American Gladiators (original) release - 7/14 (1 Viewer)

[Scott_J]

Chalk up another one for the Never Thought THIS Would Get Released Dept. Shout! Factory (who else?) is releasing a 3-disc set on 7/14, according to TVShowsOnDVD. I would probably buy it, depending on the price, of course, and what's on the set (see below).

In the article, Dave says it's all 26 first-season episodes but I'm not sure it is. The blurb he posted from Shout includes:
That quote, plus the listed run time of 840 minutes (which translates to 14 60-min. episodes) makes me think it's just the last 14 episodes of the season. Note it says "covers season one" not something like "includes season one."

My thinking is Joe Theismann, who hosted the first half of the season, may not have signed off on his episodes being released and instead of not releasing the season because of that, Shout decided to just release the second half of the season. Of course, if he was in the midseason recap episode (I don't recall if he was or not), then that theory won't go far.

Hopefully Dave can get a clearer answer from Shout, but I think it has to be just the second half of the season. Would 26 hour-long episodes even fit on 3 discs and still be watchable? Not unless they're double-sided discs (does Shout even use those?).

 

[MattPeriolat]

Well, depends. Is the original run of first season episodes still in rotation on ESPN? If so, maybe they don't need Joe to sign off on a DVD.

I'd like to see a full press release myself as this show was a huge guilty pleasure of mine years ago and I can't wait for this one.

 

[vnisanian2001]

I don't think it is.

But really, why would the Joe Theismann episodes not be on the set? It's just not practical. Besides, not everything said in that press release is final.

 

[David Rain]

All seasons of the series are in rerun syndie, because I've seen them. If the DVD release is indeed just the last half of the first season then perhaps it's because the first half is really terrible. The show is badly done, badly "acted", clumsily directed, boringly hosted and if you look closely you can tell they have practically no audience in the studio. Dan "Nitro" Clark even confirmed that they had to use cardboard cut-outs to fill the seats during filming.

It's the second half of the first season where this show really started to take shape and become what it was supposed to be. But it would still be odd if only half the season were released. Why not just do all the eps ? We'll see.

 

[Art_AD]

For me the good news here is that MGM whether directly or through Fox has licenced this tv show and I hope there will be more shows licensed like Patty Duke Show, My Mother The Car, It's About Time, Thirtysomething or the rest of Fame, Green Acres, Flipper & Mister Ed.

 

[Scott_J]

Cover art here
Note no mention of "complete season" on the cover.

 

[vnisanian2001]

Read the press release. It says "Entire First Season".

So of course it's gonna be all 26 episodes.

 

[David Rain]

I'm surprised to find Malibu (dude!) and Sunny on the cover since neither of them lasted past the first season. Otherwise it's great cover art. I'd actually love to see some of the other Gladiator shows from other countries get a release. There were a number of versions of the show at the time.

 

[Scott_J]

 

[Scott_J]

While I'm still skeptical, I asked Shout on Twitter if it was the complete season and they responded
But I still would like to see a press release state that. The fact that it's 3 discs and the running time posted at TSoD really doesn't support that. I'd love to be wrong though.

 

[Nick=Ma]

Also it seems dumb to have Malibu and Sunny on the cover if it wasn't the entire first season as they only appeared in the first half. Why include gladiators in the picture that aren't even featured in episodes on the DVDs?

 

[David Rain]

I believe that Malibu left the show because of an injury. Perhaps otherwise he might have stayed around to bore us to death. In which case we might not have gotten other Glad's like Tower and that hosebag Turbo.

 

[supes78]

First of all guys, too much shouldn't be made of the cover "art" since it's just a promo photo from the first season with Zap cropped out for space reasons, I guess.


Second, according to the following episode guide at TV.com
American Gladiators (1989) on TV.com - Free Full Episodes & Clips, & Show Info
seasons 1 and 2 had 13 episodes each so maybe this is a combination of both seasons. But the 840 mins running time would mean that there are 19 episodes (around 44 mins each minus commercials) in this set. Since the cover art doesn't state Season 1 anywhere, I wonder if Shout is releasing these in volumes with a certain number of episodes as opposed to the varying episode counts found in seasons.

 

[Nick=Ma]

The TV.com episode guide is wrong; what they have listed as the first and second season is really just the first season episodes. There third season is really the real second season etc. American Gladiators (the original) only had seven seasons not eight.

 

[supes78]

What is your source for that?

 

[David Rain]

Each season of AG was a "full" season. The first season was revamped halfway through to improve the show. Perhaps this confused some fans who see the show in syndie and assume those eps aired in different seasons since they are so different.

I'm not sure what type of artwork they had to work with but I just found it odd that Glads that did not stick around are being used on the cover art.

 

[vnisanian2001]

Shout! Factory Store

The page for the shows' store listing is up, and it mentions only the last 14 episodes, just as Scott suspected earlier.

Scott, it's actually nothing to get all bent out of shape, though. If you're not aware by now, you can just watch the first 12 episodes for free right here.

 

[David Rain]

Hmm . . . it doesn't make any sense that they would just skip the first half of the season. I mean, why not just release the whole season in a box set ? Was it so save the money ? Or an assumption that people would not care for those eps ? I'll be the first to admit that those eps really were not very good, especially compared to the rest of the souped-up series.

 

[vnisanian2001]

Well, the first half of the first season did have a somewhat different tournament format compared to the one we're used to seeing. Keep in mind that the Grand Championship was originally not a thought. The original idea was for a male and female contestant to win $10,000, and return next year as an American Gladiator. The latter was dropped in the second half.

 

[Nick=Ma]

There is going to be commentary on 4 episodes and an interview with Billy Wirth (which makes no sense since he isn't going to be featured except in the highlight show).