Willravel

It's back. The best thing ever created by man. The cheesetastic interviews with pseudo-normal people and the overacting by man-hulks; even women that would confuse the most confident man.

I can't even articulate how awesome this is. Here's hoping they bring back "That's Incredible", too...

Blast from the past to wet your entertainment apetite:

Baraka_Guru

I'm glad you did this before I did. I was hoping I wasn't alone on this. Why do I like this so much?

This is what reality TV is suppose to be. American Gladiators and Hogan all in the same package? This is my chance at a second childhood!

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Plan9

THAT'S INCREDIBLE!

Holy hell! I need that show!

...

You know you want those gladiator girls, Will. Especially Helga.

...

Whenever I think about American Gladiators... I get to thinking about Richard Bachman's The Running Man (not the Arnold movie, the book).

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Willravel

Because you're a genius, like Cromp and I.
If she clenched down, that'd end the game.

Plan9

Say what?

The best part about the old American Gladiators was the Nerf "Assault" course with the tennis ball cannon and the joes scurrying like Crayola roaches.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

KellyC

I watched this a few years back. I didn't like it then. The previews of the new show didn't appeal to me either. I think it's because they use the name "Gladiator."

Ironically I like the Japanese show called "Ninja Warrior." The format is different and the contestants are normal Joes, not Hulk folks. Sorry for the thread jack.

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Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

ASU2003

I like this show. I can't believe that it has been so long since it was on before.

Willravel

I have every episode of Ninja Warrior on my DVR.

American Gladiator has a similar gauntlet at the end. The 'Gladiator' thing refers to man to man (or woman to woman) arena combat.

blahblah454

The fact that every guy is a monster is what makes it hilariously awesome to watch. Man I loved this show!! Its seriously back?

telekinetic

I sat down with my whole family and everyone at my house to watch the first episode. We were all super excited about it, as we had fond memories of the old show.

However, the very first game, before the first commercial break, this single mother of two that they'd just done this human interest "i need this money for my kids" piece on breaks her fucking knee. She's crying and hobbling, and they do like fifteen zoomed in slow motion replays of it getting broken, to commentary like "Lets take another look at the hurt that got laid down on her!! Wow!!"



We all kind of looked around at eachother, one of us turned of the TV, and the nine of us went and played a board game.

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twisted no more

Plan9

They should have hit her with a bat, too!

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

KellyC

Yeah. I want blood spilled and the janitor's mop soaked with it.

__________________
Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

Prophecy

For some reason I loved the old show, the cheese and bad puns helped things along. Glad to see they kept the same events for the most part. Mixed feelings about Hogan and Ali though.

However I only saw the last 45 mins of the second show. Does the new show have the old theme music?

__________________
La Disciplina È La Mia Spada,
La Fede È Il Mio Schermo,
Non salti Ciecamente In Incertezza,
E Potete Raccogliere Le Ricompense.

Lasereth

I'm definitely entertained by the new show even though I admit it sorta sucks. But it's still fun to watch, especially if you were a fan of the old one. BTW what is the deal with the eliminator. WAAAAY harder than the old show!!!!!! The net they have to crawl up after swimming is what does it. They use all of their energy there. Either the swimming part or the net needs to be taken out because both of them together = 4 minute eliminators. The last guys couldn't even make it up the ramp at the end.

Baraka_Guru

Dude, they totally still have that.

And there are a few new features that were changed/added to "modernize" it in light of the Reality TV era.

The show is juiced up. I'm going to watch it every Monday night. My god, I never watch TV....what's going on?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

ratbastid

Yeah, I had a total 12-year-old flashback watching the first episodes, and last night's is on my DVR right now. LOVED it! It SUCKS, but I LOVED it!

snowy

Pretty much. It's very cheesy, but it's a tolerable level of cheese. I found that I kept laughing so hard that it took my mind off of how terrible it was. So I guess that makes it bad in a good way? Hrm.

Interesting fun facts about the new Gladiators: Toa is the Rock's cousin (and stunt double!), and Crush is a professional MMA fighter.

And some of those Gladiators are babes. Wow. I like that not all of the women are complete bodybuilders. Some of them actually have real boobs!

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

fresnelly

I was absolutely hooked during the high energy, ridonkulous opening pagentry, but immediately turned off by the cloying profile of the first contestant. I hate that kind of emotional exploitation.

It's out of place and phony on a circus like American Gladiators.

__________________
Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life

Willravel

That's how it's always been. They like to put county corn fed yokles against cocky street smart city boys. Remember, this program is 99% entertainment and .5% Hulk and .5% sport. And there's a 4% margin of error.

hambone

Toa is the Rock's cousin? That is awesome. I was watching it with friends and we were all saying that he looks like a cross between the Rock and Adam Sandler. Haha.

and that Crush chick is actually very hot, so I agree

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"Like liquid white from fallen glass,
Nothing to cry over"

Xazy

I just can not stand hearing Hogan talk. But it was good mindless fun to watch.

bmadison

Is it just me or did they sissify the show? I seem to remember the Gladiators being much better at the events, being really pissed off if they lost an event, and really hating the contestants. Furthermore, the contestants are nothing compared to the old contestants. I remember watching the guys fly across the hand bikes, and aside from that NY Firefighter, they've all been pretty weak.

Finally, the thing that drives me the craziest, what happened to the 10 second penalty for falling off the hand bike?!?!? If im on the show, I'm leaping up on the hand bike, taking one stroke, dropping down, and running to the other side.

I will continue to watch the show, but I am disappointed about the above things. And to KellyC... You got your wish. Did you see that girl take a face plant into the steel piping in the water. By the end, she had blood running all down her face. AG Rocks!!!

Baraka_Guru

I'm thinking the Eliminator is way harder with the redesign. They didn't have swimming in the original (not that i can remember), there seems to be way more climbing, and, worst of all, they put that movator ramp at the end of the course instead of the beginning.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Plan9

Baraka, your American Gladiators expertise is both astounding and refreshing.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Baraka_Guru

Dude, they swim under fire. Literally.

There's more where that came from. I will start fielding questions now. I well versed in both the gladiators and the events.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Willravel

Were they asked to jump in feet first? I would have dove in to maintain speed in the water. It's bad enough they were swimming in pads.

Also, were they just weak asses, or did someone forget to oil the arm wheel?

Baraka_Guru

Have you no idea how high that cargo net is?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Willravel

I guess they didn't train beforehand. I find the best arm training is wrapping towels around a pull-up bar and puling up on the towels (especially wet). Had they done that for a few months leading up to the competition, it would have been a breeze.

Plan9

I've done "Nasty Nick" at Bragg, the Special Forces obstacle course. One of the last obstacles is a cargo net. That thing is 30-40 feet high... but I assure you that you're absolutely dead when you flop over it. You kinda fall off it. You're cold, wet, and your hands and shoulders are near muscle failure.

Hmmm... TOUGH GUY RAVEL. You should go on American Gladiators.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Willravel

I missed the trial for Ninja Warrior... that sounds kinda fun actually.

Maybe I should.

Baraka_Guru

Here we have men in the old series, and women in the new. Different strength levels here, but you can at least see the differences in the Elminator itself.

You be the judge! Discuss!

Old Series:
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New Series:
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K6iRBwRyMvA&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K6iRBwRyMvA&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

djtestudo

The problem is that most people who watched the original "American Gladiators" were kids aged 5-15 who want to remember the steroids and low-production values of the original. The gladiators are fine (they'll get better, too), and the contestants are ok, but everything else seems overdone.

In Powerball, I want to see the whole field with occasional close-ups when something happens, not the other way around; you can't tell what is happening. In the Eliminator, I want the gladiators involved, whether it is throwing things or blocking the exit like before, or something completely new.

And, you have the ridiculousness that is Hulk Hogan.

"ANTHONY! YOU'RE A NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER!"

*points the mic at the guy*

*GREAT! SNAP INTO A SLIM JI-SORRY! WRONG CHARACTER!"

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

jorgelito

Cargo net is 30 feet high.

The platform is too close to the fire for safe or effective diving.

People with heart conditions cannot participate on the show.

American Gladiators is too violent for true pacifists.

bmadison

Don't get too impressed about the swimming under fire thing. I caught a glare off of the plexiglass under the fire during an underwater shot on Monday.

maleficent

this show sucked beyond belief...

what a dissappointment...

hulk makes it too entertainment and not sports like at all like it was in the past

plus the new gladiators are way tooo roidy ...

I miss nitro

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ratbastid

You know, the thing I'm finding irritating isn't the hosts, it's the bloody contenders.

Guy, I know you're from the country. They're calling you "Big Country". I get it already. Do you have to refer to the farm and slopping pigs and the effing county fair every single time you're on camera? Show a little god damned depth, and I might care about you.

Girl, you're chipper. You're perky. Doesn't quite seem like a karate instructor and champion grappler's attitude, but what the hell. I get it already. Stop answering the question, "Are you going to win this event?" with "Heck yeah!" and stop answering "Is the contender ready?" with "Yep!" Show a little god damned depth, and I might care about you.

There have been contenders who weren't over-rehearsed on camera, and I've liked them, and I've pulled for them. Mollie comes to mind. Mostly, though, these "ordinary people" read like actors in the world's worst soap opera.

Willravel

Big Country was probably retarded. That's why I was pulling for him. That and the other asshole was a poor sportsman.

I was too distracted by her shirt almost getting pulled off to hear anything that the perky 'grappling champion' said. BTW, I've never even heard of a "female world grappling champion". I doubt there's such a position.

ratbastid

It wasn't just them. They're symptoms. Most of the contenders in the Sunday premiere were the same way--over-rehearsed, wooden, and one-trick personalities. Molivann and his opponent (the "old man" whose name I can't remember) were exceptions. The asian girl who won the second hour was all right. (Just looked it up: Venus. Two Greco-Roman gods are "final eight" contenders so far.)

I didn't hate Adonis. What made you feel he was a poor sportsman? Going back for a review on Gauntlet? He misunderstood the rules of Earthquake, evidently, and was informed about that in his post-event stand-up. What did I miss?

Also, I think I agree that the Eliminator is just too hard. The Big Country/Adonis matchup (where they both stood at the bottom of it looking at each other for several seconds catching their breath) demonstrated that.

highthief

That country guy should have done a little cardio - he had a huge lead but couldn't get up the ramp at the end. Wuss.

I liked the little karate chiquita, super-cute, but the gymnast was a better all-around athlete.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

Shauk

wow the guy talking during this clip is kind of a jackass.