American Gladiators 2008

Re: American Gladiators 2008

I liked the original but don't really remember how it was presented. This new version is horrible, though. What's with the multiple camera angles? The editing is terrible. Instead of being able to follow what's going on, it just makes it confusing. Sometimes, a simple wide shot is the best way to show something. The crowd reactions seem really fake and the hosts add nothing. Get rid of Hogan, brother.

Vince, nice to see you back here and nice to see you having some success in Hollywood.

~T

Re: American Gladiators 2008

I am watching and liking this show. The only real complaint I would have is the places and ways they go to commercials. It seems sort of sudden. I guess that would be the "editing".

I really like that it is in HD. A lot of the reality shows are not so I appreciate it even more.

I don't mind Hulk.

It seems that this show is doing well in the ratings so hopefully we will get a full season.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

It's funny to see the gladiators after the event and how they act. Wolf never gets out of his character. Even after he still glares and talks smack. While Titan seems to appreciate "amatuers" and compliments them after.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

strong ratings for night 2

Interesting is that viewership grew in the second half hour of the show. If you want this show to be a success, you can point to that as a good sign.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

I thought this was awesome. When I first heard about the new version, I was worried that it would just be the AG name and nothing else. No, this feels exactly like the original and not a cheap knockoff like Battle Dome. I liked all of the contestants, and emphasizing their bios makes you root for a favorite the whole time. Anthony was an amazing athlete, and I hope he goes far. Siene made the eliminator look easy, though I know I'd still be trying to climb that cargo net a week later.

I hated the commercial placement, though. Building excitement by cutting to a commercial right after the whistle blows to start an event was a . There were a couple of times in the first episode where they would show one contestant finishing an event and then cut to a commercial before showing the other contestant's go at it, and I hope they will stop that practice as well. Also, the two hour premiere was a bit much, even for me. I hope three hours right off the bat wasn't overkill for the general audience, though Casey's posts suggests it might not have been a problem.

Finally, a new Knight Rider? If it's any good, it's another NBC show to add to my lineup. The majority of what I watch is on that network this year.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

I was laughing so hard when the Hulkster called that one contender 'brother' about 6 times in the course of 30 seconds!

Re: American Gladiators 2008

The commercial placement on Monday's show bugged me more than it did on Sunday for some reason. Am I the only one who finds it amusing watching these people try to climb up the "travelator" (call it what it is - a treadmill). Although I feel bad when someone has a 30-second lead only to end up losing because they can't get past that part of the Eliminator.

It's not actually a show ... yet. They're airing a two-hour TV movie next month, which is basically acting as a pilot. If people like it, they'll likely pick it up as a series for next fall (pending resolution of the strike, of course).

Re: American Gladiators 2008

It was the first I'd heard of it. I'll watch.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

I actually get a bit annoyed. Since a guy lost the other day (he kicked ass in most of the competitions) that should have won.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

The whole eliminator section sort of removes any advantage you get when you win the first 4 contests.

They might as well not give points for the first 4 rounds. 4 or 5 seconds isn't really much of an advantage when it comes to whether or not you can get up the treadmill.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

Hulk rules, Brother!

Re: American Gladiators 2008

what boggles my mind is why nobody gets a running start on that thing. Yes the mat from the previous section is about what looks like 10 ft back, but start running hard on that mat, then your momentum should carry you easily to the rope and climb up much easier. But they all just try to do it with no momentum. I guess it is much easier to see that when youre not in the heat of the competition

Re: American Gladiators 2008

i think by the time they get to the travelator they are about beat, too tired to get that good running start.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

The travellator was the subject of many tweaks during the original run. When it first appeared, it was at the beginning of the course and players could run up the ramp if they failed after three attempts. Later, it was moved to the end of the course, and only two attempts were necessary. Finally, the contestant had to attempt the travellator for a full minute before being allowed to use the ramp. Since the best times so far have been around the 2:30 mark, this last solution would be no good at all. I think the best thing would be to move it to the beginning if they aren't going to let people bypass it, or keep it at the end and give them a certain amount of attempts before they can move on.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

More Gladiators is on the way

Hardly a shock given the ratings for the first 2 nights.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

With episode 3 tonight, why not start it out with some News and Notes

No spoilers are contained therein.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

Episode 3 recap

Monica just owned the Eliminator tonight.

They still did the annoying prepare for the event, then take a break but I only recall it happening once tonight. One time too many still as I don't like it.


The men's contestants were both charismatic guys and actually the women had some personality as well.

Hulk is still Hulk but when he rattles off 5 or 6 catchphrases in just a few seconds it can be a site to behold.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

Last night's episode was my first one and actually I enjoyed it. The kids were all over it and the wife (surprisingly) enjoyed it as well. That guy getting hurt in the first round was a surprise that makes the show interesting. I thought the gymnast would be the underdog and weak but she had some really great moves over the bull riding, horse riding, trash talking chick in the blue.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

The Hebrew Hammer was either the third or fourth person (Contender and Gladiator) to get hurt so far this season. That has to worry someone on the production side.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

I believe all of the people hurt (where they had to forfeit) were injured in the basketball competition.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

does NBC test these guys for roids and HGH?

Re: American Gladiators 2008

They did. The problem is that the only guys who tested negative looked like this....

Re: American Gladiators 2008

Well, in the news and notes column I posted on my website yesterday, I linked an article which shad quotes from NBC, chiefly Ben Silverman, which said that they did indeed test the Gladiators for steroids. It also said that they signed an agreement subjecting them to tests at any time.

You can believe it or not believe it and quite frankly, even if they did test for steroids and everyone passed...it doesn't mean they're not using, it could mean they're just not getting caught.

As for HGH, considering no reliable test for HGH even exists yet, that would be a no. The best test available for HGH only works if the stuff has been taken within 72 hours of taking the test and that isn't going to cut it.

Hope that answered your question.

In other Gladiators news, another strong rating

Re: American Gladiators 2008

Last week American Gladiators finished #9 in adults 18-49 in all programs on television.

The things that were ahead of it were bigtime football games, Family Guy, CSI, L&O SVU, Grey's Anatomy, Extreme Makeover and Sarah Connor Chronicles (not necessarily in that order).

Re: American Gladiators 2008

They keep saying the winner will have a shot at being the next American Gladiator, but all of the contestants are puny compared to the gladiators.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

unless there is some super stud or incredibly hot woman we havent seen yet, none of the contestants we have seen yet could be gladiators. At least not very good ones. So I doubt any of them will be.

Gina Carona, did have some pretty sweet throws in the one where the challengers have to get the balls in the buckets

Re: American Gladiators 2008

American Gladiators is a lot of fun to watch. I'm now officially a fan.

I wonder why competitors have yet to dive head first to get under the floating column of fire when they tackle the Eliminator. In theory, it'd seem to be the best strategy as going in feet first seems counterproductive since they need to reorient their bodies in order to get to the other side. Otherwise, I wonder if diving is even permitted.

Seeing those who've so far made it into the final eight, barring elimination due to having the slowest times in the Eliminator, made me wonder how many shows are recorded in one day.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

"I wonder why competitors have yet to dive head first to get under the floating column of fire"

I was wondering the same thing, and then I saw 1 woman just swim into an underwater metal bar and cut up her face. I think that bar would stop me from diving in head first, as I wouldn't want to run into it. With the way they are dropping like flies anyway, I'm sure there is something being said about diving in head first....

Re: American Gladiators 2008

Several, I seem to recall that the entire season was taped over the coarse of a couple of weekends. Could be wrong, but that's what is floating in my mind.

Regarding the contestants having a chance to be Gladiators. If you remember in the original show, that was supposed to be one of the prizes in the first season as well but then was never mentioned again.

As for the size of these contestants, while the Gladiators are pretty big...a lot of them aren't what I would consider all that great. Besides, there are certain ways for people to put on size if they want to look like their co-workers and they can do it without failing a drug test. Now I'm not saying that any of these contestants would try to Uh, beat the system, if chosen to be a Gladiator only that it is...possible to do it.

Re: American Gladiators 2008

It must have been a treat to have seen the action live. I think I caught glimpses of cheerleaders in the audience areas. I'm guessing that, among other ways to foster crowd participation, they prompt the audience to give the Rome-gladiatorial-type thumbs down gesture or is that from earlier incarnations of the show?

Relatively speaking, Wolf appears to not be as large as some of the other gladiators. There's sheer size, then there's speed, agility, cunning, etc. Each gladiator has perhaps some varying proportion of these.