I used to love American Gladiators, I was very disappointed when they stopped airing new shows. I would watch them every Saturday morning before my dad would start yelling at me to stop watching tv. It was just awesome to watch these fairly fit guys compete against these monster gladiators in events that inspired me to grow up to not be a gladiator but be able to compete against them. The wall, the joust, the obstacle course where the gladiators shot at you with tennis balls, the eliminator, it was all amazing to me. So you can imagine my joy to see that they were bringing them back on NBC (they premiered yesterday Sunday, Jan 6th)!

:doh:it sucked. It sucked for so many reasons its hard to find a place to start, but I'll try anyway. For one, the gladiators were no longer these monstrous men & women - they all came storming out like cartoon characters with names that are ridiculous rather than onomatopoeic. The semi-celebrity fitness old timers announcing the show definitely took away from what was supposed to be happening - and I love Hulk Hogan, I really do (I think they should have gotten Joe Rogan). The commercialized "subway instant replay" bothered me. The overly padded mats so no one actually gets hurt bothered me. The larger than a trash can power ball scoring containers bothered me (you could never shoot a ball into one of the old containers). The neck guards the contestants wore bothered me. The howling of "wolf" the gladiator bothered me. The ridiculous 30 second chant the primitive gladiator felt the need to yell bothered me. The overly-dramatic music in the background bothered me. The "flaming ledge" that you had to swim under bothered me.

The old AG had the ambiance of a gym with thinly padded walls & obstacles and flat colored blue everything. People had heart, people got hurt, and people were triumphant. I'm not saying I like watching people get hurt, I'm saying these people put it all on the line for the glory of it all. The gladiators took pride in what they did and showed off as they should but they still seemed like real people who were just larger than life.

The new AG felt like everything they did was done to add drama. It's supposed to be an ACTION show, not a soap opera. It felt overly edited and overly "don't sue me" type of approach to what was such a good and real rough & tough show. There was no fancy lining up of all the gladiators & contestants. There was no flaming obstacles (that was so pointless it makes me gag).

I don't know if I really expressed how disappointed I am by this. I feel like I am no longer the target audience of the show. My friends who watched it shut it off less than 10 minutes in but if you were to put on an old AG marathon, the channel would never even be changed. They could have done so many things better. Heck, using that Japanese obstacle course would have been a suitable replacement for AG.

You forgot to mention the annoying song they sang when falling off joust and probably others.

I agree with you though. It wasn't as good as the old ones by far. I ended up leaving the room and went in to talk with my wife and ended up watching the end of desperate housewives.

So what your saying is no roids = no fun?

I didn't catch the premiere yesterday, but I might have to watch it just to see how corny it really is.

So what your saying is no roids = no fun?

I'd disagree... there seemed to be plenty of 'roids.

No fun? That's the part I'd debate. As another child of the 80's who remembers AG in its early days, I remember it being... better... than last night's version. The new version is just so... boring. It felt anti-climactic... like you were always left wanting more, but the show never delivered. I was really looking forward to another good fitness show on TV to go along with Biggest Loser.

The "female" gladiators sported physiques that hinted at far too much HGH and chiseled jawlines more pronounced than Jay Leno. The men were WWE-quality steroidal freaks.They towered freakishly over the "contenders", as the contestants were called. The Gladiators seemed too polished, primped and preened, more interested in looking good on TV than competing. Sometimes, contestants slipped right by them, other times, the gladiators dominated. It seemed to be a crap-shoot.

The contestants were weak and undersized to the gladiators they faced. They seemed unable to truly perform to the level of the physical challenges set before them.

ALL the contestants ought to refrain from further smack-talking - their verbal intimidation wouldn't scare a wayward puppy, let alone the hulking masses of 'roid-rage they were facing. More times than not, the gladiators spanked the "contenders", as they were called, when they were stupid enough to antagonize the gladiators.

The "Eliminator" was equally disappointing. The contestants just ran out of gas at various points during the race, most notably, two of the four floundered pathetically on the final ramp within 20 feet of the finish line. If those are the quality of "contenders" they plan to showcase, I'll be watching even more TLC/Discovery at night than I already do.

Hogan and Ali were boring, asking the most obvious of questions pre-and-post contest (it makes me pine for the days of "Mean Gene" Okerlund - now that guy could take the dumbest of wrestlers and make any interview great!). The commentators during the contests were lackluster, barely doing more than regurgitate to you what was obviously already happening on the screen. I could have watched the show on mute and gotten just as much out of it.

Did anyone notice that the referee is the guy who played the ref in Dodgeball? I did. :D

It's worth a watch in the background while you're folding laundry and there's nothing else on television, but unless they do something to fix this quickly, I don't see the 21st century-version of Gladiators getting a Season Two. At least, if it does, I probably won't be watching.

-R

So what your saying is no roids = no fun?

You obviously didn't see/hear Helga :eek:

The overly padded mats so no one actually gets hurt bothered me.

But someone did get hurt- did you catch, in the beginning, that woman who was taken out by an invisible ghost? I know it's wrong to laugh at other's misfortunes, but the way she just buckled with no one around was funny looking.

I was actually going to post a thread about this show, but my thought is that someone should build an American Gladiator gym for the public. I would totally pay to go there with my buddies and joust each other, knock them down from the rings, race them in the eliminator, etc. It would be the perfect workout for someone like me, who gets bored easily at the gym.

I really, really, truly enjoyed the ref using the old "giving him the business" phrase.


It was more entertaining that the entire rest of the show.

The ref has quite the gut on him. It makes it kind of comical in an arena of fairly "in-shape" people.

I only recognize 3 names:
Mike O'Hearn (Titan)
Valerie Waugaman (Siren)
Beth Horn (Venom)


The contestants are pretty drab.
The gladiators costumes are kinda goofy looking.
The women gladiators seem pretty ineffective as the contestants seem to be able to keep up with them.

The gladiators names seem pretty in-line with the goofy names they had in the original series (except for maybe Helga(?))

Is it me or did "Hang Tough" seem shorter in this version. I seem to remember the path across begin longer, as in, more rings to navigate. I'm just going by memory though so I'm probably not remembering it correctly.

If they don't have better contestants and the gladiators don't pick it up (sometimes contestants walked right through them) I don't see this making past the first season if things do not change.

It's entertaining but could be a whole lot better.

Agree with everything being said... I grew up with AG and loved it.

I stopped watching after the Assault event last night, which they really toned down. That use to be my favorite!! Now it seems way to short time duration to even get past the sand box.

I felt the show was a bit empty....

Meh, I actually liked it, and I've seen every episode of the old ones as well. Thought it was funny and entertaining.

Its replaying tonight during the National Championship game and I have the DVR set to record it.

Awwww Man!!! Im so disappointed as I had high hopes for this show. Im glad I didnt go try out when they were conducting tryouts for contenders.

They still run the old classic shows on ESPN Classic. I do love seeing Zap and Lace as I had the biggest crush on those girls.

Awwww Man!!! Im so disappointed as I had high hopes for this show. Im glad I didnt go try out when they were conducting tryouts for contenders.
Don't take my word for it. Watch... you might like it. I'm usually too harsh on things.

They still run the old classic shows on ESPN Classic. I do love seeing Zap and Lace as I had the biggest crush on those girls.
They were feminine enough to have crushes on! The new girls are a bit... uh... much... for my tastes. If'n you ask me... 'n you didn't... the new girls need a cheeseburger. Or three.

-R

I like the old American Gladiators but they took it off the air when I was 12 years. I would probably like the new ones if I were still a little kid, but I'm not so I thought it dumb. I still like the old ones, but probably more for nostalgia factor. I mean, I still like the A-Team and b/c it was awesome back in the day even though it's pretty cheesy in all reality.

John Berardi trained one of the gals. I haven't seen the show yet, though. Probably won't.

Give "Ninja Warrior" and "Takezo's (sp?) Castle" a try for something slightly 'rougher' and more 'real' if that floats your boat!

The Ninja Warrior obstacle course is insane - true athletes they are (once you get past all the comedy relief losers)

-Allen

I just finished tonights episode, which turned out to be a new episode, not a repeat from yesterday. I agree with the thread starter, this show is a turd!

Okay, after being disappointed with the outcome of the BCS Game (still think USC is #1), I was hoping American Gladiator would pick up my spirits. I was disappointed.

The male Gladiators were weak (remember Malibu from the old series?) and waaaaay over the top. Who was this wolfman dude and really, what IS the deal with the howling and grunting from the Gladiators?

The women Gladiators werent bad, they were actually kind of attractive, but come on, HELGA?!?! What an offensive East German sterotype from the 1970s. She's probably a character that failed to make it on GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling) For the most part, the women werent over the top and they were actually pretty pleasant to watch - except for Helga.

The producers need to stop telling the Contenders how to act (i.e, "....you need to be energetic and enthusiastic") because they come across as being fake and ridiculous.

I'll check it out again next week to see if it gets any better. This isnt as good as Ninja Warrior or MXC (Most Extreme Elimination). The Ninja Warrior contestants would lay waste to the Gladiators.

i'm glad to see i'm not alone on this one. i didn't even watch the 2nd episode and i have no plans to see any others.

definately disappointing

My Favorite Competitor of the night:
http://www.docvenus.com/

If you're not familiar with Gina Carano, aka "Crush", do a little research on her and you'll find American Gladiators a little more interesting to watch...

She is one hell of a mma figher who competes in EliteXC.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wQEEH6UKDbk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMmSME9EJYc

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FC7lYh5Do_0&feature=related