Let’s take a second to remember what the late ’80’s were like. George Bush was in the White House, the economy was going in the crapper and the quality shows that us 30 somethings watched as kids were starting to go away. “Knight Rider” had driven into the sunset, The “A-Team” had pitied their last fool, and “Battlestar Galactica” had (gulp) produced Galactica 1980.
In 1989, I was desperate to watch something different. In North Dakota, we used to watch “Star Trek: The Next Generation” on Saturday nights. Right before ST:TNG started was a show that was near and dear to my heart; “American Gladiators”.
The show proved to be one of the first “reality” shows. This was an actual event that pitted contestants against larger than life “gladiators” in tests of strength and endurance.
Fast forward to the present. George Bush is in the White House again (in a much scarier form), the economy is slowly sliding into the crapper and our beloved kids shows are being re-imagined. Now was the right time to bring back American Gladiators. I’m sure that the writers strike helped to bring the show back (I mean come on, it writes itself) and I’m glad it did.
NBC has done a good job modernizing the show. A lot of the old events are back (as well as the spandex), but there is something more exciting about this show than the original. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to totally isolate the reason I like to watch it. Sometimes I think it’s the nostalgia of being a kid again, cheering for the underdogs to beat the always arrogant (or just plain creepy) Gladiators.
The first two episodes of the show were shown back to back. This was a great idea because not only did it really get you into the show, but it reintroduced us to the games and the concepts behind “Gladiators”. In those first two episodes alone, we saw busted knees and bloody faces...two things you are never going to see on “American Idol”.
The Gladiators are top notch and in many ways better than the original. They seem to be just the right amount of “Mortal Combat” without actually ripping the spinal column out of the contestants. They are good at what they do and very impressive physically. It will be interesting to see how they change as new gladiators are added in the future.
Hopefully the show can inspire kids to get out and get some exercise perhaps inspired by the contestants and the gladiators. That is until the “American Gladiators” X-box game is released.
Overall, I think the show is great. There are (of course) a few bad points to the show.
The choice of Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali was just terrible. I see what they are doing trying to appeal the the wrestling and boxing crowd, but I always thought the show appealed to the football crowd more. I just can’t stand Hulk throwing out a “brother” every two minutes. This show as well as his reality show really “dropped the leg” on his career. I think the show would be better served to just get a couple of busty interviewers to appeal to the mostly male demographic.
The show also focuses on the “Olympic Story” model way too much. I really don’t care the contestant’s mother’s dog had cancer. I’m sorry if that makes me a bad person, but I really don’t care. I just want to see them get out there and kick some gladiator ass.
The nicknaming of contestants has to stop as well. I sure hope that when “The Hebrew Hammer” and “The Spider Monkey” are back working nights at McDonalds, they won’t think their names are so funny.
I believe that the show fills a niche that I didn’t even know I was missing in my life. It’s fun, exciting, and most importantly, IT’S THE ONLY THING ON. That is until “Battlestar” starts again, “Knight Rider” premiers and the “A-Team” movie is released.
Check out the promo for the show. I think the Announcer is the creepiest one of all.
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