Some people will do anything for a good cause -- even watch 100 hours of TV, straight.
That's the sacrifice that three stouthearted people in Los Angeles are making this weekend to help The San Gennaro Foundation, a nonprofit created by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel that helps underpriviliged children in Los Angeles and promotes Italian culture. (San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples, Italy.)
As part of the foundation's 10th Annual Precious Cheese Feast of San Gennaro Los Angeles, three couch potatoes are attempting to break the current world record for most consecutive hours spent watching TV.
The current record is 86 hours, 6 minutes and 41 seconds, set between Dec. 2 and Dec. 6, 2010, by Kevin Coon, Farris Hodo and Victor Lopez, who sat through the first 5 seasons of "24."
But couch potatoes Greg Durfee, 48, Jackie Haigh, 42, and Raymond Garcia, 28, hope to set a new record by watching 100 hours straight of Italian-themed movies and TV shows, in part to raise money to help kids with cancer.
They started Thursday night at 5 p.m. by watching "Rocky Balboa" and the Italian language classic "Cinema Paradiso" and hope to stay awake until 9 p.m. Sunday, when they will be watching the final moments of a videotaped episode of "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" dedicated to Kimmel's uncle, Frank Potenza, who was a regular on the show before passing away on Aug. 23, 2011.
Potenza's daughter, Ann Potenza, says the competing couch potatoes have to keep their eyes on the TV screen the whole time, save for the five minute-per-hour breaks allowed by Guinness World Records, which can be turned into 30-minute breaks every six hours.
As the organizer for the event, she is trying to help the contestants by ensuring they are watching good quality TV, although it is yet to be determined whether they will be subjected to that classic staple of Italian TV: the wacky game show featuring really gorgeous women acting sort of ditzy.
Also, anybody who expects to hear Tony Soprano cursing up a storm is going to be disappointed.
"We aren't showing 'The Sopranos' because we want the event to be family-friendly so we're not doing too many Mafia-themed movies," Potenza told HuffPost Weird News.
However, on Thursday night, the participants did see "Godfather Part III," mainly because cast members Andy Garcia and Joe Mantegna attended the opening night red carpet event.
For many people, the chance to make history just by watching TV would be enough reason to go for the record, but the trio of TV watchers say they are doing it more to raise money and provide fun activities for cancer victims.
"I heard that 42 kids a day are diagnosed with cancer," said Garcia. "I have a two-year-old and cancer runs on both sides of my family, so I'll do anything to help out."
So will Durfee, who flew out from Denver to help out the cause. He's taking the effort quite seriously and even consulted with experts beforehand to try to find out the best way to stay awake for four-and-three-quarter days.
"A nutritionist friend told me to eat fruit and yogurt during the evening hours because carbs might weigh me down," said Durfee, who has type 2 diabetes.
Considering all the great food that is sure to be at an Italian festival, limiting the diet like that seems cruel.
"Oh, don't worry," he said. "I'm eating lots of meatball sandwiches and spaghetti in the daytime."
He is more worried about possibly falling asleep during films with subtitles.
"I think they showed the more 'cultural films' early on," said Durfee, who is looking forward to watching Robert DeNiro films and "Hairspray" with John Travolta.
Haigh is taking a different approach and trying to limit her liquids.
"I don't drink a lot because then I have to go to the bathroom," she said, adding that sitting for 100 hours is tough because she works out a lot. "So I'm flexing my muscles while watching the movies."
Although Durfee, Garcia and Haigh are all trying for the record, only one of them has to watch TV the whole time in order for the record to count. They all say they are confident in their chances -- and Garcia is already thinking ahead for the next challenge.
"We're going to stick it out, but if someone beats us after this, we'll just come back and beat 'em again," he said.
SEE HOW THE RECORD FOR UNDERWATER TV WATCHING WAS SET