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American Gladiators
The 2008 American Gladiators logo.
Genre	Sports/Game Show
Developed by	John Ferraro and Dan Carr
Directed by	J. Rupert Thompson
Starring	Hulk Hogan Laila Ali
Narrated by	Van Earl Wright (play-by-play)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producer	John Ferraro
Producers	MGM Television (inherited from Goldwyn) Reveille Productions
Production locations	Sony Pictures Studios
Camera setup	Multicamera setup
Running time	Preliminaries: 60 minutes Semi-Finals: 90 minutes Finals: 120 minutes (includes commercials)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	January 6, 2008 – present

American Gladiators is an American competition TV show airing on NBC and Citytv in Canada. Hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, the show matches amateur athletes against each other and the show's own "gladiators" in contests of strength, agility, and endurance. It is a revival of the original American Gladiators which ran from 1989-1996, with elements of the UK version of the 1990s. An average of 12 million people watched the two-hour premier.

The show is refereed by Al Kaplon, a former American League umpire, who can also be seen as the referee in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Play-by-play narration is handled by Van Earl Wright.

The show is taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. It is produced by Reveille Productions and MGM Television.

American Gladiators premiered on Sunday January 6, 2008; all other first season episodes aired Mondays at 8:00 ET/PT, except for the finale, which aired Sunday February 17, 2008 at 7:00 ET/PT.

A second season has been ordered by NBC.

Format

In American Gladiators, 12 men and 12 women compete in separate tournaments, with two contenders competing in each match. In the preliminary round, contenders attempt to qualify for the semifinals, where the competition switches to a standard single-elimination tournament bracket. The four top match winners from the preliminary round qualify, with the lowest two match winners being eliminated from the tournament. Each episode shows one match each for the men and women.

Each match consists of several events played for points against the Gladiators. These events mainly stem from the original version of the show, although there are numerous tweaks in rules and presentation that appear to have been heavily influenced by the 1990s British version of the show.

Should a contender become injured and unable to continue, an alternate takes his or her place and inherits any points earned. The final event is the Eliminator, an obstacle course pitting the two contenders against each other, with the points leader given a head start based on the point differential between the two contenders, one half-second per point. In the preliminary round, the Eliminator times are used to rank match winners in qualifying for the next round.

The preliminary qualifying matches consist of four events plus the Eliminator. After the preliminary rounds, the competition lengthens from four to five events plus the Eliminator, which is accommodated by a longer time slot.

For the first season, the Grand Championship winners each receive $100,000, a 2008 Toyota Sequoia, as well as the right to become a Gladiator for the second season.

History

When ESPN Classic launched reruns of the original series, ESPN.com had an online chat session with Dan "Nitro" Clark, who is also the coordinating producer with the revival. During the chat, Clark noted MGM Television was planning a revival of the show. After discussions with MGM, NBC confirmed in August 2007 that a revival would be produced by Reveille Productions and MGM Television for a mid-season debut. Shortly thereafter, NBC announced a casting call on its website. The first ad for the revival aired during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 22, 2007. Although some analysts believe that the show was revived in response to talks of an upcoming WGA strike, which was ongoing at the time of AG's premier, evidence of this is inconclusive.

The UK and Australian versions of this show are also to be revived in 2008 on Sky One and the Seven Network respectively, bringing up rumors of a possible International Gladiators rebirth.

Gladiators

Template:Multicol

• Blast - Jennifer Barry

Reserve

• Crush - Gina Carano

5' 8", 155 lbs. (1.73 m, 70 kg)

• Fury - Jamie Reed

5' 8", 148 lbs. (1.73 m, 67 kg)

• Hellga - Robin Coleman

6' 1", 205 lbs. (1.85 m, 93 kg)

• Siren - Valerie Waugaman

5' 9", 145 lbs. (1.75 m, 66 kg)

• Stealth - Tanji Johnson

5' 2", 123 lbs. (1.57 m, 56 kg)

• Venom - Beth Horn

5' 8", 137 lbs. (1.73 m, 62 kg)

| class="col-break " |

• Hammer - Michael Briehler

Reserve

• Justice - Justice Smith

6' 8", 290 lbs. (2.03 m, 132 kg)

• Mayhem - Romeo Williams

6' 6", 230 lbs. (1.96 m, 104 kg)

• Militia - Alex Castro

6' 3", 220 lbs. (1.90 m, 100 kg)

• Titan - Michael O'Hearn

6' 3", 251 lbs. (1.90 m, 114 kg)

• Toa - Tanoai Reed

6' 3", 240 lbs. (1.90 m, 109 kg)

• Wolf - Don "Hollywood" Yates

6' 4", 225 lbs. (1.93 m, 102 kg)

Template:EndMultiCol

Events

Changes to original events in revival

• Assault: Contenders begin the course holding the ball for use in the first weapon, a slingshot. The second station is a rotating turret that contenders must rotate into position and load themselves. The third station is a sand pit where an arrow is hidden for the crossbow waiting at station four (they complete the station by finding the arrow). Contenders are given a smokescreen at station three to assist in moving to station four. The fifth station appears to consist of throwing three balls at the target, but as of the end of season one, only one contender has reached station five, and she ran out of time prior to firing the weapon. If the contenders hit any part of the target, they earn 10 points; in addition, pyrotechnics are triggered at the Gladiator's platform, and the Gladiator is rapidly pulled off the platform by a pulley and harness fly system across the arena and into the water tank. If time runs out, or contenders are hit by a ball fired by the Gladiator before hitting the target, they earn one point for each station completed.
• Gauntlet: Contenders earn two points for each of four Gladiators they pass within the 30-second time limit and an additional two points if they can break through a foam wall 10 feet beyond the final Gladiator, for a maximum of 10 points. The rule change is similar to the seventh and eighth seasons of the UK Series. In addition, the Gauntlet is enclosed, so contenders cannot be pushed "out of bounds."
• Hang Tough: The course is shorter, situated over a pool of water, and has much smaller platforms. Further, the Gladiator is allowed to use the contender's equipment (such as the straps holding the backpack) to pull the contender in. As in the original version, contenders receive 5 points if they are still on the course when the 60-second time limit expires.
• Powerball: The time limit is now 60 seconds. In addition, the playing field is lined with padded walls, which means there is no "out of bounds," and the scoring bins have much wider openings, making tossed balls more effective than the original.
• Pyramid: Each Gladiator can only defend against one selected contender. Contenders earn 5 points for getting their feet atop the Pyramid tier marked with a white dotted line. Pressing the button at the top within the 60-second time limit is worth 5 more points, for a total of 10, and immediately ends the event.
• Joust: Platforms are situated over a pool of water. Gladiators, but not contenders, may be disqualified if both their knees touch the platform simultaneously.
• - 1996, 2008-)|The Wall]]: The Wall uses the original format, with a three-section Wall, and contestants given a seven-second head start. The Wall is now 40 feet high (an eight-foot increase), and Contenders and Gladiators cross floating platforms to reach the Wall (the same platforms are used at the beginning of the Eliminator). Once the Gladiators begin their pursuit, the platforms are retracted; Contenders pulled from the Wall drop into the water. Unlike previous editions, however, Contenders earn 5 points if they are still on the Wall when the 60-second time limit expires.
• The Eliminator: Contenders traverse the floating platforms used in The Wall to reach an 8-foot wall; ropes are provided for the contenders' use. They then jump off the top of the wall into a pool and swim under a fire set on the surface (referred to on the show as "the fiery surface"). They exit the pool by climbing up a 30-foot cargo net. At the top is a cylinder that rolls down a track with the contender holding on. They must then negotiate a hand bike. Unlike the original series, there is no penalty for falling from the hand bike obstacle and a ladder or truss next to the apparatus provides a means for the contender to continue the course. The hand bike is followed by an inclined balance beam. When they reach the bottom of the beam, they must climb the Pyramid and descend using a zipline. Then the contenders run up an inclined reverse-treadmill, dubbed the "Travelator", with a rope for assistance. The finish line is a wall of padded blocks through which the contender must crash. Another difference between this and the original version is that there are no Gladiators involved.

Template:FnbSiren was disqualified for this facing Kim Marciniak. However Crush was not disqualified for going to her knees while facing Koya Webb.

From UK Gladiators

• Hit & Run: The contender traverses a 50-foot suspension bridge hanging above the water tank. Four Gladiators, two on each side of the bridge, attempt to knock the contender off using 100-pound demolition balls. Contenders receive two points for each successful trip across the bridge within the 60-second time limit, and must press a button on the platform to register the points (a difference from the UK version, which required contenders to touch the rail at the back of the platform). Furthermore, there is no penalty for crawling on the suspension bridge, as there was in the UK version, though the referee has instructed contenders to return to their feet in some instances after significant crawling.

New events

• Earthquake: The contender and Gladiator wrestle on a 12-foot diameter platform that is suspended above the floor, and is moved during the event. If the Contender takes the Gladiator off the platform, he or she is declared the winner, even if he or she also comes down in the process. Contenders get 10 points if they pull the Gladiator down, and 5 points if they last the entire 30 seconds. Holding on to the wires supporting the Earthquake ring is legal, but kicking or otherwise using the foot to remove the Contender from the ring is not. The event is similar in concept to "Conquer", the second part of "Breakthrough and Conquer".

Tournament

Of the 12 winners (six men, six women) in the preliminary round, the four men and four women with the fastest Eliminator times became the Final 8. Semifinals matchups were determined by seeding based on the preliminary Eliminator results.

Men's bracket

Women's bracket

Template:FnbReplaced the original Contender, who was forced to retire after suffering an injury. Jessie Adams suffered a knee injury in Powerball, while Adam Levin suffered a torn ACL in Powerball.
Template:FnbAnthony Abbatemarco's time was incorrectly displayed on the clock graphic at the bottom of the screen. The announced and published time of 2:10 was later determined to be correct.
Template:FnbMolivann Duy was incorrectly listed with a time of 3:13 and Monica Carlson with a time of 2:20 on the scoreboard shown after preliminary round 5.
Template:FnbAlex Rai was defeated in Hang Tough, the first event of the night. Despite receiving no score for the event as a result, his score was erroneously reported as 1 point. This inadvertently spoiled the outcome of the next event; Rai was picked off after firing the first weapon in Assault, accounting for the single point.

References

1. ""Laila Ali and Hulk Hogan are confirmed as new presenters of 'American Gladiators'"". Gladiators Zone (UK site). 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. Toff, Benjamin (2008-01-08). "Strong Debut for Gladiators". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
3. "American Gladiators". Retrieved 2008-01-08.
4. ""NBC Slots 'Medium,' Firms Up Schedule"". Zap2It. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-12-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/01/american-gladiators-gets-re-upped-for.html
6. ^ "NBC pumps up for 'Gladiators' redo". Retrieved 2008-01-10.
7. NBC.com: American Gladiators casting
8. "Who Needs Writers? NBC Has 'American Gladiators'". Retrieved 2008-01-10.

External links

• Official American Gladiator Site (NBC)
• Canadian Official Site (Citytv)
• American Gladiators Zone
• American Gladiators Domain
• MGM American Gladiators Site
• The Internet Movie Database

• American Gladiators
• 2008 television series debuts
• 2000s American television series
• American game shows
• NBC network shows
• Sports entertainment
• Television series by MGM Television
• Reveille Productions