American Gladiators

[Dartful Dodger]

Who saw it and how was it?

I was looking forward to it for months, but yesterday went by in a blur I didn't think about the show until this morning.

[JimmyU]

It was alright.  It's on again tonight at 8 EST if you're interested.  They need to bring back the human cannonball though.

[CCM]

I liked it...

[ChadTower]

If you took the original show, pumped in a lot of money for production, and dropped it into the staging for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, you'd have today's version.  It felt roughly the same, though.

[tommy]

It felt roughly the same, though.

Generic and worthless?

[Hoopz]

It's not as good as Ninja Warrior.

[JackTucky]

The interviews with the contestants were so corny.  " I went to med school so I can handle this"

"I'm a skateboarder so I can handle being chased by cops"

--cream-filled twinkie--.

=J

[hypernova]

Crush is haaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwt!

They revamped the eliminator.  The handbike is in the middle of the course...it's incredibly hard for people to do it.  And the reverse treadmill?  That's at the very end.  It has made it nearly impossible to finish races.

I think they may need to eliminate powerball.  Some woman got her leg screwed up on the first show, and the preview for next week looks like a man has to splint his leg after it.  With so much tackling, it's no stretch that these are only the beginning of the injuries in it.

Seriously.  If you watch it, watch it for Crush.  She whaled on some woman today in joust.  It was a bona fide beatdown.

And did I mention she was amazingly hot?

[Lutus]

I saw it.  It was over produced.

What I mean by that is, as soon as an event was over, 2 seconds later they were interviewing the contestant.  It was ridiculous, as soon as the contestant burst through the wall Ali's daughter had a mic in their face saying "what were you thinking as you were running the gauntlet?"

Alot of fast camera cuts, and the referee was killing me.

You just have to watch it to see what I mean.

[Howard_Casto]

The good thing about it is they didn't change a thing.  The bad thing about it is they didn't change a thing. 

I'm not sure what the others are talking about regarding "increased production values" cause I didn't see them.  Of course the camera work is better, because it's been 15 years since it was on and they gave everyone updated uniforms.  Other than that, it looks like they literally got the old set out of moth-balls and just gave the rusted stuff a fresh coat of paint.  The over-serious ref and the stupid camera cuts are left over from the old show btw, so they aren't anything new.

The only real change from prime time is Hulk and Leyla and although both are quite personable, they are used quite poorly.  Horribly canned and generic questions are the extent of their "interviews" which seem like nothing more than time filler.  This whole getting to know the contestant crap is a bad trend that started with millionare a few years back and continues on every single frikkin primetime gameshow.  You see the problem with getting to know these contestants is taht it becomes clear immediately that either they are totally uninteresting or a complete cliche, obviously picked to be on the show to get a cheap ratings boost. 

  I swear to god, allah, buddah, the flying spaghetti monster and anybody else who'll listen, if I see one more New York fireman, Iraqi vet, housewife who married their childhood sweetheart, guy who married their childhood sweetheart, ethnic stereotype or person that sure thinks they have to say a clever pun after each question is asked (and those puns are NEVER funny) I'm going postal and killing every single frikkin television producer that's ever made a reality show in the last 10 years!!!!!!!  And is it me or are these people always terribly one-dimensional?  I mean it's nice you are a vet, but is your life so sad that this the sole thing that defines your entire life?  Every question to these people is replied with "well I'm a soldier/marine/fire fighter/some city worker still bragging that he DID HIS DAMN JOB on 9-11 6 YEARS after the fact/ect. so ....."  I feel sorry for these people.  I mean I'm a single loser and a dork and I have more going on then them.  I have friends and family and obligations and hobbies and interesting stories to tell regarding all of that.  I think they exploit the one decent quality they have hoping the gameshow people will rig the contest in their favor or something.  Well that's illegal so it ain't gonna happen so get over yourselves.  Also true heroes are modest so quit getting on television and embarrasing yourself and everyone associated with you.

Why did Bob barker have to retire?  Ever watched how he handled it on TPIR?

Bob:  "Well hi Patty where are you from and what do you do?"
Patty:  "Well I'm a US marine who just got back from Iraq"
Bob:  "That's great!  Let's go play plinko!"

See that's how you do it... merely pretend to be interested to be polite and when they start going on and on cut em off and be sure to make them understand that nobody really gives a crap what they do, we just wanna see if they win the showcase. 

Oh and btw, yes, Crush is quite hot.  She's *almost* hot enough to make me watch it regularly, but I'm sure somebody will start posting clips of her being all hot on the tubes pretty soon. 

[jfunk]

Thank goodness for DVRs...  Skip all the pseudo-trash-talk and sob stories and get straight to the smackdowns 

[Hoopz]

Thank goodness for DVRs...  Skip all the pseudo-trash-talk and sob stories and get straight to the smackdowns 

Ditto!  I agree that the canned questions are just terrible.  I like some of the changes with the new events though.

[shardian]

I saw the last half hour Sunday, and amde sure to watch all of it last night. I LOVE that it is back on TV. They can ditch Ali, she sucks. Hulk sucked Sunday night, but did a little better last night.

I both like and dislike the eliminator now. On the one hand, it is absoutely hilarious to see the contestants get totally pwned by how hard it is. The escalator thing at the end is so wrong it is right.
On the other hand, I was very disappointed by the hand bike, and the barrel roll. IIRC, if you didn't finish a portion or fell off, a referree held you up for a time penalty before you could climb out of the pit on the original. They aren't doing that. Hell, it would be much quicker to just ignore the hand bike and jump straight into the pit! Noone is ever going to finish the handbike after swiming and climbing a 40 foot rope wall.

That was great to see that girl try to hunker down on joust and get her ass beat.
Hulk: I've wrestled for 30 years and in all the time I never got ---my bottom--- beat like you just did.
...I think he was serious.

Final thoughts, I loved this show then, and I love it now.

[ChadTower]

IIRC the ref held you back because you could just fall off and run faster... there wasn't a pit.  Now you have to actually climb out of a pit via the "ladder", which takes about the same amount of time the penalty took.

Guaranteed Hulk won't be back.  They filmed all of this before his son's accident.

[CCM]

I thought there used to be gladiators in the pits that would hold you up if you fell off the hand bike...   

[Hoopz]

I thought there used to be gladiators in the pits that would hold you up if you fell off the hand bike...   

Come on...like someone was going to try and take their wallet, watch and keys during the contest...  Get real.

 

[CCM]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e9ncxaAZpM&feature=related[/youtube]

It was the penalty pit...

[Jdurg]

I too was excited to see American Gladiators back on the air, but for some reason this new version isn't nearly as good as the old one.  It did seem to be a bit too "overproduced" and the personalities of the Gladiators just isn't what it used to be.  Back in the old days, Nitro, Gemini, Laser, Turbo, Thunder, etc. all had this look of "I'm going to kill you right now", but then they'd snap out of it and become normal human beings.  Yet you could still kind of see some roid-rage inside of them. 

The Gladiators in the new show just seem like they're trying to hard and overacting SEVERELY.  None of them appeared to be real people.  They all seemed like overacting oafs.

The contestants also seemed as if they were pulled out of a random hat.  Granted, the Eliminator did appear to be a bit harder, but these people couldn't even come close to making it through.  Also, the old show had the Eliminator as a completely separate event.  This version seemed to just throw random stuff into the arena and make you run around like a chicken with your head cut off.  It looked as if they were doing everything in a closet and just forced you to run around the set with a few extra things put in for the Eliminator.

The show was okay, but I still get more enjoyment out of watching the original show on ESPN Classic.

[shardian]

The contestants also seemed as if they were pulled out of a random hat.  Granted, the Eliminator did appear to be a bit harder, but these people couldn't even come close to making it through. 

After watching that video, it is obvious that the new elimator is WAY harder than the original. And the people they had on last night were not cupcakes. Well, the karate lady with big boobs didn't have a chance - but the other three were in great shape.

[ChadTower]

I felt bad for the Marine that swam headfirst into the iron bar.  She pretty much effed her chances to win on that move alone.

[shardian]

I felt bad for the Marine that swam headfirst into the iron bar.  She pretty much effed her chances to win on that move alone.

The dude on Sunday night did the same thing and had a blood geyser by the time he finished.

[ChadTower]

I didn't watch monday but I did watch Sunday and don't remember either man doing that.  The blonde woman did it Sunday night.

[shardian]

Yeah, the whiny white dude who kept saying he has waited 15 long years to be on American gladiators. It was at the end of the show, which didn't end until 11.

[ChadTower]

It's still on the Tivo... I remember the guy but don't remember that happening.  I do remember his whiny interview afterwards.  I'll go back to look just to see if I'm insane or not.

[Hoopz]

Chad's right; it was the former Marine that got the bloody nose on Sunday night not the guy.

Her move during "Hang Tough" when she got the Gladiator locked onto her was incredible.  The fact she could hang on with the Gladiator on her was a shock but then to get the Gladiator off of her... She was incredibly tough to do that.

[ChadTower]

One thing obvious from this version... they chose the men gladiators based on ability and the women based on looks.  The men contestants can't do jack against these gladiators but the women contestants are routinely beating their gladiators.

[Hoopz]

Did you get the first part backwards?

One thing obvious from this version... they chose the men gladiators based on ability and the women based on looks.  The men contestants can't do jack against these gladiators but the women contestants are routinely beating their gladiators.

I agree, from what I saw on Sunday, that the women seemed much tougher than the men.

[ChadTower]

I agree, from what I saw on Sunday, that the women seemed much tougher than the men.

No, I didn't.  The women were scoring regularly and the men couldn't score at all on many of the events.  The women were all making it through the gauntlet, for example, but the men were getting the piss beaten out of them.  The only scores on the joust were because the gladiator DQed himself.  The rings was impossible for the men.

[shardian]

One thing obvious from this version... they chose the men gladiators based on ability and the women based on looks.  The men contestants can't do jack against these gladiators but the women contestants are routinely beating their gladiators.

You did see Crush brutally beat down both females in joust right? BTW the girl who plays crush is a world champ Muy Thai fighter and undefeated in MMA. She could totally kick your ass...and she's HOT.

Helga is a beast, but she is probably quite limited to events because I doubt she is very agile.

[Hoopz]

I agree, from what I saw on Sunday, that the women seemed much tougher than the men.

No, I didn't.  The women were scoring regularly and the men couldn't score at all on many of the events.  The women were all making it through the gauntlet, for example, but the men were getting the piss beaten out of them.  The only scores on the joust were because the gladiator DQed himself.  The rings was impossible for the men.

Sorry, I misread what you wrote.  I didn't read the word gladiators in your post. 

[ChadTower]

You did see Crush brutally beat down both females in joust right? BTW the girl who plays crush is a world champ Muy Thai fighter and undefeated in MMA. She could totally kick your ass...and she's HOT.

That's just one event.  Most of the rest were winnable for the women.  Sunday night both women (when it was the marine and the fat camp worker) won on the rings, in the gauntlet, and on the wall.

[shardian]

Last night Wolf sucked it up on the rings.

It is also easier for women to ring up points because the size difference is much less. The men gladiators are HUGE compared to the competitors. Last night, the girl winner was cut. She could pass for a gladiator if you put her in a fancy costume.

[Hoopz]

I think a part of it is that the Gladiators in the old series had a lot of experience with their events.  The newer Gladiators don't have that experience yet. 

On the Hang Tough, the black competitor (fat camp worker) out maneuvered the Gladiator pretty easily.  She took a better angle and landed pretty quickly.  That almost never happened in the old series as the Gladiators knew how to play the angles better.

[CCM]

You did see Crush brutally beat down both females in joust right? BTW the girl who plays crush is a world champ Muy Thai fighter and undefeated in MMA. She could totally kick your ass...and she's HOT.

Damn, I didn't recognize Crush, it's Gina Carano.  She is one tough chick.  I've seen a few of her MMA fights, very impressive.  And hot as hell.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTd5bLxKBM[/youtube]

[ChadTower]

Nothing makes your career like being a white woman beating the piss out of a Vietnamese woman in front of dozens of toothless old Vietnamese men.   

[CCM]

It's a big deal for any  Western Muy Thai fighter that competes and wins in Thailand. 

[ChadTower]

She should fight the guy from Wild World of Spike.  She's almost as pretty as he is.

[Jouster]

Was she on Fight Girls??  I see Master Toddy there...I never saw the end of that show...anyone know who ended up the champ?

Jouster

[shardian]

Chad's right; it was the former Marine that got the bloody nose on Sunday night not the guy.

Her move during "Hang Tough" when she got the Gladiator locked onto her was incredible.  The fact she could hang on with the Gladiator on her was a shock but then to get the Gladiator off of her... She was incredibly tough to do that.

Wow, I have no clue how I ---fouled up beyond all recognition--- that one up. It must have had something to do with the fact I had been asleep for an hour and half before I tuned in, and was still kind of drowsy. I suppose it all blended to together a bit.

(I DL'ed the ep so I could re-watch the end.)

[ErikRuud]

I haven't had a chance to see any of the new series yet.

I DID just find out that one of my neighbors was a contestant on the old show.  I'll have to see if I can get a look at the video from it.