free Solo, which could be retroactively re-edited in the event of an accident – Skyscraper Live had nowhere to hide.

However, an hour and a half is a long time to watch anything. In the case of Skyscraper Live, you’re watching a guy repeat the same set of moves hundreds of times in a row. You always find yourself a little isolated, maybe checking your phone or going to make a cup of tea, because the human brain simply wasn’t designed to sustain a state of panic for long. In fact, watching Skyscraper Live was like a long flight in turbulent weather, with long periods of boredom interspersed with moments of absolute panic.

At least Honnold and his team can be congratulated for choosing an incredibly exciting skyscraper to climb. Taipei 101 seems to have been designed specifically for this sort of thing, consisting of three clear stages that ramp up aggressively in difficulty. There were heights. It was there dangling. Near the end, in the first part of the structure’s tower, there was a moment when Honnold had to climb out at a 45-degree angle, the highest part of the building that didn’t appear to have much to hold on to. I just watched it – having seen it once and knowing how it would end – and my palms immediately became sweaty. Even watching him stand up straight at the top gave me the same kind of panic that you get when you see your child has gotten into the cutlery drawer.

Which means it was exceptional, but also: should we really be making entertainment based on the possibility of someone dying? Because as much as you can admire Honnold’s athleticism and pluck, you’ve seen Skyscraper Live for the danger he poses. Even if you pushed him down into your stomach, a small part of you knew you were accepting the possibility of him slipping and falling to his death.

There are a lot of events that imply this – I maintain that most people who watch Formula 1 do so because of accidents – but there was something exhilaratingly clear about it. The closest example I can think of is when Red Bull paid Felix Baumgartner to jump from a height of 24 miles in 2012. There was the same overwhelming excitement leading up to the broadcast of the jump. And then, when he went into an uncontrolled, life-threatening cycle 90 seconds later, there was the same harsh feeling of self-examination. You realize you’re just rubber, listening to the horrific possibility that something might go wrong.

I suspect this isn’t how Netflix wants to market itself – the homes of people who land outside buildings (and Stranger Things) – which means Skyscraper Live will have to remain a one-off.

If it decides to capitalize on the success of that by commissioning more live events that could result in a human being killed — Free Diving Live, Rooftop Parkour Live, or even directly eating a ham sandwich without chewing it — it risks turning the future of television into a Victorian freak show. It’s better than that. In addition, my sphincter couldn’t handle it.